What did you do to your x40 today???

[Matt86]

Originally Posted by GaryS40

Good news for Matt, too.

- Need plenty of that too lately!

[brynmor530]

Removed the front bumper from mine today. I need to sort out a leaking windscreen washer bottle, a duff headlight wiper motor, fit my front splitter and clean out my misted up spot lights. Anybody got any tips on any of those?

[GaryS40]

Originally Posted by brynmor530

Removed the front bumper from mine today. I need to sort out a leaking windscreen washer bottle, a duff headlight wiper motor, fit my front splitter and clean out my misted up spot lights. Anybody got any tips on any of those?

When I fitted my splitter, I placed the bumper upside down on a blanket, on a pair of work mate benches. I used masking tape to hold the splitter sections in place, prior to marking the fixing holes.

Wiper motor is straight forward, but make sure the bracket is the same depth on the new one, or it doesn't fit properly. If it is different, it is a simple job to swap over the brackets.

Never had to deal with the water bottle, but it seems to be easily accessed with the bumper removed.

Try a hair dryer, blowing in through the bulb socket to dry out the front fog lights.

Gary

[brynmor530]

Thanks for the tips Gary.

Sorry I should have been more specific about the fog lights. They are bone dry inside but the inside face of the glass has fogged over giving them an opaque appearance. Do you think White Spirits or some other type of thinners might remove the it?

[Slackey]

Try toothpaste to clean them up. Failing that meguirs do a headlamp restoration kit. My mate has used it on a couple of cars and it brings them up like new.

[Grumpywurzel]

Originally Posted by Slackey

Try toothpaste to clean them up. Failing that meguirs do a headlamp restoration kit. My mate has used it on a couple of cars and it brings them up like new.

Agree, toothpaste or if that takes too long pop over to Halfrauds for some Rubbing compound http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_165625 or T-Cut does the trick too.

[GaryS40]

Originally Posted by brynmor530

Thanks for the tips Gary.

Sorry I should have been more specific about the fog lights. They are bone dry inside but the inside face of the glass has fogged over giving them an opaque appearance. Do you think White Spirits or some other type of thinners might remove the it?

I wouldn't use thinners, as it could knacker your seals.

That is unless you are removing the glass to clean it.

If not splitting them, try feeding a piece of clean cloth in through the bulb hole and move it around by twisting the cloth, or using a pencil/paint brush handle to rub the inside of the lens.

Gary

[GaryS40]

Tyres delivered today, for the Arcadias,but I am in Newcastle.

Luckily the wife asked the shopping delivery man to put them in the shed for her - that's resourceful, I think.

Did a nine hour drive today, from Montrose, to Inverurie, down to Edinburgh, then on to Newcastle. All in a Vauxhall 'Transit' type van, in the crappy wind and rain. :-(

Gary

[Baffler]

Originally Posted by brynmor530

Thanks for the tips Gary.

Sorry I should have been more specific about the fog lights. They are bone dry inside but the inside face of the glass has fogged over giving them an opaque appearance. Do you think White Spirits or some other type of thinners might remove the it?

If they're like the inside of the headlamp glass lens, which has an anti-fog coating, I wouldn't recommend touching them with anything. My guess is they were subject to moisture ingress (possible poor seals) and need a proper drying out. If they were mine I'd remove them from the car, remove the bulb holders, of course, and pop them in the oven at a low temp, say 80 to 100°c, for 30 to 40 minutes to re-cure/dry the coating. Worth a try before applying any solvent to them.

[brynmor530]

Thanks for the input guys. Spots were bone dry but had developed a white film on the inside of the glass. The rubbing compound trick worked perfectly thanks. I was able to remove the adjustable part of the spot lights on the back (the bit the bulb holder fits into) for easy access. Long thin fingers helped and I didn't even have to move the adjuster so they popped back in and are still set correctly.

Washer bottle is leaking from the grommet the rear pump sits in so that's an easy fix. Awaiting a replacement headlight wiper motor as I couldn't get the original to operate reliably and have fitted the front splitter. Also done some rust killing and stone guarding on the front of the car and the metal armature that attaches to the back of the front bumper. If I had a wiper motor I could put it all back together tomorrow but I'll have to wait for the new one to arrive.