Project Saturn SW2

The entire interior has been totally detailed now. Looks like new:

Waxing and detailing the exterior this coming week

CarKid1989 wrote: The entire interior has been totally detailed now. Looks like new: Waxing and detailing the exterior this coming week

Looks like the day I test drove it

hahahahaha oh yeah. surrrreeee

Here are the pictures of the exhaust fitment. It looks fine to me. The tip is a bit boy racer but still not too too gaudy.

Car is on the ground. Finished cleaning it and...AND...

It touched down!

Car was on the ground and driven today!!! Also aligned at work. yay.

Drives nice. Front end is tight and feels great even with original struts/springs. The exhaust is not high on my list of likes. Too loud for me; to the point where i am already looking to put a different muffler on it or a silencer.

Lastly the 5th gear swap was a shock. Really drops the RPMS a TON! I used to drive my commute under 2000 RPM or 43 mph-ish. Now 2000 RPM is 55mph

STAGE ONE OF PROJECT SW2 COMPLETE

Had to start with a solid, well running baseline. Next up either wheels or/and suspension

Too bad about the exhaust. The tip really doesn't look gaudy to me. Glad it's back on the road.

Too loud? Hmm, to each his own, I guess. Do you have any problems with that system resting on the rear subframe, or am I the only one?

Twin_Cam wrote: Too loud? Hmm, to each his own, I guess. Do you have any problems with that system resting on the rear subframe, or am I the only one?

i did. i took 1.5" off the pipe off the short flanged piece that bolts to the cat and it moved the whole system forward so it clears everything with a ton of room.

its actually a nice system. well see how it lasts but for now i gotta admit its a nice lookin unit

Magnaflow makes some nice stainless resonators for about $50--I put one on my Focus' catback when I had it...worked like a champ. Graft it into one of the straight sections and go...

I put $50 of exhaust wrap on my Volvo 850 to quiet down a freer flowing exhaust. turbo to cat, and then cat to first muffler. It went from way too much noise to what I remember as being stock sound levels. I didn't need to remove anything and it took an hour or two.

exhaust wrap? did it change the note at all? help with droning?

ive been fighting a drone on my toy for a while. im at the point of adding cats or something to knock it doen some.

michael

Dusterbd13 wrote: exhaust wrap? did it change the note at all? help with droning? ive been fighting a drone on my toy for a while. im at the point of adding cats or something to knock it doen some. michael

the volvo 5 bangers are big droners- and wagons are much worse than sedans. it fixed it. one of the best cheap fixes ever.

I heard wrapping helps promote rusting faster.

The exhaust is actually 3 pieces and conviently enough the muffler is a bolt on affair. It the muffler then a short bend and a flange.

I can make that.

Make a copy of the flange and the short bend and add in my own old man quiet muffler and ill sleep better at night

Just add wheels and tint and drive for the next ten years-or until you get bored- which will be about 4 months!

minimac wrote: Just add wheels and tint and drive for the next ten years-or until you get bored- which will be about 4 months!

Thats the plan for now. I wanna do lowering springs but am not totally sure of it at the moment

CarKid1989 wrote: I heard wrapping helps promote rusting faster. The exhaust is actually 3 pieces and conviently enough the muffler is a bolt on affair. It the muffler then a short bend and a flange. I can make that. Make a copy of the flange and the short bend and add in my own old man quiet muffler and ill sleep better at night

Ive often wondered if smearing the exhaust with RTV then wrapping wouldnt seal it up to keep moisture out. That said, I wrapped the header to the cat on my old corolla, and it didnt seem to rust from what I remember. Id make sure that if your run it in the wet, you let it idle for 5-10 min to just evap all the moisture before you put it up for the night.

CarKid1989 wrote:

Twin_Cam wrote: Too loud? Hmm, to each his own, I guess. Do you have any problems with that system resting on the rear subframe, or am I the only one?

i did. i took 1.5" off the pipe off the short flanged piece that bolts to the cat and it moved the whole system forward so it clears everything with a ton of room.

Yea that's what I'll have to do as well, just didn't have time the day I installed it. Good thing we have pipe-cutting equipment sitting around at work.

4cylndrfury wrote:

CarKid1989 wrote: I heard wrapping helps promote rusting faster. The exhaust is actually 3 pieces and conviently enough the muffler is a bolt on affair. It the muffler then a short bend and a flange. I can make that. Make a copy of the flange and the short bend and add in my own old man quiet muffler and ill sleep better at night

Ive often wondered if smearing the exhaust with RTV then wrapping wouldnt seal it up to keep moisture out. That said, I wrapped the header to the cat on my old corolla, and it didnt seem to rust from what I remember. Id make sure that if your run it in the wet, you let it idle for 5-10 min to just evap all the moisture before you put it up for the night.

I read about the rumored heat wrap issue and from what I could dig up on the subject I found it is an issue with uncoated mild steel. I can believe that kinda. Since the OP and my exhausts are both stainless I thought I would mention it. I'll take my chances, it worked wonders.

Today i picked up a trailer hitch/reciever from Pull-A-Part. Cheap. The receiver is the tiniest thing i have seen in my life haha.

I wanna have a trailer big enough for a motorcycle or quad. Well that is actually pretty small.

Max rating i can find is 1000lbs for the saturn. Harbor Freight has two trailers i have been looking at both have a weight capacity just around 1000lbs. Perfect. One weights 70 some pounds and the other 150lbs.

So this should be easy

Quit screwing around and get a picture posted of this thing on those MINI wheels !

I got one of these off of Craigslist for pulling behind my Saturns:

Originally sold by Sears. I painted mine red with black fenders.

I bought the smaller harbor freight one for $70 from a fellow autocrosser that was not put together and had a cracked wheel hub. I got another hub from harbor freight for $25. The trailer works great and used it on several challenges,driving from Chicago to Gainsville and back again. If you get one from Harbor freight, a few suggestions. First when building the trailer, use red loctite on all nuts and bolts. They tend to separate. Get different zerk fittings for the wheel hubs. Ones with a 90 degree angle are probably the best so you don't have a problem using a grease gun. Get a spare tire and wheel, just in case. 65 mph is about max on speed pulling the trailer otherwise it starts getting a little loose. I have used this trailer on an sl and an sc1. On the trailer that I have I used an aluminum box for a small pick up to store tools and parts. This I mounted on the front of the trailer. The back I attached two brackets to hold my tires in place and on the front mounted a jack to keep the trailer from tipping over. Also helps to move it around.

HStockSolo wrote: I got one of these off of Craigslist for pulling behind my Saturns: Originally sold by Sears. I painted mine red with black fenders.

Haha, my dad has one of those Sears trailers to pull behind his Corvairs when we go somewhere where extra luggage is required.

He stripped his down, repainted it silver, it has all LED lighting and an LED CHMSL of a suburban. I think he Rhino Lined the bed inside.

He's had it for probably 18 years. It's been a good little trailer.

More Harbor Freight trailer advice, from one who's been there...

Get the larger 12" wheels, not the 8" ones. The trailer will ride better and be more stable at highway speeds.

At least when I built mine, the paint they used on the frame was an excellent insulator. As a result, I had a horrible time with the trailer lights. Easiest thing to do is sand a little paint off where the pieces bolt together to ensure a good electrical connection as well as physical.

The hitch I put on my 96 SL2 was different - required no drilling, and had a bar reaching forward that bolted to the center of the rear subframe. Seems a better design to me, but I remember looking for one of that design later and being unable to find it.

Nice looking car!!! Yeah, get those MINI wheels on it.