12/17/99 Teeny Tiny Things

I was going through a box of parts when I came upon the windshield washer nozzles. Sometimes I’m amazed items like these didn’t get lost in the shuffle, but then again, who knows what I haven’t found! I decided to try and clean and unclog the nozzles to make them ready to put back on the car. I first polished the pieces with chrome polish, and then started to take them apart. I was amazed to find how intricate these nozzles actually were. 

Seven pieces not including the rubber gasket made up one washer nozzle. It’s actually a pretty clever design to keep from drilling a small hole for the nozzle. The slot in part #5 sandwiched between the two copper gaskets of #4, and #6 makes up the hole for the washer fluid to come out of. When it clogs, it just needs to be taken apart, cleaned, and soon you’re back in business.

The little orange torpedo shaped lights that mount on the front fenders were a little too cracked to buff and keep, so François had a couple laying around for me to use. So after a few minutes on the plastic buffing wheel (man, I love the results of buffing plastic!), they’re good as new and ready for mounting. I’ll feel much better using these than having a cracked and chipped one next to the freshly painted fenders.

While still working on mounting the lights, I’m now up to the “bee-hive” shaped lights nestled in with the headlights, and fog lights. The fixtures that came with my car had stripped mounting posts and François came to the rescue again when he came up with two more lights. He even gave me a set of screws with the correct chrome phillips heads! One of them needed to be assembled from pieces from my original light, but I managed to take it apart without damaging anything. 

Each of the tabs in the fixture had to be carefully pry back to release from the light fixture. I decided to use my heat gun to heat the metal up a bit before attempting to bend it. I’ve learned that this type of metal is very brittle, and breaks easily, so having a slow and cautious hand is paramount. Disassembly and re-assembly was successful, so now all I have to do is find the right nuts and lock washers, and another light will be mounted.

Before I went up to the shop today, I stopped by “East Coast Auto Trim,” the place that will refurbish the interior of my car. I learned all about leather, and carpeting, and chose some colors for my interior. I spent over an hour talking about interiors with the owner, and if you want to learn about what I learned, you can click HERE, but I won’t bore the rest of you. All you have to know is that “East Coast” will start on my seats in the new millennium.

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