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Nick (Bo) Comstock
Nick (Bo) Comstock UltimaDork
12/24/16 10:12 a.m.
84FSP
84FSP Dork
12/24/16 11:01 a.m.

In reply to plance1:

Sorry I didn't catch you in time to save the drive down. I'm thinking a GRM night at one of the local microbreweries is in order! I'm at (513)675-1357 and located on the east side of Cincy!

84FSP
84FSP Dork
12/25/16 1:07 p.m.

Just got back from a Christmas Day hotlap. Still smiling from ear to ear. I may need to up the cash I keep at the house for bail money as it may get me arrested. That is all...

plance1
plance1 SuperDork
12/25/16 3:38 p.m.

Need to go for a ride

84FSP
84FSP Dork
12/25/16 8:41 p.m.

Look me up - I'm off all this week.

plance1
plance1 SuperDork
12/25/16 11:04 p.m.

Lets go visit that dude in Florence you told me about who can help me with my Volvo wagon...

wvumtnbkr
wvumtnbkr GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
12/26/16 7:02 a.m.

How does the bleeder pointing down on the caliper work? The one on the car is the same way.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/26/16 7:26 a.m.

In reply to wvumtnbkr:

Sounds like it's the wrong caliper. The only time you see a bleeder pointing down is on non-handed 4-pots, where there are four bleeders per caliper.

You may be able to swap the bleeders and transfer tube end for end, but only if the pistons aren't differential bore. A lot of multi-piston calipers have smaller leading pistons than trailing pistons so the pads wear evenly.

84FSP
84FSP Dork
12/26/16 8:41 a.m.
wvumtnbkr wrote: How does the bleeder pointing down on the caliper work? The one on the car is the same way.

The bleeders were pointing down on all 4 of the v calipers. It also caught our attention but seemed to be how it came off the line...

84FSP
84FSP Dork
12/26/16 8:44 a.m.

In reply to plance1: What's your week look like? Kevin just moved to a new place in Bromley close to the river. What part of town are you in?

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/26/16 9:33 a.m.
84FSP wrote:
wvumtnbkr wrote: How does the bleeder pointing down on the caliper work? The one on the car is the same way.
The bleeders were pointing down on all 4 of the v calipers. It also caught our attention but seemed to be how it came off the line...

You have a used car. Used cars have had all sorts of people working on them over the years. Further, you have an extensively modified car, with questionably done things after-the-fact. It is entirely possible that someone swapped them side for side.

Calipers mounted on the wrong side is a shockingly common DIY'er error.

Looking at the backside of the caliper, the flex hose mounting is such that you'd have to really try hard to get it wrong, too:

Part of me wonders if the old caliper was dragging because the flex hose was twisted around and wringing itself shut.

patgizz
patgizz GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
12/26/16 9:57 a.m.

Every pic online of a ctsv has the crossover at the bottom and bleeders up top just like common sense dictates. Sounds like it got put back together wrong, i agree with knurled on the diagnosis of the brake hose issue

84FSP
84FSP Dork
12/26/16 4:25 p.m.

Oh this is most certainly a well used beast that has been handled by a variety of questionable hands before it got to me.

I appreciate the direction from you guys. This would explain why I wasn't able to get the lines to sit the way I thought they should...

wvumtnbkr
wvumtnbkr GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
12/26/16 4:47 p.m.

I thought it was weird. I even went and looked at the original pic where it is wrong there too.

84FSP
84FSP Dork
12/28/16 8:44 p.m.

Logged some good mileage with minimal issues thus far.

Mrs. 84FSP and I had date night in the V last night. She digs it as it fits my black on black motif and makes me smile. I asked what she thought of the car and she replied that it seemed like a 14 year old boy in a strip club. All fired up and only one solution to all problems. I giggled and had to agree as I tried to explain the untuned and uncouth behavior. It will be much happier when Danny Popp has her all tuned up. Can't wait to see the Dyno sheet to verify if she is indeed a forged and stroked monster.

On a progress note the new Caddy key showed up and got that cut today.

Maladies awaiting delivery of replacement goodies: -Rotors and pads -Radiator

New issues on order -Both passenger side power lock actuators as it seemed they were jealous of the drivers side getting new parts

-Replacement key fob as it only came with one

Shopping due to my cheapness -Replacement used seats as the factory leather is ok in the front seats and destroyed in the back seat especially the bottom.
-Replacement shift knob and boot gm parts direct lists $159 which is about 60 to rich for my blood.

-Engine beauty cover because I am an anal OEM squeaky correct guy and gm parts direct wants $159 which is waaaay to much for some silly bs to make me happy.

-Lower air deflector under tray as mine is no longer present - gm parts direct wants $42 which seems reasonable

-Drivers door has been banged up good and partially fixed.

Trying to decide if this is the point that it's worth finding a parts car on car-part.com and find a bunch of this stuff.

Suspension and tire will be an issue for improvement on this beast. The 6x115 pattern is annoying but there seems to be some options out there. Apparently with the right offset I can run 275/35/18 square which would work. I'm guessing it will wear out two of the tires more than the rest? Apparently I need to find the Team Dynamics 18x9 which apparently are used market items now.

They are shiny though...

84FSP
84FSP Dork
1/1/17 7:46 p.m.

So after many full days under the V over the last week she is finally up and running.

All the calipers were on the wrong side - at least they were consistent. Added some new pads, rotors, and adjusted all the brake lines that were pretty goofed up.

They should look like this

Two of the eight bleeders were stuck tight. Got one out with the impact and a socket. The other I pinned with a nail and hammered a socket on before mr impact joined the party.

All the calipers were were pretty skanky with brake dust and other maladies. Spent way too much time scrubbing to get them squeaky.

Hub faces cleaned and anti-seized

Cleaned wheels - yes they are still skanky but they'll need to be blasted and painted to be right.

Heard the hot setup was 275 square and it seems possible with this test fit at Jack stand height.

Minor clearance issues So added a 5mm spacer Still no Bueno, added another 5mm

Seemed great until those pesky front wheels had to turn So apparently they weren't kidding when they said I needed to go shorter to 275/35/18.... Got the radiator replaced after a few small issues Factory one did not have the trans cooler incorporated...

All available radiators were the plated part number that covered all motors and trans. Mildly annoyed but seems kosher. I kicked around an aftermarket all aluminum setup but $500 v.s. $100 was tough to justify.

SO I know why the rear end would shimmy under braking now. Apparently it's supposed to be bolted down...

A ridiculous amount of time cleaning and sorting to have her up and happy. A nice hot lap around the neighborhood improved my outlook on life.

itgogitrev
itgogitrev None
1/2/17 7:29 p.m.

Just got a chance to read this thread in its entirety; again, congrats on the new ride! Seems like it was yesterday that we were trying to pare down my 'Top 10 cars you should look at" list.

I wonder if a set of C5 or last gen Camaro hubs would swap over to this? Given, you'll have to have your new rotors machined, but you'll have a whole new world of AM wheels available.

I was going to mention to have your calipers flipped; I accidentally did the same thing when putting the Brembos on the G.

Can't wait to check it out in person!

84FSP
84FSP Dork
1/2/17 7:44 p.m.

In reply to itgogitrev:

Appreciate the kind words sir! I'll be pulling the rears off to get the brake adjustment right as I seem to have missed that the first time around.

While it was up on stands I poked around and found that the rear diff bushing is toast. These are the key cause of wheel hop diff destruction and clunks from the rear so that's no Bueno. Researching some options there but found some reasonable urethane solutions from Creative Steel. I'll probably do the rear subframe bushings while I'm at it so I never have to see it again.

itgogitrev
itgogitrev New Reader
1/2/17 10:47 p.m.

If you go with PU, make sure you don't need the sleeve from the original bushing. There's a 95% chance that it'll get ruined when you take it out.

Better yet just make it 100% chance; cut the sleeve, and pry it out. You'll save a ton of time. :)

84FSP
84FSP Dork
1/3/17 7:47 a.m.

Good point sir, the Creative Steel version comes in a new sleeve. There is an installation press tool that it looks like it's worth renting for the install.

Creative Steel Differential Bushing

Block brace that fits underneath the Differential for added support

Rear Subframe Bushings

I would actually rather not go with PU but there seem to be no other options outside of OE. I'm hoping after some more research I find some OE parts bin items like a Z06 goodies to fit the bill.

itgogitrev
itgogitrev New Reader
1/3/17 1:14 p.m.

Does the diff have 2 tabs and 1 stub on the back? Unless there's a muffler or spare tire well in the way, freeze the bushing and use a slidehammer to pull it in. Just make sure the cavity is SUPER clean and put in a few drops of penetrating oil.

I wonder if it'd be worth it to break out the calipers and get some measurements to see if anything comes close. I've had good luck with my Whitelines so far; they took almost all of the remaining wheel hop out of the G.

Any particular reason you want to stay away from poly? I'd steer clear from a full metal bushing on a street car. I've driven a few Zs with the SPL metal bushings and they were pretty brutal for street. I couldn't image what it'd be like to be in the backseat of a car that had them.

84FSP
84FSP Dork
1/3/17 1:46 p.m.

My experience with PU has been that it always makes more noise/vibration than I prefer on a street car. I have also seen it not age well and require constant lubrication to stay happy. Typically a higher durometer rubber in a better design would be lower maintance and lower annoyance on a street car.

I'm not a total hater on PU but prefer other options if they are out there. The factory bushings are apparentlty a really poor design that fail under street driving in 2-3 years and under intense driving can fail rapidly. I would rather not see these again during my ownership of the car (3-4 years).

mazdeuce
mazdeuce UltimaDork
1/3/17 2:37 p.m.

I run a 275 square setup on my V wagon for AX and track stuff. The ability to rotate tires front to rear is very nice. All of these cars are hard on front shoulders, but it only takes a little stupidity to wear out the whole middle part of the rears.

84FSP
84FSP Dork
1/3/17 6:54 p.m.

Appreciate the input Mazdeuce as I'm definitely planning on a square setup. It seems the first gens are a bit harder to stuff optimal meat under than the second gen cars. The bolt pattern makes alternate wheels a bit more challenging and apparently the a arm geometry is a bit less wide tire friendly on the front.

84FSP
84FSP Dork
3/9/17 7:38 a.m.

So it's been a while since I posted an update on the V but I've been hard at work.

The following list has been completed since purchase. In addition there has been a lot of cleanup and replacement of either missing or incorrect hardware.

-Accessory belt -Plugs -AC Tensioner -Driv front lock actuator -Drivers rear lock actuator -Pass front lock actuator -Pass rear lock actuator -Stoptech slot rotors all -Stoptech perf pads all -Spare Key -Lower rad hose -Radiator -Battery -Key Fobs -Oil temp/level sensor

Tune and drive-ability has improved but is quite funky still. It is super rich all over the band and has rampant ignition cutouts that seem to be tune rather than mechanical/electrical failure.

My first trip into an LS tuner netted a lot of input. The tune was really questionable with basically all alarms or fail-safes turned off. He did not think he could do anything with what I had and wanted to start fresh which was ok by me.

Minor issue is that the mechanical stuff he found made the car a no go for tuning from his perspective.
The complete wrong oil pan had been installed and was lying right on top of the steering rack causing issues. The rear diff and cradle bushings were as bad as expected as well.

At this point I had to step back and realize I had no time and no cherry picker to pull a motor by myself in the 84FSP garage. Time to call in the cavalry.

My buddy Andy runs Heston's Auto Service in Lancaster Oh (Columbus suburb) and we have have done a ton of cool stuff there over the years including El Rabbito. I made enormous part orders and got the V dropped off to Andy for surgery. While up there it will get some paint work sorted and a cut/buff. We found Eric at Crucial Performance for the dyno tuning as well.

-Oil pressure sensor -Dipstick o ring -Oil Pan Assembly -Dipstick -Dipstick tube -Stainless Brake lines -Install rear diff brace & bushings -Rear Pinion Busing -Cradle Bushings -Front bushings -Replace complete pan assy -Replace plug/wire assy -Change tranny fluid -Change clutch fluid -Change Oil & Filter -Repair sunroof leak -Brake line install & blead -Parking brake repair -Paint, wetsand, and buff -Dyno Tune

More pics to follow but this brings us up to speed.

Today is a magical day.

DYNO DAY!!!

Goes on the rollers this afternoon. Have a few concerns it won't have enough injector but have options on hand at the tuner to go bigger.

Fingers crossed for 450-500hp at the wheels.

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