Muse's '02 H6 VDC "Blitzen 6" - the un-update!

[Yamazaki]

Ordered some dynamat in the hopes of reducing some wind/road/general noise. I'd like to be able to hear the speakers and/or passengers as clearly as when the car is sitting at idle.

We'll see how well that turns out.

[rkrenicki]

Have you changed your front window gussets? I know I had some wind noise before I replaced both sides with new ones. I know they redesigned them sometime in the 03MY to last longer, but mine were just starting to make noise.

[elislider]

my 03 Legacy had terrible wind noise from the driver's side mirror, i just rolled the window down, squeezed the triangle bit together, and rolled the window back up. the rubber actually seals against the window now, problem solved.

[rkrenicki]

That rubber triangle is what I was talking about. Subaru calls it the Gusset panel.

[drtylggy]

Dynomat is very good. How much are you installing? I bought a small patch to reduce rattle with the sound system, the little bit made a large difference. It's heavy but it works like a charm.

[Yamazaki]

I actually have spare gusset panels (from the original doors). I have squeezed the part that I need to together, but it never stays very long. I decided to "restore" the extras by heating them up, clamping them, then letting them chill in the Mid-Atlantic cold of winter.

They didn't stay "restored" for very long. So then I pressed them in from the sides (where the metal is beneath the rubber) and now it seals with the window very well. But there is a gap between the mirror and the gusset and that makes a new wind noise. I'll come up with something eventually. I'm not paying money for new ones.

I got the Dynamat already. I thought I had ordered 72 sq ft, but I guess I only ordered 36 sq ft. I got the newer "Xtreme" Dynamat. It's supposed to be much lighter and just as effective. Got a 1/4" Dynaliner to go in the trunk as well. Hopefully it'll reduce the exhaust noise a little.
Also got a Sony XS-GS1720S while I was at it. But I don't know if I would rather put that in the Impreza or not.

[rkrenicki]

I messed with the gussets on my BG too many times, thats why when I bought the BE, I just went out and bought new gussets to be done with it. My old ones were not that bad, but I did not want to have to mess with them again for a very long time. I could bring down the ones I took off if you want them.

[elislider]

I think the 2nd gen and earlier ones didn't have any (or as much) metal reinforcement in them, but on the 3rd gen, theres definitely metal in the gusset piece, and you can bend it back together a bit. When I did it, its stayed nice and sealed for the last 6 months. who knows how it will be in the future

[Yamazaki]

I noticed I don't have any recent full-body pictures of the car. I'll change that this weekend.

[nikolaus.conrad]

I noticed I don't have any recent full-body pictures of the car. I'll change that this weekend.

Please do

[Yamazaki]

Pictures (I'll even go against my usual method and post non-thumbnails)

[nikolaus.conrad]

Very very cool! Looks like it came from the factory!

[amgarrety]

Yeah it looks great in these pictures! Part of me thinks the higher ride height looks really cool for some reason. It's probably because I'm so used to the Blitzen being low to the ground normally.

Also, why are the doors only blue on the outside?

[rkrenicki]

Wow, that looks great! I am a fan of that ride height myself.

For some reason, I never noticed that your headlights lights are silver, it looks good on the dark car.

Is that a Totoro in the cupholder? lol

[Yamazaki]

For some reason, I never noticed that your headlights lights are silver, it looks good on the dark car.

That's because only the Blitzen had silver headlights. When I was gathering parts, I wanted everything to be Blitzen.

Is that a Totoro in the cupholder? lol

Yes. My wife loves Totoro.

[rkrenicki]

Is that a Totoro in the cupholder? lol

Yes. My wife loves Totoro.

Well, that is because Miyazaki films are awesome.

[MRLancaster]

Wow was nervous about the ride height until I saw pictures! It actually fits the car! This is one unique car! Amazing work! Very well done!

[Zac]

how much did the paint job cost?

[Yamazaki]

Thanks for the nice words guys. However, it's a bit disappointing in person. You'll see what I'm talking about at the meet.

how much did the paint job cost?

Way more than I should've spent on such a poor quality job. I'll be having the whole car redone at some point. I won't be putting on the rainguards, moonroof wind deflector, and other badges until that is done. But I don't think I'll be able to do that until April-ish timeframe.

[EDIT: I changed the pictures in my first post to show the evolution of the car instead of just a bunch of parts]

[amgarrety]

My favorite headlights are definitely the S401 lights that are a dark or smoked chrome. The silver looks pretty good too, but I'm definitely a fan of the darker look.

[Yamazaki]

I installed the Dynamat in all the doors and put in only all the door speakers (front Sony, rear Alpine). The tweeters require some modification to fit and I don't even know what to do with the crossover boxes. So they'll have to wait.
I haven't driven it yet to see if it's more quiet. I figure if my wife notices and tells me, then I'll know there's a difference.

But she didn't know what was different when I swapped the old cluster for the BFM cluster, so who knows....

[rkrenicki]

But she didn't know what was different when I swapped the old cluster for the BFM cluster, so who knows....

Hah, my wife could not figure out the difference either, but then again she has not driven the car since I have done it.

In the past, I have stashed the crossover modules in the bottom of the door, as far away from any window mechanism as I could. I generally just double-side tape them to either the outside skin or to one of the inside ribs.

These kind of zip-tie anchors work great for keeping the new speaker wires away from mechanisms as well:

[Yamazaki]

I got most of the trunk done and realized I only have two sheets of Dynamat left (granted, I used one sheet in the Impreza, but I thought there'd be leftover) and that's nowhere near enough to finish the rest of the car...

I am ordering more, but this is becoming more expensive than I had planned. The car better be damn silent on the inside after I'm done...

[rkrenicki]

Are you also doing the floorpan or just the doors and trunk?

[Yamazaki]

I'm doing EVERYTHING. Including the roof and firewall. I want that car sealed up in sound absorbing material. Well, that's the plan anyway. I'm not ordering anymore after this so I guess I'm going to cover whatever I can.

[hansvonaxion]

Hope you're not covering the whole surface, you just need to cover about 25% to reduce resonance, more than that is a waste of money apparently. You can use it in conjunction with a sound absorbing foam which will probably work out cheaper and give better results than covering everything with dynamat.

[rkrenicki]

I wonder what kind of weight that will add to the car as well. Dynamat isn't exactly light stuff.

[Yamazaki]

It isn't that heavy. I'd say I'm canceling the weight loss of the front and rear bumper beams. That leaves the hood, seats, and other little things as weight loss. So I still come out ahead.

[Yamazaki]

So did a marathon session with the car this weekend and finished all the Dynamat. I had heard it with just the doors and it was a little quieter, but not much. Now that the car is almost wrapped in Dynamat, it's actually really quiet. If I were to replace all of the seals around windows, I suspect it'd be near silent (you can still hear the exhaust, but it isn't overwhelmingly obnoxious anymore). I didn't Dynamat the roof or much of the firewall (due to it being a complete pain), but I am very happy with the result. And I don't notice the weight gain either.

And proof that it made a difference... my wife noticed.

[amgarrety]

And proof that it made a difference... my wife noticed.

Did you tell her to listen for it? Or did she say something on her own? Because only one of those options counts.