Assistance with several things

Discussion in 'Modifications And Maintenance' started by Jayk, Jun 6, 2017.

  1. Jayk
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    Jayk New Member

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    I have a post in general discussion about some maintenance that I'm going to have done on the 2006 Impreza 2.5I I just bought, JM will be doing that in a few weeks. Now that I have that maintenance planned out I'm looking for advice on some other smaller issues. I've included some photos, any and all help/advice is appreciated.

    Gas cap: I've never messed with a fuel system, it looks like I can unscrew that metal surrounding the hole, is that the case and if so how would I go about cleaning that rust up?

    gas rust.jpg

    Headlights: I'm thinking of doing the sanding treatment to get rid of the haze but I'm not sure if its inside or out. For some stupid reason there are holes drilled in the back of both lights (see pic) so I'm not sure what to do about it if its the inside.

    right headlight.jpg
    hole in back headlight.jpg

    Seat mounts: as you can see these are rusted over, I've never really cleaned up rust but I've been doing research since buying the car, I'm thinking of pulling the seats and wire brushing these to death, then putting on some por15 and investing in weathertech. However I'm wondering if these are too far gone, probably try to hit a junkyard or see if someone has these lying around.

    seat mount rust 2.jpg seat mounts rust.jpg

    Rocker panels?: I'm not sure if this is part of the rocker panel or something else, but I'm going to assume some morons owned this car and jacked it up on this seam because its fairly screwed. If I can get the car mechanically solid I'm going to save up and have tons of body work done (its only got 100k on it), question is can I do anything to keep this from getting worse. Pound it back to straight-ish and hit it with por15 or rusto paint?

    rocker panel 2.jpg

    Wheel rust: the lugs are rusting and I don't know what was done to that cap but I'd imagine its glued on pretty good. Any advice for cleaning these up would be great.

    wheel lugs rust.jpg

    Trust me, I'll have more questions about fixing this heap in the future but thanks for reading, here's a pic of the absolute piece of garbage roof vane spoiler they drilled into the body to install, hope its worth a laugh.
    garbage roof vane spoiler.jpg
    Also, if anyone wants to come take a look at it and throw me some advice, help, or just laugh at my terrible decision to buy this thing in person I'm in Uptown Minneapolis and I usually have beer on hand.
     

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  2. Chux
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    Chux Well-Known Member

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    That ring around the gas cap is removeable/replaceable (42056aa011, MSRP $3.02). Problem is, those 3 screws rarely come out, and they're threaded into the fuel filler neck. So if they break, it's not going to be easy to replace them. You can try them, but they're very small (4-5mm or so), so don't put a lot of force on them.

    I'd bet the fogging on your headlights is indeed condensation on the inside. You might be able to bake them apart to clean and dry things out. Looks like they drilled through the caps to install HID or LED conversion bulbs.....definitely replace those caps (84953FE170, MSRP $10.13 each).

    I've seen (heck I own some) seat rails that looked a lot worse than that. But if you want to take them apart and clean and paint them, it's certainly a good idea. You're exactly right, though, that's from water/salt from shoes, so good floor liners will help massively to prevent that.

    And you're exactly correct, that is the pinch weld on the rocker panel, and probably from incorrect jacking or getting the thing stuck somewhere (or both). I'd hit it with a wire wheel on a grinder and some POR15.



    For those rust repair projects, I HIGHLY recommend POR15. I've never seen anything seal out rust like it. I'm doing some electrolytic rust removal on the brake calipers from my 4runner, and will be painting them with it. I've used the high temp stuff on the headers in my 4runner. And am in the process of setting up an HVLP gun so I can spray it on my 4Runner and XT6 en masse.

    I've painted it on new bare metal, old metal that was sand blasted, ground, and/or wire wheeled. It is even more crucial to prep adequately, and I love their prep products, Marine Clean and Metal Ready (I think one or both of these may have changed names since I last bought them). I buy the 6-packs of 4 oz cans on Amazon, and always have at least a couple new ones on hand.
     
  3. idget
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    idget Want to pokéman? PM ShortytheFirefighter Staff Member

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    ^agreed.

    re: seat rails... peak under the carpet... guessing the floors are starting to rot.

    re: lug nuts. I'd just replace them. Those are on the verge of stripping out anyway.

    re: center caps. guessing the mounting tabs on the back are busted and it looks like they caulk/epoxied it. hopefully they'll pop out with a rubber mallet. If not, paint them black at least.

    re: roof vane. I'd probably pull the c-pillar trim to take a look at how it's mounted and if they did anything for rust prevention on the holes they drilled.

    re: checking it out in person. Eff all that. I got tetanus from just looking at the pics.
     
  4. pillboy
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    pillboy Well-Known Member

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    LOL
     
  5. silver03
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    silver03 Well-Known Member

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    Agree^

    • Take those lugs off and replace them...while you still can
    • Paint the center caps to match at the very least
    • I like the roof vane :)
    • Definitely, replace the lighting plastics
    • The pinch welds might straighten out a bit with a piece of wood and a 3 lb sledge, perhaps assisted by some vice grips. POR15 to follow
    • Are you able to scratch some of the hazing off the lights from the outside? Just to see inside or out.
    • Pull seats out, wire brush em. Give the carpet a good cleaning while you're at it.
    • I have replaced a couple of fuel filler necks and would advise giving those screws a shot of PB for a few days ahead of attempting to remove them or heating them up with a torch;)
     
  6. pillboy
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    pillboy Well-Known Member

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    Channeling Shorty? You left out the part about making a YouTube video while doing this.
     
  7. Chux
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    Chux Well-Known Member

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    Oh yea, forgot to comment on the lug nuts.

    Throw those away if you want them to look good. They're just the cheap Dorman locking set you can buy on the shelf at any auto parts store, they're decent quality (I have a set of 4 that I ran on my Celica for a long time when I was living in town), but once that chrome plating starts to flake off, they'll never look good. You will need "tuner" style lug nuts for those wheels, either internal or external spline. There are many options for that, you can get a set of no-name ones on ebay for cheap that are usually decent as long as you don't overtorque them. Gorilla makes good quality ones.
     
  8. tangledupinblu
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    tangledupinblu Event Coordinator Staff Member

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    IMG_8487.JPG
    Is that a rubberized coating on the rocker/side skirts? Maybe when you've straightened the pinch welds and hit them with POR15, you could mask and spray some rubberized underlining on there to keep water out?
     
  9. Jayk
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    Jayk New Member

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    The floors actually doing pretty well surprisingly, thanks for the advice.

    Thanks for all the advice Chux, I pulled the seats out and brushed them down to bare and hit Por15, they look much better. I applied it too thick but I'm not too worried about it. I also straightened out the pinch on the rockers, looks a little better. I'm gonna wire brush them and do por15 in a few days.

    I need to measure the lugs so I can order the right ones but thanks for the advice everyone!!!! Incredibly helpful with all of these issues.

    If anyone has any advice for cleaning the disgusting smell of mice out of the ventilation that would be amazing. I'm having JM do work next week, doing the brakes myself after that, and then just a few minors things left before shes good, but the main problem right now is that the mouse nest I cleaned out of the cabin filter has left a horrible funk of mouse piss and **** in my vents, I NEED to get this out by winter, I can go without ac but not heat. ANY ADVICE WOULD BE AWESOME.

    Thanks again guys!!!