Bargain Basement Motoring

[Rp0thejester]

I sold my Xsara to CoParts, wish I sold it part by part. If on a Micra forum you'd probably get a better price per part plus sell the rest to the scrap man, quids in.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I'll not be getting rid of it just yet. The most likely outcome will be putting it in for the test down at the Northumberland County Council Testing station, and seeing what crops up. Possibly SORN ing it for a while and ticking the bits off the list (if there is one) over a couple of months. The Micra is too useful as a standby, and I wouldn't get a better or more reliable second hand vehicle, and its paid for! It may have a bit of a sabbatical due to the price of fuel, but its not going to the scrapman any time soon. Its appearance is rough round the edges but it is an excellent car.

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

The guy who looked at my neighbours car didn't come back but another one came today and gave her £300 no questions asked and drove it away.

[Rp0thejester]

Yeah 300 quid sounds right, anyone got a driveable C8 diesel for sale?? I need those parts!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I have edited in a bit to my previous post after surveying the scene this morning in the sunlight...

I do have, one very clear headlight on the offside and a clear but a distinctly worse shade of clear on the nearside. Gave that a bit of a brillopadding, clear enough (edit yes it was when it was recently rinsed and wet, in the clear light of day the brillopadding was probably the worst thing I could have done, too much bargain basement thinking there, lenses now worse than they were before as may well have been predicted with some serious polishing off of the too deep scratches left by the too abrasive pad. , but it still shown up by the other one.

Bit of a schoolboy error. Brillo pads totally not recommended!

Headlights for the Micra are pricier than they were for the Clio, and the usual sources of cheap "they'll do" parts fail to have what they describe as a Left Hand one in stock. Depends which way you are looking at it of course, I like Nearside and Offside, but then again those terms would be different for LH drive cars as opposed to RH drive cars.

The duffer one of the 2 headlights currently on the car is branded as TYC....same brand offered by ECP/Carparts4less. The offside one looks as good as new.

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

I tried for ages with toothpaste, autosol, Jif and anything else I could find around the house, none of it effective and on closer examination found that there was a sort of algal growth on the inside of the lenses (C5).
Bought new/second hand from eBay at twenty five quid a throw and all was good.

800 grit wetordry used wet seems to be the answer though.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I tried for ages with toothpaste, autosol, Jif and anything else I could find around the house, none of it effective and on closer examination found that there was a sort of algal growth on the inside of the lenses (C5).
Bought new/second hand from eBay at twenty five quid a throw and all was good.

800 grit wetordry used wet seems to be the answer though.

Thanks Steve, when I had the lights debate for the Clio earlier in the thread you posted up a series of vids which I have revisited (link). They go clear when the deeper scratches are polished out, I think there is a decent chance of revival and the finer grade wet and dry might help. I would fail them just looking at the difference one brand new and one not yellowed but dull and opaqued with the brillo pad scratches.

REgards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I've had success every time starting with 120/240 W&D then going through 400, 800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000 to leave a final polish with windolene and microfibre cloth to finish the job. The secret is don't rush it, use plenty of water and work each grade until you have the same finish right across the lens. Works for me!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I've had success every time starting with 120/240 W&D then going through 400, 800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000 to leave a final polish with windolene and microfibre cloth to finish the job. The secret is don't rush it, use plenty of water and work each grade until you have the same finish right across the lens. Works for me!!

Thanks Mick, good to know first hand of a method that works

Looks like you are well stocked on the wet and dry front Mick! By the time I've bought all of those grades from Halfords, I would be nearly up to the price of a new headlight

Never really been shopping for W&D before, I imagine the shops selling "loose" single sheets are few and far between, so you are into multi packs packs of 4 or more with some assortment 4's offering 240/400/800/1200 a la Halfords.

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

You'd get most of the way with this pack for a fiver, just get a sheet of 3000 to finish :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124668427077 ... Sw9NRgayAl

[NewcastleFalcon]

You'd get most of the way with this pack for a fiver, just get a sheet of 3000 to finish :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124668427077 ... Sw9NRgayAl

Much appreciated Mick, saves looking around for a quaint little hardware shop on the great British High Street which would put the selected sheets in a brown paper bag, write the price on it and send you downstairs to pay cash at a press button cash register that dings when the sale is rung up and the drawer shoots out. (that was Smails at Morpeth's Modus Operandi, a gem of old-fashioned-ness now of course an Italian Restaurant.)

Goodness knows if I will be able to resurrect it from my Brillo pad aberration, I wonder what grit of sandpaper the equivalent of a brillo pad is

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

The cheapo high street shops sell packs of assorted wet & dry for not much cash, B&M and Home Bargains and the like.

[Rp0thejester]

Strange thing is I have an article hidden somewhere in a modelling magazine which shows how to use wet and dry sandpaper to polish paint and make it super shiny with no varnish.

[NewcastleFalcon]

The cheapo high street shops sell packs of assorted wet & dry for not much cash, B&M and Home Bargains and the like.

Thanks Gibbo,
this is now the start point. Nearly went into "Yorkshire Trading" today as they are similar to B&M etc. Need to see what they have got in the wet and dry department. Got a set of ratchet straps cheap from there, which I employ to good effect as coil spring compressors when the need arises.

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

offside (clear)

nearside (duff)

Reminder...how to make things worse by "cleaning" plastic headlamps with a brillo pad.

Regards Neil