New wing and light installed

Well - that was an interesting day. I'm really not a 'nuts and bolts' car person, but after managing to change the dimmer thing on the dashboard recently I was inspired to replace a dented wing and cracked light (had a gentle tap some time back ...). So off I go this morning with a second hand light and freshly painted second hand wing.

Started around 11am - out with the light (none to difficult), and off with the wing. The wing wasn't too bad aside from one of the bolts just below and in front of the doors was stuck (solved with a flathead screwdriver, extra torque, and pliers), and one bolt behind the headlight sheared.

So around 1pm (had a break) I start putting the wing on. All would have gone well, except the guy painting it had 'straightened it up' ... where the wing attached to the nose was at completely the wrong angle (sorted with some minor bending), and some other adjustment had caused the front edge of the door to foul the wing when it was opened and closed (somehow I developed a negative panel gap ). A little faffing later to ensure that the edge of the door passed behind the wing (and hopefully stays like that!) and things are looking good

So around 2:30pm I start on the light. Should be easy - drop it into place, and put the bulbs in ... but with the 'straightened up wing' the bolt holes are in just the wrong place *sigh*, and the knock I had has moved the nose just enough to make things awkward. Much swearing, levering things, huffing, and stress later it's in place and working, though ... took till 4pm to get it done right, though.

I've got a new nose to put on (the current one's a little scratched, and has a crack beside the passenger indicator), but I both ran out of time, it started to rain, and I couldn't be bothered to keep going as the car was drivable. Maybe tomorrow if I work out how to remove those darned plastic screws that Toyota seem to love.

All in all not too bad a day - the job got done (albeit not to an entirely professional standard), I don't feel like such a muppet anymore (driving a dented supra), the cats had fun (standing on my shoulders overseeing the work), and I got to use my new socket set.

There's probably a Jerry Springer style 'thought to leave you with' here - something along the lines of "You don't know if you can do it until you try". There may also be a lesson of "Leave it to a professional", but that remains to be seen - 'lol' as the kids say nowadays.