I received the completed park lamp bases and grille extensions from the plater. Time to assemble the park lamps! I installed a new socket and pigtail in each lamp base. The lenses and gaskets are also new. Here's one side mocked up: Here's the test fit of the park lamp onto the grille extension I still need to install the seals on the attaching studs and add the grommets to the conduit where it passes through the grille extension panel. The power post was looking tired and worn. Here are a couple of photos of the refurbishing process. After disassembling and cleaning the part, the insulator was painted semi-gloss black and the base and posts were with a copper layer to prep for a final layer of plating: Then plated with "Copy Chrome" by Caswell: The second piece in the above image is one of the folding seat back lock posts. It was showing a lot of wear on the post; the "Copy Chrome" is an excellent match to the original plating. I recently cleaned up the back side of the aluminum side trim panels. The ribs on the visible surfaces were polished several months ago, but the back surfaces had not been cleaned and sealed. After cleaning, I found a few spots where the oxidation had penetrated all the way through the aluminum panel. OH NO! I finished cleaning the back of all 4 panels. Only one panel exhibited any actual penetration. The parts have been sent to a local plater for anodizing. Hope to have the completed parts back by the end of the year. Back at the paint shop... The metal interior garnish moldings, the inner rear compartment and the inside surfaces of the tailgate are being painted interior "Tan" before I bring it home. Here's the tailgate with the inner surface painted tan: Weatherstrips installed on the doors. Doors hung on driver's side: Getting close!
Great color. I can't imagine a better selection, for that wagon: I'd keep a close eye on those two, if I were you:
Today I installed the new headlight pigtails into the headlight housings. I was able to open the crimps on the original ground lugs, so I crimped and soldered the new ground wires into the original terminals. With freshly plated adjuster screws, these are ready for headlight buckets. The rear bumper trim inserts need to be painted with a silver and black stripe pattern. It was interesting to see how the exposed areas of the original bumper inserts look after nearly 60 years of New Mexico UV exposure. I used one of my original panels as a test panel. I painted the matte silver base, then masked off the stripes with 1/8" wide tape. I was out of flat black rattle can paint, so I used semi-gloss black. This is another one of those million details that still need to get done...
The black would've been a semi-gloss or gloss anyway; a coat of clearcoat, though, will help give depth to that trim. And yeah, sun-baked....