I've made the leap from wagon lurker to wagon owner

OK, WIZZER!! Way to go!



By the way....I was wondering if you knew of anyone that could possibly help me figure out some different ways of improving the "The Watchmen" movie? I've been recently asked by bunches of girls for some reason. Stopping me on the street..calling me late at night..............

 

Today was the best day. A no-effort emissions pass and a bright, sunny day to cruise home in my wagon.

The back road that I take home is an Emergency Detour Route for HWY 401 (Trans-Canada Highway). Apparently something had westbound traffic bogged up pretty good so everyone was trying to take my back road home. Eastbound was fine so I cruised at speed with a goofy grin on my face past 12-13 miles of bumper to bumper traffic going absolutely nowhere. I would gun the engine every now and again just so those new Magnaflow's could let people know that I was going MUCH faster than they were.

 

I missed this on the first read through. I almost spit out my drink when I saw it.

 

What a show off!



But, sometimes.....VERY well worth it!!

 

Sounds like a perfect day on all counts. And summer isn't even here yet.

 

I've been getting really frustrated about the license plates on my wagon lately. The paint on my plate has chipped and the plate is rusting pretty badly. It makes my wagon look like crap. I could get a new plate but the MTO won't give me the same plate back again. I would have to accept a new plate or perhaps order a custom plate with the same numbers but it would still be a new plate and not mine. I've had these same plates for over 20 years. They're the same plates that I had on my first wagon and they are still period-correct for my current wagon. I just hate to give them up. I figured it would be worthwhile to try and restore it. After a little research I did just that.

You can see here that the rusty plate looked pretty bad.


I cleaned up the plate with a wire brush to get any flaking paint and rust off. I didn't clean the plate completely bare...maybe next time.


After soaking the plate in EvapoRust it was clean as a whistle. I went over it again with a wire brush again for good measure.


Once I had the surface rust free and prepped, I hit it with several coats of filler primer and then a few more coats of white paint. I found a jar of Testor's model paint that matched the letter colouring almost perfectly. I then sat down with a small brush and set about putting it back the way it belongs.


I still need to put a clear coat on the plate and reaffix my sticker but so far I'm really thrilled with the results!


One plate down, one to go!

 

Don't your plates have reflective paint that makes them easy for the mounties to read them at night?

 

The new ones are really reflective. After 20 years my plate was more of a flat white and the paint was coming off as a powder each time I washed it. I figured I'd take the risk and just go ahead. It looks much better for now and if I find a way to get my hands on some reflective white paint, I'll probably do it over. The police have actually been ticketing people for rusted plates from what I've heard. I figured it was 50/50 whether or not I'd get pulled over for a rusty plate or a repainted plate and at least this way it looks a lot better.

 

Looks like I could use this to make the plate reflective! It's a clear coating so I could use this instead of a clear coat.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/niteLites/

 

Great job on the plate AND the rest of the car, Wiz!

Glad to hear about the emissions test, too.

Enjoy driving it this summer!

 

As usual, Mike's Tales of Texas make me want to contribute more. I don't have a lot to share and I'm saving some of my recent work until I collect some better pictures.

I did some more hunting for a reflective paint to put on my license plate. The one that I linked to above doesn't appear to be available in Canada. Several others that I found were also unavailable to Canucks. I guess we don't like shiny things as much as our neighbours to the south. Ultimately I lost interest in searching and just hit it with several clear coats before reinstalling it on the car. I don't expect that I'll be given a fine for trying to keep my plate clearly legible but I could have gotten one if the rust spread enough to obscure the letters. I'm happy with it. I'd do it differently if I do it again but as a learning experience I'm calling it a success.

I turned on the A/C in the wagon on the way home last night. It wasn't blazingly hot but warm enough that I thought it was a good time to turn it on for a maintenance test. Imagine my surprise when I found it did little more than redistribute engine-warmed air. I had the whole A/C system replaced in June of 2011 and now I've got nothing. I haven't gone so far as to check fuses, etc. I'm still venting my frustrations at this point.

 

What a difference that makes to the look of your wagon, excellent job.

 

Was your plate one of the reflective ones in the first place? I know that my FVY (1989) plate was not, and the 1990 plate on Arthur is not reflective either. I cannot remember when they went to the reflective plates in Ontario. In other words, you may be more likely to have problems if you do make it reflective, if it was not reflective originally.

 

I couldn't remember when they switched to reflective either. With the way that the white paint had rubbed off any reflective quality was long gone. I have a faint memory that the blue colour was reflective but that could just be my imagination. As it stands now, from 10 feet away it looks just like it should. Any closer than that and it's pretty obvious that it was hand painted. I figure I'll take my chances and see what happens.

 

I have a feeling your plate never was reflective, if you think the blue was. Both the white and the blue were reflective. I think it was later than the Ks that they went to the reflective paint. I remember reading one time how they got the blue on the right parts but not the rest, and I am trying to remember how it is done to give the repainted plate that original look.