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your opinion please - just received my restored headlight motor

davek

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This is before and after pics of my headlight motor. I felt that the housing and knob should of been glass beaded/sand blasted. Am I wrong? $375 was told 4-5 weeks,3 days after he got it he called and said its done.

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This is before and after pics of my headlight motor. I felt that the housing and knob should of been glass beaded/sand blasted. Am I wrong? $375 was told 4-5 weeks,3 days after he got it he called and said its done.

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Don’t know what originals looked like, but 66-7 motors were nice and smooth not like your housings. 2nd gen guys would know,\.
 
Pictures are hard to tell. It looks like it was rusty' heavily pitted before you sent it. If that's the case bead or sand will just remove the scale and not the pits. What did the rebuilder tell you he did?
 
Pictures are hard to tell. It looks like it was rusty' heavily pitted before you sent it. If that's the case bead or sand will just remove the scale and not the pits. What did the rebuilder tell you he did?
If so, possibly that could have been sanded smooth before paint.
 
If so, possibly that could have been sanded smooth before paint.
Uhh, no.
Pits in the surface cannot be sanded out because they are areas where the metal rusted away. That wiper motor was heavily pitted before the rebuild. It would be unreasonable to expect the rebuilder to do what equates to "bodywork" to the housing unless it was agreed upon beforehand.
If it functions properly, maybe consider a wrinkle finish paint to disguise the rough finish. I'd be okay using it in one of my cars if it functioned right.
 
My experience with these type motors and wiper motors is the rebuilder will tell you what he can do. A poor core will never be that great when done. Again the rebuilder should of discussed this with you before he started. I do not think that knob can be sanded out to be smooth. The barrel is hard to tell. For sure it does not look good.
 
How long do you think he took doing the job? $375 isn't much more than 3 hours work these days, at least here in Australia.
One-off jobs always cost a lot more than mass produced stuff.
 
Looks like it needs a coat of body filler. Hope he did more than just paint it for $375.
 
The barrel and knob were heavily rusted and pitted. The only to make those look nice would be to blast them down to bare metal, prime and block until they are smooth and then paint them. Basically, body work and paint.
 
The barrel and knob were heavily rusted and pitted. The only to make those look nice would be to blast them down to bare metal, prime and block until they are smooth and then paint them. Basically, body work and paint.
Actually when I did one for myself years ago after disassembly I chucked the barrel in a lathe & took a light pass... Cleaned up 99% of the rust & while the stamped numbers were lighter they were still visible...
 
It was pretty rough before. Did you pay for a spray bomb or for a top level restoration? It looks like lipstick on a pig. I would be disappointed.
 
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There is a guy known as "Topher" that has a good reputation.
$375 is pretty stiff but maybe that includes some parts that the rebuilder makes by himself?
 
Actually when I did one for myself years ago after disassembly I chucked the barrel in a lathe & took a light pass... Cleaned up 99% of the rust & while the stamped numbers were lighter they were still visible...
Using a lathe is good idea, but most people don't have one in their garage. Paint and sandpaper for us peons.
 
There is a guy known as "Topher" that has a good reputation.
$375 is pretty stiff but maybe that includes some parts that the rebuilder makes by himself?
2nd that. Chris did a great job on my 3 speed wiper motor. Quoted $300 over the phone before sending off, couple months later he tried to bill at $400 then brought up he had quoted the $300 before sending it to him and he honored that. I would not be pleased with OP's result to say the least.
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Using a lathe is good idea, but most people don't have one in their garage. Paint and sandpaper for us peons.
Actually at the time I didn't either... But I had access to a brake lathe and with a little creative adapting I was able to make it work...
 
if I had sent if off to be repaired I'd be ok with that .But to pay for a "restored" piece ,oh that wouldn't be acceptable . if the person doing the work seen the surface after blasting he could have known it would not clean up and notified the client . if it was agreed upon by them both to go ahead and finish then that's a different story .
 
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