Silver Hose Racing Flush Louvers Install Notes
05-22-2007, 09:15 PM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 757
Silver Hose Racing Flush Louvers Install Notes
This is just a log of some thoughts after installing the SHR louvers. Let me say up front that they rock! The look is absolutely amazing. Even during mock-up I almost wet myself; they’re that good. The whole car’s rear quarter has woken up to much more of an appropriate fastback style. I love them. Now, on to the install.
For the most part the directions that came with the louvers were adequate. Reading them several times is advised until you feel you can mentally go through all the steps. This, much like the notoriously slow pace at which I work, is a good measure to ease one’s nerves as you rip into an otherwise perfectly good (almost new) car.
I ordered my louvers pre-painted as it saved a lot of headache and left the install timing up to me and my schedule. The paint match is fine, though I have not yet gotten her out into the sun and at different times of day for a full comparison. Some additional clarifications I can offer are the following:
Removing the interior is straightforward, and I didn’t remove entirely the sill plates or the upper door molding. I loosened these (as per instructions) and the rest of the rear interior panels came out with a bit of ever-so-gentle wrestling.
When they say tape up the edge of the outer window frame, tape the frip out that mother and tape deep into the recess between body and window, because you will gouge into the surrounding area eventually. The more protection, the better. I used 3M blue masking tape—I love the stuff, never sticks to anything permanently, but holds long enough to get the job done. I also taped up the inner body pillar, as I found that the cutting wire brushed up against it a couple of times when I did the driver side (my first side).
On the subject of wire cutting the OEM windows out, the directions do say to start at the rear locating pin of the window. They should have put that in bold. If you start there, you are pulling the wire to the front, which is what you want when you are standing in door opening. This way, even if you have short arms you can just use a longer piece of cutting wire. I thought it would be easier (hmmm, how many times have I thought this?) to start in the middle of the window, and I found out quickly why it works best to go from rear to front. Anyway, on the whole I took the wiring slow (not sawing away at power-tool speed), and the experience was rather easy. I did nick one portion of the body paint (driver side, of course), but not bad and nothing that I can’t later touch up to satisfaction.
The directions say that a helper is useful for catching the OEM glass as you finish sawing. My helper bailed on me before I got to this point, so I used the blue tape to hold the window in place until I finished sawing. Just saw the top, tape her up, and wallah!—instant helper. It is now a one-man job.
When cleaning up the window frame, both the SHR and Ford instructions say you should leave some of the original urethane on the body. The Ford instructions say it should be around 1mm (which I can visualize easier than .005”) and use the term “the film” for what should be left. That gave me a better sense of what I should be leaving on the car.
The 3M One-Step Primer that is recommended is some wicked fast drying stuff. Their directions say “wear gloves” but I didn’t (because I thought it would be easier…), and now I know why this is advised. They also suggest a wool dauber, and daubing is a better action than brushing for this paint. I also used it quite a bit to touch up the pinch-weld area that was scraped by the wire.
For alignment I used a simple folded-tape shim to hold the louvers in place. I taped those to the lower window frame once the final position was determined during mock-up, and I was able to easily duplicate the placement after the urethane sealer was all on.
On the sealer, put a THICK bead on. Really, thicker will give you more margin of error than thin, and my driver side (poor thing, it was the test side, and please, don’t ask why) was almost too shallow. That was scary as hell. On the passenger side I did it thick, and the whole affair was like a party.
Finally, the real hot tip of the day came after the heartbreak of putting up the passenger side and realizing that a couple of tiny strokes of 3M black primer had somehow gotten on the painted side of my louvers! Argh!! Of course, it must have been on there 30 minutes or more, so you know that it wasn’t rubbing off. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of my mind I got the idea that using a blunted toothpick (rubbed on a 2x4 stud) could act like a hard eraser (think, 1000 grit sandpaper…in pencil form). This thing worked like a charm and saved the day. The paint was unharmed, and the primer removed. Maybe I read about that trick years ago and just forgot, but I prefer the version of the story where I’m the MacGyver of the garage.
Cheers folks, I hope that helps some of you out. For those of you who are big into appearance mods, count this one as absolutely mandatory. Best, -j
p.s. -I'll post pics in a follow up.
For the most part the directions that came with the louvers were adequate. Reading them several times is advised until you feel you can mentally go through all the steps. This, much like the notoriously slow pace at which I work, is a good measure to ease one’s nerves as you rip into an otherwise perfectly good (almost new) car.
I ordered my louvers pre-painted as it saved a lot of headache and left the install timing up to me and my schedule. The paint match is fine, though I have not yet gotten her out into the sun and at different times of day for a full comparison. Some additional clarifications I can offer are the following:
Removing the interior is straightforward, and I didn’t remove entirely the sill plates or the upper door molding. I loosened these (as per instructions) and the rest of the rear interior panels came out with a bit of ever-so-gentle wrestling.
When they say tape up the edge of the outer window frame, tape the frip out that mother and tape deep into the recess between body and window, because you will gouge into the surrounding area eventually. The more protection, the better. I used 3M blue masking tape—I love the stuff, never sticks to anything permanently, but holds long enough to get the job done. I also taped up the inner body pillar, as I found that the cutting wire brushed up against it a couple of times when I did the driver side (my first side).
On the subject of wire cutting the OEM windows out, the directions do say to start at the rear locating pin of the window. They should have put that in bold. If you start there, you are pulling the wire to the front, which is what you want when you are standing in door opening. This way, even if you have short arms you can just use a longer piece of cutting wire. I thought it would be easier (hmmm, how many times have I thought this?) to start in the middle of the window, and I found out quickly why it works best to go from rear to front. Anyway, on the whole I took the wiring slow (not sawing away at power-tool speed), and the experience was rather easy. I did nick one portion of the body paint (driver side, of course), but not bad and nothing that I can’t later touch up to satisfaction.
The directions say that a helper is useful for catching the OEM glass as you finish sawing. My helper bailed on me before I got to this point, so I used the blue tape to hold the window in place until I finished sawing. Just saw the top, tape her up, and wallah!—instant helper. It is now a one-man job.
When cleaning up the window frame, both the SHR and Ford instructions say you should leave some of the original urethane on the body. The Ford instructions say it should be around 1mm (which I can visualize easier than .005”) and use the term “the film” for what should be left. That gave me a better sense of what I should be leaving on the car.
The 3M One-Step Primer that is recommended is some wicked fast drying stuff. Their directions say “wear gloves” but I didn’t (because I thought it would be easier…), and now I know why this is advised. They also suggest a wool dauber, and daubing is a better action than brushing for this paint. I also used it quite a bit to touch up the pinch-weld area that was scraped by the wire.
For alignment I used a simple folded-tape shim to hold the louvers in place. I taped those to the lower window frame once the final position was determined during mock-up, and I was able to easily duplicate the placement after the urethane sealer was all on.
On the sealer, put a THICK bead on. Really, thicker will give you more margin of error than thin, and my driver side (poor thing, it was the test side, and please, don’t ask why) was almost too shallow. That was scary as hell. On the passenger side I did it thick, and the whole affair was like a party.
Finally, the real hot tip of the day came after the heartbreak of putting up the passenger side and realizing that a couple of tiny strokes of 3M black primer had somehow gotten on the painted side of my louvers! Argh!! Of course, it must have been on there 30 minutes or more, so you know that it wasn’t rubbing off. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of my mind I got the idea that using a blunted toothpick (rubbed on a 2x4 stud) could act like a hard eraser (think, 1000 grit sandpaper…in pencil form). This thing worked like a charm and saved the day. The paint was unharmed, and the primer removed. Maybe I read about that trick years ago and just forgot, but I prefer the version of the story where I’m the MacGyver of the garage.
Cheers folks, I hope that helps some of you out. For those of you who are big into appearance mods, count this one as absolutely mandatory. Best, -j
p.s. -I'll post pics in a follow up.
05-22-2007, 09:19 PM
#3
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 757
RE: Silver Hose Racing Flush Louvers Install Notes
Pics!
My shims and some quick shots of the finished car.
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/8EFC665A00AB4BBD8E57F36C5233E7EF.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/51C99BB214504A03B60B6468C55B4074.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/D8CF00A8971C4FD5855E0D4B048263A2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/498B971120E248C2B8EED9F90478C4B1.jpg[/IMG]
My shims and some quick shots of the finished car.
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/8EFC665A00AB4BBD8E57F36C5233E7EF.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/51C99BB214504A03B60B6468C55B4074.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/D8CF00A8971C4FD5855E0D4B048263A2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/498B971120E248C2B8EED9F90478C4B1.jpg[/IMG]
05-22-2007, 09:41 PM
#5
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 757
RE: Silver Hose Racing Flush Louvers Install Notes
Hey Joolander,
They're pretty clear, and there is more visability than I thought there would be. I commute daily in this car, so this was a major concern, and I'm quite pleased. I'll try to get a decent shot of this soon.
Best,
-j
They're pretty clear, and there is more visability than I thought there would be. I commute daily in this car, so this was a major concern, and I'm quite pleased. I'll try to get a decent shot of this soon.
Best,
-j
05-22-2007, 09:42 PM
#6
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location:
Posts: 445
RE: Silver Hose Racing Flush Louvers Install Notes
First time I see that kind of louvers, they look very good 
Thank you forthe detailed installation walkthrough,I am curious too about how they look from the inside.
Thank you forthe detailed installation walkthrough,I am curious too about how they look from the inside.
05-22-2007, 09:55 PM
#9
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Cranberry Township, PA
Posts: 254
RE: Silver Hose Racing Flush Louvers Install Notes
Good write-up Philostang. I am having my louvrers installed tomorrow and I am printing out what you wrote and giving it to the installer.
To others who have their SilverHorse louvers in, was marring the paint a common occurance?
To others who have their SilverHorse louvers in, was marring the paint a common occurance?
