One little job that I needed to do on Elsie May was to replace the passenger side quarterlight, as its catch was broken.
Fortunately I had another, so this was removed from a spare door and cleaned up.
However, upon removing it, I was faced with the condition of the bottom peg on which the quarterlight pivots open and closed.
This was found to be very rusty, indeed part of it had been eaten away, fortunately no so much as to be unusable but certainly a matter for concern.
The solution for me was to wire brush / wool it clean enough to be treated to a good dolop of multi-purpose grease, smeared around it thickly and for the hole in which it sits to be packed with the grease also. This should repel water enough to protect it and has the added benefit of a nicely freed up quarterlight but not one so free as it won't sit in position when open.
Whilst I was at it I also treated the catch to some 3 in 1 oil.
This was repeated on the drivers side, even though this catch wasn't broken.
- Quarterlight picture 1.JPG (957.6 KiB) Viewed 400 times
- Quarterlight picture 2.JPG (291.38 KiB) Viewed 400 times
Every time it rains or we wash our cars this peg (picture 2) gets a soaking, which it is effectively left to sit in.
Of course, over time, it will rot.
But how many of us think twice about it, so long as the quarterlight looks clean and shines.......
Not me I admit, until now. From now on I will be checking them and greasing them soon after taking on a car.
Like I said, a simple job, half an hours work.
The fiddliest things are the hinge screws themselves, getting them out is easy enough but they are a bit fiddly to get back in, as you have to position the hinge as you re-insert the quarterlight, before you screw it back together.
Otherwise you either won't be able to get the peg in its hole, or the top and bottom parts of the hinge back together, with it screwed in place beforehand.
Also the screws are extremely short and easy to drop, so be careful not to loose them.
As an aside, with the glass removed, in my case so I can remove and replace the broken catch (for which replacements are available), the peg will push out of the frame, should you wish to remove it (to replace with a better one for example -- I don't know if these are available new?).
Best wishes,
Mike.
Jonnie.