Hey guys, haven't been on in a while. Busy with work. Good news is, now I have funds to do some things I've wanted to do for a long time. Right now I'm dealing with a couple issues.
My A/C hasn't worked in years. It has a slow leak of refrigerant, and it was just too expensive to keep charging every two weeks. I had two shops look at it a few years ago, and both said they fixed the leak, and yet the system was still leaking after both shops. This time, I took it to a better shop. They said the compressor was leaking. New compressor and full A/C system flush was expensive, but also comes with a 3-year, 36,000 mile warranty. Got it back last week, and it's already blowing warm, so back to the shop it goes.
Last Thursday, I went through a car wash. When I got home, my new driver's side LED tail light was hanging by the cords, and it had taken some paint off my bumper. So I went back to the car wash. Manager looks at the tapes, and says the tail light was on the whole time until it got to the jet dryers, then it just popped out. The thing is, the mounting tabs that the screws fasten to from the tailgate side were completely broken, so something in the wash broke those earlier, then the blowers just pushed it off the little hooks that hinge on the side of the tail light. He says that the company usually doesn't do claims on aftermarket parts because they aren't as high quality. He also says that older vehicles also tend to have more fragile parts because of age. Then he offers me $40 and some free washes. At this point, I just decide to be polite since I'm going to get nowhere with this guy, and ask for the corporate manager that handles claims. The tails were 2 months old, and had been through the wash several times before just fine. They were $120 for the pair, not to mention the paint work that I need to have on the rear bumper. I'm guessing it's going to cost about $200-250 to fix it all.
I have a few upcoming plans. I'd like to get these all done before next summer, but we'll see how that goes.
1. I still have my 14-bolt axle from the 454SS. I need new gears for it, and I figure I might as well do it right and put a Detroit TrueTrac in it from the start. After that, I'll make sure the drum brakes are good, then have that swapped in.
2. I also have an Edelbrock MPFI setup sitting in my room. I need new injectors, but I plan on going with some IWP069's. Should be just over $400 for the injectors. I had a plate machined to cover the injector pod on my throttle body (the kit came with one new, but mine is used and the guy couldn't find it). After that, I need a new fuel pump and a tune. Then it should be good to go. The only other thing I need to check is that this intake manifold has the EGR port at the front of the intake, and I need to make sure the EGR valve will clear the supercharger.
3. Lastly, I've finally figured out how I want to do my double din install. I stumbled across this thread on TahoeYukonForum, and this is exactly how I want mine to look. The kit by DetailSS is fine, but I would much rather keep my cubby. I like having it. So I'm planning on putting a Pioneer 8100 in my dash like this:
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images