Firstly I tried the screws that hold on the chrome surround around the turn
signals in front. I had sprayed them down pretty good with penetrating oil, but no luck. I think part of the problem is the undercoating is stuck in the
Phillips head screws. I think with the heat gun I can "burn" it out of the screw heads, but one of them is really close to the headlamp wiring so I would have to be extra careful, or set up a heat shield over the wires.
I cleared off the undercoating off the same area on the other side, and no luck with those screws either. I then moved to the headlights and headlight surrounds and buckets. They came out no problem, but like the turn signals, I couldn't see how to disconnect the wires to pull them out completely.
I took another look at the grill, and I'm pretty sure I have to pull the
turn signal surrounds to get it out.
Right now I can't tell how to remove the center Anglia emblem either. Maybe it will become more apparent after the grill is removed.
Frustrated, I decided to try my hand at a little bodywork with the hammer and dolly. I think I am going to have to remove the undercoating before I can get it to work well. I hard a hard time feeling where the hammer was hitting
Then good news, I tried loosening all the lug nuts and none of them were frozen, I had drenched them in penetrating oil the last 2 nights
Finally I wanted to see if I could get the taillights removed. Luckily there was no undercoating in the trunk area and everything was clean. I immediately saw that there were connections that I could undo to remove the tail lights completely, so that give me hope for the front lights, I bet the connections are just covered with undercoating and dirt.
I started on the drivers’ side light and was a little confused to see that there were 2 sets of both green and black wires, and only one of each was connected to the tail light. The reason for this became apparent when I moved to the passenger side and saw the license plate light hooked up to this "extra" wire. I assume the one on the other site may be there for a trunk light or other accessory.
The bolts for the taillights came out easy, but the gasket was holding the in
place. I used a plastic, maybe Teflon, putty knife to pry it out without
chipping the paint, since this area I plan on leaving white for the "stripe"
I also tried this tool to pry off the side chrome strip, which I was told would
just pry off from the bottom, but once again no luck. I really don’t want to
force it since I bet it would bend or break very easily. I might just mask it off when painting. I would rather have a little overspray, than a broken
irreplaceable trim piece.
Starting to accumulate quite a pile of parts on my other neglected cars
-James