Finally Part Of Club De-Tango

[Myley]

So I finally got round to de-tango'ing the tardis - I've had the headlamps out numerous times experimenting with different headlights and sidelights but always ignored the indications - BUT NO LONGER!

Tango

No tango!

Tango

Tango be gone!

The rears weren't much hassle to change, once I figured out how. The fronts however.... If I ever have to change one of those again I shall probably cry. Or buy another car. What a pain. My hands aren't the smallest so getting any leverage on that ridiculous plastic prong is just a nightmare. Someone at Ford needs to be publicly beaten for inflicting that on unsuspecting people.

Also, I did intend to de-tango the side repeaters but couldn't for the life of me figure out how the mirror cap comes off. I tried brute force and ignorance, in the vague directions indicated by the manual but felt like I was going to break the mirror off the hinge before the cap came off!

The day turned out to be quite nice (despite the rain earlier) so decided it also needed a quick seeing too. I clayed it the day before so had a nice surface from which to work.

The results:-

I used Megs Gold Class for soap, Poorboys black hole glaze and natty paste wax, AG fast glass, Megs trim detailer for the plastics and poorboys on the tyres.

Unfortunately the previous owner wasn't too careful and the car has a plethora of swirls, so if anyone knows of a good detailer in the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire area, let me know.

~M

[iNath]

Looking good, welcome to the club ;)

[Myley]

Looking good, welcome to the club ;)

Cheers muchly! Only problem with places like this is that now I'm eyeing up other things that 'need' doing to my car! Probably going to be an expensive endeavour.

EDIT: Oh, and the BT box is holding up nicely ;) Ford didn't like it when I told them I'd sorted the problem for a 1/3rd of their 'goodwill' price..!

[calummac21]

ill be the one to say, i love your badge ;) na na na na na na na na NA NA

[Myley]

ill be the one to say, i love your badge ;) na na na na na na na na NA NA

Haha, thanks! Caped Crusader FTW!

[Jack7]

Looks good, i felt the exact same after de-tangoing my fez.

Im also the same as u in that the last owner didnt care for the car much, the paintwork has a sort of rough feel to it & has a few scratches as well as swirls, think its in need of a really good detail, shame im an absolute novice haha!

[Myley]

Looks good, i felt the exact same after de-tangoing my fez.

Im also the same as u in that the last owner didnt care for the car much, the paintwork has a sort of rough feel to it & has a few scratches as well as swirls, think its in need of a really good detail, shame im an absolute novice haha!

I'm sure a good claying would get rid of the rough feel. Although my paint is hardly pristine, after claying and glazing my paintwork feels like glass :) the poorboys blackhole stuff is pretty nifty, although needs a good sealant or wax to keep it on any length of time. As for scratches and swirls... That's beyond my powers and I'm unwill to make the expenditure on a machine polisher!

EDIT: I forgot to mention - the black hole glaze is actually used to mask light swirls and scratches, so could be of some help to you.

[Jack7]

I'm sure a good claying would get rid of the rough feel. Although my paint is hardly pristine, after claying and glazing my paintwork feels like glass :) the poorboys blackhole stuff is pretty nifty, although needs a good sealant or wax to keep it on any length of time. As for scratches and swirls... That's beyond my powers and I'm unwill to make the expenditure on a machine polisher!

EDIT: I forgot to mention - the black hole glaze is actually used to mask light swirls and scratches, so could be of some help to you.

Cheers i might give that a try! Only thing is idk how good ill be at claying & i know if its done wrong it can cause further scratches :/

[Myley]

Cheers i might give that a try! Only thing is idk how good ill be at claying & i know if its done wrong it can cause further scratches :/

I've always just given the surface a damned good cleaning first, to shift as much of the big bits as I can, played with the clay a bit to make it a bit more malleable, then lube up and go (that's what she said)!

I'm told light pressure and repetitive circular motion is best, but I'm sure there are some people far more advanced than yours truly at detailing on here who could give you a proper how to. In my experience, claying is one of the easier things that can be done, though!

[calummac21]

Were the rear bulbs the same as the front, offset pins? And do you know if it's the same again or 501s for the mirrors?

[iNath]

Were the rear bulbs the same as the front, offset pins? And do you know if it's the same again or 501s for the mirrors?

Front & rear are the same, 501s for mirrors.

[GJC]

Finally 4/6th Detango'd the car, the last two being the wing mirror ones as they are buggers to remove. I 've also swapped to front projecter lights, and fitted nightbreakers on the high beams as well as moving the existing Xtreme Vision on the dipped beams in to the new lights..

Been on my list of to do's when I get time, along with sorting out the ESP and parking sensors issue, but lack of free time means it's just got put on hold, and as the bulbs finally arrived today I thought today was the day.

Now I'm relativly calm most of the time but I'd like to reserve two spacial places in car hell, One for the Front light designer and one for the rear light designer, I've skinned knuckles from trying to change the front indicator and I'd never like to meet the fitter who tightened the back wingnuts, they were really well tightened on liek that was the only screw holding them on.

There really no reason to make changing a consumable items as a bulb such a pain in the backside....

[iNath]

The wing mirrors are easy Gav ;) I agree about the front indicators, would love to meet the designer! (With a shovel...)

My rears were fine, factory worker must have been angry when he tightened yours!

[MartynS]

Think yourself lucky that you can actually change the bulbs yourself - a mate at work had a sidelight go in his Passat and to change that the front bumper had to be removed!

[GJC]

Grumble, whinge moan.

My front drivers side indicator bulb has developed an intermittant short, probably just a loose wire as the bulb works sometimes, so it's not blown..

Poxy design having to take the entire light assembly off to re-connect a bulb...

[GJC]

Alright I'm really Really confused, I've got an intermittantly failing indicator bulb, normally they either work or blow, not intermittantly fail. Swapped back to the factory bulb and no problems, so well and truly flummoxed...

Replacement silver bulb on order and might do the wing mirrors too this time.

Only problem is I damaged the back mounting lug, it's holding ok, it's not snapped off totally, but I'd prefer to bond it together to ensure it doesn't crack and drop the beam angle. Anyone any suggesiton what to use to bond it together? Epoxy resin or plastic padding?