DukeRimmer

(nt)

first roll up the window and spray water on it as if it's raining. You'll see much more intrusion than around the crank. Apply the vapor barrier and spray more water, watch it flow out the drains at the bottom of door shell. Congratulate yourself for having an '02 interior drier than most, then tell your freinds to check their doors.

The black is primer/sealer. Wurth not required here, but when doing the rest of the car use Wurth undercoats, seam sealers, and glues.

Missing door vapor barriers (plastic sheet glued to inside of door shell) cause more water damage to these cars than all other leaks combined. If there's a leak, check the doors first. All water that strikes the closed glass flows into the door and drips off the bottom of the glass onto the inner door shell. When the vapor barrier is missing, it passes through the holes in the inner shell and onto the trim panel. Then off the trim panel to your carpets, ruining both, and then the floors rust away. Door speaker installers are a menace to '02 society. You don't even need help to check for this leak as you do with under dash and trunk leaks. Just apply water to the outside of glass and see if it drips out from the drains, or off the trim panel. Has anyone noticed my previous vapor barrier rants?

(nt)

(nt)

There's a rubber pad on the trailing edge of the sliding roof that is more sound insulator (bumper) than weatherstrip. Replace if dry and cracked.

(nt)

One is spring steel about 15mm wide. You should see some holding the main harness to the left inner fender. They come in different sizes for smaller harnesses. The other type is a black plastic tie. Both ends of this type are held by the hole. You may see these holding wires to your radiator support. Does anyone know if these plastic type are still available? I still have a few new ones for the purists if they're not. Used is hard to find 'cuz they often break on removal.

Used fuel and temp guage; $10.00 each, probably even cheaper from Scottie Sharpe. I've heard this erratic gauge symptom is caused by cracked circuit board. If grounding doesn't work, circuit boards are also cheap unless tii is different here too.

They're cheap as dirt.

Perhaps hole mounted wire holders would be better than welding bendy tabs??

Sounds like you need 3/8". Be assured all the moulding clip holes are present and cleaned of primer/filler build up before paint. I use a tapered reamer before the first color coat to prevent paint chipping when clips are installed. Use seam sealer around your snorkel and all other gaping seams.

Door speaker installers have done more damage to '02s than grease monkeys and parking lot door bashers combined. Protect your carpets and floors. Sorry to rant, but I've seen a hundred leaky doors and the damage done.

Yes, laminated windshields are two layers of glass with a center plastic layer. The plastic layer oxidizes with age just like paint or any other plastic, starting from the the edges. The glass layers are not actually separating so there is no water intrusion problem. MZRJ has a surface problem. Hope he will post the solution when he finds it.

Those who replace 1/4s just to say “no bondo” are using juvenile thinking. I can’t say a replacement panel welded seam is weaker than original, but when that seam can not be fully sealed and refinished from both sides, that seam is more susceptible to rust. A replaced front or rear panel can be as strong and durable as original, but 1/4s, rockers, floors, and other panels not fully sealable should be avoided as long as possible. In this case the floors are already gone, and many blind welded seams are being considered. IMHO the way to minimize these is to replace the entire rear clip. This would save time, parts cost, and return integrity to the fragile rear wheel opening/frame rail area.

Cut B and C pillars, and floor. Leave large overlap of inner to outer rocker panels for strength, smaller overlap at pillars. Consider using '74-'76 donor. Early cars were better looking but way to weak above the rear axle. When finished, check floor seam for rust and cracks as a part of routine maintenance. Do not sell the car without disclosure of repair.

My guess would be that these parts were shared with the e3/e9 cars. The glovebox light was removable for use as a flashlight. I may be able to come up with an e3 trunk light, and glove box socket if you're interested. Perhaps a senior six owner can tell us more.

(nt)

I chopped out the divider between rear seat and trunk, and built a two sided cage below 1/4 glass, and behind front seats. Some nanny types have been shocked seeing me put the dogs in the trunk, but a pox on all nannies.

before disassembly???

Turned out to be overcharging. New regulator fixed the points!

Apply water to outside of rolled up door glass. See if it drains from door shell drains, or interior trim panel. If trim panel stays dry, see post from Pierre.

Retard slows idle. I replaced dist. with an oldie from scottiesharpe. Made a huge improvment in power.

but this is the one subject I know.

Heat will not help at all, IMHO. A come along will not provide enough pull, IMHO. A frame rack would save set up time, but if you don't have one, you don't need one, IMHO. The most expensive measuring system won't tell you any more than would a tape rule, IMHO. IMHO, don't apply sheet metal dent theory to frame pulling; push the center of the damage a little beyond your measured goal, release pressure, and measure again. You may be suprised by the spring back. You really should beg, borrow, or buy the correct tool, IMHO. If you buy, and it saves the car, the tool's already paid for itself, right? It's a simple job, you don't need a pro, IMHO.