polishing headlights

Improving 14 year old headlights for about $25 and a few hours easy work. 

Most of the time is to allow drying after each step.

I used 1000, 2000 then 3000 grit 2 inch sanding disks in a drill to wet sand, followed by hand sanding then washing and drying at each step. Then I put on gloves and applied Wipe-New.

I had not used Wipe-New" before. The result is impressive.

The "AFTER" picture
<click to enlarge>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "BEFORE" picture

The headlight as it was with masking tape applied to the surrounding paint.

Hard to believe it was this bad.

Three steps of progressively finer sanding disks were used wet followed by cleaning and drying after each.

Machine sanding with the drill was followed with hand sanding with the same grade pad at each step.

New sanding disks were used for each headlamp at each step.

Wipe-New back of package

Contains:
tert-butyl acetate,
1-choro-4-(trifloromethyl)
benzene and benzaldehyde.
Wear gloves.
Use outside.

Have both headlights prepared before you open this package. It evaporates very quickly.
Wipe each headlight only once to coat the surface.
I went in horizontal strips.
The applicator works well.
Do not try to touch up.
Wait for an hour.

Wipe-New package

Wipe-New product link

I bought at Canadian Tire for about C$20 +tax

    The live action "TECHNIQUE" video

 

The final result.

I am very pleased!

I will see better in the dark and will not confuse on-coming drivers.

Thanks for your interest.

George Plhak
Lions Head, Ontario, Canada

fixing old stuff

Troubleshooting two big old Tektronix 7854 in my garage. The first analog oscilloscope with a computer. An oscilloscope lets you "see" electricity.

 

Currently I am checking the LV power supplies. I think I can operate them completely out of the scope.

 

I hope it will be an advantage to be able to compare one scope to the other. I have already found a few things

 

I have the 3" thick paper Tek manual with beautiful foldout diagrams and all the update pages (late issue).

 

And I have a third working 7854 on a cart in the house. I can always open that one up too :)

 

Why do this?

 

These scopes might be forty years old. A modern $400 oscilloscope from China does more, better, smaller, lighter, and is way cheaper (but probably not with 400MHz bandwidth).

 

The 7854 was introduced in 1981 at a base cost of US$10,500. In my 1987 Tek catalog it lists for $16,220 but by then included the waveform calculator and the extra memory option. Project Leader on this scope was Tom Rousseau. More about Tom and the 7A26 amplifier.

 

Some people collect old cars.

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

George Plhak
Lions Head, Ontario, Canada

 

easy change

John Deere Easy Change oil system

Today I tried to change the "Easy Change" oil filter on my cute little John Deere E120 lawn tractor. I am supposed to easily remove a canister that contains the filter and about a third of the engine oil and replace with a fresh unit. No need to drain the oil, they say. Cost locally at Home Despot is C$70. They call it Easy Change. First time I have tried it. It was anything but easy.

 

Normally, an oil and filter change takes about a hour if done carefully and costs about $20 with good quality oil and filter. Virtually all of the engine oil gets replaced with new, not just a portion.

 

But I am stuck. The old canister came off with some effort. Push and turn counterclockwise they say. Difficult to remove but it seemed to come off OK.

 

The new filter did not lock into position as it should. It is in the middle and it is really stuck. There was a click but I cannot remove it or force it to the fully locked position

 

In a conversation this morning with my local JD dealer 1 hour away they say "put the tractor on your trailer and bring it in. We will get it off for you while you wait". Thanks. I don't have a trailer.

 

<more conversation with the dealer>

 

I am going there tomorrow to get the parts to remove the "Easy Change" oil filter system and replace with a conventional filter and drain port.

 

JD equipment with an Easy Change oil system can be fixed. 

 

It is a bad idea that can be retrofitted for less than the cost of one canister.

 

Big Thanks to <my local JD dealer> for help.

 

Thanks for your interest.

George Plhak
Lions Head, Ontario, Canada