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July 27, 2022

Hatch Hinge Cover/Dome Light

GT6 cars had a dome light mounted to the hatchback hinge cover just inside the rear hatch.  Apparently, at least some of these dome lights had a trick clear cover that included a molded in convex lens.  The cover could be rotated so that the lens focused light in different directions.  Now, I've owned this car for nearly 50 years, and I never knew that.  I wonder how many other owners are aware of this, and of them, how many have ever used it. 

I dug out the hinge cover assembly from the shed.  The plastic of the cover was dirty and faded.  There was overspray from a clumsy paint job I did back in the 80s.  The actual dome light lens appeared to be lost.




Even after removing the overspray and cleaning the plastic the best I could, the piece stilled looked faded and tired.




The base for the dome light was in OK condition.  It was a little distorted, maybe from heat from the lamp, but some gentle heat from a hair dryer and some gentle persuasion got it back into shape.




But what to do about the missing lens?  Original type lenses are not available at any reasonable price, and I couldn't locate any good reproductions.  I considered 3D printing one, or even trying to cast one in epoxy resin.  I didn't really care about the rotate-able feature, but I wanted something that looked OK.  What I finally landed on was way simpler than most alternatives.  This is the plastic lens from a defunct R20 LED lamp.




The lens was almost perfect, but the OD was a little too small.




3D printer to the rescue!




I struggled for a while on how to make the lens easily removable to change the lamp.  Then I reasoned that the original lens, being held by a retainer that was staked to the base, probably wasn't removable.  So my parts will be held together with dabs of glue.  Disassembly is still possible, but to change the lamp, the whole hinge cover will have to be removed.

Now, what about that hinge cover?  It still looked bad.  Reproductions are available, and there is at least one GT6 owner who makes them for sale.  I am going to try to re-use mine, but if that doesn't work, I'll buy one from him:   https://www.angelfire.com/ex2/gt6er/

I decided to try a paint designed for vinyl or other plastics.  I was really impressed with the results.




Gathered the parts, including new fasteners and an LED lamp. 




New speed nuts on the cover, then add the base and the lamp.




Then the lens with its adapter.




Test run.  I like LEDs that resemble incandescents in the color of light they give off.  They aren't always easy to find, but I try to buy lamps with a 2700K color temperature.




Finally, to mount the assembly to the car, these chrome screws were original.




But I thought these looked a little more refined.




Taking it home.  I had to cover the rear window to keep the room lights from blowing out the image.




I like jobs like this that actually finish off a part of the car.  There's a sense of progress.  This task took a pleasant day or two and the cost was close to zero.

Comments to Ed at elhollin1@yahoo.com

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