[bue car]

yes the moulding is precious

 

[Mailman]

Some more in-progress photos. I got the car out of the garage to make room for painting the bumpers and smaller pieces. I did a cut and buff on the body, installed new door window moulding, and repainted the rear quarter moulding and upper door window moulding. I used SEM trim black paint and it turned out to be an excellent match for the factory trim. I still need to prep the side skirts and mirrors, then I'll be ready to primer/base/clear the remaining parts. I'm running extremely low on reducer and had to order more clear to do the rest. I hope it lasts!

 

[scruff3333]

Looks damn clean.

Keep up the good work.

 

[bue car]

agreed

 

[Mailman]

Now that the car is out of the garage I got everything else arranged and primered. The bumpers and mirrors are going to need a fair bit of sanding to get smooth, but everything else is looking fairly smooth.

 

[bue car]

Looks good!

 

[Mailman]

I got the remaining pieces painted and the exterior mostly reassembled. I still have some buffing to do to get swirl marks out from my last session of buffing. Overall I am pleased with the result. Next on my list is to get a new windshield installed since the current one is all beat up. Once that gets put in I will install the roof moulding. And then window tint, brakes... the list never ends.

 

[scruff3333]

Car looks fantastic. Love it
nice work.

 

[bue car]

^ this

Also, last new window ran me $175 installed just as an FYI.

About to pull mine for paint on the next build.

 

[Mailman]

I added a shark fin style XM antenna to the roof, painted to match. I used to have a magnetic puck stuck to the trunk door, but I didn't like how it moved around and scratched the paint. Installing the shark fin required drilling a hole in the roof and routing the cables along the ceiling, down the drivers side pillar, into the dash. The shark fin also functions as an AM/FM antenna, so I was able to delete the stock one. Here is a link to the antenna I used:

Discount Car Stereo > Antennas and Accessories > SFAS7x Universal Amplified AM, FM SiriusXM Shark Fin Antenna

 

[bue car]

How is the quality? Ever go in rural areas much with little reception?

 

[Mailman]

The shark fin actually gets better reception than my old SiriusXM branded puck. I can pick up satellite signal inside my garage with the door closed. The antenna can be amped, bit I am using it unamplified. I haven't done much testing in rural areas, though.

 

[bue car]

Nioce

 

[Mailman]

Sound Deadening

I spent the past month adding sound deadening to the car. I lined the doors, trunk, floors, ceiling, and the partition between cabin and trunk. I used Noico 80mil sound deadening off Amazon. I found the product easy to work with, and the install was rather fun After I reinstalled the interior I found road noise to be greatly reduced and the quality of my sound system improved. Many of the rattles are now reduced as well.

While I was at it I upgraded my rear speakers. I installed Infinity Reference 6000cs components in the doors back in 2004, but I never replaced the stock rear speakers. Now the stockers are gone and replaced with Infinity Reference 6522IX 6.5" coaxials. I had to modify the rear speaker mounting plates to attach the included adapter ring.

https://www.amazon.com/Noico-Deaden...690188&s=gateway&sprefix=noico,aps,198&sr=8-4

 

[FXTrev]

Dang! That's a lot of work. I used the same stuff when I did my Forester, and it took me quite awhile. End result is well worth it though. Looks like you a did a great job, and I like the black stuff. Did you use polyfill throughout the car as well? Looks like some is poking out from the rear quarter.

 

[scruff3333]

I may have to try some of that nioco.

Nice job. Keep up the good work.

 

[bue car]

How much extra weight?

 

[scruff3333]

^+1 also interested.

I was trying to look that up.

 

[Mailman]

I used about 3 1/3 boxes of product at 26 lbs per box. There was a some waste so I estimate about 75lbs. The polyfill is stuffed in the cavity above the rear strut mounts. I also shoved some old pillows in the rear quarter cavities to further absorb some of the sound from the rear wheel wells.

 

[Mailman]

Here's a few more pics to show off. I got the windshield replaced. The old one was all dinged up to a point that it couldn't be polished. I got my insurance company to pay for new glass with no deductible. Sweet! The glass guy worked with me to get all the moulding clips installed properly before the glass adhesive set. Once he was done, I finally installed the roof mouldings, upper windshield mouldings, and new cowl panel. Buying all new OEM mouldings was pretty expensive, but the car looks almost brand new.

I got that bubbled tint replaced too