Bits & Pieces

WE changed the wiper arms on daphne over a year ago to standard T2 arms from BBT in belgium but they are the same as the black arms heritage sell for about 15 quid and they have the j type wiper fittings

these take standard blades and we now have a set of bocsh aero blades on

That was something I thought about doing if I couldn't find the adapter for the bayonet arms.

It's certainly cheap enough at £15 if others want to do it

I've had a few more bits turn up.



Just need the front grille, curtains and bulbs and I'll have a busy weekend coming up

Edit: As I clicked send the grille arrived

Make sure you soak those new headlamp rings in wax before fitting them pastymaster. Then they'll be good for years.

Thanks Tim, I wouldn't have known to do that if you hadn't said.

Cheers

What does the wax do? Surely it coats them in wax and makes them non-shiny. If it doesn't that is a top tip which I've not heard before. let me know.

Chrome is porous allegedly, so coating the surface with wax - and then buffing it to a shine will help to protect the metal.

Definately agree with Tim, polish all you chrome with wax, then buff to shine, will 'protect and serve'. Keep all your bits and pieces buffed up.....

Hi Guys

Tim is sort of correct when he says Chrome is porous. Hard chrome isn't but that is applied for engineering purposes. What you have on a set of beauty rings is decorative chroming and the wear qualities of the plating depends a lot on the preparation. Real high quality automotive plating will be a final chrome plate coat of around 0.00020mm built up on first a copper plate coat and then a nickel coat. A triple plating process is very hard wearing and will take a lot of hammering before water can make its way to the steel underneath.

However most decorative plating used on aftermarket pieces tends to be thin depth chrome over a single nickel plate layer both in the region of 0.00013mm As these layers are so thin in places where the underlying steel/iron extrusion or casting is not machined smooth it can erupt through the plate layer hence the idea of porous chrome. Chrome both nickel do corrode but the create an oxide layer on their surface which prevents further corrosion, polishing chrome with abrasives such as brasso actually make the chrome corrode faster as you remove the protective oxide layer.

If you really want to lock in the chrome from the elements which is what waxing does possibly the best product on te market is Harley davidson S100 Corrosion protector - harleys rust like B***hes otherwise. Marketed by HD but actually manufactured by I think 3M for them

Good stuff. I'll definitely do that then.

Is there a preference as to proper or liquid wax?

We've got that much wax and cleaning stuff you wouldn't believe

You can never have enough 'wax and cleaning stuff' NEVER!!!

No difference whether you use liquid or paste - just make sure it's a quality one.

It's a job for the expensive Swissvax then. Any excuse to get that out is good, it smells so nice

Another quick question if you don't mind (although I will do a search), how easy is it to replace the existing mirrors? What is the best process for taking them off?

Carefully take the bottom cover off. Undo the large bolt, you need a pretty big allen key, if not use the square end from a torque wrench or clamp a set of mole grips to it. Then your done.
You might have a bit of a problem getting the new ones on, the tread is only just long enough, make sure you've got a rubber washer to go on to help seal the hole and protect the paint.

Thanks for the advice kiteman, I hope to give it a go over the weekend

Also fit some duck tape on the door in the vicinity you'll be using a spanner etc to fit the mirrors. The last thing you want to do is scratch the paintwork.

Cheers Tim, it's so easily done. I'll be getting the tape out

I see what you mean by large allen key. My god that's a biggun'

I had to have a sneak peak when I had a spare minute before the weekend.

I think I'll go for the square on the torque wrench approach