V1 Sluggonaut's Extended Track #364 - 2007 SS/SC (Turbo) Donor

[Sluggonaut]

Finished up just about everything except the footwell cover. That will go on the list of off-season projects that should be starting in just a couple of months.

I got some Falkens mounted to the wheels I bought last year on a deep discount and got those mounted today. It should look a lot better once I get the body parts back on. I now understand the rock flinging issue and have started a small collection in the seats:

I'm adding this pic because it captures what Prismatic Powder's Illusion series of colors looks like in the sun:

Other things that have been finished in the past couple of weeks include the splitter and supports:

Boost controller mount under the cluster:

A blurry pic of the steering wheel buttons quick connect and brake proportioning valve...:

...and the buttons that use that cable - scramble button on the left and horn on the right:

The last things on my list are to get the hood/side panels mounted and to set up the boost controller. I installed some rivnuts for the side panels but I had trouble getting the 4mm rivnuts to anchor in a few spots so I'm working through some solutions there. I need to configure the GFB Gforce III presets so I can use the scramble button to switch between them. I'm likely going to use one setting for lower boost (12psi), one setting with some gain to control spooling, and another for straight 23 psi and no gain input. I'll go from there based on the results.

 

[Sluggonaut]

I haven't posted in a while but the Gfroce III configuration was a breeze and makes the car driveable at all boost levels now, especially with the stickier tires. I'm still not a fan of the ever-growing rock collection, but the traction upgrade is appreciated.

I was able to take it out last week when we hit 80 degrees for no reason right before the snow fell this week, and I tried the cruise control again for no other reason than to see if doing nothing actually fixed it. It worked fine. I'm not sure what changed, but I could never seem to get it to work before. It was likely driver error previously or the few fusebox removal/installs I've done since last trying may have done something.

I never got the side panels back on (I'm not a fan), but I've added that to my list of winter projects. I haven't removed the tires to store inside just yet, as we may hit the 60's this weekend. Hopefully, I can squeeze in one more cruise before I call the season over.

 

[Sluggonaut]

I was doing my pre-season maintenance as I prepared to start driving regularly for the season and there's no better reminder that I keep putting off the battery charger cable installation than having to remove the front spoiler and hood just to hook the battery charger up.

After messing around with that for 45 minutes, it took all of 2 minutes to install the cable so I can spend 30 seconds hooking up the trickle charger going forward. I love the performance of the front spoiler and naca ducts, but a hinged hood seems like it would make a lot of things much simpler.

 

[Rttoys]

You could have put your quick connection at the fuse box jump start terminal, then you wouldn’t have had to mess with the hood.

 

[Robinjo]

You could have put your quick connection at the fuse box jump start terminal, then you wouldn’t have had to mess with the hood.
View attachment 47248

That’s where I charge mine when needed. Positive to the B+ post and negative to a ground. Turns out my seat belt bolt work perfectly as a ground. No hood removal required.

 

[Lndshrk Steve]

I was doing my pre-season maintenance as I prepared to start driving regularly for the season and there's no better reminder that I keep putting off the battery charger cable installation than having to remove the front spoiler and hood just to hook the battery charger up.

After messing around with that for 45 minutes, it took all of 2 minutes to install the cable so I can spend 30 seconds hooking up the trickle charger going forward. I love the performance of the front spoiler and naca ducts, but a hinged hood seems like it would make a lot of things much simpler.

I just attach my trickle charger at the positive on the fuse box and grab an upper shock bolt.

 

[Sluggonaut]

You could have put your quick connection at the fuse box jump start terminal, then you wouldn’t have had to mess with the hood.

Yes, that is an option but I don't need any more wires cluttering up the rear. I like it hidden under the hood where the wire won't be exposed to the sun and elements.

 

[Sluggonaut]

A minor issue arrived while driving last weekend. I must have a lead foot because I broke my accelerator spacer. Looking back, I'm not sure why I thought a plastic spacer would be a long-term solution, so I added some extra weight to the front end with a spacer that shouldn't break.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

That spacer needs some speedholes to make your throttle more responsive!

 

[Sluggonaut]

That spacer needs some speedholes to make your throttle more responsive!

I optimized the design so the speed holes and the bolts use the same physical space.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

I'm going to need to stop by Poplar Grove the next time I'm back in Rockford to show you how it's done - bolt holes are not speedholes when there is a piece of metal in them. LOL!

Remember there is nothing lighter than a hole!

 

[Sluggonaut]

View attachment 47560

I'm going to need to stop by Poplar Grove the next time I'm back in Rockford to show you how it's done - bolt holes are not speedholes when there is a piece of metal in them. LOL!

Remember there is nothing lighter than a hole!

You are correct, bolt holes are not speed holes, but if you drill speed holes and have them share space with bolts, it still counts as weight savings, especially if the hole is larger than the bolt that occupies it.

 

[Sluggonaut]

The original donor battery finally took a dump, so I used the opportunity to get the correct size battery. The donor battery was too wide to use the bolts included with the kit's battery hold-down bar I had powder-coated with the rest of the parts 2 years ago. The bar has been living in my spare parts box waiting for its chance to go to work before finally getting installed. I can officially say that my kit is now fully assembled. lol

While maneuvering the positive battery cable, it bumped into the horn causing the plastic part to disintegrate and now it sounds even more anemic and ridiculous. I ordered a new one but I'm not looking forward to installing it. I'm not sure I can even get in there to remove what's left of the original without significant disassembly.

Any tricks on replacing the horn without major disassembly up front?

 

[Robinjo]

How far down is yours? Mine is easy to get to with the hood off. But it is on the drivers side of the car.

 

[Gtstorey]

Place the new horn where you can access it, and run a new wire to it. And leave the old horn in place until you have another reason to access the area.

 

[Joebob]

For that nice well rounded sound:

https://hornblasters.com/products/octohorn-544k-train-horn-kit?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=871f5e2be&pr_rec_pid=7007392039002&pr_ref_pid=6992816963674&pr_seq=uniform

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

That would add some much needed weight in the nose - won't be 'light' after installing that kit!

 

[Rttoys]

I remember when horn blasters was a startup company. Bought horns from them almost 20 years ago

 

[Ark :D]

For that nice well rounded sound:

https://hornblasters.com/products/octohorn-544k-train-horn-kit?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=871f5e2be&pr_rec_pid=7007392039002&pr_ref_pid=6992816963674&pr_seq=uniform

****, that's one wicked horn...!

 

[Sluggonaut]

This winter's project list has just been updated with a few additional items. After starting to see some smoke out of the exhaust between shifts when pushing it, I decided to do some troubleshooting.

Although the compression test resulted in good numbers, the fact that cylinder 3's spark plug didn't want to budge confirmed our head gasket suspicions. When we finally got the plug out, it had the telltale rust on the threads and was wet with coolant.

We drained the oil next, and it was just coolant at first before the rest of the milkshake came out. There were no big chunks of sadness glitter, but there was a silvery sheen to the concoction. The plan is to drop the rear and get the motor on a stand so we can check everything out. At a minimum, we'll be doing a head gasket with a full rebuild in the works if we find any troubling signs.

Until the smoke started coming out of the exhaust on power shifts, there were no other signs of an issue (i.e., coolant temps have always been 163-172 and no performance issues) aside from the small mystery coolant leak it's always had. It would slowly lose coolant with no external drips, but it did have a hint of coolant in the exhaust, which was always suspected to be the laminova cores. I removed those at one time to clean, inspect, and replace the o-rings. I found some plier gouges by the o-rings from a previous owner's removal, which I thought may be the source of the leak, and something I had to live with since I couldn't source any new cores.

I'll be sure to post pics and updates as they occur.