[squilliam]

As winter nears I'm tearing things apart again. For a myriad of reasons.

#1 I'm tracking down 2 oil leaks

• so far I believe the front one to either be the front cover, turbo drain, or catch can connection
• I believe the back oil leak to be either the oil filter lid, oil cooler, or rear main seal.

#2 I'm replacing the radiator, intercooler, and fuel injectors with bigger/ better versions.

#3 I'm putting an RK Sport hood on

#4 I'm going to attempt to wrap the car

 

[squilliam]

Hi squilliam, If you find your brand new valve cover gasket is leaking, I advise to replace the gasket again, this time adding dabs of gasket maker on BOTH SIDES of the gasket in the areas indicated. Immediately install the valve cover after applying the gasket maker, then let sit overnight before starting the engine.
View attachment 117709

I'm putting in all new coil packs, and the gasket is like $17, so I see no harm in that!
I need to spend another hour looking at exactly where the oil is coming from.
I'll be sure to take pics too.

 

[squilliam]

Good luck with the RK hood. They are notorious for taking a lot of effort to make them fit. that is why I went with Norms GTO hood.

Nice list of upgrades

I have a partial wrap, graphics and text, on both my trucks. It turned out great and is lasting very well

I hear that a lot. Since it was only $800, I don't mind paying a local shop a little bit to make sure it fits the bill.

 

[squilliam]

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.

We're already unpacked haha. I'm trying to take advantage of the good weather while it lasts (68 today in Colorado Springs!).

I bought a heater system to keep me toasty

 

[squilliam]

Squilliam, please buy yourself a carbon monoxide detector also! With a ventless heater like that in what looks like a one stall garage we would rather not see a for sale post from your wife because you died of carbon monoxide poisoning!

I appreciate the concern!
The roof of the garage is connected to the 7 other garages, and I leave the door cracked open half way. We're all good bruv!

 

[squilliam]

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.

 

[squilliam]

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.

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.

 

[squilliam]

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.

Revisions are included in the cost. They do not cost extra at ZZP.

 

[squilliam]

Here's my progress so far:

The front oil leak is a lot more extensive than I originally thought. I took out each of the front timing cover bolts, and added thread locker. One of the water pump cover bolts was super loose........

I've gotten 1.5/2 oil cooler bolts out. It's so hard to reach the 2nd one.

 

[squilliam]

When you originally replaced the bolts, did you tighten them to specs? Also check it there was a tightening sequence that was to be followed. If so, you might want to use a different torque wrench.

I honestly think I forgot to tighten one of the bolts.
I just can't confidently say it is the cause of all of the crud found all over the front.

 

[squilliam]

Here's a picture of my first attempt at wrapping it. It's called Nardo Grey. I may end up hiring a shop to do it... I'll still try though. Our cars have a lot of complex curves.

 

[squilliam]

The pictures don't show all the crud you describe. Did you clean it off before taking the pictures?

My base Sky has a lot of crud on the front of the engine. Much of it is old serpentine belt material that stuck on an oily surface. I cleaned the engine compartment but I could not comfortably get the washer-wand in that area. The worst (maybe all) of the crud formed from a leaking valve cover gasket that I have since replaced. I am leaving the crud alone for now. Maybe one day a repair like a water pump for example, will improve access to the area for a better cleaning. But I am surely leaving well enough alone for now because everything is working fine and my garage floor remains dry.

I cleaned off a good deal of it. Didn't have the presence of mind to take a photo first. These pictures show about 50% of the crud.

 

[squilliam]

 

[squilliam]

Additionally, since I'm doing the power steering reservoir and relocation kit, power steering pumps are only $51, so I bought a new one just in case. I already have the belt, pulleys, and whatnot out of the way

 

[squilliam]

Make sure you use some good fluid like Redline synthetic, it'll stop the pump from whining under heavy load.

Ordered! Thank you!

 

[squilliam]

Long time, no update...

Spent a chunk of time in the garage this weekend.

First, I finished up the wheel project:

Got a quote for a radio update/ install:

That price does not include the cost of the head unit

Installed the new power steering pump (remember to bolt it in before putting the pulley on folks...)

Replaced the O-rings and rebolted the oil cooler on (my least favorite thing I've done on this car EVER). It almost certainly is a rear main seal at this point btw. Even though the oil has been drained for a month, a very slow leak seems to be coming from the engine/transmission seam.

Started the turbo pull off (replacing most hoses/ lines/ gaskets).

A week or two ago I put in the new Opel injectors too (No pictures, sorry)!

P.S. - STORY TIME:
I have started making significantly more money at my job, so I decided to redo the suspension as well. I ordered end links, tie rods, shocks, and stiffer sway bars from different companies (may waste the unecessary $800 to buy all 8 control arms... Just to get friggin control arm bushings)...

Most of this was to come from Rock Auto...

I got a box in the mail that was rather short for having shocks in it...

Some likely newbie at Rock Auto switched my packing slip and shipping label with some guy who ordered a buncha transmission parts. I've since returned the transmission parts and gotten the suspension parts from them.

Oooohhh P.S. - I bought a new tool bench/cart:

P.S. #3:
The RK Sport hood I ordered through PAW arrived at the body shop near me. The owner declined the delivery, as he stated the box and the hood were severely damaged. The last I heard the hood was arriving back at RK Sport and a replacement would be sent soon... Fingers crossed.

 

[squilliam]

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.

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.

 

[squilliam]

The whole deal with the radio install is getting the Correct components. You can even have Crutchfield wire the steering wheel control components to the radio so it’s all just plug and play when you get it from them. I can’t remember what the charges I think it’s somewhere around 20 or $30 more. car toys will rape you and your wallet.

This is what I went with because I did not want on star.

head unit

JVC 6.8" Android Auto/Apple® CarPlay™ Built-in Bluetooth In-Dash Digital Media Receiver Black KW-M750BT - Best Buy

Shop JVC 6.8" Android Auto/Apple® CarPlay™ Built-in Bluetooth In-Dash Digital Media Receiver Black at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

Dash install kit

Metra Dash Kit for Select Chevrolet, Saturn and Pontiac Vehicles Matte black 99-3312B - Best Buy

Shop Metra Dash Kit for Select Chevrolet, Saturn and Pontiac Vehicles Matte black at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

antenna adapter

Metra Chrysler Vehicle Antenna Adapter Cable 2002 Black 40-CR10 - Best Buy

Shop Metra Chrysler Vehicle Antenna Adapter Cable 2002 Black at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

Interface module

Crux CS-GM11B Wiring Interface

Connect a new car stereo and retain warning chimes and steering wheel audio controls in select 2006-12 GM-made vehicles

www.crutchfield.com

backup camera

Boyo VTL17LTJ

Backup camera with LED lights and active parking lines — license-plate-mount

www.crutchfield.com

I appreciate it!
One of the problems is that I'm going with a high end Sony receiver, which Crutchfield says won't work in the Sky, but Car Toys installers say they can get to work no problem.

 

[squilliam]

Are you using Car Toys in Fort Collins?

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

 

[squilliam]

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.

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.