Original 1275GT Rebuild

[minitim]

These were not chromed but zinc plated.
Cast iron even though plated will always come out a little dull.

[Jared Mk3]

I like the look of those Tim. How much did that set you back if you don't mind me asking?

[minitim]

Had a whole bunch of stuff done together at the time. Was around R500 for the whole lot, and that was more that 6 years ago.
Was a pleasure when assembling and seeing the final product!

[Jared Mk3]

^^^ That does look good! ^^^

Not a bad price either.

[Miniac]

Those shiny parts really do make a huge difference to the frame, thinking of sending some of my parts in for Zinc as well but it'll all happen in time.

Keep up the great work Jay, all of your projects are progressing so nicely.

[Jared Mk3]

Thanks Ed

[Jared Mk3]

Lower arms and pins ready and waiting :

[JAYO]

So meticulous. I like how everything gets touched with brilliance.
Coming together nicely Jay.

[Jared Mk3]

So meticulous. I like how everything gets touched with brilliance.
Coming together nicely Jay.

Thanks bud, appreciate the kind words

[Jared Mk3]

At long last, Photobucket has stopped being a b**ch and now works!

Got some updates on this. I've been busy with a couple cosmetic items for when the car is ready to go back together. First off, the tail lights. They were looking rather sad and the chrome had definitely seen better days in terms of shine. With a bit of elbow grease, I got a result. This is what I started with :

Lenses :



Housings :



I washed the lenses and then sanded them down with some 1500 wet/dry using water and soap. Using some Meguiars ScratchX I buffed the lenses and got rid of any further scratches and rubbings from the sandpaper. To give them some protection and shine I used some Meguiars Carnuba Wax.

This is what I ended up with (I did the reflectors separately and with the same process, including polishing the metal surround/backing) :



The light housings needed a bit more work. I had to get rid of black paint that was on the chrome and wash off years of dirt. Using metal polish and Meguiars Carnuba Wax, I got them up to a shine :





I still need some lense gaskets and body seals, but I couldn't resist having a look. Fitted the lenses to the housings :



And onto the car :

---

I then moved onto doing the grille!

This is what I started with :





Also, pictures that aren't often seen, but sometimes needed :

Centre badge fixings :



And GT badge fixings and bracket :



I then moved onto dismantling the whole item into its various bits :



I started with the centre badge :



Using some metal polish, Meguiars ScratchX and Meguiars Carnuba Wax I ended with this :



The GT badge got the same treatment :





The grille was the difficult part. I used the same process as the badges, but it took me considerably longer to finish. I did in all the nooks and crannies front and back to get it bright and shiny again. The reflectors got the same treatment as the rear light lenses.



And lastly, fitted up to the car to show the difference it makes :



No repainting was done at all.