C2's Alero Updates

[jawa]

i have a set in mine i forgot whos they were but i like them alot
who the eff takes 3 years to build a set of headlights

[[ion] C2]

a guy who spent the money and didn't fulfill his obligation

in the meantime, he got married, bought a house, has a new F150, has who knows how much money in weed and paraphernalia, etc.

since i'm his friend i get put on the backburner permanently. why should he bother? i'm in arizona he's in michigan. what am i gonna do, nag him over and over like i had been?

i nagged him a ton at one point and basically said i want them now. he shipped me a set of headlights that were broken in transit and not what i asked for. (they were painted black, i wanted regular shiny silver, they only had 1 projector and an LED in the high beams, i wanted 2 projectors, they weren't plug and play, i wanted them plug and play.

local shop can do it in a couple weeks for the same price. but man that pisses me off to have to pay twice to get one set.

[[ion] C2]

I offered to pay for his flight, food, materials to make them, and I have a spare room/bathroom. He says he's interviewing for a new job on one of the days in the round trip I mentioned.

I offered another timeframe, and am waiting to see what excuse he says.

[jawa]

wtf sounds like hes a flake and spent your money already

[[ion] C2]

that's what happened. he would get people wanting him to take on their project and i'd comment "still waitin 2 years for mine to be done" and my comment would be insta-deleted and he'd message me saying he's struggling


his reply to the other timeframe (3 days): "Lemme see what I can do with my bartending job, etc."

he should be doing whatever he needs to do take care of a nearly 3 year late obligation for one of his supposed friends since kindergarten

i had him do my subaru's headlights in 2015 and they were done quick and amazing. best headlights i've ever had. i expected the same turnaround time when he told me it'd only be 2-3 weeks when i paid him January 2017.

[[ion] C2]

Still at the fabricator's house getting the v-band sealing corrected and air intake fabricated. Radiator should be ready in a couple weeks too.

Might be fixing the oil drain leak too, dunno. It's a tight fit. I'll probably have to design an oil drain flange that is better than what's out there.

Slowww progress.

[[ion] C2]

Intake is ready for powder coat. Radiator is almost ready to install. Hopefully will be able to secure lift access for my fabricator to mess with the turbo fitment to seal that exhaust leak and re-do my oil drain.

With all that done, it should be ready for the dyno. I don't like the slight dampness I see on the top of piston 2, but could just be oil or something. Will probably do a compression test/coolant test to check head gasket status before the dyno, but will definitely be working on acquiring and building another engine to have on standby, this one being ported significantly and painted all nice with the better oil pump etc.

[[ion] C2]

Radiator's built. Now to install, hopefully by this weekend. Custom stainless lower hose being made, as the radiator is a dual-pass design, requiring inlet and outlet on the same side.

[[ion] C2]

Radiator's in. Lower hose modified. Next up is an adjustable wide plate that supports the bumper under/in front of the headlights.

[tw0123]

That looks awesome Chris!!! What are you thinking of using for the bumper support?

[[ion] C2]

Originally Posted by tw0123

That looks awesome Chris!!! What are you thinking of using for the bumper support?

The fabricator is making an adjustable wide metal plate that will put tension on the bumper, supporting it well and keeping it snug below the headlights.

Dude's really good at fabrication, I might end up using him for all the bodywork and custom parts and roll cage if he's up for it. He works at a shop that does insane bodywork and builds.

[[ion] C2]

I stopped by UMS Tuning to discuss my 22 psi but 2 bar MAP situation, and discuss the overall tuning method on this platform. They are going to do their best with the limited 2 bar sensor and OS. The fueling for 22 psi is going to be the same for 15 psi and above, which means it's going to be super rich between those numbers. HPTuners refuses to put in any more work to allow for 3 bar or unlock all the other important tables, so it's this or standalone.

Perhaps later in the year when I build the next engine with 2.3 oil pump, ported head, bigger valves, etc., I'll have them install an AEM standalone EMS. It would be ideal for engine management and perfect tuning, but will make it impossible to pass emissions when the time comes in a couple years again.

[[ion] C2]

Bumper/headlight support created. Air intake tube powder coated in textured black.

Next up, putting it on a lift Sunday or Monday to fix the turbo fitment so that all of my exhaust gas goes into the turbo instead of leaking by the poorly installed v-band.

This fabricator will be doing all sorts of shit to this car later in the year. I'm talking full roll cage, fender bars, custom trailing arms/lateral links. I'm going all-out with this thing and building another LD9 for maximum power on E54 or E85.

[[ion] C2]

Aw yeah, fabricator was able to fix the poor installation job from the previous fabricator. Now the exhaust is fully sealed and at maximum performance. Excited for the dyno day. Doing an oil change and getting fresh E54 before.

[tw0123]

That's fantastic Chris!!! You mentioned the trailing and lateral arms... what are you thinking of having created there? I can't recall seeing anything for the trailing arms...

[[ion] C2]

Originally Posted by tw0123

That's fantastic Chris!!! You mentioned the trailing and lateral arms... what are you thinking of having created there? I can't recall seeing anything for the trailing arms...

just tubular stuff, would be super simple to make

just things to add on to the ridiculously extensive bodywork that's going to be happening to accomodate a full welded cage (cutting the roof skin off and reinstalling it etc.)

the body on this car will be rigid and rust free

[[ion] C2]

[[ion] C2]

Welp, the stainless smooth painted lower radiator hose extension keeps slipping out (no bead on the ends, and wimpy worm clamps) causing me to lose all of my coolant in a very fast manner, so we're fabricating a new aluminum one that has bead rolls on the end, and I have some stainless t-bolt clamps that should keep that 15 psi coolant from popping off the pipe anymore.



One interesting thing I found is that the system is difficult to burp now that I have the dual-pass radiator. It seems to allow for a big air pocket in the lower hose when first filling up the coolant, because when the thermostat opens, my borosilicate glass tube shows that the engine ends up running on air. I'll probably have to jack it up high on the passenger side after first filling it this time to hopefully help it out, because we were baffled at first when filling it up on the side of the road after repairing the hose connection the first time.

[[ion] C2]

No boost leaks

[tw0123]

That's shitty about the hose, but glad you've found a solution... did you have to reschedule the dyno testing due to this issue or were you able to make it as planned?