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Comments
Just Kidding, of course )
Nick
Teo said in one of his posts that he didnt mind the road noise because he didnt want to be isolated from the outside. I was just poking a little fun at him.
Nick
Thinking Delco has exxagerated some of the frequencies a little. What do you think?
Does anyone have the TSB# for the new amp? I listened to my friends 01 LS and there is a nice difference. I am having my cradle replaced sometime soon and would for them to a lot of work at once.
Im also thinking of having them take care of the new wheelhouse liners to get rid of all the debris in the wheelwell.
Thanks in advance for your assistance. Have a great day
Yesterday I noticed that the trim molding piece above the left rear passenger door was sagging bigtime. Upon inspection of the molding, I realized that the molding trim piece itself is intended to fit by pressure as I did not see any evidence of factory glue anywhere in the trim piece. I pulled the piece very carefully downwards and I see that it fits on a sort of 'rail' cutout in the headliner. I played with the molding to try to put it back in place and I discover that the way it snaps in place is by holding the molding upward with a inward sideway movement towards the interior of the car. The door black rubber weatherstripping helps to hold it in place so you have to be patient and push the molding up and sideways until you see that the weatherstripping 'Lip' or edge helps to hold the piece in place.
All the other plastic moldings were fine except the one above of the left rear door.
Needless to say this is a very CHEAP trim fitting approach. Most cars have an actual inner rubber strip that goes around the door openings and prevents these moldings from sagging or moving out of place.
A more permanent solution to this problem is to GLUE the trim plastic molding piece firmly against the inner headliner. I don't understand why that trim molding is not glued properly from factory.
3M makes excellent glue for interior plastic trim. Last year I posted the glue tube (Which I still have as I had the same problem in my 2000 LS) but I will do so again once I come back home tonight.
Make sure that whatever glue you use for this purpose is made for automotive interior plastic trim/headliner repairs and it is also waterproof and heat resistant.
DO NOT USE SUPERGLUES OF ANY KIND!!!!!..THESE DON'T WORK AND WILL DAMAGE YOUR PLASTIC TRIM/HEADLINER IRREVERSIBLY!!!
Once the glue is properly applied and the piece is fitted back for a flush fit look, you should not have any further problems with it sagging again.
I am not overly picky in interior fit and finish matters but in the Impala the trim plastic molding above the doors and the glove box are the chintziest interior bits. GM you can do better.
Night_owl::: Perhaps you can create in your 'How to do' forum a section dedicated to the proper repair of sagging plastic trim piece molding above the doors. Some pictures will be extremely helpful. Also any recommendations in automotive plastic trim glues would be highly appreciated.
Enjoyed your webpage and it looks terrific!
Good luck to all!
I haven't had a problem in this regard with my 4/01 Built 2001 Impala LS.
Carnauba is a, dark yellow, brittle wax. It has no durability. It also has no high shine. In reality it's actually a dull wax. It is not optically perfect and leaves a film (haze) on the paint finish. If you took two identical colored cars and placed them side by side. The one without carnuba would be the true colour. The other car with carnuba would have a slightly different tint to it.
What you are seeing with Carnauba is a combination of carnauba wax, polyethylene wax, paraffin wax and the key gloss ingredient SILICONE OIL. Silicone oil is inexpensive, greasy, smear, not durable, but shines like crazy. Just try Pledge furniture polish on your car. Voila same shine. Hmm. Pledge is loaded with silicone oil, so is Armor All tire dressing. Did you ever notice how greasy, smeary and dusty, furniture looks with Pledge on it. How soon does your car get dusty after you polish/wax with your favorite product?????:( When does the gloss start
to drop???
Silicone oil is not body shop safe and is a painters worst nightmare. Silicone oil always remains a liquid in a mobile state that can permeate and penetrate paint or metal or fibreglass over a period of time. This can cause the term "fisheye" and make repainting virtually impossible. Any vehicle made of a composite material such as Corvettes, Vipers, and Saturns will suffer silicone damage because the sun will burn into the materials resulting in a non-repaintable finish.
Now here's the best part. Silicone oil and other oils are an essential ingredient of Carnauba based products. It's the only way to achieve a shine. That's why it's used in all Carnauba based polish/wax. However, it has no durability, does not last and it attracts dust and dirt like a magnet and once dust settles on it, it sticks to it. Dust on paint causes tiny Swirls and Scratches. Also Carnauba is very brittle. It will not stay on the paint surface for any length of time. Most of the time less than 3 weeks....... The sun also effects Carnauba based products. The sunnier and hotter it gets, the faster it deteriorates. Remember wax melts and oils tend to migrate to the surface and evaporate... Sad but true.
Fact: On a sunny 80 degree day, the surface temperature of black paint will reach 149 degrees and go up to 198 degrees if the ambient temp reaches 90. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happens to the wax.
When designing and formulating a polish. These are just a few of the factors that you want to avoid.
I believe that replacing the trim will not solve the problem for the long term, especially if it's the same tape. I am thinking of cleaning up the ends and using 3M emblem adhesive or weather-strip adhesive to stick it down.
Stockalis2, what color car do you have? I have a black one and I am wondering if that is one of the reasons that the trim is coming up. Added heat absorption vice lighter cars.
Anyone have a better suggestion?
Ok, now you got me worried and I gotta look at my car.
Doesn't that TV set become a potential projectile in case of a sudden stop or a crash?
Noble cause but kinda dangerous IMO.
They have promised me that they will paint the mouldings off the car.
I am not sure that i want the hassle and may not even have it repaired.
I have also found it to be long lasting. It is often still beading after 4 months.
While i don't doubt the success many people have had with zaino, i do feel that carnuba is not harmful to a car. It has been used for decades and still sells well today in the face of so many miracle waxes.
I am also getting excellent gloss from mother's. While my car doesn't look as good as it did 8 years ago it still has the "wetlook" and has no oxidation.
I am hoping to try zaino soon, but in the interim i will continue to use mother's products.
As a footnote i used meguiars cleaner/wax on the impala and am not impressed.
I wouldn't recommend using dishwashing soap regularly. But it is good for taking off layers of wax. Just take it easy.
Thanks,
RR
When you say that carnuba is not good for your car, are you referring to the silicone in the wax or the carnuba itself? I was a little unclear on that point.
bbrown74 - You are right in pointing out that every "study" supporting one position can be countered with another one. The NSX evaluation was pretty good, but could use improvement. Only one trial and one of the tests was subjective (how the surface "felt"). However, just because the source was from a NSX fan doesn't mean the information cannot be used by Impala owners.
Tomaso may be a Zaino dealer, but it doesn't mean his opinion is invalid. On the contrary, if he thought the product was so good that he wanted to be a dealer, I might give his testimony more credit. Then again, maybe not. Like any other information on the net, testimonials and studies it shouldn't be taken at face value.
I still have a quarter bottle of wax that I'll use up before moving on to something else. Based on the recommendations of others here and articles like the NSX one, I'll probably try Zaino next. I was not convinced solely by Tomaso's recommendation or the NSX study. However due to number of people extolling it's virtues, I am willing to give it a shot. If I say it's the best thing in the world, should you immediately go out and buy it? Of course not. It's everyone's responsibility to do the research and make a decision for themselves.
bbrown74, if that was your point in the beginning, can everyone just delete this message. I just felt a need to ramble on.
If you want to attempt the bypass, I did a How-To article on it based on the information from people on this board. Go to:
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/impala/
and visit the How-To section. You may want to consider pursuing a replacement amp (if you have the 104 unit) from your dealer as a warranty job. I have a 104 amp and am satisfied the way it sounds. If I change out the amp, it will be to install an aftermarket one.
Makes me nervous. Having themmess around with my car.
Anyway, there are many things in cars that can be deadly projectiles, and when folks are on vacation, they often have books, toys, drink bottles or a cooler, etc in the car with them. One cop said at a speech that he had only un-buckled one dead person (meaning all the other persons wearing their seat belts were alive) and that the dead person had been carrying a box of kleenex on the rear package shelf. That box, during a front-end collision, flew forward and broke his neck.
In a front-end collision, the radio/Onstar interface unit is probably at the most risk of being smashed by the TV.
Thus, the TV as a projectile is a calculated risk as is most anything in life. I won't say it doesn't present a potential hazard. I will say that TVs in cars are becoming very popular and that it doesn't IMO present undue risk, particularly considering the great benefit it provides.
GM Corp minds...pricing yes...out of sight...also....I think my paint job sucks...orange peel and its soft as hell have looked at a lot on new GM vehicles...their paint..looks crappy also..as compared to Chrysler...and even blah..*Fords*....Lookout in 2003...Dodge IntrepidR/T...V8 etc...I may jump over...if Chevy doesn't do anything......
Comments anyone ???
Paint soft? I guess it is, but the truth is that most new car finishes today are water based to comply with EPA regulations. Paints are therefore thinner than oil based paints.
Wanna see extra soft paint? Just visit your nearest Honda dealer and take a look at the Accord which boasts the thinniest sheetmetal/paint of any production car today. You can chip the hood just by looking at it.
I have not seen any instances of Orange peel in both of these cars. It appears to be that Orange Peel can be observed on red pigmented cars such as the Carmine and Torch red colors. I am not sure....
Last year Edmunds reported seen orange peel on their red carmine tester....but given the accuracy of Edmunds road tests I would doubt their observations more.
Would like to see more close up pics of the adjustments in case I need to do something like this in the future..
In my condo we were *lucky* enough to get a parking spot just next to a covered one...arghhh I hate condos when it comes to parking allocation!!!
At work we have a private parking lot but it is also uncovered.
My car is exposed to the heat, UV Rays and elements of South Florida all the time....a very good quality test for the Paint finish I might add.
So far no problems.
My worry is that moisture and debris will collect in the seams and around the front and back windsheild mouldings. This will be a prime place for rust to start and makes me wonder if this will be a replay of the rust problems that GM cars had in the late '60's with their "Fastback" and Vinyl topped sedans .
Glad to hear you like the site. Any suggestions are appreciated.