A bevy of questions.

[penciltester]

I bought some "back to black" and was going to start using it on all the various black bits on the exterior of the car but stopped myself. Were all those black pieces, the side mirrors, trim, the black plastic surrounding the brake lights and license plate, were they all pitch black originally or leaning towards a dark charcoal?

Should my oil pressure gauge bounce?

Have any of you tried smoke to ferret out vacuum leaks and if so where did you introduce it and did you have the engine running while doing this?

And how great are those guys at DMCMW, wonderful customer service and when I order something it is on my doorstep the next day when I get home from work.

[David T]

I bought some "back to black" and was going to start using it on all the various black bits on the exterior of the car but stopped myself. Were all those black pieces, the side mirrors, trim, the black plastic surrounding the brake lights and license plate, were they all pitch black originally or leaning towards a dark charcoal?

Should my oil pressure gauge bounce?

Have any of you tried smoke to ferret out vacuum leaks and if so where did you introduce it and did you have the engine running while doing this?

And how great are those guys at DMCMW, wonderful customer service and when I order something it is on my doorstep the next day when I get home from work.

Different plastic pieces were different shades. Not all of the plastic has the same texture either and that affects appearance too. BtB is about the best stuff to use

The original sending unit (by the oil filter)for the oil pressure gauge doesn't work all that well. If you want to get the gauge working more accurately there is a replacement that is better.

The best way I know of is to use a smoke machine. It is hooked up to the motor when it is not running and if you have any leaks you can see the smoke coming out from them.

[NightFlyer]

Dave and Julee are the BEST! :thumbup:

As to the black parts that you inquired about, the air intake vents on the quarter windows and the taillight surrounds/housing are originally a true black. The other pieces mentioned, including the mirrors, side vents, and license plate bezel were all more of a charcoal black.

What I personally do on my car is use the Johnson Diversey Deep Gloss stainless cleaner/polish on them every time I polish my stainless - about twice a month during driving season. It provides a subtly darkening of the original color without making them look unnatural, as some products do (which I personally can't stand). YMMV.

The stock/OEM oil pressure gauge sending unit will bounce at idle, but under throttle/load, it should consistently read high. As long as you know what you're looking at, it really isn't an issue. But if it bothers you, you can swap it out with a cross reference that has shown to be more accurate, as David mentioned.

Smoke machine probably works the best for finding vacuum leaks, provided you use them correctly. But, as I don't have one and don't know how to properly use one, my preferred method of hunting down vacuum leaks to use targeted blasts of carb cleaner while the engine is running.

Best luck with everything :thumbup:

[vps3922]

My friend recommended Back to Black to me and I use it on all dark to black parts. It is working great! :thumbup:

[Horsebox]

I had the same thing with my oil pressure gauge.

By chance I managed to fix it, and a number of other little electrical niggles, by cleaning the bulkhead connectors with wet and dry rolled up to get inside the prongs.

Tedious and back breaking but might save you the cost of a new sender.

Mark

[jawn101]

I had the same thing with my oil pressure gauge.

By chance I managed to fix it, and a number of other little electrical niggles, by cleaning the bulkhead connectors with wet and dry rolled up to get inside the prongs.

Tedious and back breaking but might save you the cost of a new sender.

Mark

Not just the cost of a new sender but a whole host of other electrical issues as well. Those connectors are of poor quality and carry a lot of very important power. Some of us have spent weeks tearing our hair out to discover marginal connections in that box were the problem all along.

[penciltester]

Thanks everybody for the info and advice.