Rauq's Twincharged LSJ in SC - #240 - GOBZILA

[Rttoys]

Ahhh. You need the mount from the car. Ok. My reading comprehension has sucked this week.

 

[Rauq]

This past weekend I picked up a replacement fuse box mount and a Vue power steering assembly. I got the fuse box installed and nearly all of the powertrain wiring situated. Plan is to button up fuel tonight and then maybe fire it over today or tomorrow. Not sure if I want to proceed with the amalgamation of stock fuel hoses or go to all rubber lines as I've seen others do...

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

This past weekend I picked up a replacement fuse box mount and a Vue power steering assembly. I got the fuse box installed and nearly all of the powertrain wiring situated. Plan is to button up fuel tonight and then maybe fire it over today or tomorrow. Not sure if I want to proceed with the amalgamation of stock fuel hoses or go to all rubber lines as I've seen others do...

Did you get the variable controller for the steering? I'm still trolling around to find a better deal than the $100 ones I found so far.

 

[Rauq]

Not that it's radically cheaper but it looks like you can buy directly from Bruno off eBay for $60 ($45 + $15 shipping) rather than the hundred-ish from their US reseller... go figure.

I have to assume the little aftermarket controller box is doing something fancy like turning the resistance from the potentiometer into a CAN message or a PWM or sinusoidal speed indication. But I have wondered if there's a possibility the controller isn't necessary if you already have a plug for the EPAS module (like us), and all the controller is doing is feeding the EPAS module ignition voltage and a post-potentiometer reduced voltage. From the Bruno diagrams, the potentiometer is only get two wires which means it's acting as a variable resistor, and there's only two wires going to the EPAS module meaning one is ignition voltage (most likely) and the other is... something.

Here's a diagram I borrowed from a post from @Brian74 . Would you or anyone else have access to a pinout for the C2 connector for the Vue, similar to below? My attached image is for the Cobalt. And/or, would someone with the controller tell us which pins the aftermarket controller is feeding into the EPAS? I'm assuming #6 is still ignition voltge.

 

[Rauq]

Not 100% sure this diagram is for the Vue but it makes sense, whether the aftermarket controller is feeding C2 pin 4 or 5 it's some sort of Class 2 Serial Data that the aftermarket controller is obviously there to emulate.

 

[Rttoys]

Not sure if I want to proceed with the amalgamation of stock fuel hoses or go to all rubber lines as I've seen others do...

The stock lines are all over the place, but will work. I like how the rubber lines smooth everything out, more like it belongs.

*Note*
make sure you use the correct hose that can handle over 50psi.

 

[Towerdog]

I had to zoom in on one of my pics, but here ya go. An “L” bracket to a clamp on the top side and a long bolt through a spacer on the bottom.

edit: the spacer might be my own design. Can’t remember.

Is the "spacer" to account for clearance of something? And the "spacer" is bolted to the tab on the engine mount?

 

[Rauq]

The kit came with a spacer, probably about 1" tall, and a long bolt and nut to go with it. I put it under the fuse box, I think how @Rttoys did it. I haven't actually run the driver's side coolant hose yet but I think the spacer gives you a little more room to run it under/past the fuse box.

 

[Rttoys]

Yes. The spacer lifts the box enough to help clear the rad hose and is mounted to the engine mount.

 

[Towerdog]

Yes. The spacer lifts the box enough to help clear the rad hose and is mounted to the engine mount.

Perfect! Thank you.

 

[Rauq]

Chasing a no-start for an hour last night before it occurred to me that, just like a Cobalt, everything would work except for the starter without the clutch pedal depressed. Hit that and it turned right over. Still don't have all my coolant lines run, the intercooler loop completed, or the muffler or intake tract installed, so I didn't want to do much more than fire it once. Now that I know it runs, I can go back and clean up the garage, button stuff up, and generally stop acting like a self-defeating madman and spending more time looking for tools than it would have taken to just put them away because screw everything else that's not only trying to get the car to start.

 

[r3drckt]

Congrats on the first start!

 

[Rauq]

What am I missing here? My original caliper bracket bolt only has ~2 threads of engagement through the adapter bracket and into the parking brake caliper bracket. I have the supplied M12x55 bolts and nuts from the knuckle to the caliper bracket. The original caliper bracket bolt isn't long enough to go brought the knuckle and the caliper bracket adapter. I haven't found a good M12 bolt in my donor bolt box that'll substitute in for the parking brake caliper bracket bolt either.

 

[Ark :D]

I had the same problem. I believe I ended up sourcing new, longer bolts. I'm sorry for not being much help here, but I am sure someone will chime in.

 

[Rauq]

No worries. I've seen a few builds (if I can recall correctly) where the supplied zinc plated grade 8 stuff was used for the caliper bracket adapter to knuckle connection, and a few where it was used from the caliper bracket adapter to the parking brake caliper bracket. I've also seen as few where the hardware used for the parking brake caliper bracket was too long and had to be shimmed away from the rotor with washers on the inside of the knuckle. Just wanted to verify the solution probably wasn't right in front of me.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

If you kept all of the bolts from the donor, I have to believe some of them could be the proper size. I collected a shoebox full of donor bolts.

 

[Rauq]

Self-imposed requirements for the week in order to do hood rat stuff with my friends this weekend:

• Mount brakes
• Connect brakes to hardlines
• Pipe vacuum line
• Remove heat exchanger from front of car (details to come)
• Install tunnel cap
• Install shifter and cables
• Install parking brake
• Install master cylinder
• Install and pipe brake fluid reservoir
  • oops, broke the clutch fluid barb, new reservoir should arrive this afternoon though
• Burp cooling system
• Bleed brakes and clutch with the pressure bleeder
• Mount at least one seat
• Install steering wheel

Things that would be nice to do before this weekend:

• Connect button panel
• Throw the second headlight on the car, although I don't have plans or expectations to connect either one yet
• Rough & dirty string alignment?

A few quick questions:

• Will the press-fit barbs to and from the brake fluid reservoir hold ~10 psi from the pressure bleeder? I would've been concerned before having read about long-term leaking issues folks have had with these connections, but that only raises the stakes.
• Should I be concerned about being able to bleed a brand new clutch slave with the pressure bleeder?
• I've read about wiping brand new headers with WD40, brake clean, moonshine, etc., both before and after the first time running them up to temp to get that sikk rainbow effect. If I can get RICERBOI points that easy I'm not going to leave them on the table. I know this internet forum is definitely smarter than every other one out there so please tell me now exactly what to do and include a money back guarantee. I kid because I don't want to *actually* step on any toes but I do welcome input as to how to achieve this effect.

 

[Gtstorey]

#2 Pressure bleeder was working on mine once I realized the MC piston was stuck forward, Until the throw bearing overextended.
#3 I doubt Brake clean or moonshine (alcohol) would have the effect, neither would leave a residue.

 

[Ross]

Chrome headers can be cleaned back to chrome anytime. They will blue next time they are heated up. So if you don't like the way they look, just clean them, and start over. Money back guaranteed.

 

[Rauq]

The ones that make more sense to me are wiping a saturated rag on the pipes while they're hot. Will test and report back. Might even try a different liquid on each pipe, I'm thinking PB Blaster, brake clean, whiskey, and gin, because science.