In case some of you wondered why I haven't posted any progress lately




I got this Subaru to be Laurie's new beater. So suddenly we had buyers for the old Chevy station wagon and her Grand Prix. This left her with no running car and she is driving my Saturn. I'd sorta like to have my car back so I been thrashing to get this stuck together. My version of March Madness.

Hope to get back on the Jag in a couple weeks. It has to be done for the meet in June, hopefully sooner.

 

Looks like you've been really busy Jim! Better get back to it so Ms Laurie can drive it to the Meet!

 

Oh I will. Distractions Distractions!!

 

Been back on the Jag about a week now. Feels like one of those reality shows with the meet at Linden Hall looming nearer. Got the SRS module out yesterday. Not too bad except for the rear seat ductwork in the way.



Also got a rude surprise as to why the air bag light was on. I thought I just needed to clear the codes....NOOOOO! Went to fold the rear seat backs and discovered the rear seat belts are blown. All three pretensioners had deployed and jamed the retractors. The belts were pulled tight as a drum against the seat backs. The drivers pretensioner also is toast. It is part of the buckle near the console. I never saw one where the belts went off without air bag deployment. Evidently the light impact was enough to convince the system that the belts needed tightened but not enough to blow the air bags. The passenger side was spared as evidently no one was occupying the seat. With no occupant sensors in the rear, it just goes ahead and blows all three rear belts. REAL NICE!!

Luckily the same outfit that resets the modules now repairs belts. $50 for the module and $69 a piece for the belt pretensioners. So looks like I'll get by for a little less than 400 bucks. New stuff from Jag would be over $1500. A reason they total them I suppose.



All the bodywork has the final high build primer, ready for final sanding and paint. Hopefully I will have some pics of it with white paint on soon.

 

Awesome Jim! Keep pluggin away buddy you got less than 30 days now!

The same thing with the seatbelts happened with my X-Type. I was in a front end collision, hit the grille/hood and not the bumper. No airbag, but seatbelt tensioners all needed swapped out. Actually finding replacements took the body shop a few weeks, so looks like you are doing good on that side of things.

 

Looks good, I'll be looking forward to seeing the finished article at the end of the month.

 

Not nearly as much as I'm looking forward to it..trust me.

 

Paintwork done & on to reassembly.






To borrow a line from Chris Rock....It's all right cause it's all white.

 

Looks good!

Btw, do you have a body shop at your house or does that happen to be the neighboring property ??

Take care,

George

 

Shop is right where I live. We have 5 acres. Actually the house you see was my dads and we live next door. He passed away in Feb and I haven't quite delt with moving in there and renting my place out yet. I guess some would call this a back street shop but it has worked since 1978. Low profile and low overhead.

 

Oh man how I love builds.

 

Sorry to hear about your loss....

In my experience the "back roads" shops do the best work, because they are more detail oriented and less about turn and burn volume...

Your statement reminded me of my late father "If it ain't right, paint it white!".

Take care,

George

 

I agree George. Recently I had a long time customer return to me after not seeing him for a while. Seems that his kids had a couple decent jobs but at the persuasion of the Insurance Company, he had been to two different large scale shops here. He wasn't happy with the quality at the first place and the second was having labor trouble and tied the car up for over a month. It was nice to hear him say that he never should have left me.

I've heard stories about cars haveing paint slapped on the same day the filler work is finished. Not because they are that busy either. The DRP shops agree to fix in X number of days or they pick up the additional car rental. So they wham bam to avoid having to pay out for the rental. For as I'm concerned, the DRP shops have all made deals with the devil.

Unfortunately most people don't know their rights, don't care or are intimidated by the process. So they think if they listen to the Insurance Company people, all will go well. One thing to remember is the Insurance Companies don't fix cars. All they are interested in is settling the claim as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Yes, white is more forgiving than dark colors for sure. Downside is that it is harder to see things that need fixed. Especially when you get to the age where your eyes start messing with you.

 

Another shot today with most of the frt together.





As of now everything functions, no warning lights or messages except the air bag lamp. It appears I shot myself in the foot on that. After talking to three people at the dealer, not counting the receptionist, it seems they want 100 bucks to plug in the diag tool & clear the code. I don't hold much hope for an independent here to have a Jag compatible tool.

BTW, early on in this thread I posted a pic of the smashed right headlight. I believe someone wanted to buy the one socket. Today I noticed the left turn signal was out. Pulled the bulb to find the contacts in the socket were burned. I still had the mangled pieces of the right side but there was the turn socket & bulb in perfect shape. That's why my place is rather messy. I never get rid of much cause....ya never know.

 

Wow....looking good bodyman and its been a good follow through process.

I'm looking forward to seeing her totally finished, maybe with a half dozen shots to close the thread?

Thanks again for sharing

 

Thank you,

Believe me there could have been a lot more. This reminds me of the "how to shows" like Two Guys Garage where they go to comercial and when they come back the engine is in. But it would get boring just like real bodywork does if I showed every step.

Lots of prep, sanding, spraying, sanding, buffing, fitting ect. I really thought this was going to be an easy fix since no mechanical damage, cooling/ac system, suspension or steering. But then the SRS reared it's ugly head.

Yep, a final photo shoot...no problem. And I'll tally the costs which have taken a hit due to the SRS damage. A couple pics of the finished cat and it's new owner at Linden Hall would be a perfect wrap!

Laurie got really excited when she saw it with the nose together today. She keeps petting the leeper when she walks by it.

 

Who wouldn't loose interest in a Malibu when they could have this instead. It looks great. My only observation, and I know it's that way from the factory, is the white structural components behind the grille.

 

Looks great, I'm looking forward to seeing it in the flesh next week.

 

Nice work, Jim!

Wow! The S-Type just can't be done any better than an '03 decked out in white......ssshhhh....the lad's and I can't say it too loudly around here for fear of offending "Mama".....but it IS after all, a plainly observable fact.....

 

Superb job , you can't tell that ride was into a collision .
Thanks for posting the pics