KEEPING BUSY DURING LOCKDOWN !

[The Voices]

Yesterday, I decided to use the headlight restoration kit that I bought weeks ago.

I already have the Autoglym one and used that a couple of years ago. The results were very impressive but the lenses have gone cloudy again.

The new kit was a 'Holts' branded one from Eurocarparts, comes with an attachment for the drill, 4x grades of sandpaper, abrasive polish, aerosol sealant and 2x microfibre cloths.

Worked very well and the plan for today was to apply the clear headlight protection film that I also happened to purchase months ago.

This is where everything started to go wrong !

The adhesive film instructions recommend a heat gun to help stretch the plastic over the headlights, I have one but never used it before, what could possibly go wrong ?

The S-Type has four individual front lights, I started on the outer passenger side lamp to get a feel for the process.......

Two hours later, with 3rd degree burns to one hand from the heat gun, craft knife cuts from trimming the protective film and one very sorry looking headlamp, I decided to call it quits and leave it to a professional (once life returns to normal)

To add insult to injury, removing the film was really easy !

Undeterred by this (minor ?) setback, I decided to take a look at fitting the replacement supercharger inlet pipe.

On one of the US forums, someone had fitted the larger diameter pipe from the supercharged Range Rover and reported a noticeable difference.

Guess what ?

I purchased the Range Rover inlet months ago and not had chance to fit it !

The replacement inlet has some casting marks that need to be removed before it will fit into place on the S-TYPE, armed with a 5" angle grinder, what could go wrong ?

Well, firstly the current Mrs Greenwood was not too impressed when I appeared in the back garden with my folding workbench, angle grinder and the aforementioned inlet pipe.

I think she was saying something about the noise but I couldn't hear her above the sound of the grinder ?

Anyway, all was going quite well, I was using a thin metal cutting disc and had to remove the spark guard from the grinder to get better access.....................

It's really surprising how well a metal cutting disc does when presented with gloves and fingers.

At least I now have an interesting scar to show the grand kids (if only I had some kids in the first place ?)


Managed to staunch the bleeding and carry on, only to burn out the motor on the grinder !

To be fair, it must be over 25 years old and has seen more action than Warren Beatty's mattress !

My wife displayed a remarkable lack of solidarity and found the cloud of smoke a electrical burning smell highly amusing ?


I had the last laugh however, my policy of 'multiple redundancy' kicked in (referred to by the wife as 'buying useless crap because it is cheap') and I emerged from the garage with, you guessed it, another brand new grinder that I just happened to have around !

Managed to complete the cutting without further impairment to my ability to count to 10 using my fingers, grinding it smooth is tomorrows job.


So, what could end such a perfect day you ask ?

Striding over a cat and falling down stairs is the answer !

Luckily only half a flight and my 'Mr Blobby' type of physique prevented any serious injury.

When can I go back to work please ?