Priority is to get it legal and running. Maybe Youtube has body work videos.

 

How are the headlights Jim? On a vehicle of that age, I would expect the headlight lenses to be yellow/fogged. On MDW Tacoma,, which is "only" 10 years old, I have been looking at replacements. For some reason replacements used to be a couple hundred dollars, but as I was poking around, I have found them for around $40-$50. We live out in the boonies, and decent headlights are a necessity.

 

I agree. My number one priority is getting it legal. That will happen Monday. As for the headlights. I bought the battery today, but did not install it yet. I ordered upper and lower radiator hoses, and the lower one arrives tomorrow. After they are installed with a new thermostat, I will install the battery and try to start it. Once it is running, I will check all the lights. I have a headlight restoration kit, which I can use to help get rid of the yellowing of the lights, but eBay has some pretty good halogen ones for around $53 I believe.

Jim

 

A lot of options for lighting. HID & LED vs halogen. You can always install auxiliary lights. When I had a '97 Explorer, I installed Hella brand 9007 halogen. That was 80 watts low beam, 100 watts high beam. Hella 100 watts Yellowstone went into the fog lamps. If your halogen lamp is aimed correctly, you don't blind anyone, and the higher wattage lights up the road well.

I use LED lights in my cars now. A 7 watt LED is brighter than 55 watt halogen. LED light bars are installed instead of the old school, big, round off-road lights.

I heard from guys that own shops, that they like the 3M brand headlight restoration kit. I think GlueGuy is right about buying new lights. Rock Auto and Amazon has parts like that at much lower than dealership pricing.

 

 

Wow, that is cheap. The lights I mentioned on eBay are the housing and the bulbs, not just the bulbs. However, if I polish the current lenses and install new bulbs, I could probably get close to the $53 ones without spending that much. Especially since the guy that wanted my rack has yet to come over. He is slammed during the holidays and can't seem to get a day off. Of course, he could be pulling my chain too.

Jim

 

I did the restoration trick on Mama's Tacoma about a year ago. I didn't buy a "kit", but instead used a small container of Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish. I just chucked a small buffer into a drill and went to town on buffing out the headlights. It did a remarkable job of taking out all the yellow, but could not fix the cracks. I think the little tub of Mother's cost me about $10. Very cost effective if that will work for you.

Well, the cracks are catching up, and are now a bigger issue than the yellow. So I think I will order a new set of headlight assemblies. It looks like a pair of them can be done for a little over $80, and they will look "like new". Maybe about an hour of my time, as the R&R will require removing the grill and a couple of trim pieces. Mama will be happy too.

 

The kit I bought years ago came with the smaller buffer you put in an electric drill, and the compound, and blue tape to mask off the area. I bought it so long ago I can't remember the price. I have seen YouTube videos on other people doing it, and some use 2000 and 300 grit sandpaper to finish it off. Wetsanding of course. One person suggested 3m clear film to install after everything is done to prevent the UV rays from yellowing the lens in the future. I will have to see if I can find that video.

Jim

 

I think I'd try to fill the cracks in with "jewelers epoxy". Jewelers epoxy usually hardens clear/colorless.
Might need to sand & buff out again afterwards.

 

I heard that if it's just the headlight lens turning yellow, you could just use toothpaste to buff the lens. I haven't tried it myself.

Christmas Eve. Downtown SF. No traffic. Plenty of parking. Weird. Most stores were empty. Except for high end retailers. Gucci, LV, Coach, Tiffany.......the most expensive stores had long lines. People with money to spend, are spending it in high price ranges.

And since I don't have money to spend on an expensive purse, nor the need for the purse......I took a few minutes to look at Jim's truck's lamps. A lot of options online.

 

Not bad prices. This is what I am looking at.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Headlight-S...b/351003103413

Got the battery installed, but the truck won't start. it spins over, and acts like it wants to start, but so far, no go. The lower radiator hose has not arrived, and right now there is no water in the engine, so even if it did start, I would not keep it running too long. A friend installed the upper radiator hose, but he installed the thermostat backwards. So I have something to do tomorrow after all.

Jim

 

In the old days, with some older cars, I knew guys who ran their cars without a thermostat at all. Car has a continuous open loop of coolant flow. It never overheats. No chance ever of a stuck thermostat. Obvious drawback is that the car doesn't warm up the way that it should. You will burn more fuel until you drive the car enough to reach an optimal operating temperature. Your tailpipe emissions may be higher. But those guys said that you just have to take the car for a nice long drive to warm up the engine before going for a smog test.

I like to install lower temperature thermostats. So instead of 195 degrees, the thermostat would open at 175 degrees. Even with modern OBDII vehicles, where the car starts with open loop then switches to closed loop, and the engine coolant temperature is suppose to reach 170 degrees as one of the condition for the computer to clear the P1000 code and determine emissions readiness; there was never a problem with the lower temperature thermostat. But with OBDII Ford drive cycles, the evap monitor, and the computer having a P1000 code even though your check engine light is not on; it's a little harder to get around the smog check. Maybe impossible to cheat the smog check. Luckily, none of the cars I have now, have the problem of failing smog because of the check engine light.

I do recall in years past, smog shops would always fail your inspection, then quote you a huge repair bill for a bunch of things, even though the car ran just fine. I always suspected that they didn't actually do anything to the car, charged you a few hundred dollars for an 02 sensor or adjusting air fuel mix, then sold you a smog certificate on your "pass or don't pay" smog check. Suspicious how your car never passes, unless you pay the shop for some sort of repair or adjustment. In the 80's, not many people knew much about how the smog check worked, there was no internet to research and learn with, and cars did not have an OBDII system hooked up to The State's computer. These days, the smog check guy can't BS you about your car not passing, then shake you down for unnecessary repairs. A few times, I left the shop, went to another shop, and the next shop would pass the test and issue the smog certificate. Shop #1 would say, "you'll need new plugs, wires, cap & rotor, and a new o2 sensor, your engine's running rich, the engine isn't burning off all the fuel during combustion, it's fouling the sensor as it burns off in the catalytic converter, and you have a few exhaust leaks so we need to replace the exhaust manifold gasket and install a new cat back system." Shop #2, "the tailpipe sensor readings are fine, that's all that should matter, you're not a gross polluter, here's your smog certificate, and go back to the first guy and call him a lying sack of *****, have a nice day."

 

That eBay pair looks pretty good. I noticed that the online sellers aren't selling OEM Ford Motorcraft parts. I don't know if that bothers you. Some people don't like aftermarket parts, and insist on OEM factory parts. Although I don't know if you can still find OEM parts for a '92.

Try the toothpaste first. Then use that kit you already have. If it works, you saved yourself $60. Which you can spend on LED lights. Maybe it's an optical illusion. But my eyes believe that LED lights are brighter, and work better. Not just on cars. All of my cars have LED lights, in every socket - interior, parking lights, signal lights, brake lights, head lights, fog lights. My truck and van both have LED offroad light bars. I've even switched my whole house to LED lighting. Every room has LED lights. In the back yard, and in front of the house along the sidewalk and driveway, I installed solar powered LED motion detector lights. I even installed LED lamps into my old flashlights.

 

The thermostat I bought is 192. That is what is recommended, and I have no problem putting it in. I used to replace my thermostats with 180's but I am going with a 192. Engine will warm up faster and get that heater working LOL. I have not thought about switching to LED's, but might be worth it. I am going to have the truck towed to my favorite mechanic this weekend. I am thinking something is wrong with either the fuel pump, or filter, or the pickup in the tank. And all of them will require dropping the tank. Something I am not going to try myself. Besides, this way it is guaranteed to to run. Just a lot more expensive.

Merry Christmas all!

Jim

 

Happy day after Christmas. Pretty soon it will be 2021 and this year will be over.

Jim