C2's Alero Updates

[[ion] C2]

Hah, no, never. I'm sure either one of the 2 clutches I have will be tolerable, I just want the best of all worlds. I have the spare transmission that has the LSD installed, that's what will be going in. Eventually I might still go AWD using something like the Evo X transmission, which has a lot more aftermarket support, so no worries really.

I mainly just want to button things up and just drive it for a bit and enjoy everything working. I've just been dumping money into it forever and not been able to enjoy the results yet.

[[ion] C2]

Got it back. New clutch install (and LSD-equipped trans) scheduled for June 16. I stalled it 3 times on the way home lol it's very stressful to drive. Headlights are aimed at the sky but I'll adjust them this weekend and get some pictures of how well they work.

Rear brake install fun.



Had to grind the caliper bracket a bit to fit right.



Looks great.





Fronts barely clear, required me to space out these wheels.





Major poke. I'm going to have to get some super high offset version of these wheels to get it more inline with the fender. Exploring options. Hard to confirm that the spokes will clear the caliper without test fitting or having 3D models.

[dbral]

Love the look with that wheel choice/brake set-up. Headlights are over the top nice. Sucks about the wheel fitment issues though. Hopefully you can keep that style of rim.

Happy to hear you are staying with the manual and maybe the next clutch will be more friendly so you can enjoy your build a little more. An Evo drivetrain will make that car a monster though. Next license plate should read "EVOLERO" lol

[[ion] C2]

Ha, yeah. It's like the Trans Am that uses a GT-R transmission so he has a GT-R badge on it lol.

[[ion] C2]

Headlights are perfect. Insane light output with 4 projectors.

[tw0123]

Those are amazing Chris!! I've debated on trying a quad retrofit ever since you first mentioned it to me, but this really makes me want to do it more!!!

Hopefully you can sort out a clutch and the wheels without too many more headaches and finally get to enjoy it before you go nuts on the swap to the silver car... are you doing a colour change on it as well or undecided as of yet?

[[ion] C2]

Originally Posted by tw0123

before you go nuts on the swap to the silver car... are you doing a colour change on it as well or undecided as of yet?

I'm actually selling the silver car and getting a manual Alero to make the swap simpler, possibly "Mike N Leslie's" on FB.

Yes it needs to be a dark blue like this, but I want it to be a little more blue and deeper/shinier. Not sure yet what will do it, but I photoshopped how I want it to look:

[tw0123]

Nice!! They take very good care of their cars from what I've seen in their posts... hopefully it is as nice in person to make life easy for you on it!!

The photoshop of that blue looks amazing; hopefully you can get it recreated to pop that well in real life!!

[[ion] C2]

Originally Posted by tw0123

Nice!! They take very good care of their cars from what I've seen in their posts... hopefully it is as nice in person to make life easy for you on it!!

Yeah it's got a lot of miles on it though (195,000 mi / 313,822 km), not that it really matters for the most part since I'm using my own engine, trans, new suspension, etc. but it's just been used heavily and things wear with use.

And they want $5,000 firm for it.

[dbral]

Ha, yeah. It's like the Trans Am that uses a GT-R transmission so he has a GT-R badge on it lol.

That car is awesome.

Dang, holy brightness with those projectors. Surprised you found a five speed car. They come up from time to time on Copart but usually in terrible shape Congrats on the find

Call me crazy, but i like the stick-out tire/wheel look on your car in the last pic for some reason? Kinda like the FWD drag car image maybe? All things being equal, as long as it is legal and doesn't hurt the paint i would roll with it. Any thoughts of a wide body kit? Custom and very expensive but might look good and give you plenty of room

[[ion] C2]

Still looking around for a rust-free manual coupe but it'll probably end up being the $5k one. They made so few manual Aleros, and then finding one that isn't crashed or rusted out makes it even harder.

Originally I was going to 3D scan the car and have someone model up some ideas for bumpers/side skirts. Might still do that eventually, but I'm really liking how it looks in most angles as-is. My least favorite angle is the one halfway between front and side view, the "front 3/4" view. It's where it looks the least aggressive/cool IMO, however the pic above in my garage looks decent...

I cut the bumper yesterday so the tires don't rub anymore, so not in a hurry to get new wheels. I think with -2 degrees camber the front will be fine the way it is. Still might get some Volk TE37 wheels with +44 offset and see if that clears the calipers and lets me bring the overall wheel inward a little. Current wheels are +30 offset but from a different manufacturer. Not sure if the spokes would be "flatter" and further out with the higher offset, or they just remove material from the lug mounting area.

Once I get the new clutch installed I'll schedule my professional rolling/stilll photos and they should look awesome. I've had to back out twice so far and feel like a jackass but the car kept having things done to it for longer than expected.

[dbral]

Yep, those cars were pretty rare, even back in the heyday.

The Volks are nice. There is even a (rare?) hyper-blue set shown. Really like the bronze ones though. Maybe the mfg. can send specs. that you can transfer to help verify a good fit? Any thoughts of having some CTS-v wheels machined? Those might look ok too, but it is hard to beat the look of open spokes.

Yeah, my fav. pic so far is the garage angle shot. The car looks good to me as is and it still has the factory lines. Have to admit that i'm still a fan of the 90's JDM style with the skirts and flares though. Imagining that look could be pulled off with an Alero if it had to be done.

[[ion] C2]

The main issue is that the brakes are pushed out farther than stock, on a CTS-V the hub is probably further inward on the car. I would get TE37s and then have them stripped and nickel plated probably. I really like the shiny silver look. The fit right now will be fine once I add -2 degrees of camber, but if I had +45 offset it would only help fit.

I'll probably still scan the car and see what can be modeled up

[[ion] C2]

Ticking noise from the engine when I was adjusting my headlights the other day prompted me to do a few quick tests.

Boost leak test found a big leak between my charge pipe to throttle body, fixed it. I also found my fuel feed line rubbing against metal and wearing down so tied that away... people never think about things vibrating. My engine vibrates a lot and anything touching will wear through.

Exhaust leak test found a leak at the manifold to turbine, again. It's just so difficult to install everything when nothing flexes. I wish the wastegate was mounted using a flex tube. Something needs to be able to flex in order to align all the v-bands perfectly. Will have UMS fix it while it's there for the clutch/trans change. With exhaust and boost leaks fixed, responsiveness should go way up.

[[ion] C2]

Back in the shop as of today.

Installing:

• new transmission w/LSD
• Clutch Masters 850 Super Single clutch
• New shifter assembly
• New shift cables

Fixing:

• Leak between manifold and turbo (will improve spool/efficiency and reduce noise)

It sounds good driving around, my two resonators really made the exhaust deeeeeep and mild. Hopefully will have it back next week, and will be able to finally schedule the photoshoot, and get some videos too.

Front and rear need some good camber to avoid rubbing when I get the alignment, hopefully it can be done with the suspension components I have. The shop knows a place that can make custom coilovers for me, so that's cool. KYB AGX are discontinued, plus it'd be nice to have total control over ride height.

[dbral]

Excited to see how she turns out and hear some feedback on that clutch too.

New shifter/cables should improve things. Remembering that our car's shifter was like a mashed potato stick when we first bought it lol. Could barely shift it. Are you going to use the oem shifter assembly?

[[ion] C2]

Yeah I'm sure it will be decent enough for now. I just gotta rev it up 2-3k and let it engage slowly, shuddering or not, and it will go without stalling. I basically have always tried to treat the clutch overly nice and take off at far too low RPM because as they say with this clutch and my old 6-puck "not supposed to slip it" but every knowledgeable car builder I ask says "that's what they say, but you have to to drive it on the street".

My shifter has been getting worse over time, it keeps popping out of first when I'm ready to go take off from a light. Compounded with the hard to drive clutch, it makes me have way too many annoying situations at intersections. All this stuff being replaced should fix it and definitely make it more fun.

Just OEM parts. There was a guy on the J-Body group who claimed he was going to make an all metal shifter assembly that was ball bearing and such, some super smooth, solid rig, but as expected, he lost interest over time, no time/money to do it. I might work on a custom assembly, but I gotta learn about the OEM setup and what exactly is important in the design before I dive in trying to improve it.

[dbral]

Oh man, that current clutch would be hard to live with.

Would be awesome to have an upgraded shifter available. The OEM is a joke. Wait till you see how it is designed lol. It's no surprise they wear out so quickly, even when used gently.

Wondering if anyone has tried using the Cobalt shifter? Maybe they are just as terrible and not worth the trouble? Can't speak for the older N-bodies, but the older J-bodies had some decent shifters. Had a 92 and 96. Both of mine went over 200k without trouble. Thinking different trans though so maybe they would not work without a lot of modification? Our current J-body is a 2000 and has the same design shifter that our N-bodies use and made it about 100k until it started to develop play and that is with me being very careful with it. These shifters are awful lol

[[ion] C2]

Exhaust leak is fixed. New transmission, shifter, cables are in and apparently work great, but there's some hydraulic issue. They ordered a new master cylinder, waiting and hoping that fixes whatever was wrong.

[[ion] C2]

So the issue is the previously installed Luk plastic master cylinder cracked during bleeding. The new Luk metal design master cylinder refuses to be bled. They bought a Power Torque aftermarket one and will be trying it tomorrow.