Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

[traumadog]

Mind you - this car isn't meant to be a big-boost project or anything - it's really meant as a "car care 101" for my 14-year-old.

That being said, we've done quite a few things...

Here's where it was when we bought it (at 160k miles) - it was owned by a girl not long out of college, who owned it since high school:




First, some basic maintenance was done - change oil/trans fluid & new filters, as well as recharged the A/C. It also seemed to be "overheating", so we replaced the ECTS as well.

Then came the somewhat harder stuff.

First, new brakes all around. The originals were worn well into the backing plates and were grinding badly.





The engine was vibrating badly, so we replaced the TAM:




Did some bodywork - including fixing the headlights... it's amazing how much these things can rust:



And next, the exhaust... many parts on it were rusted, and the flex-pipe was even gone:







And of course, the "new" item - a '92 header...


More to come...

[traumadog]

Ok - welded the cat extension for the downpipe - I'll have pics when it's done (I have to clean the weld up some).

My son also wanted to do the wheel covers - they were curbed pretty badly when we got the car. He decided on black - and they turned out kinda decent - at least for rattle-can. And hey, it's for the snows, anyway. I have the four-spoke teardrop alloys for summer.

So, here is how it looks now:

[traumadog]

My son and I just added some electric door locks to the SC2 - got the actuators and wiring from an old SL that was being junked. We wired the actuators into the remote start that came with the car.




Missed the pics of the outer door skin off, but it was a royal pain getting 14-year-old rusted bolts out. Threading the wiring into the passenger compartment was a pain, too.

We also decided against installing the internal door lock switches, as reaching across for a 2-door isn't that hard. And besides, both locks are wired to lock/unlock together.

[traumadog]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

Had a weekend to kill and a giant hole rusted in my exhaust. Should have expected it to happen soon, given the condition of my muffler last fall (see above). I took off the old cat-back - and had to cut the flange off the cat-side for it to work. The bolts were rusted solid (as expected), and the rust at the crimps after the flange had a big hole. (the rusted-together flange pieces basically came off by themselves).

Anyhow, here's the old cat-back, minus the back 8 inches or so as the rust crumbled it away...




I pieced together a set of Pep-Boys pipes for the new set - but didn't take any pics until they were in place...






Not the best pics, but they give the general idea.

Anyhow, for those curious, here's my parts list:

1x 2"ID to 2.25"ID adapter
1x 2.25" ID x 36" pipe
3x 2.25" to 2.25" adapters/spacers
2x 2.25" x 18" 90-degree elbows
2x 2.25" x 18" flex pipes
2x 2.25" u-clamps
lots of JB-Weld

(will also need some hanger for the first elbow - I had one from the old exhaust buzzed back on).

All told, with the muffler I bought previously, the total worked out to under $66.

[The Shaolin]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

I don't see a comment thread, so I'm going to put my comment here for now.

Looks like a wonderful project...Nice little car in great condition, but it looks like it was neglected pretty hard! How dumb was this girl to drive on brakes like that and with holes that big in the exhaust? Wow!

[traumadog]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

I don't see a comment thread, so I'm going to put my comment here for now.

Looks like a wonderful project...Nice little car in great condition, but it looks like it was neglected pretty hard! How dumb was this girl to drive on brakes like that and with holes that big in the exhaust? Wow!

She actually didn't drive it anymore. It was still titled/registered, but she didn't want to drive it back home (for obvious reasons). Got it for $600, and it's road-worthy now for less than double that overall. IIRC, my most expensive single item was the upper-engine TAM that was replaced.

[traumadog]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

Just an update - we installed the '92 header... and if you noticed the length of the extension I welded on in the pics above, you probably wouldn't be surprised it's now running catless... something I'll probably have to fix before the next inspection.

[97sleeper]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

It's old enough, you shouldn't have to put a cat in place.

[traumadog]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

It's old enough, you shouldn't have to put a cat in place.

Don't know if it's an issue where they'd fail me on a visual inspection - even if they don't do the sniffer anymore.

Otherwise, I might keep it as-is.

[97sleeper]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

It's old enough, you shouldn't have to put a cat in place.

Don't know if it's an issue where they'd fail me on a visual inspection - even if they don't do the sniffer anymore.

Otherwise, I might keep it as-is.

You could also bore out the old one and put it back in place.

[traumadog]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

Ok - a minor update... I swapped out my Pep-Boy's special for what looks like a Pacesetter (definitely not stainless, that's for sure) I got used off of some guy junking his racer. It was cheap, so I figure it was a decent buy.



Haven't done much else except trim the air filter box some & replace a leaking radiator.

Most of my time I'm working on my other car.

[bgates2b]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

Cool, but my 94 SL2 still has to undergo the sniffer smog. I had to put a new cat on last fall and I passed this year without the usual headaches (and that's in NY).

[traumadog]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

It's interesting - I just have the cat shell on, and it passed inspection two weeks ago.

Edit - if any of the mods see this - I think my old post about my other car disappeared... [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/sad.gif[/img]

[bgates2b]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

Yeah, I always ran into problems with this car passing the smog. I think because it was originally a Pennsylvania car with a vacuum EGR valve. For 94, NY Saturns had electric EGR's.

At any rate, the cat was the original and when they took it off, there was nothing inside, the honeycomb was gone. It was essentially one big test pipe.

[Dallasneon]

Re: Traumadog's '94 SC2 Resurrect-all project...

Please post up some pics of the pacesetter mounted up to the car. I'm considering buying one for real cheap, just not sure how the muffler/tip looks when bolted up. Thanks.