They will care about the rust and metal shavings from the pits.

 

Its been cooler week around here, ol McDonald had a farm.

 

I polished the front windshield. What a HUGE improvement.

Like so many people do, the previous owner had streaked the windshield with the wiper blades. It was worse on the driver's side, but both sides were grooved badly enough that the morning glare could be blinding.

I bought some glass polish, put a polishing disk on a random orbit sander, and lightly went over just the driver's side. Having never polished a windshield before, I chose to cut "too fine" instead of "too much". 4 passes (2 horizontal and 2 vertical) and test the results. Wow! The streaks were still visible, but the sharp edges were gone and the morning glare is virtually non-existent.

After 2 more passes over the entire windshield, the streaks are visible only in the right light.

I'm going to apply two more passes with the expectation that the windshield will look like new.


~Bass

 

I don't understand how people can neglect the wipers for that long that it damages the windshield. I'd be worried about the rest of the truck. Something as simple as changing the wipers is neglected ?

Around here windshields don't get the time to wear. I think I have 4 impacts dings from rocks and a crack that is now about the size of half the windshield. Will be replaced Friday.

 

I've always been meticulous about replacing "old" wipers. Even my 200,000+ mile '97 F150 has a like-new windshield.

My wife has taught me that regular maintenance is not always enough though. The windshield on her 2000 Taurus was significantly grooved when we sold it. In her case, it was running the wipers/washers on the dirty windshield. You just can't lubricate dirt/sand enough to keep it from scratching the glass.

Plus, I'm a big believer in Rain-X. I seldom actually use the wipers.

 

I guess you neglect to have a clean windshield it would do the same... Still needs to do that for a while. I wonder if some types of glass used are 'softer' than others...?

Won't see that around here. I drive in rain about 3 times a year. And out of those 3, only 1 is enough to rain to use the wipers. Wipers dry out here, they don't wear out from usage... :-)

 

About 20 years ago I was in Phoenix for work. Flew in about 5, got to the job site, and got to work. About 9PM the inside of the building resembled a ghost town as everyone in the office raced to the front office. I stopped somebody and asked what was going on and the reply was, "it's raining!". About that time I heard thunder and realized that an intense thunderstorm had formed right over the Southern part of the city. Being from Florida, I didn't see what the big deal was. To the locals, it was as if Santa was landing on the building.

 

Nah, that ain't gonna happen. I am the king of making marginal parts work due to not being able to afford new parts for many years.
That case hardening is so hard and the pits are so small it won't even faze it.

 

No none are softer. You have to keep an eye on the ends of the wipers which is where they start coming apart and digging in. It is easy to miss it because they appear to be in good shape overall.

 

lol. Yup, it's a special event here.
I didn't grow up here but grew up in a very rainy area so it's still no big deal to me after being here 18 years.
Unfortunately many idiots here can't drive in the rain at all. And some think their cars or even trucks can magically float thru a wash that can turn into a raging river in mere seconds when those thunderstorms happen. The ground is so hard and dry it doesn't absorb water quickly so it runs off... FAST.

 

Converted my Ex to `05 Harley style headlights.


Here's the Before:

Here's the after:

 

cleaned and oiled the rear hatch mechanism. I got the actuator to work so it locks/unlocks but the key isn't working at all. I took the tumbler out and oiled/blew it out and worked it over for about 30min and still nothing. I'm starting to wonder if it's even the right one for my key. So the next question is if i wanted to replace it how do i go about getting a tumbler for the hatch that matches my keys?.....well at least for now i can finally lock my rear hatch when i drive to the city.

 

Looks good, still have the old lights ? I could use them.

 

As a matter of fact I do.
I was going to ask if anyone wanted them after I got the new ones on permanently - but considering the modification to the header panel, I guess I can get rid of them now.
I would recommend getting the Mother's Headlight restore kit for these though.
There's just a light haze on them that I know will clean up nicely with that kit and a power-ball. I'll even toss in the Sylvania Ultrastar's (close to $40 alone for those.)
PM Me an offer if you want them.

 

Where did you get the Harley style lights?