Before and After

In the process of removing all the important bits, I'm sorting into two separate plastic tubs. Before and After. I will be archiving the condition of certain pieces in the before and after being cleaned and polished, with comments, hopefully to keep track of what needs to be done.

Before:
This is a rear reverse light. It was found as lagniappe (a little something extra) in the trunk. It looked just horrible, though the chrome was in pretty good shape. It had paint over-spray, either white or primer.

I intend to select the best two out of three to place on the car.

After:
After a gentile washing and a bit of soft scrub on the glass, I believe that this actually looks quite nice. The over-spray has been removed and is a really nice piece. The glass has a fracture under the chrome piece, but it is completely covered and doesn't look to be very fragile.

Before:

Rear Fender Reflectors were very grimy. The plastic is chipped scratched and generally not very shiny. The rubber seals looked really bad, with paint over-spray, goo and gunk all over them. I was concerned about these cleaning up at all.

After:

All parts received a gentle washing which did very little to help them. I tested a bit of Goo-Gone on the seals and it helped a lot. I remember that once disassembled these are a pain to get them bent back in shape so I avoided that. Overall pretty good but still need to decide what to do with the plastic.

Before:

The Gas Cap. It's such a focal point on the car! Externally, it's chrome finish is not too bad, needing a but of TLC, but underneath is a problem. It is definately in need of work. I was concerned about the rubber seal, the surface rust, the pitting in the pipe and the non-smooth nature of the closure.

After:



I disassembled the piece but left the pins in place. A wire brush quickly took care of the pitting in the pipe. I wire brushed the non-chrome pieces and it worked out pretty well. I coated all the brushed metal with WD-40 to help with rusting. The chrome underside was brushed with a toothbrush (old one, I don't want greasy teethies). The paint over-spray on the underside cleaned off very easily. The outside was chrome polished and the hidey holes hit with the tooth brush. Overall, I am happy with the results, but really think I need to do something with the seal to refreshen it and the cap that closes the pipe needs something. I was thinking of plating it, painting it, etc but will have to be cautious as it will be in contact with gas.