Hornet...

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

Last little first-run rant... :-) Got a bunch of little stuff done
today, ready for front end alignment tomorrow AM.

I pulled all the green plastic light filters from the dash unit
during assembly, and got LED replacements for the wedge-base and
mini-bayonet base lamps. They're around a buck a piece, but don't
burn out.

Dash illumination is blue, put yellows in the LIGHTS - WIPERS and
heater control (for yellow/green), green in the tach, it's a bit
of a rainbow, but I want to see which work out the best, I'll
juggle them later.

LIGHTS - WIPERS and the tach need a small round bulb; the LED
replacements only come in the tubular shape and don't fit. It was
somewhat amusing to put the bulb in the vise and saw the end off
(since it's cast clear plastic).

Put the grille, crappy bumper, and crappy headlamp doors on.
Stripped all the black paint of the grilled, worked out pretty
well -- I'll flat-black the vertical connectors in the grille.
The one dent on the car is the nose of the drivers front, and a
bad (won't lay flat) hood hinge, and a year or two's of dirt, and
the car looks pretty shabby! But the approximate look I want is
visible if you squint through the uglies.

http://wps.com/temp/Hornet-nose-assembled2.jpg


Found a freeze plug weeping! I feared a bad install, but it looks
like it was hit too hard, the weep is on the inside of the brass
plug, a faint crack. For now, I sanded, degreased and epoxied,
should hold until the weekend.

The one fancy, needless item I've bought (besides the LED lamps)
was an automatic radio antenna. Did the last wiring on it, worked
great four (4) times, then the travel-limit switch died and it
ground the worm gear to death. P.O.S. Bougt a year ago, long lost
the receipt.