C2's Alero Updates

[dbral]

Oh man, sucks to hear about that. Hoping you can get it repaired and prevent contact with the stiffer mounts....and still get some pics and video too.

Replacing the worn mounts in ours improved shifting and start-out feel tremendously. The extra vibration with the poly inserts is noticeable but not too awful in our Alero. The Cavalier is a different story. It was already a rattle trap and those mounts made it X2 worse...at least lol

[[ion] C2]

I put the billet engine mount back on to prevent damaging engine movement and make it easier to drive. Having the shop put on the transmission polyurethane inserts while they fix my cracked turbo manifold. On the next car I'll do my best at vibration dampening the interior because these stiffer mounts are absolutely necessary for part longevity, performance, and clutch feel.

Bought Mike & Leslie's 2002 teal manual coupe. High cost ($5,000 + $1150 transportation) and high miles (190k) but it's the only rust-free manual coupe to be found.

[dbral]

What a beauty! Congrats and have to admit i would have paid that too.

[Oldsnut]

Did you buy that from Mike and Leslie in Florida?

[[ion] C2]

Yes

[[ion] C2]

Just got it back after repairing the cracked turbo manifold, re-planing and port-matching the flange, and installing poly transmission mounts. Definitely lots of vibration until 2300 RPM. Hopefully I can minimize rattles on the next interior setup, but having stiff mounts makes clutch engagement much easier and keeps things from breaking due to engine movement, so it's necessary NVH.

There's still a fuel issue, I lose pressure for some reason during pulls. It usually sits around 50-60 psi at idle but should go up with boost, if I'm making 35 psi it should produce 85-95 psi when doing so, but after a few seconds of full throttle, it falls to like 30 psi.

I'll get some good video as soon as that's fixed.

[[ion] C2]

Exhaust leak test showed a little leakage around the wastegate. Can't pinpoint, but seems like one of the v-band connections either into the gate or out. Hopefully it's the exit side since that won't affect spool time.

Finally actually getting rolling shots and a nice sunset shot this weekend. Won't be edited and ready until next week though, photographer is busy.

Shop thinks the car might need a surge tank; the OEM plastic cup that the fuel pump sits in probably runs dry when pumping some serious flow.

[[ion] C2]

I organized the list of things to do on the first page so it's split into specific projects. Engine build, body prep, and swapping everything over.

New chassis was finally delivered. It feels so squishy and loose to drive compared to my other one lol.

[tw0123]

That car looks so beautiful... are you repainting it or going to keep it that colour?

[[ion] C2]

Repainting it. I like my current blue, but I want it to "pop" more. More metallic, a little more blue (so a tiny bit lighter).

Going to fabricate the fender braces and rear roll cage first. Honestly my dark blue Alero handles amazingly. I took two back to back small roundabouts at some pretty high speed and it was stiff and flat while I navigated them. The fender braces are just kinda "because you can" and the guy who did them originally claimed it was very noticeable.

The roll cage is mainly for looks lol. I like the idea of having bracing in the back, plus we'll be making a panel for the subwoofer and relocated engine fuse box to replace the rear seats. But when I do take it to the drag strip, the cage will be necessary for me to make more than one run before being kicked out.

Simultaneously, I'll consult with the wiring expert who will be doing the wire tucking and relocating the fuse box, so the plan is in place. Not sure on the when because the wiring is different for my car with the standalone and headlights and fuel pump etc... probably will create the space for the fuse box and maybe have one installed that's not hooked up until it's time.

Then, I'll have an interior specialist completely sound dampen the entire thing, and do whatever is possible to seal/cushion sources of vibration noise. Wherever the dash might shake and make noise, squirt some silicone or something to go in between the offending materials, or add cushioning, etc. The vibration isn't a big deal, the annoying rattles are. This shop will also reupholster everything to have dark gray and black trim, wrap the steering wheel, wrap the shift knob, etc. They will also reupholster my Recaro seats so they match color/fabric and embroider the Olds logo into the headrest area.

Then comes all the powder coating and paintwork. Fully rustproofing all suspension and subframe components and powder coating them, and ensuring the body is rustproofed before painting.

[tw0123]

Sounds like an awesome transformation... can't wait to see the progress!!

[dbral]

Wow, awesome project and plans! Excited for you and can't wait to see it all come together. Also happy to hear the mounts fit.

That fuel system is pretty trick and looks like it will give you all the GPM. What are your plans for finding room for fitting in the extra parts? Weird that this fuel psi. issue just showed up, esp. after the car was running so well.

[[ion] C2]

The fuel surge tank should fit in the spare tire well, or worst case, the trunk.

Well, we kept running out of fuel on the dyno, and kept upgrading pumps. It is weird that there wasn't any issue on the 636 whp run, though. It might be that whatever design (venturi) draws fuel into the OEM cup is cracked or something and not picking it up. I have only noticed it at low fuel levels, so maybe if I had a full tank it wouldn't happen (or as bad?).

When I went to leave from my photoshoot today, I had to start the car like 5 times before it would stay running. The pump sounded crazy weird/loud and pressure was not building. Must be what it sounds like when it runs dry.

I think I'm going to change the passenger engine mount back to the stock style... the vibration is just beyond outrageous lol. I think the front and rear subframe mounts on the trans are what really matter for engine movement... but then again this passenger side mount kept things very still on the dyno.

[[ion] C2]

Oh man, I just realized why my car was making a noise like something was hitting the brakes every revolution. I broke loose all my rear lugs so I could fix the e-brake, but I stopped after adjusting the rear right. I never re-torqued the left rear wheel on.

I drove that thing 100 miles since then. The sound kept getting worse and by the time I was on my way home from the rolling photos, I was like OK I need to check this out tomorrow. Jeez.

[dbral]

Judging by the pic it looks like you were able to get the front tires tucked inside the fenders.

Sucks about the fuel issues but sounds like you have a plan and that explanation makes sense . Imagining that the power you are making has to require some ridiculous flow at full bore. Are you going with a fuel cell for the next build?

Yeah man, good you caught that wheel in time. That has happened to all of us at one point or another.

[[ion] C2]

Everything still rubs unfortunately lol. They need to be a little bit more in, or the fenders need to be cut. That's why I want to get some real Volks that are hopefully able to fit over the brakes better and not require these spacers.

No fuel cell, the stock gas tank is fine, it just needs a surge tank to keep the pump submerged at all times.

I put the stock engine mount in and it's soooo comfortable, still easy to drive since the trans mounts are polyurethane, but I still clunked something (turbo-to-firewall or downpipe-to-subframe) on a rough start. I had my wife video the engine while I loaded it with the brake on to see how much it tilts under torque, and it's bad.

Video: https://youtu.be/ALzzRuIJei4

Idk what to do. I feel like I need to make some custom torque strut that anchors to the front header panel or something that will maybe keep the engine from tilting, but not introduce a ton of vibrations to the chassis. I think it needs things like what they use on the 3800 equipped FWD cars:



But there's no clearance to do that at all with my intake in the way. Might be able to build a custom strut bar and clamp onto it, and mount to the timing chain housing.

I asked my old polyurethane acquaintance to make a mount that's just a big block of 80A polyurethane like this:



I figured it might hold things better than the OEM style rubber mount, but not transmit as much vibration as the WOT-Tech insane nearly 100% billet construction mount. Seriously, there's only a tiny amount of poly on the mount, and it's like 95A durometer.

Here's a drive by video: https://youtu.be/9Tj4GiarkIo

[[ion] C2]

I shaved down the poly bushings in the mount so that only the sleeve contacts the base. This way the piece that connects to the engine is truly isolated from the mount. From my research, people have had great success with this minor adjustment.





Hopefully it makes a difference when I reinstall it yet again tomorrow. Otherwise, gotta think of a better design. I think the poly block would be good, but it would take me a bit of time to obtain the materials needed and machine what needs machining, and make the mold, if my old acquaintance isn't interested in helping me out.

[dbral]

Hopefully that mod to your billet mount helps. Maybe this is another possibility. Our Cavalier has a passenger side lower dog bone mount that goes between the engine and subframe. It looks like it might help prevent the movement shown in your vid. Our car does not have the 2.4 option but wondering if the 2.4 Cavaliers had that mount too. If they did, maybe you could adapt that in somehow? The dog bone is (was in 2018 anyway lol) available from Prothane with poly inserts. Might be able to bolt the engine side mounting stuff on your engine from a 2.4 Cavalier then fab the subframe side? Rock Auto shows the part for a 2.4 J-body. They call it a torque strut. Would help direct the motion into the subframe instead of the body to help with NVH too possibly.

Watched the fly-by vid. and man that thing moves. Assuming that was not a WOT pass either.... Sheesh, that was crazy and the exhaust note is killer.

[[ion] C2]

Torque Strut: Yeah I saw that in the N-body service manual, even though that's only on the J-bodies. Dunno why they wouldn't have things mounted even better on a larger platform. The main movement occurs up top, so I would more likely just make a custom strut bar that a poly mount attaches to.

Video: No lol, just high throttle, only 35% ethanol so it's neutered around 450 whp probably. Didn't want to lose fuel pressure (did as I approached the camera though).

The shaving down mod *slightly* helped. Then I stalled it hard when going to take off from a light (clutch grabs so violently if you don't rev it up high enough it just engages like BAM and the engine is dead, there is no saving it lol). The idle air control valve got stuck lol. It would only idle at like 400-500 rpm and it was super rich (supposed to be 1000 rpm). The valve body wiggles (don't think it's supposed to do that) so I'm getting another one tomorrow morning.

I think the poly block might do the trick as far as being cushy enough to not shake everything apart, but also keep things more firmly planted than OEM, and if not, I'll figure out some sort of brace that prevents that tilt. Until then I gotta just endure the vibrations on this really solid mount... I want this car to be comfortable inside and perform well. I know it's doable. The stock mount plus the 2 poly trans mounts was super smooth inside, so we just need some way to keep it from tilting. I don't think the turbo hits the firewall with the OEM engine mount. Nothing hits, but it's still bad to be swinging that engine so much lol.

Random shot while adjusting headlights:

[[ion] C2]

Out with the old, in with the new.