I finally got to my coilover and wheel/tire install on my 05 Sunfire. First I installed heavily modified coilovers built from Koni's and GC's base components. I made all sorts of spacers, shims and isolators to keep the *#&$ things quiet. Nothing worse than the sound of coilovers creaking in the morning.
Next, I squeezed a set of Kyowa Racing's Evolve 18x8 wheels w/ 42 mm offset with 235/40-18 Bridgestone RE01R's onto it. It took some 'massaging' of the inner fender well on the fronts to clear during turns. Thanks to Mr. Hammer, thing's fit fine now!
Please don't tell me I need to lower it more (I don't like my cars slammed). I also have a hideous driveway and drive some really broken canyon roads for fun. Even with the just-barely -tolerable-on-the-street rates I chose, it still bottoms out once in a while.
I think it looks pretty clean. Next up: brakes!
2005 Sunfire, 2.2 Ecotec, 5-speed, Silver
some pics of the HIGHLY modded konis would be cool
EVOFire (DesertTuners) wrote:some pics of the HIGHLY modded konis would be cool
JGM T-SHIRTS!!!!
In Loving Memory of Phil Martin December 14 2005
Alexis: Dustin, you're ghey, lol. I am better. I have tits, and tits rule all.
Looks good! What happened to your front grills?? They are just black squares on my screen.
----------------------------
<<<<<2003 Sunfire Sedan>>>>>
where in SF are you located?
Right now, they are only black squares
They are currently open to the radiator, I haven't quite got my new grills finished yet. I yanked out the turn signals to clean up the front end and reduce the 'busy' look it had.
I got creative with a dremel and relocated the turn signal bulbs into the driving lights. You can sort of see the amber coloring in the driving lights in that picture. All the driving lights needed to fit the stock turn signal bulb and housing was to open up the ID and then create the twist lock features. Then I had to extend the wires to reach.
2005 Sunfire, 2.2 Ecotec, 5-speed, Silver
I'm over in the central east bay.
2005 Sunfire, 2.2 Ecotec, 5-speed, Silver
Bumper Killer (Ron Carvalho) wrote:We require more photos
Yeah, I didn't have a camera when I was in the machine shop making the bits. Next time I have the wheels off and/or the struts out I'll get photos. I am picky about the ride and handling, plus I hate having my relatively new car sound like a 1970's beater with worn out suspension. In Brief:
On the front Koni insert: I machined the lower welded on boss of the Koni insert to accept a pressed on threaded section (also TIG welded in place to prevent vibration from breaking the pressfit). So, instead of there being a small bolt that holds the insert in, there's a 1" threaded section poking through the original strut housing near the axle CV boot. I machined down a Big Nut to secure it into the old housing. This pulls the body of the Koni another half inch lower in the housing, giving more compression travel on the shock.
I modified the front upper mounts on the lathe to give clearance for the GC upper spring seat to be used without the spacer, i.e. no contact on compression.
On both the front and rear, I made upper and lower spring perch isolators out of plastic to take up the slop found between the springs and the seats. These keep the spring from sliding around, making spring noises and prevents the spring from rubbing on the aluminum threaded bodies. I found this problem after the first install, nearly wore some of the threads away in one week!
On the rear GC adjuster, I made a plastic tube to take up the space between the shock body and the aluminum threaded body. (didn't want that moving around). The rear adjuster body is now a light hammer tap press fit onto the shock body
The last thing I did was machine the actual front lower spring seats. I put a 45 degree chamfer on them on the side that's close to the tire. It allows me to really lower the spring seat and not contact my larger tires. So, if I can solve the occasional front bottoming problem and don't live with a terribly ramped driveway, I can lower it another 1/2".
-Gary
2005 Sunfire, 2.2 Ecotec, 5-speed, Silver
looks good.. and i'd say a little low for my taste.. especially if you hate uncomfortable rides like i do lol! nice ride!
- Check the profile for all mod's. It's up2date!
ExESIVEFIRE wrote:i LOVE THOSE WHEELS
I looked quite a while till I found a good looking set of 18x8's that would fit the brakes I have in the garage with a minimum amount of spacers. I picked up a slightly used 13" SSBC brake kit with the force 10 calipers on the front. Damn tough to fit.
2005 Sunfire, 2.2 Ecotec, 5-speed, Silver
Cody@RDFabs.com wrote:Adam Kappheim wrote:Looks good! What happened to your front grills?? They are just black squares on my screen.
I would love to see someone complete a set of grills form the Autocross concept. I am looking into doing a set but don't have much time on the weekends anymore to be messing around.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Sunday, August 03, 2008 12:27 PM
