After driving home from the alignment, I could tell I had some tuning to do. In this case, it was the shifter. With me being tall, I have my knees kind of around the wheel. The brake pedal is currently too high, compounding the problem, but I cant step on it without moving my knee to the right. Well, with the shifter arm I have, I can’t hit the brakes while in second gear.

You can see the shifter arm I have has a bend to the left. Additionally, it has the fake reverse lock out T bar, which I find annoying. Both good reasons to find a better one. On top of that, I think the ball is too small in my hand, so might as well try a new one of those too.

I went with a Lokar shifter arm that is similar to the other one, but no left bend, just a back bend. I also got a slightly bigger white ball that I like a lot better. Not sure I am sold on white yet, but it’s growing on me.

You can see in the dash, I also added the Retrosound stereo at the same time (while waiting for parts). It was a little time consuming to get it all assembled since it is very modular and the 67 radio bezel is not a uniform depth on left and right knobs. In the end though, I think it looks awesome. The pig tails were great to connect to and get things setup.

I currently have just a pair of 6×9 speakers in the back package tray. I have a dual front dash speaker on the way now to cover at least a little balance to the front. It sounds pretty good already, but drowned out with the engine on. When I take the dash pad off to install the speaker, I will also get the A pillar pads in place, putting the microphone at the top of the driver side with the cable running behind it. Hands free calling is included. Not sure it will work with the Arvinode exhaust, but might as well install it.

I also picked up a couple of accessories. I put a USB port/ 3 mm jack combo in the ashtray lighter slot. If I am on a long trip, I can keep my phone charged. I don’t need it for music, as it connects via Bluetooth, which is awesome. I am a big fan of hidden upgrades.

The other accessory is the hidden antenna. Since I didn’t have an antenna added with the new passenger fender, I got an under dash version. It sticks on with dual sided tape, so I put it under the back package tray and ran the wire up the passenger side with the speaker wires in the rocker tray under the scuff plate.

The next thing I did was seal up the trunk from the passenger compartment. When I bought the car, it had a piece of plywood as the divider, with a 12″ sub-woofer cut into the middle of it. I never saw what it should look like originally, so this is what I started with.

I opted for the sheet metal after market part available on NPD. At first I wasn’t real fond of the idea of sheet metal screws holding it in place, but I got over it. I like it better than heavy cardboard as an original option. A nice bead roll or 3 in the middle would have been nice too. I did put a line of strip caulk around the edge before locking it down too. Maybe some Dynamat on the back later if I have vibration drum head issues. I didn’t bother painting it as it’s behind the seat. I may regret that later and have to paint it.

I thought I was done, but then I remembered I previously bought an insulation pad for the divider that has been sitting in the trunk for about 2 years, waiting for this day. I used my 3M spray on trim adhesive from the headliner project to stick it in place.

Little steps and finishing touches. I still have several things to do yet, but its getting closer.