my 83 cabriolet reflector delete thread...
 

Well, here we go again... I got into work early today and cutout to size some the mesh that some of you had ordered for the decklid grille replacements. Big THANK YOU to MARK ROGERS, who was nice enough to share his scrap for my little experimet. Thank Mark, I owe you...SmileWavy

So, at lunch today, I carefully and agonizingly (is this a word?) removed my reflector from the car. Man, this was touch to do from a mental standpoint. As you can see below, the platic pieces that mount the reflector to the body are glued on, and mine already had one loose for some reason, in the process of prying this loose, the other 2 middle ones came loose as well, but finall the reflector was off...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196451794.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196451827.jpg

Next, I got my mesh piece out and carefully (lots of sharp edges that could easily scratch paint!) positioned it in place to take some pics. This is where I am at now. I plan on making a "picture" frame for it out of Al that will lay on top of the mesh to secure it in place. It will be probably 1/2-1" wide on the edges of the frame. I also want to cut square holes in this panel behind the reflector, like this beautiful car:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196452510.jpg

Opinions are welcome, as nothing is final and set in stone yet here. And don't worry about hurting my feelings... I'm like a duck of sorts... I would rather have honest opinions to help me think about this some more. Here are the pics...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196452149.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196452166.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196452185.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196452203.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196452230.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196452261.jpg

After looking at my pics again, I think it will look MUCHO better wants I have the bumperettes removed...

That was an interesting way of removing the rear reflector.

Yes it was... I was told by a few that it should carefully pry off on an 83. Not sure I would do it this way again though...

Hopefully you didn't completely destroy the reflector. The original black letter ones in good condition are NLA and are getting hard to find. Last year I got almost $400 on eBay for a used one I had sitting around forever.

Well, it's far from being destroyed luckily. The only "damage" if you could call it that are the 3 middle plastic clips that detached from the reflector itself... but they all detached cleanly at the glue joints. In fact, one of mine was already detached, so I needed to remove and restore the reflector anyway. And then once I got it off, man what a mess behind there... it will be nice to get that cleaned up. Not too mention I found that there were a couple of worn spots on the back side of the reflector, and on my right side end piece of the reflector, it is half filled with water. I am going to see if dries out well in a nice warm room for a few days, otherwise I will try some LOW pressure air to try to dry it out. I found on the back side that there is one or two holes (factory) on those 2 end pieces. Not sure what they are for. Anyway, I only have one to deal with as the other is dry.

On the next pics, you can barely see the faint line going across that end piece. That is the water.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196458005.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196458029.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196458047.jpg

best under 200 upgrades .

If you are going to try to clean up that reflector, be very careful about messing with that grey paint on the backside of it. It's not just "ordinary" paint. Don't put solvents on it or scrub on it. If you wear through it, you'll get those "discolored" areas on the reflector, and I'm not sure how you ever really fix that, or if its possible to do it correctly.

I'd be inclined to just glue the broken off mounting pieces back on, and call it a day.

Yep.

McNichols sells ready made edging for mesh, if you're interested.

Yes. ONCE they're removed.

You going to plug the holes and paint?

Milt - thanks for the tip on McNichols.

tcar - I am still not clear on which way I want to go with my rear bumper. Originally, I had planned to "just" smooth it up, but I have a couple of other ideas I am still working through on paper.

As far as the reflector goes, I am going to review the threads I have seen before on this... I thought that some here had had success with different silver paints followed by grey primer. And never to be one to leave good enough alone. I had hoped (with the idea that if worst came to worst, I could redo it as I just mentioned) to try something a bit different with the reflector to just see what it would look like.

Question pertaining to above, if the reflector can be restored, and I want to start fresh on that backside, would soda blasting be too harsh to use on that backside plastic?

86 the dead weight
 

V8;

86 the bumperettes, smooth the bumper, and put the reflector back. The mesh doesn't get it..too ghetto...

Daring.... not leather boots but still daring.... I agree lose the bumperettes....Paint under the mesh black

LOL! [in my best Gumpanese] "... mama always said life was like an old pair of womens leather boots..."

On the serious side, yeah, I am glad someone besides me thought of the background needing to be black.

Well, I showed everyone on our drive today. I am not completely sold on it, and have not ever been really, just playing around. But I have been toying with another similar idea. I ned to repair my reflector glue joints anyway. Well, I am thinking about stripping off the factory paint on the backside. Then, mask off the now clear/red porsche letters (not sure what they will be when black paint is removed, anyone know... Next, I will paint the back of the reflector either black or dark charcoal color, to try to black it out. Anyone out there ever tried this? Any pics? I have been reading old threads on various boards, and at this point feel confident that the reflector could again be restored to a "factory" finish (looks wise anyway) by restripping the black/charcoal off and applying the silver, black on letters, and then grey primer on all. Just thinking outloud, please tell me if I am on a slippery slope. I do not wish to destroy a basically good black letter reflector in this process.

Maybe re-read post #8 above...

I think I understand your reservations about this. In my searching on this topic the other night, I believe I remember another thread where you had tried to make spot repairs I believe, and you said it did not work because you could still see blotchy areas afterward. I hope I have all of that straight, sorry if I do not.

That said, I have also (from the other night) read posts from people who thought that their spot repairs turned out great.

What I am proposing is maybe a little different I think in that I am saying I will remove ALL of the factory "paint" from the back of the reflector, and in repainting the blank canvas if you will, I would think that at a minimum, there would be no blotchy areas when done. I guess the worse case scenario would be a blotch-less but not factory finish on the reflector, provided anyone could tell when all was said and done. I am sure others have had to or will have to do this at some point. I am just throwing around ideas in the midst of my search for information hoping someone might be able to show before and after pics, etc.SmileWavy

wire mesh
 

Good idea, The custom look would be inhanced with a clean rear bumper, I do think that the mesh wire you used is to thin, there are perforated metal panels that may be a option, like the grilles on a sub woofer . small square openings. keep thinking.

more ideas...
 

I had a few minutes at lunch today and decided to play around on photoshop. Not sure if this is what I want, but just trying to see some options. I have acquired a reflector from another pelican to be able to play around with on the refinishing techniques, so more to come on that later, until then, here are a couple of quick and dirty attempts at it:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196796150.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196796170.jpg

I've got a friend who used a brushed stainless steel panel in its place, on a 914 that is mostly silver. It looks very nice, but that strategy might not be as attractive on a Burgundy car.