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I figured you would be unpacking after your move not tearing down your car again. lol

Good luck finding the leaks, hopefully they aren't too invasive and can be remedied easily. I'm interested to see how that wrap turns out though. The good news is you are starting with a black base so your door jambs won't look weird after the wrap. I've seen some really nice wrapped cars to find out the original color was a very different clashing color and totally ruined the wrap job IMO after opening the door.

 

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I plan on getting the remote tune from ZZP. Has anyone on here had experience with them?

RPM Motorsports was very much a canned tune. Martin is very nice, and all of my interactions have been pleasant, but I didn't really get the feel that the tune was specific to my car.

I wasn’t even aware they offered a remote tune. I got the canned tune from ZZP and overall was very happy with it. I’ve since added DDM charge pipes and GMPP intake, but I honestly don’t know if those make enough of a difference for a re-tune. I may be interested in their remote tune also though now that I hear they offer it.

 

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They are big proponents of revisions, and explicitly state they don't like it when customers run just the canned tune. They said on a recent podcast a lot of customers forget to send the data logs. Maybe you actually are entitled to some revisions, and didn't realize it.

I imagine they would be proponents of revisions. After all that would be repeat business for them. I imagine body shops are proponents of increased speed limits and driving at night in the same way.

When I had my tune done, I checked a bunch of boxes on their website for what I had and what I wanted and sent them my ECM. Took about a week turn around time to get it back and everything was done. It was like $200, I don’t imagine there were any revisions with that package. It was similar to choosing the Trifecta basic tune. There wasn’t any data pulls made.

 

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Bro, with all the mechanical work you've done to the car you certainly can handle a stereo and speaker install. Please do not pay $1,500 for that work.

The steering wheel looks great btw. I didn't think I would like it as much as I do when you first described it.

 

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Much appreciated mate. I can definitely handle the speaker and rear camera install. I will try the stereo install, but don't have faith. One thing I will likely leave to the pros is that, because retaining steering wheel control is important to me. My understanding is that one is hard to get right.

Also, suspension. I will not be stepping anywhere near messing with shocks/springs. No widowmakers a for me.

It's honestly fairly easy. I've swapped plenty of stereos over the years since high school. It's essentially just matching up the colors of the wires. The SWCs are easy if you buy a SWC module and a name brand HU. My issue with getting the SWCs to work was I went with an off brand ATOTO instead of an Alpine, Sony, Pioneer, Etc. The hardest part is tearing the dash apart to get to the stereo and routing the wires for the backup camera. I'm probably going to replace it with a brand name though as I'm not super happy with the lag it has with Carplay. I don't have the same issue with my factory head units on my other cars so I'm hoping buying a name brand unit like Pioneer would fix that issue.

As far as the shocks I haven't done mine yet, but I have all four of them in the box on my shelf. I'm only 65k miles at the moment and I don't really think I need to replace them just yet, but I got a good price on them from another owner off of FB. When it's time it shouldn't be too difficult if you rent a spring compressor that is designed for springs and not just a clamp. Those are what usually cause troubles, but I still understand the hesitations. Considering you have now done some of the hardest mechanical work there is on our cars I wouldn't be too concerned with the stereo or the shocks. Take your time, watch a YouTube video or two, and you should be good to go.

 

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I appreciate your kind words and encouragement. Thanks man!

I will definitely give it a shot. They also mentioned that there is a patch through for our OEM amp and subwoofer. I'm not sure what getting that on my own looks like.

You just need the right module. I have the monsoon on mine and went with the Axxess GMOS-LAN-04 that retains the Onstar ability and works with the monsoon amp. Then get the Axxess ASWC-1 for the steering wheel controls and you're set. The only splicing will be for the backup camera, but it's easy if you use quick splice connectors like t-taps. I'm happy to walk you through it when the time comes.

No sir. I don't have access to the base.

BTW Ft Collins is a town north of Denver, you have access to it LOL. You're probably thinking of Ft Carson there in Colorado Springs.

 

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One of the main reasons that I haven't upgraded the stereo is the matte black housing for aftermarket radios. Has anyone been able to do this with a piano finish? Have the matte black repainted?

I wrapped mine with gloss black and it's a pretty close match. I didn't have great luck painting it and getting a good finish so I ultimately vinyl wrapped it.

 

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That looks really good! So it's just a gloss black vinyl?

Yes I used this one off of Amazon.
TECKWRAP Gloss Black Car Wrap Vinyl Film Sticker 11.5"x 60" Sheet Roll

Amazon.com: TECKWRAP Gloss Black Car Wrap Vinyl Film Sticker 11.5"x 60" Sheet Roll : Automotive

Amazon.com: TECKWRAP Gloss Black Car Wrap Vinyl Film Sticker 11.5"x 60" Sheet Roll : Automotive

www.amazon.com

 

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Small world I was just looking at your damaged hood at RK Sport. They’re super cool by the way.

 

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WHOA. How? Where are they based? Where was the damage? The body shop told me the box was in rough shape and the hood had bad damage.

They’re based now just north of Austin, TX. Just about an hour from my house south of Austin. I honestly didn’t even know that until I showed up to buy a NOS exhaust from them they posted on marketplace. It was a pretty interesting experience and I spent a while talking with their director of sales who had sold me the exhaust. We told me all about their operation and we talked cars for a bit. I noticed the hood sitting in their loading dock and he explained it was a return that was damaged during shipment and they had just sent out the replacement. It was damaged along the windshield cowl edge in multiple spots. It wasn’t catastrophic, but it would of required some considerable body work to fix.

 

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I bought the AC Delco one when I did my WP a few months ago. It was only $12.99 then though.

ACDelco Professional 213-4514... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001W0FSMM?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

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Hmmm...
I cracked mine, needed to it a new one, and this is the one that was recommended to me by WholesaleGMPartsOnline.com (hope I got the right one).

http://[URL]https://www.ebay.com/it...gine-Coolant-Temperature-Sensor-/194026473272

[/URL]

Now you have me second guessing my sensor. 😬

I got the part number from one of the FB groups from one of the more reliable sources. Now, looking at Rockauto the one I listed shows it is for the 2.4L. I haven’t had any issues with it though. I wonder what the differences between the two are.

 

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Dear Colorado,

Can it stop being 4 degrees or a ton of snow outside? I'd like to work on my car...

Thanks,
Will

P.S. -
I bought someone's used K04 turbo with 22k miles on the clock. The turbine has a lot less jiggles, and mine had formed a second crack leading to the regular one. I'd rather replace it than explode things.
View attachment 118670

My guage cluster replacement thing arrived after a few months of waiting:
View attachment 118671

You may have an issue with that gauge cluster. You have a redline and that’s a base gauge cluster. Did they send you the wrong one?

The tach I believe is the same other than the redline indication at 6500 vs 7000, but the speedometer will be off. RL speedometers are to 160 so you would be traveling faster than what that gauge would indicate.

 

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I AM CURSED. I DID IT TO MYSELF.


I bought it from Black Cat Custom Automotive - Saturn Sky Gauge Face - LED Lighting Kit
It didn't say anything about Redline vs. Base...

You have to select the 160mph gauge. I’m pretty sure that one won’t work for your RL.

 

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Steve you're absolutely right. I have the wrong one. It's very frustrating as a customer. Their website doesn't say "if you have a base, get the 140. If you have a Redline, get the 160."
I'm absolutely frustrated.

RJ, you're the guy that sold me on the mod. I was so excited. It looks fantastic on your Sky.

Sorry to bring the bad news, especially since you’ve waited months. I only knew the difference because I’ve been looking at them as well. Good news is it should be fairly easy to sell it here on the forum to a base owner. Maybe the next one won’t take as long.

 

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Heya all! It's been a while since I've updated.
I've been learning how to autocross these last few weeks with my GR86.

PPIR has two Solstices on display
View attachment 119368

View attachment 119369

I've somehow found energy and time to work on my Sky too:

Turbo is on, intake manifold is on. Not pictured is the intake manifold thermal Isolator from PAW. It's supposed to bring the manifold temps down by 20 degrees.
View attachment 119362

Found out the RPM coolant temp replicator pipe was incorrectly bent... They had forgotten to send the coolant sensor too... I've had some rough luck with them lately...
View attachment 119363

RPM Radiator installed
View attachment 119364

Bigger steering reservoir installed with the relocation kit... That took some finessing, but I think it's good to go.
View attachment 119365

RPM HPFP installed
View attachment 119366

It turns out the turbo I bought came with pre-bent fins. The guy was a total bro about it and refunded me
View attachment 119367

Good to see it coming back together with all of the new bits. I've been waiting to see your final outcome with the new hood. Bummer about the turbo and the radiator coolant pipe. Hopefully those get sorted out soon. Do you think you're going to have everything back together before NASSAM?

I'm trying to wrap my head around the wrench break. Having just did the timing chain myself I can't imagine the wrench breaking with that force. IIRC it's like 75lbs plus 120 degrees or something like that?

 

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Hi I might be interested in buying that hood, do you have the contact information of the person who's selling the hood?

If you’re looking for the returned damaged hood, it was sitting outback of RK Sport in Round Rock, TX the last I saw it. What they did with it I have no idea. I’m not sure if they destroyed it or sold it. That was back in February. Cesar was who I talked with while I was there.

 

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Welp, I'm just gutted.
I was doing rips during shakedown #2, and lost engine power. Originally I thought I had popped a charge tube off. It's throwing codes for low fuel rail pressure, and misfires on 1, 3, and 4.

I have no idea what happened, but I hope I can fix it. I'm currently thinking contamination in the e85 (clogging injectors), a bad wire connection to the fuel pump, or the new RPM HPFP went bad. It can still drive, and the turbo spools, but sounds off and drives slow.

View attachment 119893

That sucks man! I’m guessing NASSAM this week won’t be in your future?

 

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I put the OEM HPFP back on, and the car fired right up. All codes are gone, and it runs perfectly fine. I'm done with any RPM parts after this.

I’m glad it was a simple fix. Disappointing you didn’t get to bring your RL to NASSAM because of it though.

 

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Super disappointing that I couldn't bring it. I am glad it wasn't destroyed though.

Absolutely it's good to hear. There's always WV next year and apparently Wisconsin in 2024. Hopefully you'll have everything sorted out by one of those.