The Trunk Restored -- the Radio Revived

Having promised to write an article for the Know the Law page of North Fulton Living, I knew that the only way to meet its deadline was to forbid myself from blogging. Crafty me, I did not prohibit working on the Riv. So, now that the article is headed to the editor's desk, I have some news to share and pictures to post...



Saturday:

I began by replacing both license-plate lamps. Loose wiring meant that I had to install the left bulb twice, even though it lit the first time. I also found four lamp sockets in the tail lights with no bulbs (just above and below each reverse lamp). I inserted some spare bulbs into the sockets and quickly figured out why they had been empty: an electrical short causes them to burn regardless of whether the headlights or parking lights are lit -- they would have drained the battery lickety-split. So those extra sockets are still empty, but the license plate glows in the dark.



Next, I removed the trunk liners and gave them a good shampoo:

And I unscrewed the compact spare, took it out of its fabric wrapper, and measured its air pressure...no surprise, it rang up a goose-egg. So I unpacked the air compressor I bought last weekend and let 'er rip. With the tire full, I WD-40'd the wingnuts holding the jack in place, and pulled it out and gave it some lubing too.


Put them all back together, and shazam:


























But there was one mystery part floating around in the trunk...a cold Bud goes to the first one to tell me what this thing is for. I set it next to a gallon-size paint can to give you some perspective.



The last task of the day was to stop by AutoZone, hoping to score a wiper arm, because Pep Boys came up dry. No dice, and some time spent on-line didn't get much either. Looks like I'll have to call the dealership on that one.

Sunday:

I've scheduled the Riv's first public appearance for next Saturday, so I have to get cracking on the body. Today, paint cleaner went on the trunk, the rear fascia, and the left rear fender, all with substantial spot removal. She looks good, and if you've not been keeping track, only the driver's door remains untouched.


Between body panels, I unbolted the brackets holding the broken plastic part that runs behind the bumper from the rear fender around to the tail light assembly. (This pic is before the work; the after shot didn't work well at all).
Scrubbed the brackets down and taped them to a ziploc bag with the screws. I don't know if the replacement part will come with new brackets, but I'll give it a shot.

And the last, best news of all is that in the afternoon sun, enough light bounced into the garage so that I could replace fuse #7 with a yellow 20-amp version. Turned the key and the radio came on straight away....a bit scratchy at first, but with much better clarity after the speakers had the chance to dust themselves off.


My reward for that: a top-down trip around the block accompanied by Rachmaninoff....with not an idiot light in sight.