That’s kind of what it looks like — but every now and then, the Forester gets some love too. That moment has finally come. First up: gauge cluster backlighting. I’ve done this twice already, and this time I said enough’s enough, time for LEDs.

The only complication was that, because of the boost gauge, I had to lower the entire steering column to get the cluster out.

One of the three main bulbs burned out, the one behind the rev-counter:

I’m not sure if they were the correct type, but the braces they were in seemed slightly melted. With the LED installed:

The color isn’t perfect — slightly more blue than I’d like — but it looks decent enough. Most importantly, the light is dispersed evenly across the gauge faces, so I think it’s staying for now. Although if I had to do it a fourth time, I’d go with green LEDs.

Next up: the passenger side window mechanism.

I originally planned to replace just the motor, but the full mechanism was reasonably priced, so I went for the whole thing. First, the door stripped of trim and the protective foil:

Here came the first real obstacle. The glass sits in a clamp that rests on three pins, each pin is pressure-mounted: on the outside there’s a rubber washer, then a metal washer with a bolt attached (important: it’s bolt-shaped, but headless). On the inside it’s similar — rubber washer, metal washer, and a nut.

In theory, the rubber provides enough friction to keep the bolt from turning while you unscrew the nut. That worked in two places. In the third, the rubber must’ve been so worn out it didn’t hold at all. So, I raised the window all the way, grabbed the outer washer with long nose pliers, and with my heart in my throat, managed to unscrew the nut using a slim ratchet. The trick was squeezing the pliers tight enough to hold the washer still — but not so tight that the glass would shatter if the grip slipped. Washer:

And the contortion act:

After that, it was fairly straightforward. Door stripped and new vs old:

And then came the classic garage dilemma. The first rule of owning a garage is that you can use it for storing anything — except the one thing it’s meant for: a car.

Case in point: the Forester, windowless, in the middle of a hailstorm.

But hey — at least I cleaned out half of my father-in-law’s garage at record speed.

Lastly, something I’ve been dreaming of for a long time: The famous Forester door triangle panels. I won’t claim it made the car quiet, because we all know the Forester is basically a mobile newsstand with a turbocharged engine strapped on, and shares that newsstand aero characteristics, especially with a roof rack and three bike mounts. But the truth is — it’s noticeably quieter now.

Oh, and most importantly — I tightened the power steering belt, so no more embarrassing squeals when starting the engine :)

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