What did you do to your E9 today?

If it looks good then don't do anything. If it looks 50-years-old worn out then yes. A bit of an annoyance. You can't easily flock over the old stuff because i don't think the adhesive will stick to it or if it does it will look clumpy. Welcome to another afternoon lost.
I just lightly scrape off anything close to loose, it is pretty thin.
 
Tried my hand at "Painting" a black stripe onto a white wire. Yes, my recent ignition woes involved reverting to points and condensor from old Crane electronic ignition. One of the wires redirected to the ballast resistor was hard, barely made it to its connection, and I felt it was stressed. Like anything, baked at 350 degrees, for 54 years! Right? So I removed right side headlight, dug into harness, found a place where wire was still "acceptable", and grafted a new 14 gauge wire up to resistor. But not just any wire, I know that area by the coil gets very hot, and Painless Performance has the correct high temp wire for just this application. But I needed white with a Black stripe. Ordered "Paint Pen" from Amazon, in Black. Practised a bit. Now I have a new, white with black tracer wire, from harness, up to ballast resistor with lots of room and a gentle arc to connection. Well worth the trouble.!
IMG_1949.jpeg
IMG_1947.jpeg
 
you can buy vintage Marchal h1 low beam headlights for the French market. they have yellow filter lenses inside for h1 bulbs.
Just be sure you have early p45t which are impossible to find in higher watts or p43t which are the standard H4 bulb. The base is different as are the wire snaps.
 
Last edited:
i never saw the advantage of fog lights until i drove the pro rally car at speed on a twisty dirt / gravel road at night. they position and use them to push light into the corners as a cornering light. at speed that makes a huge difference to be able to see what can hurt you.
 
Just be sure you have early p45t which are impossible to to find in higher watts or p43t which are the standard H4 bulb. The base is different as are the wire snaps.
I fixed my error above: Chris

Very interesting’
I need to dig into this.
Rabbit hole

Photo from M201 cibie halogen replacement

www.m201.com/access/cibie.htm
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0269.jpeg
    IMG_0269.jpeg
    29.6 KB · Views: 20
Last edited by a moderator:
I’m with you @restart at some point maybe I’ll upgrade my bulbs but this is going to take a bit of knowledge building first - different years, various options, etc.
 
Tried my hand at "Painting" a black stripe onto a white wire.
I have plans for this as well in the future as needed. There are 3D printed jigs that make it easy to stripe the wires, assuming you have access to a 3D printer. Some public libraries will give you a few free prints per month. Check with your library system as it's usually only limited locations.


Mechanism: The jig holds the wire steady while you insert an oil-based paint pen or a permanent marker (like a Sharpie) through a top slot. As you pull the solid-colored wire through the guide hole, the marker tip leaves a perfectly straight, consistent tracer/pin stripe along the length of the insulation.


Tips for Best Results
Use Paint Pens for Dark Wires: If you are trying to add a light tracer stripe (like white or yellow) onto a dark wire (like black or blue), standard ink markers will be too translucent. Use an oil-based paint pen instead, as it provides an opaque, permanent stripe that won't crack when the wire bends.

Printing Material: Standard PLA works perfectly fine for this print, as it is easy to print and rigid enough to keep the marker aligned.
Friction reduction: Try printing it so that the internal guide hole matches your layer lines, allowing the wire to glide smoothly without snagging on the print layers.
 
I have plans for this as well in the future as needed. There are 3D printed jigs that make it easy to stripe the wires, assuming you have access to a 3D printer. Some public libraries will give you a few free prints per month. Check with your library system as it's usually only limited locations.


Mechanism: The jig holds the wire steady while you insert an oil-based paint pen or a permanent marker (like a Sharpie) through a top slot. As you pull the solid-colored wire through the guide hole, the marker tip leaves a perfectly straight, consistent tracer/pin stripe along the length of the insulation.


Tips for Best Results
Use Paint Pens for Dark Wires: If you are trying to add a light tracer stripe (like white or yellow) onto a dark wire (like black or blue), standard ink markers will be too translucent. Use an oil-based paint pen instead, as it provides an opaque, permanent stripe that won't crack when the wire bends.

Printing Material: Standard PLA works perfectly fine for this print, as it is easy to print and rigid enough to keep the marker aligned.
Friction reduction: Try printing it so that the internal guide hole matches your layer lines, allowing the wire to glide smoothly without snagging on the print layers.
In my limited experience above, I chose the oil based paint pen, and did the job "freehand", but near edge of bench so my hand could follow edge of the wooden top and I would just place pen onto the wire and pull my hand along. I had secured wire at each end with a screw into the wood top with a large washer and pulled it tight. I was anxious to get to the finish line on this, as car had been apart, longer than anticipated. ;)
 
Re Yellow bulbs: I put these on my Citroen Traction Avant after converting to 12v. They’re glass and just clip on. Also cheap and work with your existing bulbs.

 

Attachments

  • IMG_1304.png
    IMG_1304.png
    14.2 KB · Views: 21
Last edited:
Restoring my bumpers… new rear cover repro
 

Attachments

  • 62bd77c4-922a-4ae1-92b9-75fa06fa92af.jpeg
    62bd77c4-922a-4ae1-92b9-75fa06fa92af.jpeg
    118 KB · Views: 9
  • f7f85b78-309d-4c18-a7f9-4e6897198239.jpeg
    f7f85b78-309d-4c18-a7f9-4e6897198239.jpeg
    54.1 KB · Views: 10
  • b05c3b79-9ab7-4a79-97e1-a4de82e7b433.jpeg
    b05c3b79-9ab7-4a79-97e1-a4de82e7b433.jpeg
    55.6 KB · Views: 10
  • 76df2d41-e32a-45aa-a6a0-bfdf82b76fac.jpeg
    76df2d41-e32a-45aa-a6a0-bfdf82b76fac.jpeg
    95.4 KB · Views: 10
Back
Top