See Spot Run

It's here! It's finally here!

Needless to say, I'm thrilled!

I purchased fstbandit's 1997 Saturn SC2 as described in this thread. Amazingly I made it home without incident some 3.5 hours away: from Chicago to Iowa City.

So far, I know it leaks oil, potentially at an alarming rate. I could just suck at reading dipsticks, so I'll drill some small holes in it to "see" the fill level. That plus an oil change will get me the kinetics of loss. I can live with a quart a trip; I can't live with a gallon though. If anyone thinks Rotella T6 (5W40) is a bad idea, let me know; it's worked wonders in my other cars.

I know the thermostat is probably stuck open, since the engine only reaches 1/4 temperature. I snagged two gallons of Prestone ($20) and a thermostat ($12) and will tackle that sooner than later.

The car felt like it was bogging down at WOT so I picked up some NGK G-Powers ($10) and Arcolite wires ($20). I know I'm supposed to use copper instead of platinum plugs, but that's what they had and the car runs better already. Apparently, actually securing the intake plumbing helps too!

I need to figure out how to ghetto-fab an exhaust. A friend has a Magnaflow muffler he'll give me for $30. I could just flexpipe the car, but we'll see what options are out there. If I find a junker stock exhaust, I'll probably just use that to start with. If anyone has other ideas, let me know! My only requirement is I don't kill the neighbors driving by and it exits rear of the driver.

The polka dots plus the Baron of Greymatter swag are definitely eye-catching, but more in the "oh god that dude is probably a pedophile" kinda way. I'm going to keep the dots guaranteed, but most of the other graphics are gonna go. On the plus side, polka dots are perfect for round numbers and for big SCCA logos. I need to get some more GRM decals too.

Finally, gotta get this thing registered. Hopefully "SPOT" is available as a vanity plate. It'll probably cost more than the car.

Well, you just...

I'm glad you got the car! I was ready to pull the trigger on this one.
With a Saturn, oil is oil. I usually put in whatever is available ...however I found that 5w30 seems to make the engine the happiest.
What are your plans? DD or race car?

Rallycross is the primary goal. I have to be careful with what I put in due to challenge budget (I will try to go at least once), but I have a Sparco seat and harnesses ready to go in; just have to make mounts and a harness bar.

If the car becomes not too obscene, I'll drive it around town, especially in winter.

This is awesome!

My daughter would like to buy this from you for 10 beanie boos (small creepy stuffed animals), a nearly new loft bed with LED lighting, and her brother, who she thinks should be featured on Hammond's 'Science of Stupid'.

I think this is the most I've laughed in months...

So... I've apparently just bought an OBX 4-2-1 header for this thing for $80. Gotta have that tubular manifold before even worrying about a muffler.

Craigslist is a scary, but wonderful place.

In the pile of "stuff" there is what was left of the stock exhaust. You can use it for a template or weld in the missing pieces.

fstbandit wrote: In the pile of "stuff" there is what was left of the stock exhaust. You can use it for a template or weld in the missing pieces.

Sweet! I'll have to go digging.

Snagged this and a used radio bezel for $40 this morning. It has a cracked weld that'll be easy to fix! That plus the stock exhaust bits somewhere in the trunk will make for a good start!

I'm impressed how well this Saturn cleans up with a little bit of rubbing compound! The polka dots are all shiny again! I removed the Baron of Greymatter branding (sorry!) and the GRM number panels (so so sorry!). They'll get replaced with more polka dots, some SCCA logo dots (ranging from big to huge), and a big #42 number dot.

Unlike the other stickers, eBay Motors apparently makes theirs out of asbestos. When I get mesothelioma from the white powder I inhaled, I'll know whose door to knock. Seriously, scary stuff!

Finally, here's last night's sunset after the storm I avoided by getting home quickly.

Rallycross is next Sunday. Hopefully I will have an exhaust setup by then (muffler and behind driver) and have fixed or slowed the oil leak. Worst case, the Miata is almost ready!

kylini wrote:

LOL! I love it.

Glad to see the car is continuing on and you're very lucky.

As for numbers, if the existing GRM panels were worn, you can get very similar number panels in the GRM Store that would alow for you to add any number you would like.

JohnRW1621 wrote: Glad to see the car is continuing on and you're very lucky. As for numbers, if the existing GRM panels were worn, you can get very similar number panels in the GRM Store that would alow for you to add any number you would like.

The problem: they're not round.

The solution: buy their die-cut ones and make my own!

The mockup:

Cool.
I remember talking to The Baron of Greymatter at The Challenge and I remember him telling me that all those dots were cut out, by hand, by his wife!

So I got myself under the car for the first time today. There was oil everywhere down the passenger side. I drained out 3 quarts plus whatever was stuck in the filter (which was stuck; I'll change oil again in a week or two so no worries). This is troubling because when I left Chicago, I was near full and when I hit Quad Cities, I wasn't on the dipstick so I added about 3 quarts (well...tried, since it was windy and I had no funnel).

Optimist: most of that oil I saw was probably from me pouring it all down my intake manifold. Plus, I had 3 quarts, so I wasn't half bad!

Pessimist: if 2 quarts made it in the engine and I started my journey with 3, not 4 quarts, I lost 2 quarts over 3.5 hours of driving.

Solution: car wash and look for leaks.

I really like the exhaust routing on the underside of this car. It'll be really easy to flexpipe from the downpipe to a few feet of straight followed by a muffler, all dead center under the car and hung using stock attachment points and metal straps.

The car was at 4 quarts before going to the car wash. It's still at 4 quarts now, so at least it's not leaking that bad! I'm probably just a moron, but we all knew that.

I paid $12 for Professional Muffler to weld the header and provide gasket material to link up the header and downpipe. I call that a win.

That's a cool header...I wonder if something like that would work on a SOHC...

I've never had leaking problems other than a poorly sealed oilpan or valve cover gasket. Both are easily fixed. If you have a plastic valve cover, just toss it in the recycle bin and get an aluminum one + the felpro gasket. No more leaks. If its the oil pan, make sure you beat the flange flat with a hammer, or slightly beyond flat, before bolting it back up.

Oil everywhere suggests a leaking filter. If someone doesn't put it on tight, it can leak when moving, drip onto the halfshaft and get slung all over the place.

fujioko wrote: That's a cool header...I wonder if something like that would work on a SOHC...

It works perfectly, you just have to swap the head :) (and you get 24 to 38 more hp)

Cribbage is straight gangsta yo.

Since I removed Pac Man from the trunk and got rid of some of the peeling dots, I need to fill out the car with more polkadots! Rage Grafix of North Liberty, IA gave me some scraps and then some. In keeping with tradition, I'll cut these out by hand too!

So... unfortunately Saturns have a 57.1 mm hub and my Miata wheels are 54.1 mm. I'm not exactly in the "buy new wheels" mood, so I went hunting for a machine shop willing to expand them a touch!

Who said you can't haul with a Miata!

Those look like TRM wheels... the bore should be way larger than 54.1

ProDarwin wrote: Those look like TRM wheels... the bore should be way larger than 54.1

On most, they are, but not the C1Ms. I am picking up a set of 15x8 C1 wheels which probably have a big enough bore, but they're very wide for the Saturn. Either way, I already bit the bullet.

Oh. I had 15x7.5 C1s on mine. I didn't realize there was a Miata specific fitment.

The 15x8 C1s are fine on the Saturn... downside is that they are MUCH lower offset than stock. I really wish they made a +35ish 15x8 C1.

This is the entirety of the old exhaust. All of it. Every last inch. We were impressed at the reuse of the original flex pipe!

Fortunately, my co-driver friend can weld and apparently likes starting projects after 9 PM.

We threw on a new flex pipe (pictured) and some straight pipe to get almost behind the driver. A muffler and a dump will go on next.

Here's my creative gasket design for the OBX flange. It's two standard gaskets cut and combined.

And here's the new header on the car. 12.5 ft lbs of torque sadly wasn't enough so I'll have to get back in there and try again. However, this plus a new thermostat magically got rid of the check engine light, however that works (probably burned out!).

Next: engine coolant sensors (just to be sure), retorquing header, weld on muffler, rallycross wheels, more interior and graphics.

P.S.: POX was approved and will be my license plate.

P.P.S.: The OBX header fitment was disturbingly perfect. I mean, it was amazing. Sub-centimeter clearance around multiple parts but it perfectly snaked into place. Not bad for $40!