Leper door panel

[FlagstaffSVX]

Hello, I'm new here, mainly because the Yahoo group has 50 bazillion messages posted on it and you can never find what you want. But anyway, I just got my first SVX about one month ago and it has only had minor problems. (I bought it from an absent minded professor who had locked the trunk with vallet mode and didn't know how to reprogram the remote) I was just washing the car today when i noticed the door was made out of two seperate panels on the outside. This became apparent to me because they were starting to seperate (the bottom one from the top) and water from the hose was disappearing into the door. Upon closer inspection, it appears the little "pink pins" that hold the car together were broken and there's a bunch of black goo holding the panel on. Is there supposed to be black goo holding the car together? The plastic foot panel inside the door on the floor of the car was also broken as well as some other minor things. (like the sunvisor falls down without warning, any suggestions?) That's my only question and I'd appreciate any suggestions on anything.
-Craig Lowthorp in Flagstaff AZ

[nvrmore100]

But both of my sun visors are like that. Not really come down on their own, but rather just don't sit up tight against the roof. They both hang about an inch or so from the top.

Ryan

[Stevebsy]

The Sunvisors drooping is a standard issue SVX problem with no known cure other than replacement or velcroing them to the headliner.

The 'garnish' on the door (That's what it says in the service manual, really ) appears to be held on at the top by the metal bracket and at the bottom by tape and weather strip. I can't tell if the garnish is held to the metal bracket by tape or some kind of locking groove. Perhaps Eddy would have better insight here.

It could be that the tape came loose and someone squirted some kind of RTV Silicone to goop it back on, but I don't see any goop listed here in the manual.

Welcome to the SVX world

[FlagstaffSVX]

Thanks for the welcome, i have a feeling that i'll need my wallet... Actually, the sunvisors droop straight down (previous owner had velcro all over the place but all it did was seperate the felt from the ceiling) and the wire's been cut for the vanity mirror. After trying to attach velcro to the old velcro spots (the previous owner attached his velcro with white glue) i've found that using a 3" strip of self-adhesive velcro on the mirror's protrusion (hook side only) it grips nicely to the felt on the ceiling. Even eliminates the "sag down" effect that happens when things get older. ;-)

Witty comment:
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

[Aredubjay]

Flagstaff, welcome to world of sagging sunvisors, etc. You can go here and find your parts. Just click on the SVX and you'll be lead to a diagram.
http://www.subaruparts.com/accessories.php
this will give you some idea of pricing. You can probably order the clips for the "garnish." Sounds like it came loose, and someone let it "flap" until the double-stick tape got so much dirt on it, it wouldn't stick. You'll probably have to remove the garnish, clean off the goo, go to Pep Boys (or equivalent) and get some new 3M double-stick tape (made specifically for auto applications).

Also, for the sun visors, you can go here
http://svx.knowfear.net/
Do a search on "sun visors" and you'll come up with some interesting fixes (one guy used "shrink tubing").

You will probably have to buy the door sill plate new, though.

Again, welcome, and thanks for hanging out with us.

[nubs]

[i]
Do a search on "sun visors" and you'll come up with some interesting fixes (one guy used "shrink tubing").


[/B]

That would be me.This fix is not the easiest to do but it works very well,and is cheaper than new visors. There also is now evidence that there is something done. Here is the procedure.

Take visor off of the ceiling,remove wires from plastic connector and pull them out of mounting bracket. If your wires are already broken as mine were you can skip that step.Then hold the visor and with a twisting motion pull the mounting bracket out of the visor.This will take some effort but it will come out.Once out, clean all of the loose plastic out of the visor.Then on the pin of the mounting bracket find a piece of electrical shrink wrap tubing the fits on as snugly as possible.Slip a piece over the pin leaving it a little longer so it melts over the end.After it cools off, push it back into the visor while twisting, it pushes in hard but take your time.The tighter it is the better it will stay up.When you get it in all the way, trim off any tubing that pushed out and reinstall.If it pushes on to hard I guess you could ream out the hole in the visor a little bit. I did this about 7 months ago and it works great.

Originally posted by nubsjr


Then hold the visor and with a twisting motion pull the mounting bracket out of the visor.This will take some effort but it will come out.

i tried this myself.
exactly how hard were you pulling....i couldn't get mine to budge for the life of me.
i gave up just short of clamping it down in a vice and using my body weight.
i managed to flex the shaft and visor section, but it acted like it was one piece.
although quite industrious at heart, i think i'm going to have to hang my head in shame and get some velcro.
toby the wuss

[FlagstaffSVX]

Thanks for all the help guys, although that shrink wrap seems a little too much taking apart for me to risk, even though i was very proud of myself for figuring out how to remove the door panel in one piece. ( I tend to take thing apart and find that they were built with all kinds of spare parts they don't need ) The self-adhesive velcro attaches perfectly to the SRS Warning label on the visor. (unlike the felt which just gums up and falls off) The hook-y side actually sticks to the ceiling carpet well enough. But enough repeating myself, thanks again.

-Craig Lowthorp, Flagstaff AZ

"You know you're going to fast when you get 12.2mpg in a Subaru SVX..."

[svxter]

Originally posted by FlagstaffSVX
Thanks for all the help guys, although that shrink wrap seems a little too much taking apart for me to risk, even though i was very proud of myself for figuring out how to remove the door panel in one piece. ( I tend to take thing apart and find that they were built with all kinds of spare parts they don't need ) The self-adhesive velcro attaches perfectly to the SRS Warning label on the visor. (unlike the felt which just gums up and falls off) The hook-y side actually sticks to the ceiling carpet well enough. But enough repeating myself, thanks again.

-Craig Lowthorp, Flagstaff AZ

"You know you're going to fast when you get 12.2mpg in a Subaru SVX..."

I did the Velcro bit, just as you described. However --- I couldn't make the passenger side stick to the fuzzy material on the visor. Problem #1. Then, the first day that the temperature hit about 85, and the car sat outside all day, the glue on the driver's side melted and let go, leaving this sticky goop on the visor. Problem #2.
Think I'll try the shrink-tubing fix. I'm not happy with the Velcro fix. Anyone else suffer from melting Velcro?

[svxxx26]

<<Anyone else suffer from melting Velcro?>>

Only when Aredub tries to melt it on SPAM

I can see it now: " . . . after arranging the velcro strips on the SPAM slices, place under the broiler until hot and bubbly. Makes a great after-school snack!"

[Aredubjay]

<<" . . . after arranging the velcro strips on the SPAM slices, place under the broiler until hot and bubbly. Makes a great after-school snack!" >>

And your problem with that is . . .? Velcro actually makes a wonderful substitute for cheese. But, don't forget the onions.

[nubs]

Originally posted by tober76b


i tried this myself.
exactly how hard were you pulling....i couldn't get mine to budge for the life of me.

It is pretty hard to get off, but then again mine might have been a little looser. Make sure that you are twisting it while you are pulling. If you do not feel comfortable doing this repair by all means stop.I would not like to hear that you broke your visor.I would feel bad if that happened.

[eddycat2000]

Originally posted by Aredubjay
<<" . . . after arranging the velcro strips on the SPAM slices, place under the broiler until hot and bubbly. Makes a great after-school snack!" >>

And your problem with that is . . .? Velcro actually makes a wonderful substitute for cheese. But, don't forget the onions.

And here I thought you were a purist like me. You *never* ever eat spam unless it's fried on a skillet and then the side dish is a box of kraft macaroni and cheese. No onions, no cheese, just the basics, now that's good eating! (Can't even get my wife to try it, but she'll sit down with a bunch of tough old chicken gizzards and think she's in heaven, go figure.)

Originally posted by nubsjr


It is pretty hard to get off, but then again mine might have been a little looser. Make sure that you are twisting it while you are pulling. If you do not feel comfortable doing this repair by all means stop.I would not like to hear that you broke your visor.I would feel bad if that happened.

uhhhh....that's why i stopped. i figured i'd crack the mirror before gettting that thing to budge. oh well, velcro's cool with me.
toby

[FlagstaffSVX]

Hmm... I never thought to fix the passenger side... Do they [passengers] enjoy it more when the sun visor dosen't block out over 50% of their view? I think that the hardest part of the whole velcro thing is the stupid "liquid onion" sticky stuff they use to attach the strips. Perhaps some sort of stiching would work? Oh yeah, and if you really want the velcro to stick, get the non-sticky kind and smear white glue all over the felt. This will eliminate any not-attaching/spam-producing velcro problems you might have as well as eliminating your resale value in one fell swoop. Have fun!

-Craig Lowthorp, Flagstaff AZ
1992 LS-L 110,400miles (just got 17.2 mpg, yay!)