Thanks to Laura (lauraloo) and her hubby Jeff making a visit, We were able to knock out a shit ton of modding (at least compared to the rate I was going)
Bright and early!
We got the rear ready to bolt on and installed the sway bars.
There is one minor set back. After getting everything bolted back on I got in and was going to test drive it. well… my clutch was still eff’d. So we rushed to get the trans out (1 hr- personal best ) swapped in a new clutch (Lifetime warranty freebie) and get the trans bolted back on and called it quits at 1am.
We got the t-top holders in place and decided to take a celebratory ride to the mall to have lunch before Jeff and Laura headed home. Who I’ll say again, drove down this weekend to help. I wouldn’t have gotten it done this weekend without their help. I bet we all sleep hard tonight!
I got all the suspension and brakes on the car. The rain caught me and the only thing left was to finish bleeding the brakes as I have zero pedal. A couple of problems came up. First, the right side shock mount would not, I repeat, would not come loose. The bolt and nut were rusted completely together. I cut that off but still it was not sliding off. I beat the shit out of it but zero success. So, had to let the spring push it off and even had to drill it a little to separate the 2 pieces to get my lower spring pad for the new shock assy. After spending all night screwing around on that, had to get a new mount and finished it up on Sunday. The rear was 10 times easier. Lastly, the bleeder valves on these new brakes for whatever reason seized in the caliper. I was able to clean the left side but the right side it was pretty bad. note to anyone looking for a 10mm x 1.0 tap, none of the parts houses will have this tap. Walmart, lowes, and harbor freight doesn’t either. So I carefully threaded the new one in the caliper and it made it. Now the only reason I can’t drive it is I still have to bleed the lines more. No pedal = no fun. Tomorrow I’ll have pics of it sitting on the ground. it’s dark and raining which is why I didn’t take any. And BTW, working outside still sucks, for anyone wondering.
I had the calipers on the wrong side. Bleeding brake is hard when the bleeder is on the bottom. So, I test drove it tonight, and the brakes work! The ride quality is fantastic compared to the garbage I had on there. Pics tomorrow! Hopefully…
The Borla is installed. Here’s a video clip from my phone however it’s so low pitched it doesn’t really sound like it’s loud but in fact it is. and I plan on installing a second borla after the y pipe to try and kill what little rasp is left and quieten it down some.
Also on my to do before g17:
To fix my A/C.
And now one of the most exciting mods for this year!
Touch screen Keyless Ignition.
OK, before you start scratching your heads or yelling “NOOO!!”, let me elaborate. This isn’t a push button start that requires the Key to be in the ignition. I’m talking completely removing the need for an Ignition Key.
A couple of issues to over come:
Security…. of course this is the number one issue.
safety…. gotta make sure the car doesn’t start its self.
Reliability… it’s got to work
So after scouring the web for things to build or buy for this. I came up pretty dry. I first looked for RFID that had a 5 ft range. But they just don’t have them readily available. Then back to switches with a hidden kill switch (I never liked the idea of switches)
So… I went back to the drawing board. I’m going to have to come up with it myself and came up with the Touchscreen idea. Tablets are pretty inexpensive compared to a touch screen monitor. I looked at PC, Android, etc. Android kept coming up as the better solution.
Touchscreen brings so much flexibility such as passcode security and an app tailored to your liking. So, how do I tell the car to listen to my tablet?? With this!
It’s a 4 channel relay board with a bluetooth connectivity. It already has a basic Android app that switches the relays. It’s not what I’ll be using but it confirms the ability to connect and function with android OS. Here is an example of a location to mount it.
So, here’s the summary. The ignitions wires will be ran through this relay board which is link wirelessly to the tablet. The app on the tablet will control specifically what is switched and when. right now I’ve got the app being developed and the board is enroute from china. I hope everything comes together by May.
Also if anyone is wondering “Why do this ?”. I will tell you. I have this nasty habit of leaving my key in the ignition. For years I’ve done this. So much that I’ve made a tool to break into my car when I’m at work. My car stays unlocked at home which is also a problem of course. Just last night after a test drive, after tightening a rattle in the suspension, I left them in all night. I can’t break the habit for some reason. so if I never have to take my keys out they can stay in my pocket.
I had planned on getting a ton of little things done, but slow was the only speed I could whip out. So, here is all I got done.
I replaced one hatch support. It will now stay up. Also for anyone that wants to know, ONE support “DOES NOT” support the hatch by itself. IDK why I thought I could take a support off with out using a 2×4 to hold the hatch or something. I’m such a newb. The result, however, was the hatch closing on my arm. Needless to say is was very uncomfortable. And seeing how my left arm was caught and my right arm couldn’t reach the hatch to open it… I had a hard time freeing myself. They are “heavy”. Nonetheless, I walked away with my arm but not my pride.
I ditched these shitty things.
Next, I re-did my driver door gasket with “t-top” gasket trays for the body. it really didn’t help because i already sealed it off with Silicone. so I didn’t do the pass side because I didn’t want to make a non-leaking door become a leaking door.
Most excitingly was the carpet. I finally got around to swapping the carpet to graphite. Let me say this, IMO the carpet is the most important color swap. The interior didn’t “look” all that different with all the other swapped parts until I swapped the carpet. It changed the whole look of the interior.
Here are a few pics I snapped over the install.
Fixing a little rust:
Bad pic because it was completely dark but it shows I finished about 10pm. :-\ The only thing left to swap is the door panels.
