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Haven't updated much but good progress on the car. Took a new job a couple months back so that's been hindering the progress. But at least body work is done and I can focus on assembly.

One of the jobs to be done on this car is get the parking hand brake working, I got under the car but something didn't look right, took off the drum and it all became clear. Not only was everything upside down, everything was switched side to side. In order to fix it both struts had to come out, press out the axle hub (new nuts required) and switch the backing plates.

Are the sun visors mud flaps?

I found that out the hard way, also. I didn't want to take the door panel off after all that trouble.

Thunderstorms on & off today, so not much time outside. I worked on repairing the door card as best possible for the time being. Going to get new door cards when they become available. cardboard & gaffer's tape removed the original rivets riveted in place, 3M super trim adhesive to re-bond the foam to the card edges done last. Back in the car. Armrest is a brown one I painted, the original was f'kd. Hard to photograph the damaged rear corner, the vinyl is all torn up here. They had duct taped the panel to the door skin 😞 Lol - I should have looked at the thread before I put the panel back on

Thanks Jim, you put me on the right path. My recommendations after using an acetylene torch for about 2 hours is grab something like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09W22TCB1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Make sure you leave 1 lug nut on a stud. Tighten it but do not strain your back or arm; you want tension not pieces. THEN use the heat underneath the long bar; center of drum. In 3 minutes POP.

It might have taken me a while to come to that conclusion!

OK. Got the outer handle release rod welded. I looked at using other rod as the threads were damaged at one end, but it's an odd ball size - seems to be 4.5mm .75 pitch. So, I flipped it & welded the damaged end to the main rod. Forgot to take a pic. Welded the winder spline to the shaft & put the crank back together, applied new grease to the mechanism. original splines Welded the inner release plate, and added a tongue that hooks over the back of the retaining plate, so the leverage load is not unsupported welded the cracks in the plate Before I put the door innards back in, I drilled the 3 new holes fore the all-metal chrome mirror I got from Zcardepot. I moved it as far forward as possible while still covering the existing holes. I considering welding them up, but that will have to be another day. Thunderstorms were coming in. I used M5 riv-nuts to score the mirror base, I hate sheet metal screws after that I reinstalled the glass, winder & release for the life of me, I can't figure out where these seals are supposed to go on the outer edge of the door frame. Anyone have a pic of one installed? Still have to figure out if I can repair the door panel

Yes, that would be great!! That's what I'm working towards...

My bad, I just made an assumption of the construction material based on the failures. I had a 1992 Legacy (my first Subaru), two WRXs (a 2002 Sedan and 2002 Wagon), and a 2015 Forester. None of the previous Subarus had issues, so I figured it must have been a material change or something that occurred sometime between 2015 and 2018. I too researched on NASIOC, but the only information I was able to find was something about the thread patterns Subaru uses are susceptible to cross threading, and even more so if you use air wrenches to tighten the lugs, which most dealers and tire shops use. Also, they made a change to the lug pattern for the VA WRXs and 2014-on Foresters, which is a pity because I loved my Version VII STi wheels and would have used them as my winter wheels on my current WRX. Odd that I never had this issue with my Forester though. The older Subarus were like Legos, and I always thought it would be a fun project to put an STi engine in my Legacy had I kept it, or bought an older 1993-2001 Impreza or an SVX and put an STi engine in it too. But, probably in another life or if I happen to win the lottery.

Yeah, BMW uses sheets of that stuff and i squirrel away when I find it, just thought you might have found a source of virgin heat shield.

All Volvos from 2000-on use it in the driveshaft tunnel & under the rear cargo/trunk floor above the rear muffler. I saved the sections from an 2004 S40T5 AWD when I stripped it for converting my C30T5 to AWD

oil consumption issue seems to be fixed. I switched to 10/30 VR1 since my oil seemed to be all ways stuck at about 60psi indicated (like it was in bypass all the time) Since going to the lighter oil it looks more normal (maxed at 60psi cold, but will vary with the RPM when warmed up. I had been running 20/50 and or 15/40 with the old oil burner. checked compression warm, all about 185 (throttle closed). This is with dished pistons and the head off a 84 maxima. I would have an occasional miss, I think it was injector harness related, I replaced all the plugs at the injectors, seems to have fixed the intermittent miss. The old ones were pretty beat up, and I noticed some of the contacts had partially retracted from the plastic housing. For replacement I used the kind with the integrated push to release spring. I did not want to pig tail to the old harness so I just cut the off right at the old connector and crimped on new hardware. the tiny loss of length was immaterial. But now I have what looks like a rear main seal leak, Guess it could be the pan but it seems to be coming out of the weep hole of the bell housing. So the plan is to replace the pilot bush, along with all the rest of the clutch stuff. I have a spare ZX flywheel so will go with the excedy 6030 240mm kit. I cleaned up the fly wheel some while it was running on the test stand. I sure hope its not the rear main side seals, those are a pita as the pan has to come off. I prob should do the pan and side seal when the trans is off, but I will make that call when I pull the trans. If its clearly the rear main then will just do that. If I see evidence of side seal leakage then will have to escalate to pan off and side seals. looks like it would be much easier to pull the pan when the trans is off. Car is running great, got about 25-26 on a 800 mile round trip to AL a couple weeks ago. Did not notice the oil leak at that time, more reason for me to think its the rear main. I took too many short cuts when doing the swap, I should have just spent the time when the engine was on the stand....

Looks like you have bigger wider wheels also. The wheels on the Z's sit forward in the wheelwells. It bothers some people and they try to center them, but that takes a lot of work.

Yeah - I assume the monkeys that did the "repairs" to the mechanisms must have literally ripped it off the door.