Not much of an update around here - went to the Fall Autofair event here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Saw some cool stuff - including a new C7 - about time I saw that car!

One of the vendors selling parts at the show was Kooks Long Tube Headers - they are pretty well known in the Vette community.

They had a 30% discount on there long tubes/X-pipes if you bought them at the show.

After thinking about it for a night - I went back to there trailer on Sunday and decided to buy a set.

Unfortunately they didn't have a set on there trailer - but that didn't bother me. They are based here in Statesville NC which is about 40 mins north of Charlotte. So on Tuesday this week - they called me back and said they had a set in stock - so I headed up there after work.

There shop is bigger then I thought it would be - I didn't really get a chance to get to tour there shop - but I know they are working on a set of Long Tubes for the new C7 - they where supposed to get it in this week. That car should be done for SEMA in a few weeks.

I really wasn't in the market for a set of these - but with the discount they gave me - I saved almost $500 off there list price. Plus this will help me with my power goals when I tear into the LS2 this fall/winter.

These are stainless steel, American made - and most importantly they are a local business - so I am more then happy with this purchase.

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You wont see me online for a few weeks as I fly across the pond for a well deserved vacation - so if I don't reply here - track my shenanigans on FB.

Thanks.

Nice units. You can't go wrong with Kooks. Great quality products. I wish I could afford a set. And supporting a local business is always a good thing!

Well, I am home back from my 10 day trip across the pond.

I started off my trip off my trip by flying to Frankfurt - renting an Opel Insignia (Buick Regal Turbo) - and driving out to Nurburg.

I rented a race car RSR - it was pretty pricey - but I paid for 4 laps around the 'Ring - and man that track is scarey as hell. My best session was my third lap - I passed 3 cars, and held off an e36 3 series Bimmer.

We then went to Stuttgart and went on a tour of the 911 plant - man those Germans know how to engineer a car and assemble it.

We saw the engine shop, the interior shop, and final assembly - there plant was spotless and pretty nice. It was a 2+ hour tour - and cost was best of all... Free.

We then went to Munich and had a number of Liters @ Oktoberfest, then to Salzburg for some back packing in the Alps, and then ended our trip in Prague.

No videos from the 'ring as video cameras are banned.

No pics from Porsche factory as they collected and held onto our phones/cameras.

My GF did capture a couple in car shots, and found some exterior - as well as picked up a new flag for my shop:


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Very cool
 

Europe is something everyone should try for. Congrats.

Shop update time...

I happened to get an email from Home Depot telling me they where starting to carry the Gladiator Garageworks brand. I looked at what they had and liked there dual wall units that come in a kit. There price was 30% off which wasn't bad - but being the thrifty guy that I am - I took the part number and cross shopped on Ebay, Google Shopping, Craigslist.

I happened to find a Sears outlet selling a set on Craiglist locally - which I'm not sure if its against Sears corporate policy to be posting on there - so I kind of questioned the whole deal.

I drove up there and sure enough - the dual unit was on the floor - marked down to what the Craiglist ad had said.

So I bought the set - and came back home.

I assembled them on Thursday and hung them up on the wall.

I also hung a Gladiator shelf unit that my GF had bought me for my birthday (which was back in Februrary and yeah I've been procrastinating a bit) - LOL.

Now for teh pics:

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My other update....

So I've been looking for a vehicle that I can tool around in towing stuff, throw stuff in the back - and not worry about screwing up my leather seats. I had to borrow 6 trucks last year on separate occasions - so I started searching for a good affordable rig.

I started off looking at 2000+ Silverado/Sierras with the 4.8L V8 and 5 speed/4WD combo - but after talking to my friends with trucks the group consensus was to get something bigger as that 5 speed trans is pretty damn weak, and the 4.8L would struggle carrying anything including the Vette.

So I started looking at 2500 HD Silverado/Sierras. I wasn't sure if I wanted the 6.0L V8 Gas burner, or the Duramax.

I ended up finding a 2005 Sierra 2500 HD SLT here in Charlotte not far from my house at a GMC dealership.

We negotiated the price down - and I drove it home the next day.

So welcome my newest edition to the fleet.....

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It has been a long time since I've had an update.

First update - the G8 had a bad clunk in the front suspension - I ended up finding that I had a bad lower front control arm on the passenger side.

The balljoint was loose and clunking when hitting bumps on the road - this is a well known issue with the G8/Caprice PPV.

So after a bit or research I ordered a new control arm set for the front.

If you order the 1 GM part number - you get all 4 front control arms and all the hardware for about $240 shipped.

So I setup the Maxjax - took the wheels off, tore into the front suspension and got the control arms out, and put in the new units.

After an alignment - the car drives straight and true with no clunks anymore.

Lifting up the beast:
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Second update - Truck updates.

I've been driving my truck almost on a daily basis - must be the new vehicle thing.

First thing that I did was buy a new leather wrapped steering wheel on ebay for 60 bucks - and swap mine out - as mine had a nasty tear in the leather.

I also bought all new switches from Dorman as mine all had missing paint/blown out bulbs as well.

Old wheel:

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New wheel:

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Another project that I've added to the truck is a factory overhead console with Homelink installed. My GMC did not come with the option - you had to order a sunroof in the 2500 to get that option.

I looked on Ebay and found a seller that had a tan interior overhead console for a Suburban/Tahoe with Homelink on it. The seller had it listed for $40 - I offered $30 shipped and they took it.

Now the Suburban/Tahoe overhead console have a rear hvac controller for the middle seats - and well my Sierra doesn't have that option - so a bit of surgery is required.

I drilled out the plastic spot welds holding the hvac controller in - and did the same to the cubby hole in my console - I swapped them over and used small screws to attach cubby hole into the console. I tied into the ground harness for the Homelink, and ran 2 wires for the Homelink switched power, and the other for the lights to glow at night when I have the headlights on.

Now I have factory installed Homelink - all for $30 bucks.

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Update #3 - shop updates!

I've been wanting a real workbench for a while now, and while I had the Gladiator composite top holding my rolling storage units together - it was not sturdy enough to do any work on it, and I couldn't attach a vise to it.

So after waiting/searching for Black Friday - I found that sears had a Gladiator 6' adjustable height maple top work bench for half off. So while I was in Detroit for the holiday - I ordered it online, and picked it up in the local NC store on Saturday after I flew back home.

Assembly took an hour or so - and I highly recommend you have a buddy to help you offload it from your truck, and lift it up when you are ready to flip it upright.

I adjusted the height to be 1 notch above my rolling storage units and now I have a good work surface finally.

I know the wall decorations are behind the bench, that will be dealt with later, haha.

Bench:
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Last update - I also picked up a new set of jackstands for the truck, as the 2 ton jack stands I have now will barely reach the frame. HF had there aluminum 3 ton jack-stands marked down to $39 instead of $50, I used there 25% Cyber Monday coupon on the stands and got them for $29 - can't complain about that.

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It's been awhile since I've posted an update here.

Back in November I was laid off from my job - so all of my car projects came to a halt.

I was out of work for 6 weeks - but I was getting paid as part of my severance package. I found a new job here in Charlotte with the same company - so I can't complain - the 18% raise in my base pay doesn't hurt either.

So about half way into my "paid vacation" I had run out of things to do on the truck, G8, and around the house. So I made the decision to buy the last parts that I needed for my LS2 build up. I only had to spend a few hundred bucks to get the gaskets, timing chain, and other parts to finish up my parts list for the motor project.

The good/bad thing is that all my parts finally arrived - just in time for me to start my new job - so all my free time has disappeared and this will be a night and weekend kind of project.

As a project refresh - several years ago I had bought a set of CNC machined L92 heads from GM. When I had received the heads - one of them was not properly packaged and had been dropped - it dinged up the edges of the mounting surface that bolts to the block. I tried to file a claim with paypal but the guy disappeared from the forum that I bought them from and got stuck with 1 jacked up head.

After reading some forums - and having no money for a machine shop - I decided to get some files, file down the part was dinged and get some sand paper and WD40. I used the file to flatten the one corner and used sand paper to take out the grooves in the gasket surface - after a few hours of work I fixed the head - I have checked with a straight edge and the head is straight as can be.

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My next project was to swap out the L92 intake valves for a set of LS3 intake valves - the LS3 intake valves are several grams lighter per valve - I don't have the exact number - but you can feel the difference holding the valves up next to each other.

After a few hours of work - the cylinder heads are now ready to be swapped onto the car.

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So now I am in the middle of tearing down the Corvette - I have gotten the intake, the exhaust off the car, and thats when I hit a snag.

I got the manifold bolts out of the heads with no problem but one of the bolts holding the manifold to the cat/collector pipe rounded off last night.

So that ended my night as I didn't have the proper size Bolt Out tool. I went to Sears tonight and got the whole set - so I should get that manifold off tonight.

I plan on pulling the radiator and the front end of the motor off this weekend.

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Congratulations on the new job.
 

Glad to hear things turned out so well for you. Enjoy the cars.

Jon

This is a great thread. I'm enjoying the projects that you take on with the 'Vette. Keep up the good work!

Another Vette LSx Update....

After working on the car on and off for the last couple of weeks - I finally got all the crap out of the engine bay that allows you to get to the block and start pulling parts off of it!

I pulled the radiator, the shroud, the fans, the steering rack, the water pump, the crank pulley, and all the other misc crap from the front end there.

They truely do stick 10 pounds of crap in a 5 lb bag on this car.

Now for some misc pics:

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I also did some shopping last weekend and picked up some supplies.

That crank bolt torques down to 240 ft/lbs - my cheap $9 1/2" torque wrench from HF only goes to 150 ft/lbs - so I picked upa new one from Lowes.

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And here is what I am left with - the cam is out, the heads are off, and the lifters are out too:

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Boy what a pain in the ass this project has been - I see why shops charge so much to do these.

Right now I am waiting for parts - I ordered a set of LS7 lifters as I dropped one of the LS2 lifters on the concrete floor - and lets say the roller looks like crap now.

I decided to replace them all - because I am this far tore down, I might as well.

Hopefully by next week I will be starting to put everything back together.