Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Well, I guess this officially makes me a South Dakotan... The Corvette license plate was the final bit of Texas I was clinging to :lol:

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...4f&oe=5D74E52D

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

^The funny part is, that license plate picture was taken at the nearby Indian casino ;)

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Finally got the AFE pipes back from the coater (https://www.facebook.com/SSPowderCoating/) and had them installed by the local Corvette specialty shop (https://www.facebook.com/CustomImageCorvettes/)...who would have known Watertown had one?!

Factory cat pipes w/DEI heatshields:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...0606191838.jpg

AFE pipes before coating:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...0406191623.jpg
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...406191623a.jpg

AFE pipes after coating:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...0603191650.jpg

Here are some comparison pics of the pipe inlets and cat density showing, in theory, how much more restrictive the factory pipes are:

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...606191838a.jpg
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...606191838b.jpg

Vs.
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...406191623b.jpg

I only have a few miles on then so far to cure the coating, but so far no CEL. I've gotten on the car a bit and it definitely has some additional volume to it; same with start-up and idle. Tour mode while cruising still seems plenty tame for roadtrips though which is exactly what I wanted.

I have a tank of 93 right now so I'll get some logs off to my tuner this weekend, then once that tank is gone we'll get it done again with the local 91 available in-town.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Do u notice an increase in smell now that the cats are fine?

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Nothing out of the ordinary yet, even when idling in the garage, but I'll probably need more time/miles to accurately make that claim.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Looking good, gonna try to swap those blankets on the new pipes?

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

I figured I'd at least try since it keeps a good amount of heat away from the oil cooler and dry-sump oil lines! The ceramic coating should help quite a bit as well. I thought about having the shop that did the install wrap at least the pre-cat section of pipe, but I really didn't want to risk having a cracked weld down the road sometime. I'll have to be very careful not to scratch up the coating with the blankets' metal standoffs though since I don't want it flaking off. I'll likely give it a try and see if/how they fit while swapping out the shocks. Speaking of, here's my thread on that: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...k-failure.html

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

DOH!!!

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...0615191527.jpg

Looks like I'll be having my tuner disable the code. I could have used non-foulers as I knew it was a 50/50 risk per AFE but I'm fine just having it disabled.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

I know that code 😋

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Now that I replaced all 4 shocks (3 of 4 were leaking their sweet magnetic juices) for a cool $1300 I still have a faint clunk coming from somewhere in the suspension over bumps. I replaced the rear sway bushings & end-links yesterday hoping that might be it but unfortunately that didn’t change anything. The factory bushings looked fine and so did the end-links other than feeling a little looser than brand new. Up next are the front swaybar bushings & end-links to see if that’s the issue! Unfortunately, the car’s age (5 years/45k miles) is starting to show as its needed quite a few wear-n-tear items replaced this year it feels like. At least I got in a good 200+ mile roofless drive yesterday; still enjoying the car just as much as I did back in 2014, and at least replacing these parts is still cheaper than trading-in for a new one!

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

I thought 45k on a Corvette was like 120k on a passenger car, you sure you dont want to trade in on that sweet new mid engine?? :banana:

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Zero interest in the C8; Julie and I both despise the interior and the fact it's auto-only. Bigger/heavier car, but with a more cramped interior... Brilliant! The row of buttons along the wall separating the driver and passenger sides is idiotic too. If anything, I'd get a 2019 C7, but realistically I may as well just keep this one for another 5+ years.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

I'm dropping it off at the local Corvette shop today to have the front swaybar bushings/end-links done along with the Big Daddy angled o2 sensor spacers to eliminate the CEL so AFM can be reenabled.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Looks good! Can't believe you've had that for 5 years already.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Time flies! Not sure how 5 years has gone by so quickly. Even crazier to realize I've owned 3 different houses in that time too.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

I bet the front sway links are contributing to that clunk that sounds like its from the rear. Hopefully an easy fix! They dont seem to last more than 50k miles.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

Thank you, sounds like you've had similar experiences! We'll find out soon enough... Hopefully this will be the end of it for the year, as far as maintenance/repairs go.

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

If the clunking is in the front, have you tried moving some of the weight to the rear, like say the engine?

Re: Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!
 

I'll swap the 'Vette & Volt powertrains and report back.