Laborsmith's Sonic RS

[laborsmith]

Thanks to Preloader for the pic. He is not the only forum member who knows how likely I would have posted one.

With two sets of hand it is a very smooth install with no fitment problems. It has been installed by one person but I would not recommend going that way.

The CF hood is not as thick as OEM so shorter bolts are needed. We carved some around the washer nozzles but probably did not need to. This is both a functional and a comment provoking mod.


Laborsmith

 

[american_tuner]

Still no hood pins on your cf hood?

 

[laborsmith]

Seventeen months and no pins. I got the hood for the functional heat extractor vents which do work as expected. A side effect is the hood does not have the pressure pushing it up. Now I have a set of hood pins, which if I use will be more for appearance than for need.

If I did not have the vents I would be using the pins.


Laborsmith

 

[american_tuner]

Seventeen months and no pins. I got the hood for the functional heat extractor vents which do work as expected. A side effect is the hood does not have the pressure pushing it up. Now I have a set of hood pins, which if I use will be more for appearance than for need.

If I did not have the vents I would be using the pins.


Laborsmith

Thanks I may seriously order it today

 

[CyberGrayRS]

Used the Eibach bumpers for the rear.

I am happy with the hood. If you do get it, be sure to apply about three coats of Turtle Ice paste, removing each application using Turtle Ice spray detailer to help protect the hood from the sun. I park the Sonic outside (the Corvair is a garage queen) and the hood has held up well despite that. It is a known fact that even clear coated carbon fiber does not like the rays from the sun.


Laborsmith

Laborsmith,

What's the effect on the ride height when using the Eibach vs stock bump stops? I'm tying to get a sense for how much lower an RS will be when dropped with the Eibachs, on the stock wheels. I'm guessing 1/2 inch front and back?

 

[Ltguy]

So.... ZZP just posted a couple pics of your car saying "Sonic suspension upgrades today"....

Whatcha doin?

 

[laborsmith]

Adding a gauge. They installed the Eibachs (as you know) about a year ago.

Laborsmith

The Black Sonic in the picture was getting the ZZP stabilizer installed.

 

[Luv2xlr8]

What about that supercharger I see next to your pic they posted? Is that for the 1.8?

 

[$ub$onic]

Adding a gauge. They installed the Eibachs (as you know) about a year ago.

Laborsmith

The Black Sonic in the picture was getting the ZZP stabilizer installed.

The rear stabilizer?

 

[$ub$onic]

What about that supercharger I see next to your pic they posted? Is that for the 1.8?

I asked the same question

 

[laborsmith]

Laborsmith,

What's the effect on the ride height when using the Eibach vs stock bump stops? I'm tying to get a sense for how much lower an RS will be when dropped with the Eibachs, on the stock wheels. I'm guessing 1/2 inch front and back?

Don't think the wheel size makes a difference, ZZP did the install and used one pair of Eibach bump stops and one pair of oem but I can not recall which for front or rear.

My RS is about 22.25 from bottom of rim to fender lip front and almost 23 rear. I say about because neither side is the same, each off by about an eighth of an inch.


Laborsmith

 

[laborsmith]

The rear stabilizer?

It occurs to me I did not ask just assumed the rear.


Laborsmith

 

[Ltguy]

They used the rear OEM stops on yours because the I have your Eibach Rears lol

 

[laborsmith]

Well, at least I remembered part of it correctly! Clearly I have done too many mods, so it must be time to stop, which I will do as soon as I have finished modding.


Laborsmith

 

[Foxbox]

Laborsmith,

How's the Wavetrac treating you? Any complaints?

I'm considering picking one up soon. Where did you purchase yours from?

-Mike

 

[laborsmith]

Working as expected. 'No torque pull or wheel hop after install. The Sonic by design has less than most FWD cars but w/ the Wavetrac has none. I bought it directly from Autotech in California.

You will need new carrier bearings as GM uses plastic in theirs which means they can not be transferred.


Laborsmith

 

[Foxbox]

Working as expected. 'No torque pull or wheel hop after install. The Sonic by design has less than most FWD cars but w/ the Wavetrac has none. I bought it directly from Autotech in California.



You will need new carrier bearings as GM uses plastic in theirs which means they can not be transferred.





Laborsmith

Thanks for the information.

 

[laborsmith]

Gauges

These are pictures of the gauge updates:





The USB cable tucked behind the water temp gauge connects the FAILSAFE gauge to the laptop. It was originally boost in numbers and AFR in the bar graph but after install I changed the face plate and now have AFR in numbers and boost in the bar graph.

The water temp is in the cubby because I have trouble reading dark red numbers on a black background unless in shade or at night.

Laborsmith

 

[laborsmith]

This is the water temp gauge w/ the USB cable tucked behind.





Laborsmith

 

[Scot]

Your compass is on empty!