:: Sunday June 6, 2004 ::
Why oh why oh why oh why. Why do I never learn?
It seemed like a good idea at the time. But it wasn't.
The bonnet assembly has been sitting at an angle since I got the car - ie slightly off to the left. It was worse after I replaced the broken hinge. SO today I thought I would straighten it all up.
First of course, you read the book. Nothng too difficult there - loosen the lock bolts, screw the hinge in on one side and out on the other.. How hard is that?
First I have to remove the inner wings - the last time I thought I was going to have to napalm them off but this time they come off no bother. This lets me at the hinge bolts. Yes, the lock bolts loosen ok. Yes, the hinge adjusters also turn easily. I mark them with a blob of paint to make it easier to count turns (ie to make sure I don't twist it, just move it sideways) and off I go!
Turn it a bit. Close bonnet to check alignment. No difference. Turn it a bit more. Try it again. No difference. Continue until you run out of adjustment, and then notice that it HAS moved, except that the bonnet is slightly wider than the wings and therefore will never line up properly on both sides anyway. Tighten up adjuster lock nuts and close bonnet, remember first to realign the bonnet catches so that they now line up with the holes.
This also turns into a feat of guesswork, but the end result does look a lot better.
In the course of all this adjusting, however, I notice that the bonnet has a couple of gel coat cracks in it. One was made when the hinge collapsed and the bonnet fell onto the corner of the radiator, but one in particular is definitely new. This, along with the proliferation of stone chips and other scratches, gets on my wick just a bit.
On the other hand, if I get the car repainted, then I'll be scared to drive it in case it gets chipped again. It's a quandary right enough.
:: Monday June 7, 2004 ::
When I get home from work, I check the service schedule, and decide to change the oil and filter. Car up on ramps, so that I can get my ever-expanding fat carcass underneath. Jees the drain plug is about 1/2 way back the length of the car! Talk about weight distribution!
The oil drain plug comes out easy. The oil filter is almost completely inaccessible between the engine and the chassis frame, but I manage to get oil filter pliers onto it (glad I bought them, because there is no way I would have been able to loosen it otherwise!) and manouevre it out between the chassis struts. The new filter goes on easily, then I refill with a semi- synthetic 10W40 oil and fire it up, check for leaks.
I also notice that one of the exhaust downpipe clamps has been ground off, so I need a new one the right size.
:: Wednesday June 9, 2004 ::
I bought an orbital polisher today, then came home and tried it out on the bonnet. I also bought extra polishing and finishing pads so that I could dedicate one to each process.
First I washed the car thoroughly with proper car wash. I also used a sort of sponge covered in fishnet, which removes dead bugs like magic!
Then I went over the whole bonnet with scratch remover, carefully removing all of the scratches and marks, etc. Did you know that bird crap actually eats into the paint if you look closely enough? Well this stuff polishes it out again!
Then buff in some paint cleaner, make sure it's thoroughly polished in, wait till it dries and buff it off and JEES! that car is SHINY!!!!
Next stage is to polish the newly cleaned paint - buff in the polish, make sure it's spread properly and polished in... buff it off and EVEN SHINIER!!!!!
But we're not finished yet, oh no... The next stage is the wax... spread it on, polish it off, and the car has an incredible wet look shine (on the bonnet at least). It's getting dark so I have to stop.
:: Saturday June 26, 2004 ::
After a fortnight of rain, I still haven't been able to finish polishing the car. I also forgot about the exhaust clamp.
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