[Dasyatis]

This will be my place to document what I've done as time goes on. I'm certain I won't be near as prolific as others but I'll post things up as they happen.

1/11/2014 - Window tint, side and quarter windows. Xpel clear bra on front, mirrors, rear portion of rocker panels, and inside door release access.

 

[glen e]

excellent!

 

[Dasyatis]

Fought the rain and traffic on Friday to drive the 59 miles to Metal Magic (Lou is amazing with painless dent repair, a true artist) in Tacoma. Even with the stop and go traffic, the 7 speed was a joy to drive and I still managed over 20 mpg. Talked to the guys about what I wanted, clear bra (Expel) and some tint on the side and quarter windows.
Got there just a little after 5 pm to drop off my C7.
Saturday, make the run back down to Metal Magic. Car is ready for me when I got there. I love the tint, just what I was hoping for. It's 50% so it's just enough to take the edge off while still being easy to see through. I understand the blacked out look but it's just not practical for me as I like to be able to see out at night….(that way I can see the SUV blinker go on just before he tries to occupy the same space at the same time with me on the freeway in the rain on the way home - Z51 brakes work really well, thankfully).
Xpel was done on the front bumper and about half way up the hood. The front of the rear view mirrors. Inside the door release areas. They also removed the factory protection behind the door in front of the rear wheels and covered the back half of the rocker panel all the way to the rear tire and up to where it meets the rear quarter panel so no edges are visible (cool!).
Before

After

 

[weaponX]

Looks good buddy! I'm a big fan of window tint. I usually even put the clear ceramic on the window as it makes vision amazingly crisp and keeps an immense amount of heat out. I got my windows skinned a week or so ago but still need to get back in for the bra.

 

[MrG69]

Beauty!


Sent from mobile using Corvette Stingray Forum

 

[Texas2Gun]

Cool!

 

[Dasyatis]

Well, I've had enough of the wonderful skip shift. I downloaded the tune from my car to have a look see.

I've been on the fence about plugging in a skip shift eliminator or fix it in the tune. What finally pushed me off the fence is I can disable it in the tune and no longer get the computer generated indication flash up and tell me I'm in the zone for skip shift. The plug in eliminator just fools the computer so you still get the indication.
You can see a number of different factors come into play to activate the skip shift. Easiest is to bump the min coolant temp or the disable speed. I'll know the disable speed down to 1 mph and bye bye skip shift and indication.

 

[Dasyatis]

Had to take it for a drive today. So far have only mixed one day driving. As expected, no more skip shift, no more flash on the screen that I'm in the window for skip shift. Such a big improvement for a small detail.
I think I'll try to find the menu tomorrow to reset the exhaust modes. The sport/track sound is just too good to not have it in the touring mode as well.

 

[droideka]

Art,

what version of VCM do you have? is it the VCM Suite?

thanks,
Brad

 

[VetteEnthusiast]

Nice ride. I love that color.

 

[Dasyatis]

Art,

what version of VCM do you have? is it the VCM Suite?

thanks,
Brad

2.24

 

[Dasyatis]

Nice ride. I love that color.

So do I - lol. It's already a showstopper everywhere I go.

 

[VetteEnthusiast]

So do I - lol. It's already a showstopper everywhere I go.

Then again, I think I like it in every color. Lol

 

[ltoman]

So do I - lol. It's already a showstopper everywhere I go.

If mine ever gets here, I chose the same color. What color is your interior?

 

[Dasyatis]

License Plates are Here

So…. The plates are nothing special, yet. :roll eyes:

I have the 'correct' license plate bracket, flat and sits a little above the grille. A fugly addition. So that's not going anywhere.
Back to the 'Corvette' bracket. I did some looking at it and in spite of the markings to not use it as a license plate holder it is set up for doing so. In the first picture you can see 4 small (less than 1/4") holes that don't go completely through. Surprisingly they align with the holes in the license plate.
Picture 2 shows where I drill 11/64" holes through the bosses that were already there.
Picture 3 license plate installed. It did take a little tweak to get it to lay flat on the existing curvature but that was minor and easy to accomplish.

 

[rdslon01]

What size screws did you use? How long could they be before they would scrape on something on the grille behind it? I suppose the assembly is attach the holder to the grille, then screw the plate to the holder. I wouldn't want to screw it too far in and do grille damage.

Thank you for the information, Art!

 

[Dasyatis]

What size screws did you use? How long could they be before they would scrape on something on the grille behind it? I suppose the assembly is attach the holder to the grille, then screw the plate to the holder. I wouldn't want to screw it too far in and do grille damage.

Thank you for the information, Art!

Yes, attach the holder to the grille per the instructions with the two plastic fasteners. The attach the license plate.
The screws were from the other license plate holder and were self tapping about 1/2" long.

 

[Dasyatis]

First thing Sat I went ahead with an oil change since the dealer was reluctant to do it unless I promised a great review on the survey. This is a Z51 with the dry sump so in addition to changing the filter (easy peasy) there are 2 drain plugs to drain all of the oil in the system. While there is not necessarily a right or wrong way, I drained the one at the forward location of the pan sump first which drains the oil tank. This assures I don't have oil draining from the tank into the oil pan is I were to do it last. Next was drain the pan via the plug in the standard location of the drivers side of the sump. Change filter (pre-filled…) button up, clean up, add oil. FWIW, 9.5 quarts got me to the full mark when checked per the procedure in the manual.

Now the pictures.
1) Snap in lift/jack pucks.

2) The jacking location

3) Puck in place. Repeat 3 more times..

4) Car lifted for easy access oil change

5) Car at 50% height for adding oil and detailing wheels and tires at the perfect roll around sitting height.

 

[Dasyatis]

Started in on finding the lowering sweet spot.
For starters, one turn of the adjusters equates to something a little shy of 1/8" both front and rear.

So far I can't reconcile the lowering instructions to the equipment on my can and some of the other 'longer' lowering bolts out there.
The instructions posted say CCW for the fronts and CW for the rears to lower yet the configuration of the spring to lower control arm would dictate decreasing the separation of the spring to the control arm which would be accomplished by turning the adjusters (CCW) on all four corners.
That leads to the why of the longer screws for lowering since they would be turning them the wrong way to take advantage of the longer thread length.

So since everything appears so obvious, what am I missing?

 

[rdslon01]

Art, I, too, have read that the front and rears should be turned in opposite directions in some online car magazine review. However, this may not be the case.

Also, see the following build thread, which was updated very recently:

http://www.stingrayforums.com/forum...y-velocity-yellow-coupe-build-vin-1786-a.html

Note in post #1 about half way down you will see a link for lowering on stock bolts. That link is

Lowering on Stock Bolts - Instructions and Photos - Corvette Forum

Check that out, and see how it compares to what you see. Also, please let me know what you find. I have keen interest in raising mine up as much as safely possible to help with my driveway (cusps and valleys).

By the way, are there any stops on the bolts at the top, or could someone just go so high they would come loose? Also, if someone were near the top, do you see any problems (snapping bolts, etc)? How many threads would you recommend that a person leave visible at the top? Thanks for the information that one turn gives about 1/8 inch. Does this height versus turn function seem linear even at the extreme ends of the bolts? How many turns total are physically possible from top to bottom? Can I ask you a million other questions?

Thank you, Art!