BUILD THREAD 1987 Olds 442 Project Build

[oldsofb]

All done and ready to go on the shelf and wait for the day it goes back in.

I put my web logo on the bottom of the speedo. I also found a granny cluster with no hole on the lens to compliment my trip od delete.

I polished the lens using a headlight resto kit. Looks like glass now.

I think I'll post some pics of the lens clean too.

Hutch

 

[oldsofb]

This is what I did to polish my gauge cluster lens.

I used the orig lens to test the results.

It doesn't show as well as in person, but this thing had a lot of small scratches and a few big ones.

I used 3M's Headlight Restoration Kit

The kit comes with 3 sanding disks: 500, 800, and a Trizact 3000 disc. I sand with 500 then 800 by hand.

Here's what the sanding results look like. Check with your fingernail for any deep scratches you didn't get. Keep sanding evenly until they're all gone.

Then on to the Trizact 3000 grit foam pad

Use plenty of water for this. Wet down the pad and the lens. Once a "slurry" develops, make multiple passes. Clean and check. I repeated about 3 times.

After the 3 sessions the lens is a little cloudy, but all signs of scratches in the plastic are gone.

On to the buffing pad and a little Meguiars PlastX. Mist the pad with some water for best results.

Lastly, finish up with the synthetic wax from the kit.

All done. It doesn't show as well in the pics, but this was a night and day difference. There were 2 bad horizontal scratches that were half covered by the tape. You can see they disappeared past the tape line.

Hutch

 

[Rktpwrd]

Brilliant idea using a headlight restoration kit Hutch! One of those things "why didn't I think of that!?!"

I used some Meguires plastic cleaner and polish on mine as well, but just by hand with a soft cloth. The results were good, but not nearly as good as what you accomplished.

I'll have to try that method on mine the next time I have it out again, thanks for posting the tip and method!

The entire gauge cluster turned out fantastic, I love the personalized features such as the rocket logo and the "rocket fuel only". Great subtle little touches, you should be proud.

Any interest in doing up another for a certain forum member here (hint hint)?
Lol, just kidding.

Nice job sir, well done. Love it.

Donovan

 

[oldsofb]

Thanks Donovan. That's like Da Vinci complimenting my stick figure drawing.

I need to go lay down now

Hutch.

 

[oldsofb]

And if anyone's interested in hearing a jackass ramble on about his Rally Gauges in a video, I did a 3 part series on the resto.

Hutch

 

[liquidh8]

Good job on the lense restoration, looks good.

 

[oldsofb]

Finally got some time scheduled with my body man in a couple of weeks. He gave me some homework to do. I got a lot of undercoating and rust stripped off the underside of the body. I also drilled out the spot welds and removed the Rear Seat Cross Member Bracket that was rusted to pieces on the ends.

The ends literally fell apart when they came off.

I ordered a new cross member from G-Body Parts. Nice piece.

There is a bit of a gap end to end than the original. Still, I'm just glad someone's reproducing them.

Hutch

 

[Geo's66]

Thanks for bringing this over here- I've been keeping tabs on the other site but this is better-easier... Really great work and keep posting- huge help for all of us.. Thanks pal

 

[oldsofb]

I posted this in Events for my Spring Carlisle post, but I'll post it here too since it concerns the 442. I picked up a nice 87 Monte SS rear spoiler.

Hutch

 

[oldsofb]

Scored a manual seat track a few days ago at a local yard. The seat motor in my car has a dead spot where it won't work. If I can't get it fixed, this is the backup plan.

Hutch