Hi Mike,
Apologiies only just seem this. I am lucky that mine was pretty good anyway and was just carbonated on the end. I know what you mean and I think yours has a different endcap as I;ve seen a few that are basically just rust. I used a Brillo pad on mine and then polished it with silver polish after.
I found a car locally that the guy decided to break as he had a lot of timewasters looking at it so I got a load of bits off it. It was an S reg 1.4 and mine is the T reg so I thought everything would be compatible, wrong. I know the later cars (from about V reg on) had an intermitent wiper setting option so when you fit a later wiper indicator stalk to an earlier car, it will keep blowing the wiper fuse. My car wouldn't auto cancel after right turns so I thought I'd change it (not that it botheres me as I cancel my indicators manually) and getting a spare from a car earlier than mine I thought I'd be safe, but no, so bang went the fuse and I had to refit the old stalk. I think I'll leave it on tbh now and the one I bought is for sale.
I got a new boot mat:
Old
New
I also got the spare wheel and tyre as I'm going to clean it and paint it up. I may powder coat it, if the surface is too rough to get a nice as new finish. I also plan to get the spare wheel tray powder coated too.
After the indicator stalk drama I did some more cleaning, the Ford badge was missing from the engine cover so I got a replacement cover and took the badge off it, I took the opportunity to clean and polish the cover too:
I friend then told me of APC (All Purpose Cleaner) that a lot of detailers swear by so I gave it a go on some of the brightwork in the engine bay. This bonnet stay grip was almost black when i started:
A weak spot on my car appears to be the door trims/clips, which fail and then become rattly. On the passenger side it is the clip thats failed so I've ordered new ones. They come in 2 parts and its the bit that clips to the door that usually breaks. On the drivers side its a bit more problematic, as you can see this is what the clip holder in the door SHOULD look like:
And this is what it actually looks like
This is the 'spare' doorcard I bought with exactly the same issue. So I will probably cut and graft some bits off this one to fit the other one, maybe re enforce it with a riveted plate or similar to stop it happening again.
So, after all that I decided to go for a short drive Sunday morning. Nothing fancy but I went to see the old Transporter Bridge in Newport
http://www.newport.gov.uk/heritage/index.cfm/transporterBridge/
But the pain point of my trip was to check out a 'Touchless & Spotless' drive through car wash. I'd heard about it online and its one of the few in the UK at present but they are popular in America. Intrigued I took the Puma up there, its between £8-£10 depending what was you have. I couldnt get out of the car but here are some pics of another car going through it (taken from detailingworld)
The car is then blown dry, here is the Puma afterwards:
My verdict? It's good as it obviously doesnt touch the car but also jet washed underneath. However for £9 I can get my car washed twice in my local jet wash with a wax finish (only the £10 option gives you this) and the car wasn't fully dry and spot free afterwards. There are arguments for and against, but one big plus for this is the underbody washing. I would probably use it if it were too cold to hand wash my car, or maybe once a fortnight in winter as it would be great for keeping salt at bay.
Plans for later in the year are repairing the arches, oil & filter change and some new tyres.