Old Lady to Young Lady Part 13

Seeing that I am about to sell my Nissan Fairlady Z, I figured I should do a final restore that has been annoying me for some time. At the beginning of my ownership, I noticed the plastic cover on the driver's side of the rear bonnet that was always hanging. Once I thought it was loose, I just gave it a hit and it was ok. After a while, it was hanging again but the previous trick does not cut it anymore. One day while I was walking from the rear, I realized that it was not just the cover but my third brake light was also hanging. Another thing to restore was the dampers that support the boot while it is opened. I tried to find a replacement in the past but due to the high price, I did not proceed. The price for a pair of new boot dampers usually goes for around RM 400 but after 2 years, I found someone selling a pair of used dampers for only almost half the price. I decided to go ahead at the same because both are from the same section of the car, the rear. I went to buy the used dampers and I was excited that the dampers still has some strength to it. I need the boot to stay open in order to check and repair the hanging third brake light and plastic cover. So, the first step was to replace the boot dampers.

Pic Left: Using Wood to Hold, Pic Right: Used vs Original (spoilt)

The steps are easy and only simple tools were needed as I have removed the dampers before. I only had a problem attaching on the boot side because it was not easy to get the right height. The wood I used to hold up the boot was not long enough and so, I had to get help. When it was done, I thought the damper could hold the boot on its own but I was wrong. It was at that moment, I realized why it only cost almost half of a new pair. The answer was because the strength it had was only half of what it should have. I guess it could have supported the boot but the extra weight of the spoiler made it difficult. I did feel a difference with this used dampers though. It only requires half the energy to open the boot now. I still need the wood to hold the boot in place though to move to my next restore. I started to remove the plastic cover and saw that the third brake light was attached to another cover with screws. I opened the second cover and found out my third brake light was broken and that was why it was hanging.

Second Cover with light hanging. 

I checked the first plastic cover and was relieved that although some of the plastic was broken, all the clips were still there. This meant I can attached the cover properly. The second cover was also removed to access the third brake light. There is a part that was tightened onto the boot that broke off from the body. I removed the body of the light and the broken bit. Then, I found some super glue and stuck them together. I thought I saved a lot by DIY-ing but when I attached the repaired third brake light, it could not hold well. The second cover had to be attached to the light, while the light has to be screwed onto the boot. So, the heavy second cover was pulling the light down and the glue could not hold properly. It was a failure but I put everything together and covered with the first cover. The first cover supported both the second cover and light, relieving the stress on the light. I was able to cover everything nicely and I need to test my work. I drove around a couple of days and the cover never fell again. I might not have fixed the third brake light properly but the whole thing turned out well. I am happy.

After Glue

After Glue

Attached without cover flawlessly