Chrome Exhaust Tips

[S_Gibson]

I've been browsing through all the threads and post here for the last couple days and yall are doing some cool stuff to your cars.

I was recommended this forum by Alero0Double(SP?) after buying my wife an '02 GLS 4 door. We have no intentions of doing much to the car except maintian what is stock. I did see a picture with some chrome exhaust tips and was wondering if that is something CHEAP to have done? The muffler is in good shape, but I think the chrome would add a bit of class to it.

Might put some of the rain deflectors on the windows and sunroof also. Other than that I think these cars look great. The headlights and taillights are cool the way they wrap the car and look awesome.

Just a few extra comments and/or questions.
How do you tell if it has a performance suspention? The guy told me it had side airbags when he showed it to me, but I told him I doubted it very seriously as it doesn't look like it could. Did the '02 come with side airbags? The stereo in this car sounds good. I'm guessing it is stock, but it seems too good to be. Interesting the way the stereo can tell you what song is playing also.

The only thing I see that strikes me as odd about this car is how some of the leather? pieces in the door are bunched up a bit. It happens at the top edge of these sections on all four doors. It seems as though these pieces should that the leather tighter at the top. Is this normal? If it isn't supposed to be like that is there an easy way to tighten it up?

The sticker said the car was grey, the salesman said pewter. I'm assuming the correct color is Bronzemist?

Thanks,
Stephen

[doubleN0alero]

Welcome aboard Stephen, glad you made your way over here. The other site is good, but this has more car specific information.

Judging by your leather, you've got the GLS. The alero was never offered with side airbags, therefore the salesmen lied to you. It happens, its how they make their living.

The rainguards for your doors and the sunroof you can pick up at any local advanced auto parts for around $40 or so. The chrome exhaust tips, you can also pick up there. I did have a set that I actually bought from GM that looked real nice, but I doubt they still produce them. I would give you the part number, but when I moved; I threw away all of my old service records. I bought them for my other alero, so everything from that car are gone. You could change the whole exhaust if you wanted, or you can get some bolt on tips at advanced.

You have what is called the sun and sound package. The car comes equipped with the roof and also a monsoon stereo system. If you open the trunk and pull back the carpet on the drivers side, you should see your factory amplifier there.

The leather issue I can't help you with because I personally don't care for it and prefer cloth which is why I bought the GL2 with cloth instead of the GLS when I bought my second alero back in 04.

Anyhow, I just looked up and you're from WS. I live down in Concord right by the race track. We're going to be planning a meet for sometime in the summer if you wanted to come down and meet some other alero nuts(for lack of a better term). There are serveral of us right here in the concord/charlotte area and range in ages, families, and also work done to our cars.

I might also suggest an intake. If not for anything else, it improves your gas mileage. I drive back and forth to Pittsburgh once a month and I have noticed a huge difference since installing mine.

Anything else you might have for us, just let us know and we'll be sure to help you out.

[S_Gibson]

double0alero Hmmm, I guess I did jack your nickname up. My bad :thumb:

Thanks for the quick response. I'll have to look at at Advance next time I'm there for the chrome. I have not spent any time under the hood seeing what parts I can or cannot fix. I guess I should at least plan to put a K&N on this thing. I put one on my F150 and I haven't noticed any fuel saved, but that thing is a major hog to begin with.

I see you are just down the road a few miles. I'm currently working on a project in your neck of the woods. The company I work for is doing the structural steel for the Embassy Suites next to the track. The car I purchased Sunday was original purchased at Arnold Palmer Olds in Charlotte and had all the repairs and maintenance done at Flow Olds-Cady in Winston Salem. I rarely get down that way cept for the races and an occasional trip to Concord Mills.

I know what you mean about cloth. We had cloth in our last Oldsmobile and liked them better than any other car we have had so far. My wife wanted leather because she thought is might hold up better with the kids and the dog. Who knows, I'm guessing they will end up ripped and I'll be buying seat covers :gun: I don't like the fact they are not heated, and can only imagine how hot they will get this summer.

Tossed a few pics of our ride on my website http://www.rubbins-racin.com/forum/viewtop...ghlight=#269461 (http://www.rubbins-racin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=269461&highlight=#269461) check it out if you get that bored. Nothing at all fancy like what yall are doing to your rides. This is a grocery go getter for sure :biggrin:

Only other thing I was wondering about was how to tell if it had that sport suspension I seen mentioned?

Thanks again!

[doubleN0alero]

eh, we're having that discussion now in another thread. it basically boils down to the sport suspension isn't anything special...the car still sits at the same heighth...they have just added a little thicker sway bar and thats about it.

Looks as if you are working pretty close to me. Is that what they're building right next to the Honda building there? My wife works at honda, I see them building every day. I'm a teacher and I'm done at the latest everyday at 330, i'll pm you my number, give me a call and i can show you what i speak of under your hood with the intake. The intake does come with a K&N cone filter that rides either in the engine compartment or down in the wheel well.

Looks like you've got yourself a bronzemist alero with neutral interior.

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

I'm pretty sure that your shade of gray is called Steel Gray (exterior). There is a chart somewhere on Sherwin-Williams' website that has all the paint codes. Your paint code can be found on the under-side of the spare wheel cover in the trunk. (Grouch is quite the expert with this. ;) )

And with the leather bunching up on the doors, it does that on pretty much all of them. GM cheaped out on the cosmetic glue, so stuff like that will shift or peel. (that's as bad as the doors get, so don't worry too much.) Just watch out for the dash vinyl to peel later on....

As for the sport suspension....seems to be a mystery. Some say that there is a difference, but a negligible one. Some say it's the same parts but it may have been just bolted in a little tighter, and others say there is no difference at all. If there's a real answer, I haven't heard it yet. edit: looks like double0 covered it.

[S_Gibson]

Originally posted by double0alero@Dec 15 2005, 10:31 PM
Looks as if you are working pretty close to me. Is that what they're building right next to the Honda building there?

Sorry guess I was misleading. I don't work at the jobsite. I'm the chief draftsman in the engineering department for the steel fabricator here in Winston. We drawing the shop and field drawings and fabricate the steel members and pieces and have an erector on the site to bolt and weld it all together. I'm coordinating the shop and field drawings for that project with an engineering group we hired in Santiago, Chile. If you are referring to the 10 story structure that can easily be seen from 85 then that would be the it. It is an Embassy Suite Convention Center. CDI is the GC on that and we have an erector out there. Most of the 10 story portion is mud, we do have several columns and beams running up through that portion for some elevators and quite a bit of steel on the roof, but they are using reinforced concrete for the bulk of the lower floors for that center portion. We have a lot of steel and joist in the rest of it though. That place will be huge. I rode past there several weeks ago going to Columbia, but I haven't been to the jobsite yet for a visit. Closest I have gotten to it was driving past it for the 500 in October. If I have to go out there it means there is a problem with the steel so here is to hoping I don't have to visit :thumb: I get calls daily from the GC and erector though asking for clarifications and fixes though. I'm hoping to go to the topping out, but rarely do they let those of us that suffer the headaches behind the scenes go.

:offtopic: Anyway back on topic, I could bore someone far to quick talking about work.

I was guessing the buck of the different suspension was a different set of struts. If it is nothing more than a different sway bar that is cool. Sometimes it is just an expensive strut that you wish you didn't have when it comes time to replace it.

I'll try to attach a image to this post with the bunched up material on the door. I haven't seen anything odd on the dash. If that is the worse those pieces will look then I guess it isn't that terrible. Would look nicer if it were tight.

http://www.rubbins-racin.com/member_ftp/sgibson/PC140065.JPG

Thanks again, and perhaps we can hook up one day anyway double.

[mrmike]

actually the 'performance suspension' is just a different tire than the non performance version. Its just a marketing thing there is no mechanical difference in the suspension. Also, the bunched leather is a design feature, every leather Alero has it. Just look at car review sites and in the interior shots the leather is like yours. Mine is too.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/master_chief/Photo017.jpg