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 One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build.

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PostSubject: One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build.   One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build. I_icon_minitimeSat Apr 09, 2011 11:15 am

So I bought this car about 6 weeks ago and it was semi taken care of, but not fully. The interior, exterior, wheels, underhood were not in the best of shape. I spent two days pulling out the entire interior (seats, carpet, insulation, panels, etc) to shampoo and scrub everything. Then next were the wheels, which needed much attention. There was also a knock in the suspension which could be attributed to dead sway bar links and a busted bar stop. So that stuff had to be taken care of. First up the wheel treatment:

I really like the stock rims on the Redlines, despite them being a little skinny and not being optimal for the 245/40s I really want to run like I did on my last Redline with my Konigs. I decided I did not want them to be ghetto and wanted to get that raw polished aluminum mirror shine back to them. I took them to have the tires dismounted so I could get to work. Here is what they looked like in general:

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One of the wheels looked like the tire had been changed using a mounting machine from 1950. The entire lip of the rim was tore up and the aluminum was pushed around and it had made a nasty, sharp, raised lip. This wheel took some extra time with a right angle die grinder and some sanding disks to smooth and round the lip back out. Here is the before picture:

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So I started by taking off the clear from the wheels both on the face and in the inside. I used tal-strip for this task which is awesome if you have never used it. One $40 jug was more than enough to do all 4 wheels. You can actually hear it blistering the clearcoat off the rims. Then you just spray it off with a high pressure hose. I did each wheel 3 times to be sure all the clear was gone. Unfortunately though, almost all of the underlying issues were below the clearcoat. The corrosion had eaten through the clear, some of the scuffs were deeper than the clear, the insides were almost brown with brake dust corrosion.

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Then came the fun part. I used various buff bobs and wheels from Eastwood to sand away all the corrosion on the wheels with 120 grit, 220 grit, then 320 grit greaseless tube compounds. Then I did some light hand sanding with 400, 600, 800, then 1000 grit wet papers. About two hours worth of hand sanding on each wheel. Brought it to a dull, smooth finish.

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Then some buffing with a sprial 4" wheel with some Tripoli compound and a 3000rpm drill for a near mirror shine. Followed that up with a 4" single sewn loose canton wheel and some white rouge to add the bright color and final shine. Final step was a little wiping with some Mother's polish and terry pads. Then got the tires mounted:

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And tada! Got that nice mirror shine back. I opted to leave the clear off as the raw metal finish will yield a better shine and allow me to remedy any damage that occurs much easier as I won't have to strip the clear off. It just requires a little more TLC a little more often with some Mother's polish, but to me it is worth it for that 100% metallic shine.

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(Now I just have to do something about those brakes)


Last edited by Redline on Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:43 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostSubject: Re: One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build.   One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build. I_icon_minitimeSat Apr 09, 2011 11:29 am

Great job!
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PostSubject: Re: One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build.   One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build. I_icon_minitimeSat Apr 09, 2011 11:41 am

Then the suspension had to be addressed next. The clunk was being caused by a broken sway bar stop on the stock front sway bar. GM decided to mount the sway bar links to the strut assembly, so when you turn the car it slides the sway bar slightly and pulls hard on the mounts. Over time, shit breaks. In this case the driver's side sway bar stop broke, causing the bar to shift in the bushing when going over bumps. So I had to buy a new sway bar. I went with a slight upgrade, but not overkill to the 24mm FE5 sway bar (up from the stock 23mm FE3 sway). I did not want to induce any extra understeer, but the FE5 bar is half the price of the FE3. I could have gone with a full Eibach front and rear kit, but Eibach gives you a 29mm bar for the front which is crazy stupid if you ask me for a FWD car. I can't see that helping handling, just adding understeer. In doing do this I also grabbed some Energy Suspension bar mounts, PowerGrid adjustable end links, steering rack spacers, SSC springs, and a Powell Racing 24mm rear sway bar.

Here is the culprit of the noise. The lower bar is the stock one with the broken stopper:

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A close up difference of the bar diameters. Not much.

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The parts as a whole:

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Endlink installed, not yet adjusted though. Using these to adjust the front sway bar helped a lot. They also come with a stronger ball joint to avoid wearing out quickly like a stock style link.

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The SSC springs (sold by Canuck Motorsports of Canada). They sent me the wrong springs (as they often do) for a Cobalt SS. The rears are the same between the Ion Redline and Cobalt SS/SC, but the Cobalt springs taper up top in the fronts. This requires a Cobalt FE5 90mm hat, 90mm upper spring insulator, and special shims. I used some rubber tubing for the insulator, drove up to Day Centennial Chevy as they had the two hats in stock, then cut my own shims to space the Cobalt hat and Ion strut mount poperly.

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Rear bar installed. Despite being a twist beam rear suspension already having a fixed 22mm sway bar, adding this bar makes a world of difference. There are even 30mm and 36mm versions available. The 24mm version I bought takes this car from understeer to perfect balance on the street. No noticable oversteer, but the understeer is gone on street tires. I did not want to go any bigger and induce any oversteer on my Pilot sports. The bar is easily swappable for Autox though if I decide to run a sticky tire, I can pop a larger bar in.

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And a quick pic of the car lowered. Not the greatest quality but I am by no means a photgrapher.

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PostSubject: Re: One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build.   One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build. I_icon_minitimeSat Apr 09, 2011 1:22 pm

I've seen these wheels up close... he did a great job bringing them back. I actually thought he had one of them re-chromed lol
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PostSubject: Re: One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build.   One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build. I_icon_minitimeSat Apr 09, 2011 6:59 pm

car is looking good....
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PostSubject: Re: One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build.   One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build. I_icon_minitimeSun May 22, 2011 11:19 am

How long are you keeping this one lol?
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PostSubject: Re: One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build.   One day at a time. Redlines new Redline build. I_icon_minitime

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