My LS is DONE (well, for now)
08-22-09, 08:34 PM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
My LS is DONE (well, for now)
This project has been two months in the making, and I've had tons of headaches along the way. Here's the story (apologies for length...if you don't want to read it, skip it):
I bought 20" x 8.5" MRR GT1s for all four corners. I didn't want to run staggered for the sake of getting more life out of being able to rotate the tires. I take my car to have them installed at a tire shop, only to be informed that I'll need 1/8" spacers to clear the front calipers. The shop says they can't order them anymore, so I start calling around. A local Advance Auto Parts says they have them for $10 a piece, and I order two. I'm told they'll be here in two days. Three days later and no word from Advance, I drop by to see if they might have come in. Turns out, the employee "forgot" to order them (even as I read him my credit cart #, etc over the phone). This happens on a Thursday, so it would be Monday before they came in...and they finally do.
I take my car back to the shop, only to have them tell me that Advance ordered the WRONG size spacers...they had ordered 1/4" units. So, I go back to Advance, and explain the situation. They said someone else returned some smaller ones, and to try those. I take the smaller ones back to the tire shop, only to find out that those are also too large. So finally the tire shop custom orders them, and I get them two days later. It's been nearly two weeks at this point, and my GT1s are just collecting dust. Finally the spacers come in late on a Friday, and my wheels are mounted and ready to go the following Saturday morning.
*whew*
Next up are the Megans I ordered from Nigel. I have trouble locating anyone around my location who either has or rents and Eastwood fender roller. After a week and a half of searching, I post a bulletin on MySpace (lame, right?) asking if anyone knows somebody who has one. A guy in the next town over says he knows a guy who has/does/rents one, and I get in contact with him. One Wednesday night I take the car to his house to have them rolled. His legion of 240SX owners is present, and the guy himself owns a '97 240SX with an LS1 swap. A job that was supposed to take three hours ended up taking nearly five, and I had minimal paint cracking. The passenger side front fender came out the worst, only because I learned at that point that the fender had been repainted.
Rolling done, I find a shop in my town that says they'll install the coils for $125 since I'm supplying the parts. The guy who rolled my fenders also said he could install them. I end up getting the real story from the shop's (Ace's Automotive) owner, Jay. Jay tell me the cheapest he can do the install is $400, and that's if a I pay cash. After a bit of debating, I tell him I'll let him have the job.
August 12 I drop my car off at Ace's, and I figure all is well. The backs get done first, and then that Friday, I see him while I'm at work. He says that
he's having major problems with the front, and that the car is undriveable, and that I should take a look the next day. So I go down to take a look, and the fronts fenders are sitting on the tires. Long story short, he was adjusting the wrong part of the coil, but managed to get everything squared away just fine.
I pick the car up last Satruday (15th) and take it home to be washed. This is when I notice a bolt laying underneath my car...and later hear sounds like someone beating a triangle underneath my car. I drive a little longer, and the sound stops. I take it back to Ace's, and get it up on a lift, only to realize that I'm shedding parts going down the road: three bolts fell out of the passenger side rear axle, and three more were almost threaded out. I also learn that the axle was apparently rebuilt in early 2006, as the drivers side bolts are rusted into place. Jay finds it best to keep my car until I can get another bolt (I found the other bolt and "C" washer in the street, so I had 5 out of 6).
I call the closest Toyota dealership the 17th and order the bolt. They tell me that I'd have to get it at a Lexus dealer, I told them to double check because the same bolt is used on the Supra, Tundra, Sequoia...any Toyota using the A340E (30-40LE) transmission. He says he doesn't stock it, but can have it Wed. So not having heard from them by Wed at 3:00 p.m., I call. They inform me that they "forgot" to call me and let me know the part is a day behind. I pick the bolt up Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m., and have it back to Aces at ten, assuming that surely they can install one bolt over the course of several hours. But no, I don't get the car back until Friday around 3:00 p.m.
Anyway, I have her back now, and though I'm sure most of you will cry "lower moar!!!1!!shift+1!!", the car is staying at this height for a good long while. I'm running 16 in front and 24 in back, but I'm sure I'll tweak that more in time. I'll be tinting the windows soon enough I hope, and exhaust will follow...maybe within the next three months or so.
Anyway, here are some pics during and after install. You can see the problem with the fronts being too low at first:
I bought 20" x 8.5" MRR GT1s for all four corners. I didn't want to run staggered for the sake of getting more life out of being able to rotate the tires. I take my car to have them installed at a tire shop, only to be informed that I'll need 1/8" spacers to clear the front calipers. The shop says they can't order them anymore, so I start calling around. A local Advance Auto Parts says they have them for $10 a piece, and I order two. I'm told they'll be here in two days. Three days later and no word from Advance, I drop by to see if they might have come in. Turns out, the employee "forgot" to order them (even as I read him my credit cart #, etc over the phone). This happens on a Thursday, so it would be Monday before they came in...and they finally do.
I take my car back to the shop, only to have them tell me that Advance ordered the WRONG size spacers...they had ordered 1/4" units. So, I go back to Advance, and explain the situation. They said someone else returned some smaller ones, and to try those. I take the smaller ones back to the tire shop, only to find out that those are also too large. So finally the tire shop custom orders them, and I get them two days later. It's been nearly two weeks at this point, and my GT1s are just collecting dust. Finally the spacers come in late on a Friday, and my wheels are mounted and ready to go the following Saturday morning.
*whew*
Next up are the Megans I ordered from Nigel. I have trouble locating anyone around my location who either has or rents and Eastwood fender roller. After a week and a half of searching, I post a bulletin on MySpace (lame, right?) asking if anyone knows somebody who has one. A guy in the next town over says he knows a guy who has/does/rents one, and I get in contact with him. One Wednesday night I take the car to his house to have them rolled. His legion of 240SX owners is present, and the guy himself owns a '97 240SX with an LS1 swap. A job that was supposed to take three hours ended up taking nearly five, and I had minimal paint cracking. The passenger side front fender came out the worst, only because I learned at that point that the fender had been repainted.
Rolling done, I find a shop in my town that says they'll install the coils for $125 since I'm supplying the parts. The guy who rolled my fenders also said he could install them. I end up getting the real story from the shop's (Ace's Automotive) owner, Jay. Jay tell me the cheapest he can do the install is $400, and that's if a I pay cash. After a bit of debating, I tell him I'll let him have the job.
August 12 I drop my car off at Ace's, and I figure all is well. The backs get done first, and then that Friday, I see him while I'm at work. He says that
he's having major problems with the front, and that the car is undriveable, and that I should take a look the next day. So I go down to take a look, and the fronts fenders are sitting on the tires. Long story short, he was adjusting the wrong part of the coil, but managed to get everything squared away just fine.
I pick the car up last Satruday (15th) and take it home to be washed. This is when I notice a bolt laying underneath my car...and later hear sounds like someone beating a triangle underneath my car. I drive a little longer, and the sound stops. I take it back to Ace's, and get it up on a lift, only to realize that I'm shedding parts going down the road: three bolts fell out of the passenger side rear axle, and three more were almost threaded out. I also learn that the axle was apparently rebuilt in early 2006, as the drivers side bolts are rusted into place. Jay finds it best to keep my car until I can get another bolt (I found the other bolt and "C" washer in the street, so I had 5 out of 6).
I call the closest Toyota dealership the 17th and order the bolt. They tell me that I'd have to get it at a Lexus dealer, I told them to double check because the same bolt is used on the Supra, Tundra, Sequoia...any Toyota using the A340E (30-40LE) transmission. He says he doesn't stock it, but can have it Wed. So not having heard from them by Wed at 3:00 p.m., I call. They inform me that they "forgot" to call me and let me know the part is a day behind. I pick the bolt up Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m., and have it back to Aces at ten, assuming that surely they can install one bolt over the course of several hours. But no, I don't get the car back until Friday around 3:00 p.m.
Anyway, I have her back now, and though I'm sure most of you will cry "lower moar!!!1!!shift+1!!", the car is staying at this height for a good long while. I'm running 16 in front and 24 in back, but I'm sure I'll tweak that more in time. I'll be tinting the windows soon enough I hope, and exhaust will follow...maybe within the next three months or so.
Anyway, here are some pics during and after install. You can see the problem with the fronts being too low at first:
.
08-22-09, 09:15 PM
#5
congrats on FINALLY getting the car rolling lol, i'm glad it was just ur mech adjusting the spring preload and not something wrong with the coilover itself.
now if you could get it to drive at the height in the 3rd pic i'd be completely (kinda) satisfied with it
now if you could get it to drive at the height in the 3rd pic i'd be completely (kinda) satisfied with it
08-22-09, 09:55 PM
#6
Instructor
Thread Starter
Haha, and at that height (or lack thereof) she would have been a trailer queen
At the current height, I'm rubbing the plastic fender liner at 3/4+ lock, and though I don't think I'm rubbing the metal at turning + going over bumps, I've "bottomed out" twice, and can hear the tires hitting the top of the plastic liner. However, both of those times were on the same piece of road, so I'm not too worried.
At the current height, I'm rubbing the plastic fender liner at 3/4+ lock, and though I don't think I'm rubbing the metal at turning + going over bumps, I've "bottomed out" twice, and can hear the tires hitting the top of the plastic liner. However, both of those times were on the same piece of road, so I'm not too worried.
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08-23-09, 10:43 AM
#12
Instructor
Thread Starter
Thanks for all the comments guys
