turbosax2
Moderator
- 4,481
- 668
- Nov 19, 2006
-
Mechanicsburg,
Pennsylvania
The sound deadening on the backside of the rear wheel wells was another PITA part. I used a heat gun and putty knife to scrape it off, but a lot of yellow glue was left behind. Goo Gone and Goof Off did nearly nothing to get this stuff off, so I resorted to using a plastic scraper to scrape it off. It came off very slowly but cleaned up extremely well.
I did the azdave trunk mod. It worked great - highly recommended if you have problems opening the hatch. I also have new hatch struts to replace my crappy ones, didn't get to that yet.
My car has 2 antennas from the factory - the main one on the body and one in the rear window. I hate the main antenna. I hate how it looks and I hate how it's constantly going up and down, up and down, up and down. When and if I ever do body work to this car the antenna hole will be shaved, but for right now that isn't an option. So I had some choices at this point.
1. Delete the whole antenna assembly and plug the hole with some rubber grommet thing. Not a bad choice but I really didn't like how it would turn out looking.
2. Leave the antenna assembly bolted in but disconnect the wires so it doesn't do anything. At least I don't have a big hole to deal with but that's weight sitting in the car doing nothing.
3. Remove all of the antenna assembly except for the part that sticks out. Winner! This way I get rid of most of the weight but it looks like the antenna is still there.
To remove the antenna I used a screwdriver and hammer to loosen the chrome nut from outside the car. I was concerned I would slip and scratch the body but the way I held the screwdriver it would have impaled my hand before it touched the body. There is a special tool for this but the screwdriver way is very easy. Then, I unbolted the assembly from the car. It's kind of hard to explain so see the pictures for how I modified the assembly to leave just a small portion sticking out. JB weld was used to keep the antenna together and to weatherproof the assembly. I had to use 2 washers to shim the antenna up to make it snug against the body.
I did the azdave trunk mod. It worked great - highly recommended if you have problems opening the hatch. I also have new hatch struts to replace my crappy ones, didn't get to that yet.
My car has 2 antennas from the factory - the main one on the body and one in the rear window. I hate the main antenna. I hate how it looks and I hate how it's constantly going up and down, up and down, up and down. When and if I ever do body work to this car the antenna hole will be shaved, but for right now that isn't an option. So I had some choices at this point.
1. Delete the whole antenna assembly and plug the hole with some rubber grommet thing. Not a bad choice but I really didn't like how it would turn out looking.
2. Leave the antenna assembly bolted in but disconnect the wires so it doesn't do anything. At least I don't have a big hole to deal with but that's weight sitting in the car doing nothing.
3. Remove all of the antenna assembly except for the part that sticks out. Winner! This way I get rid of most of the weight but it looks like the antenna is still there.
To remove the antenna I used a screwdriver and hammer to loosen the chrome nut from outside the car. I was concerned I would slip and scratch the body but the way I held the screwdriver it would have impaled my hand before it touched the body. There is a special tool for this but the screwdriver way is very easy. Then, I unbolted the assembly from the car. It's kind of hard to explain so see the pictures for how I modified the assembly to leave just a small portion sticking out. JB weld was used to keep the antenna together and to weatherproof the assembly. I had to use 2 washers to shim the antenna up to make it snug against the body.
