kfx
04-18-08, 02:45 PM
So, for the better part of 4 days I neglected my kids, dog & house and lived in my garage with the cts, here's what I did:
1. Installed new FE4 shocks/struts/Eibach lowering springs, painted rotors, installed summer wheels. Decided to tackle suspension myself instead of paying mechanic $500. Front strut modules, not too bad to remove, most time spent at the bench compressing coil springs, disassembling, reassembling. Rear was unbelievably easy to do, most time consuming part was removing back seat to get to top shock bolts. Four-link suspension has 2 large bolts on each side that hold on the entire rear suspension. Remove shocks (3 bolts), support lower A arm with a jack, remove large bolts to body, lower entire suspension, coil springs fall right out. Literally took me less than an hour with a (knowledgeable) buddy's help. Did have to go borrow a lg. torque wrench from AutoZone, suspension bolts need to be torqued to 195lbs., more than my wimpy wrench could handle.
2. Repair Borla resonator. Many of you may remember when Jonny D totaled his cts I bought his Borla. He gave me a great price knowing the resonator had some dents. Exhaust getting louder lately, upon inspection noticed it had multiple cracks. Took to nearby machine shop, they welded it right up.
3. Detail car. Clay bar, buff with Zaino PC swirl remover, 2 coats of Zaino Z2 polish with coats of Z6 finishing spray in between. Also used Wolfgang restore kit to clean/polish plastic on headlight units. Ran out of time, will do more coats of Z2 & finish with Z5 this weekend. Toll this winter took on my paint is nothing less than heartbreaking :crying2:. WI had an historic winter, most counties used up their salt budgets by end of Dec, started dumping this sand/limestone chip crap on the roads. I have a long daily commute so front of my car is basically sandblasted. Literally a 50 fold increase in number of stone chips from last year, made me sick. Other than the pending mods I already have purchased, I will not be spending another penny on this car unless it's for a paint job.
Check out the pics of my little adventure: Shutterfly photo album (http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AYtWLhm2YuGLoI&emid=sharshar&linkid=link4)
I should now be ready for the midwest meet in Davenport, still have these mods pending, not sure when I will get them done:
1. Paint & install new Euro style rear bezel.
2. Install gmsolutions clear fogs.
3. Hardwire Passport 8500x50 radar detector.
4. Install Denso Iridium spark plugs.
5. Replace thermostat.
6. NEW PAINT
I'm no mechanic, but I'm pretty proud of doing all that work myself, really getting to know how the car is put together. With my new found confidence (and the Helm manuals) I may try to do the thermostat & spark plugs myself.
1. Installed new FE4 shocks/struts/Eibach lowering springs, painted rotors, installed summer wheels. Decided to tackle suspension myself instead of paying mechanic $500. Front strut modules, not too bad to remove, most time spent at the bench compressing coil springs, disassembling, reassembling. Rear was unbelievably easy to do, most time consuming part was removing back seat to get to top shock bolts. Four-link suspension has 2 large bolts on each side that hold on the entire rear suspension. Remove shocks (3 bolts), support lower A arm with a jack, remove large bolts to body, lower entire suspension, coil springs fall right out. Literally took me less than an hour with a (knowledgeable) buddy's help. Did have to go borrow a lg. torque wrench from AutoZone, suspension bolts need to be torqued to 195lbs., more than my wimpy wrench could handle.
2. Repair Borla resonator. Many of you may remember when Jonny D totaled his cts I bought his Borla. He gave me a great price knowing the resonator had some dents. Exhaust getting louder lately, upon inspection noticed it had multiple cracks. Took to nearby machine shop, they welded it right up.
3. Detail car. Clay bar, buff with Zaino PC swirl remover, 2 coats of Zaino Z2 polish with coats of Z6 finishing spray in between. Also used Wolfgang restore kit to clean/polish plastic on headlight units. Ran out of time, will do more coats of Z2 & finish with Z5 this weekend. Toll this winter took on my paint is nothing less than heartbreaking :crying2:. WI had an historic winter, most counties used up their salt budgets by end of Dec, started dumping this sand/limestone chip crap on the roads. I have a long daily commute so front of my car is basically sandblasted. Literally a 50 fold increase in number of stone chips from last year, made me sick. Other than the pending mods I already have purchased, I will not be spending another penny on this car unless it's for a paint job.
Check out the pics of my little adventure: Shutterfly photo album (http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AYtWLhm2YuGLoI&emid=sharshar&linkid=link4)
I should now be ready for the midwest meet in Davenport, still have these mods pending, not sure when I will get them done:
1. Paint & install new Euro style rear bezel.
2. Install gmsolutions clear fogs.
3. Hardwire Passport 8500x50 radar detector.
4. Install Denso Iridium spark plugs.
5. Replace thermostat.
6. NEW PAINT
I'm no mechanic, but I'm pretty proud of doing all that work myself, really getting to know how the car is put together. With my new found confidence (and the Helm manuals) I may try to do the thermostat & spark plugs myself.