V1 Neodied's #375 Extended Track - 07 SS/SC donor

[Mahkoi]

I'm an amateur welder at best. I'm not comfortable having someone else out there cruising around with my welds on their safety items. Not sure where you are located but if you're local you are welcome to pick up the remaining bar I have and take a look at my completed one to get you started.

 

[neodied]

Thanks for the offer, I will definitely take inspiration from your design and your comment about safety items being personal responsibility makes complete sense. I don't imagine that finding similar pipe stock in the future would be too hard, so @Josh's09 it's all yours if you want to take Mahkoi up on his offer.

 

[Josh's09]

I'm an amateur welder at best. I'm not comfortable having someone else out there cruising around with my welds on their safety items. Not sure where you are located but if you're local you are welcome to pick up the remaining bar I have and take a look at my completed one to get you started.

I am not local, so not an option. Let me ask around to see what others are using. Maybe its easier to order then I am expecting.

 

[Gtstorey]

Summit is where I ordered my harness bar, I was ordering enough for free shipping so I don’t know what it cost by itself.

 

[neodied]

Headlights wired in, I used Wago connectors instead of soldering and they are so much easier than soldering (and can be undone later).
221-2401 | WAGO Lever-Nuts® Inline Splicing Connector

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Let us know how these work out - and how reliable they are after you have some time and miles on your build.

 

[neodied]

Will do, my ideal long-term solution is Deutsche connectors, but for now I'm not ready to drop that kind of cash and just want this on the road drivable. These easy connectors are a way to bypass my procrastination when it comes to anything soldering-related.

 

[neodied]

Connected the valve cover vent port to the intake barbed fitting with some spare tubing laying around. I noticed that the shift cables had moved a bit and one was touching the exhaust pipe, definitely melted. The shifting feels fine-ish still, but I wonder if when the plastic cools it will harden on the shift cable and cause a lot of friction. May have to get a new shift cable... There might be room to run them under the rear tie rod bar and above the subframe, which would hopefully make some clearance to the exhaust. Either way, I will probably get some kind of insulation to wrap the exhaust in that area.

 

[Rttoys]

It shouldn’t be anywhere near the exhaust.

 

[neodied]

Yeah mine go behind the toe link bar and subframe. Definitely wrong on my end, but I think I got nervous about the bend radius and the extra length dragging on the ground under the engine/trans when I test fit them running forward of the bar and subframe. I should have been more nervous about the exhaust obviously.

Anyway, I got almost all of the Stage 3 parts today, just missing the button panel kit (and my add-on quick release steering wheel) which are backordered. Installed everything except the boost gauge and the wiring all works, which is a huge relief.

To-Do Before Inspection:
- Mount tires on wheels, wheels on hubs
- Clean up wires, shorten or neatly arrange the excess, zip tie it all
- Parking brake cables
- Hood and windshield
- Temporary horn button (until the DF button panel arrives)
- Ask DF for an MCO to turn in with my paperwork
- Wait for MCO

Not Required For Inspection
- Boost gauge
- Shift cable rerouting
- BCM kickplate
- Gauge cluster mounting (just zip tied right now)
- Heat exchanger fan power wiring
- Check engine codes / tune

When The Parts Get Here / Cosmetic
- Button panel
- Quick release steering wheel
- Side panels

 

[neodied]

After re-bleeding the brakes and tightening up a leaky tube nut, the brakes feel good. Rerouted the shift cables to stay away from the exhaust a bit better. Fortunately it looks like the heat didn't harm the steel cords. The cable still slides easily.

I felt the coolant hoses and none of them were warm after letting it idle for several minutes, but I don't know for certain if it got up to temperature and opened the thermostat valve. Next time it starts up I'm going attach HP Tuners to it to log data and see how warm the engine is getting. I have experience with other data logging software from work, so I'm sure the buttons will be different but the overall concepts should be similar.

With the nice weather I am itching to get it registered and driving!

 

[Gtstorey]

You should also be able to see ECT on the Instrument cluster if you have the buttons to scroll through.

 

[neodied]

I wish I did have the buttons, unfortunately they are backordered and I'm waiting on DF for that. I could probably go buy a random switch from an electronics store and jury rig it to the cluster wires just to have some way of interacting until I get the real ones.

Do you know where that ECT sensor is? Is it inside the block? I wonder if it would read properly if there is an air bubble around the sensor.

 

[Ross]

The engine coolant temperature is near the coolant exit from the engine. Air bubbles are easy to remove from the coolant, as the coolant pump is powerful enough to push the air thru the system.

 

[Gtstorey]

I think I remember the ECT sensor being near the thermostat housing. I think typically the reading is correct which means the air pocket isn't collecting around the sensor.

It's possible to have a air pocket to collect that seriously restricts flow. The bubbles come out of solution on the high point and basically the area of the air in that spot can reduce the effective area of the pipe to what ever is left over. If your version of the ecotec has a steam line connection up high you can sometimes loosen the fitting to help bleed air out.

I've had no problems with air pockets since I started using vacuum coolant fill tool.

 

[neodied]

Since I neglected to set up the heat exchanger fan wiring during my harness rework for some reason, I am connecting it to the pink and white wire near the steering column that was an "extra" power wire, but it is always on even when key is off, so I ordered some cheapo inline push buttons that will let me turn it on on demand.

 

[neodied]

Heat exchanger toggle switch installed, I just have to remember to use it. Maybe eventually hook it into a relay tied with an ignition on circuit so I don't forget.

The MCO should be arriving today based on UPS tracking number. Called Progressive to get insurance effective tomorrow when I'll be taking all the paperwork to get titled and registered. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and I don't need a second inspection from a state inspector. If that's the case, then it will be road legal tomorrow!

 

[neodied]

Note about the insurance: Progressive is charging me ~$650 for 6 months, which hurts the wallet more than a little. I expect to investigate cheaper options down the road, but the shortest path to getting road legal is to just add it to my existing policy for now.

 

[jirwin]

Note about the insurance: Progressive is charging me ~$650 for 6 months, which hurts the wallet more than a little. I expect to investigate cheaper options down the road, but the shortest path to getting road legal is to just add it to my existing policy for now.

Full coverage? They wanted $1500/6mo for me lol. In don't have points either (30yrs old).

 

[neodied]

Full coverage? They wanted $1500/6mo for me lol. In don't have points either (30yrs old).

Collision: $2000 Standard deductible
Comprehensive: $1000 deductible
Use: Personal/Pleasure
Expected Mileage: 2000mi/yr
None of the addons like roadside assistance or rental coverage.

I do have PIP excluded ($250K legal minimum) since I have medical through my work which is "Qualified Health Coverage" and allows that option. If your PIP premium is high, that might be the difference.