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TheDrip

Spark Member
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Posts posted by TheDrip

  1. Located in San Diego, California.

     

    2013 Spark LS

    66k miles

    5spd

     

    Lowered on 17" wheels and 205/40R17 rubber.

     

    You can search my posts for a history on the car. I've posted everything that I've done or has happened. Transmission was rebuilt less than 5k miles ago under warranty. Oil pan was resealed less than 1k miles ago under warranty. A/C works for 3 days with a recharge. 

     

    Asking $5k if you want to negotiate, $4k if you just want to know the price I will sell it for!

     

    email drip@dripspeed.com for fastest response

     

    20151226_132917.jpg?m=1451158346

  2. Finally identified the whiff of hot oil I get sometimes when parking the car. Using UV dye in the engine oil, I was able to find a small leak between the engine block and timing cover. the highest point of leak is between the bolt head and timing cover, and secondary leaks between the timing cover and block. 

     

    Has anyone had to have Chevrolet replace their timing cover gasket under warranty?

     

    20171219_184253.jpg?m=1513737980.

  3. Car is over 60k miles now, and still gets beat like a rented mule. I did finally have a "major" failure though.

     

    Bearings in the transmission had to be replaced. The final diagnosis is that the manual trans was not designed for high-rpm down shifting with heavy engine braking. Covered under warranty.

     

    For anyone who thinks the trailer hitch doesn't cause abuse, hook up 800 pounds to the back of your car and try driving some of the mountain passes in Colorado or California. 3rd gear, full throttle at 5000rpm to maintain speed. Turn the A/C off because you will need that extra 3hp. Dallas TX to Denver CO, and Dallas to San Diego with an 800 pound trailer. Neither was a pleasant drive.

     

    My car should be retired into a museum of automotive abuse!

  4. I recently rolled over 60k miles and had to replaced my coolant tank. The rear most nipple at the top of the tank had cracked and would whistle with coolant/steam when the car was hot. It seems this tank is going to be a common problem, as there are a number of reported issues with the plastic getting brittle already, and the dealer had quite a few in stock when I was there. For a part that was only used on 13-15 Chevy Sparks, I wouldn't expected the dealership to have a dozen on the shelf unless they're going through them pretty quickly.

  5. My car has 52k on it. I've done the suggested oil changes and put an air filter in it a few weeks ago. I had a wheel bearing issue that was a factory QC issue out of the gate, and the whole A/C debacle everyone went through. I would have no qualms about buying a 50k mile spark for my wife. 

     

    My car also has a pretty brutal life as far as Sparks go. 17" wheels and tires since 14k, lowered since 30k or so, also has a hitch and tows on a semi-regular basis. 85mph commute to work + stop and go at either end. #1 issue is the loose nut behind the wheel!

  6. I replaced the (now used) donut spare with a 175/65R14 tire mounted on the spare rim. Far from ideal, but if it saves me just once ever again, well worth it.

     

    New spare tires are 150-250+ depending on the size. My replacement tire is a sketchy chinese knockoff of a chinese tire, but was only $30. It fit in the spare well (early 2013 build), but now my jack has to live in the trunk space. 

  7. The rotors are still vented like OEM, just 2MM narrower overall. Two "discs" with ribs in the middle. The maximum disc thickness for the new rotors is the same as the minimum thickness on the OEM rotors.

    I'm taking it off today and putting it back as stock until I can address the issue of the disc wandering axially under heavy braking. Working on a new drawing for integrated concentric rotor and wheel adapters.

  8. THEY'RE ON! I DROVE IT!

    With the 205 rubber, the OEM brakes wouldn't lock up enough to trip the ABS on clean & dry pavement. These new brakes STOP THE CAR. with ABS activation, I leave witness marks coming to a stop from 60.

    I had a little more grinding to do on the caliper bracket than I initially thought, just to clean the outside diameter of the rotor, nothing structural.

    I have one expected issue, and one put-the-OEM-back-on for now issue.

    The expected issue is a low pedal. The full thickness of the replacement rotors just barely falls into the minimum thickness spec of the OEM rotors, so its like driving around with worn rotors as far as pedal position is concerned. Brand new pads and only using them to 1/2 wear would fix this right up, or 1mm spacers behind the brake pads.

    The put-it-back-to-stock issue is a different story. Not expected. The rotors are "squirming" just a hair off center under hard braking. Even with a concentric ring to keep the rotor centered up (the center bore is larger than the chevy part) the rotors are moving just a hair. The concentric rings are plastic and I'm betting that when I pull it all apart tomorrow, they're smooshed out of shape. Easy fix is metal rings, but the dimensions are odd. I'm going to whip up a drawing for an integrated spacer for the rotor and spacer for my aftermarket wheels. Also I will machine out some little spacers for around the studs. The mini rotor has 16mm holes around the 12mm studs, too much play.

    All in all, quite successful. Minor hiccups are addressable!

    5 Miles on the brakes, and a few 45-0 and 60-0 panic stops to test it all out

    The picture is *after* driving the car. Hoorah!

    20160312_182014.jpg?m=1457828500

  9. And another update on my car. 3k miles into driving it lowered, and the front no longer rubs. The little plastic nub has worn away enough that it never touches the tire anymore.

    I also just changed tires, still a 205/40R17 Hercules. I went from the Raptis WR1 to the newly released Raptis R-T5. The new tire leans more towards a high performance touring tire than a strict performance tire. The upside is the shoulder is more rounded, and I no longer have a rub in the rear end either!

    So lowered with B&G springs on 205/40R17 on 17x7 +38 wheels, and no rubbing at all. It is possible after all.

  10. The brackets are just 1018 steel. Plenty strong for this application. As far as painting the caliper red, they're not actually coming off the car. One of the great things about just relocating them out, I never touch the hoses, so no bleeding at all. If I ever get a wild hair, its really not much work to get this car apart and paint the calipers.

    I still don't know that this will drive well and may end up having to take it all back off. With the donated prototype printing and machining and finding rotors at a discount, I'm only into this project for $75. $150 if you include all the tooling I bought along the way, but that was all things I should own anyway.

  11. We're getting close now. I receive the machined steel brackets in the mail, looking terrific.

    The brackets were not completed, I still needed to tap the holes to 12x1.25. I practiced some on scrap steel to get a reliable tapping setup. Using my cheap Chinese drill press as a tapping stand worked great. I used a c-clamp to prevent rotation, and a couple of spring clamps to hold the bracket down, but allow it to self center on the tap. A pair of channel locks to turn the drive pulley made the work easy, and I installed the drive belt crossed over on itself to drive the spindle in reverse. Manual tap, but power un-tap saved quite a bit of time. The end result was 10 very straight, very nicely tapped holes.

    Primer and paint is next, then on the car. I should be driving around the only 12.5" braked Spark this weekend. I also slapped new tires on this morning to give the best first impressions of the brakes that I can.

    My tapping rig. 100% pure potato camera used.

    20160309_182157.jpg?m=145757040120160309_182212.jpg?m=1457570239

    And the brackets themselves, bolted together as they will be in the car, and all lined up letting the cleaner flash off before primer and paint.

    20160309_181755.jpg?m=145757020820160309_183343.jpg?m=145757024720160309_183358.jpg?m=1457570274

  12. I've got a project going to fit larger front discs on the car. I'm not expecting any performance gains at all though.

    What are your objectives with the disc brake swap? In a car this light with so much front bias, the 9" drums are more than sufficient for anything you can do on the street. You would really only begin to see issues in you're on a track lapping. If the end goal is appearance, then ignore all the performance talk, and start designing your own. I have not seen any straight forward rear disc brake swaps.

    As for the lighter weight struts and shocks, you really can't go much lighter without going with coilovers. The performance advantage there has very little to do with decreasing the mass involved. Remember that struts and shocks are only half unsprung weight, so a weight change of 5 lbs in a strut is worth the same improvements as a 2.5 lbs change in wheels.

    For lighter wheels, you may find yourself in wheel heaven. Look into 1st gen Miatas and early (02-06) Mini coopers. The same bolt patterns, and much more performance oriented platforms means more performance parts out there. Miata and Cooper guys stay with 15s or 16s for best performance, 17s is really only for looks on those cars.

    I'm definitely not saying don't do anything to your car that you want to, I'm saying have a goal in mind, and do the mods that make the most sense for that goal, rather than my approach of "well hell, its cheap enough, why not"

    There is a long thread on my front brake project, which goes along with 17" wheels/tires and lowering springs. I have no visions of my Spark as a race car, I just have the ability to do these things, so why not.

  13. I've driven 12 hours straight normally cruising about 75-80mph. My daily commute includes a stretch of 25 miles I do at 85mph.

    The car will take it, but say good by to your gas mileage. At 85mph cruise, I get about 28mpg. At 55-60mph I get over 40.

    5 spd 2013 car. 85mph = 4500 RPM.

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