|
Someone asked for pics etc. on my ecodes. Pic follows after the text below... This was a LOT of work. Dozens and dozens of hours.
The headlight buckets are from a '94 (if I recall correctly) Isuzu pickup. I'm told Toyota pickups may have the same lights. From a self-service junkyard. They originally held 6" x 8" USA type sealed beams; the e-codes fit in the same way. They have four mount "feet" that bolt to a radiator support bracket. In my case I put approx. 1.5 inch spacers between the rad support bracket and the headlight mount feet.
The early '80's Volvo 240s had a sheet metal plate behind the headlight bucket to keep rain etc. out of the engine bay; I added that to my setup.
Center grill is basic 240 grill. I removed the frame for scrubbing, priming, and painting with Duplicolor Pickup Bed Liner, a rugged and heavily textured paint. I should clearcoat over it but didn't get around to that yet.
Side grills are from a 740. Each is about 3/5 of a complete grill; you need two junker grills to do this. No-name dremel-type grinder to cut openings for the lamp housings. Lots of time and patience. Scuffed/scrubbed, primed and painted with pickup bed liner like the grill frame was.
I really wanted amber corner lights but would have had to pay about $70/pair plus shipping. I'm too cheap for that. So I mixed hobbyist acrylic paint to color the inner reflectors amber. In the side-angle detail pic you can see where I left one part of the reflector chrome to stay kinda within USA DOT specs.
I had the amber color mixed just about dead-on, but the color shifted when it dried so it turned out more like a safety orange. I mixed a new batch and did it over, with a base coat of white first. You don't need super-durable paint for this since the lens protects it very well.
I primed the chrome trim on the bumper wraparound trim piece with acrylic white primer made for aluminum and galvanized steel. I figured that might bond to whatever that stuff is (chrome? stainless??). It has held up very well. I painted oil-base black over that. Worked out OK but you can see the brush strokes since that was all brushwork. Fine by me. Poor man's black trim, and I was able to hand-paint coats on before work, on lunch breaks etc. No masking needed.
--
Sven: '89 245 NA, 951 ECU, open-front airbox, E-fan, 205/65-15's, IPD sways, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors, quad horns. Wifemobile '89 245 NA stock. 90 244 NA spare, runs.
|
