Chevy SSR Forum banner
13,081 - 13,100 of 14,791 Posts
Dave,
Watch out for all those bicycles between Montros & Silverton. Nice road
A few years ago BC (before Covid) we went through the Going to the Sun Road on our way to the Penticton Car Show. Unbeknown to us there was a bike rally (pedal type) the same time. That was interesting to say the least. About 1,000 bikes on a two lane road with no shoulder on the side of a mountain when you come around a blind corner and there are dozens of bikes pedaling up the mountain. On a side note, I see that you have to make reservations now to drive the road in the summer.
 
Bicycles between Montrose and Silverton? Say it ain't so! I was born in Montrose, my parents lived in a mining camp on Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Ouray, where my dad worked in the mines at the time. Spent a lot of summers in the mid-50's watching them "widen" the Million Dollar Highway, don't remember any bike lanes then, barely enough room for two cars to pass, and you had to honk your horn when rounding some of those cliff-hanging corners! Think Tail of the Dragon on steroids! Times have changed indeed. Have fun Dave.

But I digress, what did I do with/to my SSR today? Nothing today but yesterday I added a bolt to the head where the pre-tapped hole is, now my short-cabled booster has a good attachment point. It's kind of camouflaged, you may have to zoom in.
A couple of weeks ago I fabricated an addition to the SE ABS heat shield. See photos. Earlier discussions about why the driver's side caliper is prone to sticking, (as mine did) got me thinking that maybe the proximity to the catalytic converter is heating the brake lines and brake fluid. In a closed system if you increase the temperature, volume can't change so the pressure does, if I remember the PVT rule correctly, maybe just enough to affect the closest caliper, on the driver's side. Not sure about check valves, proportioning valves, etc, probably designed to relieve pressure? Just an experiment, will report periodically about results.
Motor vehicle Automotive tire Gas Automotive design Automotive exterior
 

Attachments

Drove a visiting R. Saw a gorgeous R (not mine).

Spring is definitely here. This picture is after being uncovered for about 2h. The camera didn’t capture how green it was. It was thick green by the end of the day.
Automotive parking light Car Vehicle Hood Automotive lighting

Then drove our Pac Blue, which had become an Aqua Blur by the end of the day. Then rinsed her off and threw the cover on before pollen recoated her.
 
This afternoon I removed the gauge cluster from our truck so that I can have new gauge stepper motors installed. The speedo stepper motor failed last week and I am sure the other 4 steppers are not far behind.

I removed the dash air bag (the rear facing nuts were removed a couple of years ago (y)) ... easy peasey to remove it now, and then I removed the entire upper fascia. My sense is that removing the entire fascia made the cluster removal job easier and provided better access to the gauge cluster itself. And with 19 year old brittle plastic parts, bending things just seemed too risky.

For those that haven't removed their gauge cluster, there are four 7 mm screws that secure the cluster to the 'dashboard'. As has been pointed out by others, the 2 longer upper screws are interesting to remove due to the limited space. I used a 1/4" micro-ratchet with a short 7 mm socket and they were easily removed. The micro-ratchet fits nicely in the limited space and you don't have to fuss with using a universal joint configuration. A magnet to pick out the screws also proved to be a good idea (thanks @Dicktator and others).

Photo below compares a regular 1/4" drive ratchet to my micro-ratchet.


Hand tool Tool Wrench Metalworking hand tool Kitchen utensil
Ratchet Tool Musical instrument Wrench Hand tool
 
Took Babe out for a quick “test spin”. See what I did there @richsadams?:LOL::ROFLMAO::LOL: Made my passenger (and me) smile as the whine got louder and louder, with the boost gauge firmly on 8lbs as we “merged”. Full disclosure: I slightly buzzed a shift, but didn’t it matter. Babe kept right on pulling hard. We then came upon another launch ramp a couple minutes later, this time no buzz, just a little wiggle here and there. I need to work on managing that better.

Driving a supercharged R never gets old. 😎
 
I completed a visit to @TXNSSR to retrieve my SSR after Robert's expert installation of a Magnuson Supercharger kit. Robert provided a great deal of helpful suggestions and advice during his installation and the visit, and we had a chance to take a drive in both of our trucks on Sunday. Robert's "Babe" is even more impressive in person than the pics of that ROTY truck on the Forum, and that SSR really performs!

The 1,300+ mile drive home from TX to PA was a blast with the additional power. I'm really looking forward to the run to Flagstaff and Branson.

Many thanks to @TXNSSR for all of his help, and to @Mike in AZ for his efforts in making an SSR-specific Magnuson Kit available to Fanatics. The process was as enjoyable as the outcome.
 
13,081 - 13,100 of 14,791 Posts
Top