Topic: What did you do to your Kappa today - Part 2

[Arabas]

This is really going to bug me till we figure out what vehicle that's from though. Were those three "braces" in the grill from the start or did you add them?

U-238 honestly buddy, i have no idea what car this is from. i just found it laying on the floor, all alone, away from all bumpers. it needed some cutting though.
the 2 side braces were there on the original mesh. then i had to cut the mesh in half (right in the middle) coz it didn;t have the right shape to fit. so i added the 3rd brace (it's actually a stripe of vinyl tape) to cover the cutted parts and make them look one. i have to find a plasic brace and glue it there instead of the vinyl tape.

[ihawk95]

Vinyl Tape? Sweet!

Well it looks pretty freakin good for being taped together!

If u knew what kind of plastic it was you might be able to weld it together. Just thinking about strength with the force of wind coming at the piece. Although, the glue should hold for a long time. I glued a small repaired piece of hood back on my camaro almost 19 yrs ago and it's still there! It's right on the corner so it gets beat up I'm sure.

[Arabas]

vinyl tape is there only to cover the spot where these two pieces meet (aesthetical addition). both pieces are held in place tightly with the zip ties, tied where the Saturn-Opel badge was screwed

[kennysabarese]

This is my three day What Did You Do:
Cleaned all the wiring up from light modifications to look like factory wiring tuesday.
Washed/waxed the car yesterday.
And just finished my 7443 LED conversion on the front tonight. Could I have just done the easy mod to the side bulbs? Yes, but that was too easy. Main reason is I like the look of bright/dim turn signals and not on/off turn signals at night so I hogged out the 194 spot and jammed an 7443 into the sidemarker spot. Hopefully this video works for everyone. Flikr only allows 2 videos a month on their free thing so Im using facebook for this one. Sucks because this is probably the last video Ill ever upload.

Video ain't workin man. Says I don't have permission to it or something.

[ophidia31]

Video ain't workin man. Says I don't have permission to it or something.

Figured as much with facebook crap. Forgot about photobucket so I uploaded it there. Should work now.

[kennysabarese]

Figured as much with facebook crap. Forgot about photobucket so I uploaded it there. Should work now.

Looks great! Hold the phone the other way when you take video though

Also, I'm sure you can post public videos with Facebook, just gotta learn what buttons to push to allow it.

[Critterman]

Looks good, how bright is it in daylight?

[ophidia31]

Thanks for the good comments guys.

Looks great! Hold the phone the other way when you take video though

Also, I'm sure you can post public videos with Facebook, just gotta learn what buttons to push to allow it.

I have my phone sideways when I take videos, seems facebook and photobucket dont do it the right way. Flikr has no problems processing the video the right way.

Looks good, how bright is it in daylight?

I didnt bother putting the parking light on since its not used during most daylight hours, but heres one I managed to time right with the turnsignal and the sun reflecting off the, um, reflector.



They are the 7443-AHP3 from superbrightleds. They had the highest lumens (55) on the turnsignal side of the bulbs that would fit in that spot. All the other onse were huge or just would be too dim.

[Arabas]

Looks awesome Ophidia!!!
excellent job!
btw, thanks for sharing your knowledge with me and for all your advice!

[ophidia31]

Looks awesome Ophidia!!!
excellent job!
btw, thanks for sharing your knowledge with me and for all your advice!

Thanks. No problem. Thats what the forums for.  But seems from your latest photos, youre doing great over there with your mods.

[JimVonBaden]

I took the rack off my car again, finally. And took a nice drive, but that I will mention in the other thread!

Jim

[elff]

I put on another spring/shock combo the other day.
Here is the run down of what has been on my car

1. Stock Shocks and Springs C646/C648 15784872/25787858
IMHO this was too bouncy for my tastes.  Car would cycle 2-4 times after hitting a bump/raise etc.

2. GM SPO Shocks and Springs C388/C390 88965293/88965296
I really liked this setup.  Good combination of tight handling with nice road manners on bumper badly paved roads

3. Koni SAs Eibach Sportlines
Too Soft  Too Low Eibachs turned out to be for the N/A not redline.  I am not a fan of the "Slammed" setup

4. Koni SAs GM SPO Springs
I already had all the parts, so I decided to mount my springs on the new shocks vs buying ZOK springs.  I was expecting it to be like #2 but better.
I was never able to get this dialed in.  Should have been similar to the Koni's and ZOK's that everyone likes.

At this point I ordered the ZOK springs and was going to mount them on the Koni Sa's.  Instead, I decided to do a test.   
instead of putting the ZOK springs on the Koni's  I mounted them on the GM SPO shocks.  This way I could setup all 4 then only have to swap them, vs doing 1 corner at a time.
Less overall work which leads me to the current setup

5. GM SPO Shocks and ZOK Springs C388/C390 25849163/25855626
Same Spring rate as the GM SPO springs but lower check height which means the sky will sit lower.
It's actually not by much.  Need to get the tape measure out and verify but visually I can't tell a difference so that leads me to believe less than 1" change. 
The measurements in GJ's thread should confirm this as well. 

Anwho,  I got the Sky Re-Aligned to factory specs vs an AutoX setup for now because I don't have the GM tool and I did not want to wait for Phoenix Performance and I have a rally in 1 week.
I really like this setup.  It is extremely similar to #2 above but you feel the road a little more and it remains flatter through turns.   
As such, and because I am really sick of swapping shocks and springs, this is how it will remain.  It is an excellent combination for the street and daily driving which is 99% of my driving.

[elff]

Today I spent 15 minutes [If that long] installing the Latin Venom Chassis Brace

This made a noticeable difference in how the front turns in.   
For ~$100 this is a must have upgrade.

[Arabas]

today i finally installed my footwell lightning per Sly Bob's excellent thread!! 
thx a lot to Joe for sending me as gift the add-a-fuse to do the Job 
i am very pleased with the outcome 

[SHiNY]

Looks good Arabas - nice work

Is this so you can see the pedals better?

[Arabas]

Thx a lot Shiny!
no, not for the pedals. this is to admire my new peep-toes every time i enter the car 

[SHiNY]

Thx a lot Shiny!
no, not for the pedals. this is to admire my new peep-toes every time i enter the car 

OOOooooohhhhh!
 

[Sol Asylum]

Thx a lot Shiny!
no, not for the pedals. this is to admire my new peep-toes every time i enter the car 

What are Peep-toes?  Is that like the mirrors that GJ installed on his shoes so that he can stare up his own skirt?

[Gentleman Jack]

SA,

These are my peep-toes...

[attachment=1]

[GXPinKC]

Wow, Arabas those babies are really sweet and the light is muted and soft.  They really add a lot to the cabin!  I bet you will get a lot of stares especially when it is night-time and when you want to set a mood in the cabin.  Then you can just turn em' off and it would be nice for romance or whatever is on your mind!

[Arabas]

Thx Ron! bonus is that my gf also liked them!!

[ihawk95]

  Arabas!  I want this mod.  Not sure I want the white color, but I do like it!

Anyway...I actually did something to my Kappa yesterday besides drive it for 4 hours.  SA and I went looking for the clunk.  Still just a guess, but it's in the transmission.  My clutch makes the same noise his does, so I'm crossing that off the list since his garage queen has no miles on it.

As for the clunk as it goes into gear...still not sure but the guess is the clutch is sticking a bit when it feels like it.  My car is pretty corroded, so that might be it.  Looking at messing with the transmission fluid next.

Here's the guess from SA over in the other thread:
"What may be happening is that the clutch is not fully releasing when you depress the pedal.  That doesn't mean you have a problem with the hydraulics but rather the clutch disk isn't sliding free of the flywheel or pressure plate so it still has some rotational drive to it.  When you shift into the next gear its enough resistance to free the clutch disk and you get a noise."

Also, did the key FOB fix on one of the FOB's.  I can unlock the doors again from inside the car without having to turn around and pull the lock up!    Dang 2006 without a door lock button on the car!     Anyway...1 FOB down...1 to go.  Didn't have the other one with me yesterday.

[Arabas]

ihawk, the way i hooked up the smd led panel was done in such a way that i can chenge the led panel in a second. so, if i get bored of the cold white, i can change to i.e.red or amber in just a coupld of seconds.
 i just connected the smd led panel to the adapter, cut the other end of the adapter and this is where i did the connection with the wire. so if i want to change, i just unplug the smd panel and plug an smd with a different color

see the picture as an example (smd panel plugged into the adapter - the cylinder part is cut off to make the connection on the wire from the BCM)

[ihawk95]

Holy Crap Batman!!!  That is freakin awesome!!!

OK, I'm gonna have to look up that action.  I've always liked that look and it will go nicely with the lights I alreaady have in the door sills.

I assume you have this wired such that when your door opens, the lights come on.  I have a switch for my door sill lights.  I might want to put it on a switch instead...if I can.  Not that I go to many car shows anymore, but I do like to turn on the lights when I go.

[Arabas]

yeap, they only light up when the doors open. adding a switch would be awesome, but too complicated for me, especially without a DIY