veritech-z

It definitely needs some balance, It makes the flow of the car very "nose heavy", but I don't think I'll ever do antyhing to the rear fascia. Unless I extend the rear valances down lower, but leave the back center section high...maybe something like Darius's diffuser would be sweet...hmmm...well, one thing at a time. I just don't want to end up like this local RX-7 (like an 82 or so) that used to drive around with a really poorly done Lexus ES front end swap that just didn't fit right...otherwise it was a really nice car, pearl white and everything, just the way I like 'em.

INPUT!!!! Just out of curiosity, are we talking about just reducing the amount of "trumbone", or are we talking about switching to something like the JSK rail featured in this picture of my engine bay?

I just went back and fixed all the broken links that started on page 2. If anybody came late to this thread and was curious, all of the concept sketches (actually one sketch I photocopied a bunch of times and changed the color scheme) I did for Chewievette are now back in all their technicolor glory. Enjoy.

OK, I made a TON of progress today. I had just about given up on my L28e after discovering that I had a bad ring. Until today the car would not exceed 20mph, and it took a LONG time to reach that terminal velocity...well, in a last ditch effort to try and do something about it before pulling the plug on this engine, I decided to replace my timing chain tensioner and re-time my engine from scratch. After this was done, it still didn't run right, but at least my timing was reasonably within spec. I discovered at that time that my exhaust rocker jam nut on number 2 had backed itself all the way down and had all kinds of play in it. I fixed that, and still no good, and at this point I was really starting to despair. Another problem I noticed was that my CTS and IAT wiring was both reversed and melted together, so I rewired them and hooked them up properly, but it still didn't fix anything. I realized that number 2 injector wasn't doing much (pulled the plug with the engine running and nothing happened), so I took it off and cleaned it with GM top engine cleaner (part number 21992483), and it was working great. So great in fact, that it was the only injector that i could feel clicking when the engine was running. So today I opted to take them all off, and soak them all day in this cleaner. Once I put them back on, it worked AWESOME! So it turns out that all my power was getting choked out by gummed up injectors. Now I just need to work out the funny spots in my fuel map, and I should be good to go until my V-8 swap. Also, I found a replacement for the Spindle Pin that I cut up and air hammered out the other day. 5/8"X10" fits PERFECT, with no slop, and I used grade 8 throughout. Also it only cost me about $7 for the whole thing, bolt, nut, and two washers. Oh, and I finally got some decent pictures of the Saturn Vue Redline fascia that I modified to fit on my car. It's not too proffesional looking, but I kind of like it. Here is one:

I finally got around to tackling my spindle pins the other day. I built my own puller, and it pulled the threads right off the pin...sigh...I had to resort to the cut the ends off and try to get the rest out method, and that method involved several minutes of heating with a propane torch followed by using an air hammer to press the rest out (it fought all the way, and actually shot out the bottom when it finally came free). This of course left me missing a pin. So I shopped around local bolt supply places for the super long bolt solution. Here are the dimensions of my bolt: 5/8" X 10". It fit with 0 slop, and had about a nut and a half worth of threads even with a washer on either side. I used grade 8 all the way around, even the nut and washers, and it still only cost me $7(as opposed to the $32.95 www.blackdragonauto.com is getting). I'm pretty happy with it. Also, I had to kill a black widow spider that was living in my LCA.

Well, there it is. It needs something to keep the middle from sagging, like a tie bar or something. Also, the piece I cut from the middle that used to have the saturn logo is ragged, and right now I'm leaning towards a diamond plate trim filler (I've got a big sheet of it in my closet out back, but I don't really have any way to cut it straight). Also, on the sides, I definitely need to mold in those extra pieces by the wheel wells, and it doesnt cover the complete bumper recess, so I'll need to do something about that as well. A work in progress, but I kind of like it. just need to work on the details. Also, the Impuls would make it look a lot better since they wouldn't have so much wheel gap.

One set of it came to my house...

Um, the one in the camo zzzap thread that you commented on before I posted that comment?

Let the fascia wars begin! Just wait till I get some pictures...Looking good though brandon!

It looks pretty awesome, kind of like a first gen viper. I put it on today, but the batteries in my camera were completely dead. The car isn't here, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to put up some on car pics.

So Saturn has a core program on their fascias, meaning that when a body shop orders a front or rear fascia for a saturn, you are supposed to charge them a fee until they return the old ones. The rational for this is that it keeps them out of the greedy hands of aftermarket manufacturers who would recondition them and sell them for profit. Well, I noticed that in my core pile at work (you see I was bored pretending to sell parts, and as well all know, an Idle Mind is the Devil's pork chop or however that goes...) we had a fascia from a Vue Redline (that would be the small SUV with the Honda 3.5 engine in it). Not just the front, but the rear as well. This vehicle has a very aggressive looking body package, and I've always been curious if it could be adapted to work on something else ("something else" being pronounced a lot like "My Z" in this context). So, I went out and borrowed a few tools from the technicians in the shop (a drill that sort of worked if you jiggled the direction selector, some straight cut tin snips, and a pop rivet gun) and got to work. I'm pretty happy with the results, here it is sitting on the ground, I'll put it up to the car in the next day or two to show how it looks on the car. This whole project is OTM's fault, since he totally dropped the ball on sending me that Robotron fascia (I think he used the excuse of going to college and breaking his jaw, I wasn't paying attention...all I heard was Blah Blah, I didn't do that thing you asked me to do that involved lots of work and minimal compensation...some people have all the nerve, you know?) I asked him really nicely for. The other best part is that this whole operation cost me $4.98 for a can of flat black spray paint. Everything else was destined for the trash anyway. here are some pics: saturn vue OEM 3/4 view: full frontal: I had to cut a section out to lower it vertically, and I had to take some pieces from the rear fascia to extend the "wings" back to the wheel well. It's going to want some reinforcing, but I like it. I'm thinking of moving my orange marker lights to the small holes off to the side of the main air entrance, and the 280 grill is almost a perfect fit in the hole that's remaing from the original airl intake. I doubt the pop rivets will hold forever, so I'll probably have to use some resin or something to hold the pieces together when I mount it to the car. Thoughts?

What if you get a "split" one, or one with 4 holes in it just like the bottom of your carb?

Is there anyone in the Tampa (FL) area that has a running condition (I use that term loosely) l-series of any description or configuration that they just don't need? I'm kind of at that awkward stage where my L28 is a total basket case with at least a bad ring on #2 and who knows what else wrong with it (right now the car won't do more than 4000rpm and struggles to maintain 20mph), and I'd like to do a V-8 swap, but I'm just not quite there yet with the finances. I just thought I'd throw it out there and see if anyone needs to free up some garage space so I can get a powerplant just to make sure my car stays mobile until I can get my swap completed. I'm on the cheap to free plan, but I might have some stuff to trade. If anyone is interested, feel free to reply or PM. Mods/Admins, if this is not the place for this, I apologize in advance and my feelings won't get hurt if it needs to be moved or deleted. Thanks everybody!

I just found out about this guy Mike Relm. I saw him open up for the traveling Blue Man Group show, and I actually thought he was cooler than the rest of the performance. In this video, the inset is a shot of what he's doing live on stage, and the background larger video is being displayed on a screen behind him. He's got this video that he prepares beforehand rigged up to respond to his turntables, so if he pulls the record back to scratch, it will back the video up the same amount. I thought it was rad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSBSFhFAZZQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fprofile%2Emyspace%2Ecom%2Findex%2Ecfm%3Ffuseaction%3Duser%2Eviewprofile%26friendid%3D17871373

Wow, I always liked Mike...It bums me out when people get banned.

Mabye you can get HS30-H involved in the smackdown while you're over there! Hey Dan, that school looks like a good opportunity. I did a study abroad in Paris for a month, and I'm so glad I did. You meet all kinds of interesting poeple (like smokin hot girls from Tunisia....what was I talking about again?) and get to see so many exciting things, it's really a life changing experience. On a related to school note, I just put my application in for www.fiea.ucf.edu, the video game design masters program in Orlando that I had the portfolio thread going about. If you do go, make SURE you have a Cornish Pasty (man those are good), and you might want to avoid the blood pudding...on second thought, have some! It's so much better if you can try to immerse yourself in the culture and be a part of the place you are visiting. So many people travel just to say "I saw that" or "I was there", but they don't really gain anything worth having unless they open up to their surroundings. I suppose that's the difference between a Tourist, and a Traveler. I'm not sure that I made as much sense with that as I'd hoped, but I think you probably get the idea.

All I want, and can't seem to get, is a smooth running engine...Oh, and some Advan Oni's in 17X8 (0 offset) in the front, and 17X9.5 (-25 offset) with some sticky rubber.

Well, I'd build the world's SECOND rotary DeLorean, here's the first: http://www.eliseusa.com/rotary.htm Then, I'd have to say Pantera with a Ford GT drivetrain would be pretty sweet...(I don't think this car has any kind of swap, just a picture for those who may or may not know about the Pantera) And of course, the ultimate Hybrid: I'll take two please!

Have you checked the orientation of the distributor drive gear? If the oil pump has ever been off, it's probably that the shaft was not put in the correct way.

the first time I saw it it was the mall, not Home Depot. It was sent to my manager at his work email address by some other manager. No pictures in that one, unfortunately...but it's still funny!

I knew a guy once (he introduced himself as: "Xenos"...yeah, I just let it ride and played along) that had one of those MR-2s. He decided it would be a good idea to put some Lucas Oil additive in it. Which probably WOULD have been a good idea, but what he ACTUALLY ran throught the crankcase was Lucas TRANSMISSION oil additive. Stripped every bearing and destroyed the turbo...It was a nice car too. I remember thinking the turbo looked awfully large for a factory piece. speaking of turbos, what the heck is a twin-entry turbo?

I feel the same way about Pinks that I feel about that show that was on history channel with those two clowns that called themselves "the turbo twins" who somehow managed to make two grand nationals slower than they were to begin with...meaning that it's a trite and poorly thought out show, that was genius from a network point of view. Think about it: on a normal game show, you have to pay out a prize to whoever wins, but on Pinks, the contestants PROVIDE THEIR OWN PRIZES which means that Speedchannel doesn't actually have to pay any money at all (beyond normal production fees)!

copy and paste it, it's gone for the rest of us.

Mike, how do you have 300 more posts than you did yesterday? I can't be expected to keep up if you're going to stay up all night posting off all over the forum, now can I?

Must....resist....urge...to...say..."my other ride is also your gf" because it would be too jerky...but you left yourself wide open for that one! Don't worry everybody, that's not really my other ride, but it was the first thing that jumped into my mind when I read that post, I had to do it....I guess I'll just go fire up the oven so I can sit in it and practice being in hell... Here's my other ride, 02 Altima 2.5S. H&R 1.5" front/ 1.3" rear drop, Jim Wolf lightweight flywheel and 10mm oversized clutch, home-made 3" open element intake hidden inside the factory air box, Jim Wolf balance shaft delete kit, Unorthodox lightweight crank pulley, and a ceramic coated header (for the life of me I can't remember the brand, it's been on there for a few years...). In this picture it's got one of my Impuls leaning against it, but I have it on the factory 16" alloys.