What did you do to your Swift today

went to install extra helper coil springs in the kids car- well well well someone else has replaced the struts, but overtightened all the bolts/ nuts for the rear struts, stripped the head on one side, so they welded a random stover nut over the stripped 14mm head bolt-making that side a 22 mm socket, not a 14 mm socket- then the welded nut broke off- managed to pound a 14 mm impact socket onto what was left of the bolt head and with LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF HEAT AND WORKING THEM BACK AND FORTH THEY CAME OUT-
The one bolt has a nice, hourglass shape to it (overtightened) and the other has flattened / mushed threads- but the thread chaser fixed that up.

one side prepped for install, now the other side..
3 hours to remove 1 strut and prep one side-yuck-
even the top two small nuts on the top strut bushing were way overtightened-

USE ANTISIEZE AND A TORQUE WRENCH, PEOPLE!!!
 
kids car still pulls to the right, but not as bad. will prep an outboard/ big brake knuckle with new bearings and seals, then swap that out, see if that changes things.
maybe a wheel alignment...
 
blueturbofly said:
went to install extra helper coil springs in the kids car- well well well someone else has replaced the struts, but overtightened all the bolts/ nuts for the rear struts, stripped the head on one side, so they welded a random stover nut over the stripped 14mm head bolt-making that side a 22 mm socket, not a 14 mm socket- then the welded nut broke off- managed to pound a 14 mm impact socket onto what was left of the bolt head and with LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF HEAT AND WORKING THEM BACK AND FORTH THEY CAME OUT-
The one bolt has a nice, hourglass shape to it (overtightened) and the other has flattened / mushed threads- but the thread chaser fixed that up.

one side prepped for install, now the other side..
3 hours to remove 1 strut and prep one side-yuck-
even the top two small nuts on the top strut bushing were way overtightened-

USE ANTISIEZE AND A TORQUE WRENCH, PEOPLE!!!
Click to expand...
Sounds like a big job.
 
will be changing the tires again on the kids car- the ones i installed are more worn out than i remembered-
i have a nice set of 14'' Michelins on aluminum wheels 175/65r14. the beads leak so they need to be re-sealed, no big deal.
then i have another brand new set of 14'' tires to install on the wheels that have worn out tires.

so, i guess i will look for more tires.
 
changed the pass side front bearing/ knuckle on the kids car. no more pulling to the right. bearing was on its way out.
replaced a leaky valve stem , pass front tire

Removed a tire from the '87 that went flat...broken valve stem...upon replacing the valve stem and inflating the tire, the belts had separated in the tire, all the way around the tread...would make sense why it handled odd last time i drove it...too bad, they are like new Michelins-but a common issue with Michelins

installed a set of 12'' rollers on it for now.
 
entered my sons car in a spl audio/ db drag competition- 127.7 db first run, 130.0 db for the second run- so, i was surprised when i came in second place, in my division !!!
not bad for some cobbled together 15+ year old audio equipment.
with more tuning and / or more power i could maybe break my old record of 133.3 db . again, with cobbled together equipment and minimal tuning, and older tech.

some cars were hitting 146 + db . also helped as a ''pusher'' for two of the vehicles-random people kneel into and push on the doors, to help keep them from moving, therefore increasing the db levels they can achieve.....kinda seems like cheating, but its legal? it does make a big difference in the db levels achieved.

3 of the vehicles i noticed had 20, 000 watt RMS amplifiers (40, 000 watts ) of power going into two subwoofers....wow.

near the end of the competition the program for the db drag competition quit working- so they could not collet data, the show was over. 3 of the heavy hitters lined up with trunks open and cranked it up, insanely loud , like being at the fair with all the different music at the rides-
 
kids car was handling odd...so...check the front end. worn out lca, worn out tie rods-warped rotor (bad caliper)
caliper failed and warped the fairly new rotor...

son and i installed new inner &outer tie rods. new struts. new control arm drivers side. replaced caliper and warped rotor, now going for a wheel alignment.

cleaned and lubed the slides in and on the caliper- high temp ceramic silicone grease

it was like boom all of a sudden the front end was worn out....IMG_2527.JPG



IMG_2528.JPG
 
kids car handles much better with new parts and fresh wheel alignment.


the back-up blumetro is getting a little more ''work'' done to it- it has been sitting for almost 5 years, but the last week driving it showed a few minor issues to fix-
friday i plugged a leak in the rear tire

saturday-changed oil n filter after work- almost due, plus was sitting for almost 5 years-

sunday-small coolant drip from the rad drainplug- rubber gasket cracked- replaced with metric o-ring
replaced the overflow tank (plastic eroded away around top of tank)- found a good used tank, cleaned, then marked the low and full lines for easy reference.
replaced a failing led bulb in the oil pressure gauge
tied up lights and wiring by the blower motor
did some spot cleaning on the carpet (damn mice !)
threw some subwoofers in the back- all the wiring was already there, just a quick hook up of wires and strapped in. need some sort of tunes when driving...
may change a pair of forward facing led driving lamps - they are dim, cracked lens on both, and have water/ dirt inside them...not as bright as the other 2 led lights
that are beside them..
this is an older picture, but same set-up
IMG_1444.JPG

will be changing rear struts on the blumetro today . it has excessive bounce from the rear- i have one pair of like new monroes , from a different car. ready to go with the strut hats already installed.

all in a days work. its called maintenance. some of it ''extra'' maintenance due to extra items added to the car...oh well it adds to the comfort
 
some lights replaced.
some stereo equipment swapped between vehicles.
some minor items on the kids car- headlamp maintenance, leaky tire, stereo amp issues....
 
kids car-removed tire sealant from inside the tire- was causing a vibration- kinda knew that would happen, but the tire is holding air better, not dropping in psi as fast.

installed a warranty replacement pair of subwoofers in the blumetro- not even a month and the first set had the dust covers come loose/ one fell off-
when i took them back, they told me these speakers are discontinued- and then they didnt want to take them back-after some haggling and complaining i received two new, apparently ''better built'' subwoofers, same brand....but had to pay $50.....bastards. never dealing there again. VISIONS, THE WORST NAME IN ELECTRONICS-

I can only run these subs at 4 ohms- the subs are dual voice coil, so i can wire the two at 1, 4 or 8 ohm- but not 2 ohm between the two-so the amp will only be running at about 1/2 its rated power of 700wrms, will be running around 320wrms mono to both subs / 160 watts rms to each voice coil
if i had two more of these subwoofers, then i could wire the amp to 2 ohm /700 wrms (1400 peak) ran to 4 subs.....hmm
the amp is about the size of a tissue box....but packs a punch !
 
bought a milkcrate of parts from a former suzuki owner- oem small vert parts, new oem inner and outer door handles, new inner and outer tie-rods, swaybar links, some sensors ,switches, bellows , filters, timing belts- and a good milkcrate !!
 
blueturbofly said:
bought a milkcrate of parts from a former suzuki owner- oem small vert parts, new oem inner and outer door handles, new inner and outer tie-rods, swaybar links, some sensors ,switches, bellows , filters, timing belts- and a good milkcrate !!
Click to expand...
Sounds like a good deal
 
what are milk crates going for these days?
blueturbofly said:
bought a milkcrate of parts from a former suzuki owner- oem small vert parts, new oem inner and outer door handles, new inner and outer tie-rods, swaybar links, some sensors ,switches, bellows , filters, timing belts- and a good milkcrate !!
Click to expand...
 
oh at least $100 in parts. some new oem suzuki parts as well. has already been inventoried and added to the rest of parts.

installed winter tires on the front of the autotragic. the existing tires were bald bald bald. had a decent used set i installed. havent changed the rears yet.
not to happy with the subwoofers i installed- they move alot but arent as loud- will have to do more tuning, or just buy better ones....AGAIN- jeeze everything is made so cheap these days.

bought myself a 2001 chev truck for dirt cheap, that has been my focus the last week ordering parts for it. simple stuff to fix, but if a bunch of simple stuff doesnt get repaired, the list gets bigger and bigger, then overwhelming for the owner.
so far rockauto for the majority of parts. buying locally is a complete rip-off. but hey, support local, right?
 
kids car developed a transmission leak- but not from any of the seals. well, this 5 spd is done. nice diff pin access hole. car is back up and driving but the trans we installed has bad syncros for third-really bad- so will grab another replacement, swap it out and tag it as needing syncros. i have 4?5? more transmissions to choose from...
not bad had this one dropped in 2 hours? and that was after an 8 hour day of work ! re-used the almost new clutch, after a good cleaning- grips like new-
always something going on.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2564.JPG
    IMG_2564.JPG
    57 KB · Views: 4
blueturbofly said:
kids car developed a transmission leak- but not from any of the seals. well, this 5 spd is done. nice diff pin access hole. car is back up and driving but the trans we installed has bad syncros for third-really bad- so will grab another replacement, swap it out and tag it as needing syncros. i have 4?5? more transmissions to choose from...
not bad had this one dropped in 2 hours? and that was after an 8 hour day of work ! re-used the almost new clutch, after a good cleaning- grips like new-
always something going on.
Click to expand...
Too many burn outs. Sigh... kids eh.
 
i wish too many burn -outs. this was not the oem trans but a replacement many years ago, chasing a vibration problem....cant remember where the oem trans went...i have alot going on atm....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top