The posts seemed so well placed and cleanly assembled that I assumed the whole time that they were supposed to be there. I was thinking they mist be ties for the sidescreens or something. Now that I'm down to the final assembly, I've had more time to study the little nit-noids, so I am catching things like wrong bolts and the like. My give away here was that the sleeves look like they were cut with a pipe cutter...so most likely homemade -although some PO took a lot of care to make them symetrical and even.
It's funny how you get pickier as the restoration goes on. When I took the car apart, all the tail lights looked good to me. I went to install them the other day and couldnt believe a year ago they looked good to me. Just ordered new ones...guess it's all perspective!
Thanks, all. For the good input...
John
Here's a pic after the hand wet sanding with 2000 grit, getting ready for the buffing