Chithead's 2003 Corvette Z06

[BigAl205]

Good job, brother!

[SublimeZ]

[chithead]

Got to do a few things this weekend. Pulled the battery and located where to pass the power wire through:





Also found where this phone cord wire ends up at. Looks like Mr. Al was right, most likely a radar detector power plug as it is spliced right into the auxiliary plug for a CD Changer if equipped:



Pulled the dash out to run speaker wires and do some other repairs/upgrades:



Much more room to get hands in there:





Also took the opportunity to remove the HUD and fix it. Works, but the display isn't visible on the windshield:

[chithead]

Then things got a little crazier:





Think I found a good ground point for both amplifiers:





Then more crazy:

[chithead]

Tackled the HUD repair. Seems to be a very common problem, a company in Charlotte here has the repair kit for about $26:





Ewwwww:



Definitely not sitting like it should:



Bushing is broke:



And the toothed pivot is sheared off, both very common issues with this:



The repair kit:



Was super easy to swap both pieces out. The alignment was the trickiest part, but their video made it so much nicer to tackle this job:

[chithead]

All back together. Cleaned up the springs and screws, and lubricated them along with the gears. Noticed this gap though, and wonder if that's how moisture got in there:



Used some of that Hushmat foam tape over the gap to seal it up:



The knee bolster was busted on the driver's side around the trunk release switch. Found a repair kit for this, and the glovebox from Zip Corvette. This was again super easy. Found a video online where someone used t-shirt fabric mixed with epoxy to make a stronger joint, so I did that to glue the two pieces back together. Then used the Zip Corvette repair kit where the trunk release switch mounts:



You may recognize those screws from remote control car servos. Unfortunately, the hardware they supplied was junk. Broke two of the three screws just trying to tighten them:



Happened to have a bunch of these R/C screws though from where my kid is into the trophy trucks. They worked perfectly, and this has hopefully permanently repaired the driver's side knee bolster:

[chithead]

That yellow glue ^^^ was not from me.

Apparently someone had already attempted a repair before. The trunk switch was actually glued in with the same adhesive. Took a while to get all that scraped off.

[chithead]

A little more progress. Glovebox door surround is repaired. Pretty cool parts from Zip Corvette. Pricey, but cheaper than finding a decent used one, so totally worth it:



Went a bit overkill on some spots I thought might be troublesome in the future:



Also purchased their dead and gas pedal upgrade kit:



Dead pedal just sticks on:



Gas pedal was a little more involved, but not too bad:





And replaced the 12V power socket in the center console with a USB/3.5mm port:

[chithead]

Threw in what was left of the Hushmat on some floor panels that had bit of resonance when knocking on them:







So, bought this back when I had the white WRX (if anyone remembers that) - been toting it around ever since, saving it for the next install. And the next one. And the next one. Well, thanks to Kendal and his motivational messages... we're finally using it! It's an MLV/foam combination underlayment:







This stuff is HEAVY. I think the whole roll is like 150 pounds? Ended up using about half of it. Should help with not only the audio, but the next round of upgrades going into the car:









And the real test, does the carpet go back in... yes, it did:

[chithead]

Sooo... something happened over the weekend...



Found a pair of Focal E 25 KX 10" subwoofers locally for a really great price. Debated on swapping to two 10" subwoofers before getting the single 12" Kicker Q, and decided to just try these.

Took them out to inspect and check wiring:





Looked to be minty fresh on the backside, though the fronts weren't in the best shape. They should clean up easy enough and can always touch up some of the basket paint. Was curious if that enclosure would even fit in the car, and it does, in only one spot:



Did a few quick demos and ummm... yeah. Definitely liking these a lot better.