V1 Chubbs' extended track build #300, 2007 SS/SC donor

[Chubbs]

Does anyone have any tips on reassembling brake calipers? I took one of them apart to paint as shown in the build videos, and it absolutely will not go back together. The piston will not go into the bore. Sure it fits, but I cannot push it past the internal rubber seal. Other than forcing it, I'm out of ideas. I'm pretty sure it would have been far better not to take it apart in the first place, and just spend extra time masking off the little rubber parts.

Any tips? Or did I just ruin a brake caliper?

 

[Ross]

You lubricated the seal? Is there room for a thin shim? Cut an inch wide strip out of the side of a coke can, wrap it around the brake piston, to try and compress the seal during reassembly. Use it like a piston ring compessor.

 

[Chubbs]

I figured it out.....like a complete moron, I was trying to put the piston in backwards. Not sure what I was thinking.

We all have those days.

 

[Chubbs]

Just looking for a quick sanity check here. I got the rear suspension and coilovers all assembled and bolted up. Even with zero load on the suspension, the axles are actually at an upward angle, and the suspension arms are about perfectly horizontal. With no load.

Doesn't that seem high? I expected there to be a little bit of suspension droop when the car is in the air. Did I assemble something wrong? It all went together smoothly, fits correctly, and I can't imagine what I did wrong, so maybe that's just how it is.

Are everyone's axles at a constant upward angle?

 

[k.rollin]

It looks like you've got the coilover body threaded pretty far into the base that attaches to the knuckle. Adjust per the last image in Chad's post and see what happens.

Coilover Options

Honestly, I haven't paid a lot of attention in the past to the conversations about aftermarket coilovers since I was planning on using the donor struts. However with the rebuild, I'm 90% sure I'm going to replace the struts since one of them seems really weak on the compression (and causing a...

dfkitcar.com

 

[Chubbs]

I bet you're right, I didn't even realize that portion was adjustable. I'll check it when I get back from work this evening. Thanks.

 

[SmsDetroit]

That’s definitely it. There should be a few inches of body showing

 

[Chubbs]

After adjusting the threaded portion of the rear struts, the rear suspension looks great. After 20+ years of engineering, being a motorcycle mechanic, and tinkering on cars, I still run into new stuff. I have never adjusted a strut-based coilover before.

On to the next problem, the parking brake. From what I remember, it wasn't ever covered in the videos, and my parking brake hardware is till on my donor car in the back yard. Since my kit didn't come with any cables or levers or anything, I'm assuming we re-use the cobalt parking brake lever and cables? I've seen some posts with part numbers for new cables....are they necessary because they are a different length, or are people buying new cables because they look nice?

Also, are there actually instructions for the goblin? I'm done with the build videos. I've poked around on the forums and found lots of "this is how I did it" posts, but it seems like there should be a pdf with instructions or something, right? Or is this just a puzzle for us to figure out?

 

[Ross]

Yes, use the cobalt parking brake handle, tubes & cables. I trimmed my base on the parking brake handle to be the same width as the tunnel, and then straightened the tubes so I could move the handle a few inches forward, and closer to the shifter. (the link above has pictures before I learned it was too far back) It was just easier to grab there for me.

There is no pdf, just pictures on this forum, so once you finish the videos, you have graduated, and are expected to be able to find stuff here & there, and do the engineering your way. The search function on this forum is your friend.

 

[Rttoys]

What Ross said, plus I bought one cable because one of mine was smashed due to whatever accident the car was in. Some buy both new for looks.

Once you kind of mock up the pieces, it kind of “falls together”, but do your own thing If you find a better way.

 

[Chubbs]

My first major setback, and wow what a doozy. While bleeding the brake and clutch system, I have a large leak from inside the bellhousing. My first reaction was the junction block on top of the transmission, as it's a common failure point. That's not it. It's coming from inside.

The slave cylinder was new about 5,000 mi ago when the engine was replaced in the donor car. It seemed good when I separated the trans and engine to inspect it, so I left it as is. Apparently that was a bad move.

Any other potential leak points before I take the whole engine out again?

I'm crushed right now. I thought I was going to have a running driving car by the end of the weekend. Now I'm nowhere close.

 

[Chubbs]

It was 2:02 when I took this picture of the disaster area that has become my workspace. My last post was at 11:31, and I probably spent half an hour just trying to figure out what I was going to do. So in reality, it only took 2 hours to get the entire engine out.

Assuming it takes the same amount of time to put it back in (optimistic), It becomes a 4-hour mistake. I've done far worse.

It appears to be the throw out bearing that's leaking. I'm going to replace everything inside there, and never do it again.

 

[Chubbs]

After removing the throwout bearing, I can blow air right through it with my puny human lungs. The seal is obviously trash.

My initial thought was that the air gap between the clutch and the collapsed throwout bearing was too great, causing the throw out bearing to overextend. But after measuring, that's not the case. My air gap is right around a quarter inch, which is supposedly acceptable. So maybe it's just a subpar part that failed early?

I don't think I'm going to replace the entire clutch, as the clutch was supposedly new when I got the car, and it sure looks new to me. I think a new throw out bearing, pipe from the bearing to the outside of the transmission, and maybe the elbow on top of the transmission should be enough to get me down the road.

 

[Chubbs]

Pics of the clutch and pressure plate. They sure look good to me. Anybody see a reason these can't go back in?

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Pics of the clutch and pressure plate. They sure look good to me. Anybody see a reason these can't go back in?

They look good
Hit them with some brake clean and put it back in.

 

[JBINTX]

Pics of the clutch and pressure plate. They sure look good to me. Anybody see a reason these can't go back in?

Looks similar to what I found. 82k on mine. I decided to replace and upgrade at that time.

Jason in Texas - ext. track - 09 SS/TC

I did a pretty good job bagging and labeling my hardware. The labels are mostly like "dash", or "seatbelts". The actual technical names by their size is still a little foreign to me. I found a good Layover Chart". Kind of like Bolts for Dummies...... Scroll to the bottom for the metric...

dfkitcar.com

 

[Chubbs]

I got the car back together, no more leaks! I'll post an update later.

For now, the search function is failing me. Does anyone know where I can find a starting tune for a 2007 LSJ with a 2.8 pulley and 60# injectors? I know I saw a similar one in a thread on here a while ago, the whole thread was full of tunes. Now I can't find it to save my life. Any guidance? I just need a starting point.....my car is so pig-rich right now, it won't even idle right. The 60# injectors were installed by the previous owner, but the car was never tuned.

EDIT: NEVER MIND, I found it. Or rather, google found it.

HP Tune files

There are enough of us on here that use HP Tuners so I figured why not share a few of the files for comparison. I'm not suggesting that these files are the fix for your specific issues, but you can use them for comparison sake. Use at your own risk. This first one is (as I am told) a 07...

dfkitcar.com

I'm not very good with the forum search function. google seems to do a better job for me.

 

[Chubbs]

Alright, new question. I got a canned tune on the car, and it idles and seems to run fine. Huge improvement over before. The super weird issue i'm having: after the key is off, it keeps running for probably 2 seconds. not a huge deal, but it's just long enough that it seems like something is amiss. It's long enough it makes me wonder if I actually turned the key off. It doesn't stumble or anything...just runs perfectly fine for about 2 seconds, then shuts off as if I turned the key off (finally).

Is there some weird parameter in HP tuners that would cause such a thing?

 

[Ross]

If you search this forum with the secret code word "diode"
you will find that other people have had this issue.

 

[Chubbs]

If you search this forum with the secret code word "diode"
you will find that other people have had this issue.

Wow, that is super specific. However, I'm not using the HE fan, as I have the naca duct kit instead.

Could something else be backfeeding power? Intercooler pump maybe? It runs all the time when the key is on.

My main radiator fan hasn't come on yet, I haven't had the car up to temp. Not sure what else it could be.