Growing up doesn't have to suck

[iamdub]

My $39 and $23 lower control arms were delivered today. They're listed and boxed as ACDelco Professional and they look legit- ACDelco parts labels with numbers, etc. Boxes were beat up but the arms have no damage, ball joint boots and studs had plastic shields, shiny black paint and the bare metal inside the holes and on the edges of the bushing bosses is clean and shiny with no rust. I was pleasantly surprised to see the ball joints have Zerk fittings. The plastic they're wrapped in has a sticker with "EXCK620888" (lower left arm) and "EXCK620889" (lower right arm). Searching those numbers leads me to believe they are Moog CK-series arms. Looks like I'll have matching upper and lower control arms, all with greasable ball joints. And I got both of these to my doorstep for less than what one arm cost before shipping. The only con is that one arm is missing the ball joint nut. For what I got these for, I can't complain!

Ordered from eBay, arrived in Amazon boxes with Amazon gift receipts inside. These came from the same seller, LH arm in smaller box, RH arm in ridiculously over-sized other box:




Grease Zerks!




Anyone recognize these stampings?

 

[swathdiver]

I see that SH come up all on several different brands doing a google.

 

[iamdub]

I see that SH come up all on several different brands doing a google.

Just figured it out- it's Shih Hsiang Auto Parts Co., Ltd., a supplier for MOOG and apparently ACDelco, among many others.

 

[iamdub]

Nothing exciting to update, but I took it through the automatic car wash then filled up with 24 gallons of ethanol-free 91 octane ($68 ). Then headed to an inspection station about 20 miles away 'cuz the guy said he wouldn't hassle me about the tint. On a relatively flat and clear stretch of road after leaving the gas station, I noticed it was immediately getting about 2 more MPG, thanks to the tank of straight gasoline. With the cruise set on 55, the instant fuel economy showed an average of 22 MPG. Stays around 19 MPG when cruising at 70 and 18 MPG at 75.

Took a pic cuz it was the first wash in months. It makes my shop look tiny- that's a 10'x10' door. Lowering should help this as well as improve the MPG:




My new sway bar bushings were waiting when I got home so I may toss them in real quick. I'm happy to see they're polyurethane and made in U.S.A:

 

[iamdub]

After replacing those sway bar bushings, I decided it was time for some simple aesthetic improvements.

I christened my new heat gun by using it to shave the finger pad off the back glass.

Before:



After:




^^^ Oh yeah, I continued on by peeling off that scratched "chromed" bow tie...


... And painting it with some ACDelco touch-up spray paint I found late one night in a dusty corner of teh interwebz. I used some clear coat I got from an auto paint supply store a few years ago. Last time I tried this stuff it made the color really hazy so I practiced on a spare broken mirror cap. Pleasantly surprised, I proceeded and am very happy with the results! The clear laid deep and flat. No orange peel:




The color is plenty close enough to this OEM color-keyed door handle. The bowtie looks to have a very slight bronze tint to it by comparison and this pic makes it stand out worse than it does in person. It'll completely blend in with the body once installed and you'd have to really be looking for a difference:




...Which brings me to revealing another little surprise. I stumbled upon a full set of nearly-perfect OEM Graystone Metallic door handles about a week ago on ebay. My guess is they were taken off when nearly new to be replaced by chrome ones and were stored ever since. I wasn't totally in the market cuz I planned on trading someone their color-matched handles and mirror caps for my chrome LTZ pieces. But the deal for these new ones was way too good to pass up. Buying them is what prompted me to buy that touch-up paint so I could paint the mirror caps.

 

[iamdub]

Temporarily stuck it in place for pics:











I'm wondering if I should've left that outer part chrome. I may fill the thin area between the outer edge and raised center with gloss black. Since I'm doing away with all the chrome, I think I'll just do that black line.

Now that I know this paint and clear work great, next is painting the front bow tie. While that's drying, I think I'll start de-badging...

 

[iamdub]

Replaced the Axxess-GMOS-LAN29 radio interface with a PAC C2R-GM29 I had on the shelf. I like the PAC's warning tone sound over the GMOS's because it's closer to the original sound. It's a bit loud and I can't adjust it. I also like that the blinker sound isn't from a relay clicking. It, too, is electronic and more similar to the original sound. As a bonus, my steering wheel controls work now. I never could get the Axxess ASWC-1 to work with the GMOS even though they were the same brand and the GMOS was prewired for the Axxess interface. It took a bunch of back-and-forth reading between PAC's and Axxess's sites, but the problem was the way it was wired. The input wire needed to be tapped to the factory data line, before the radio interface, regardless of it's brand. Upon power-up, it programmed itself to the Tahoe and Pioneer and the default settings are intuitive and just how I want them.


Harness ****:





It's been raining and they're harvesting the sugar cane around me, so the Tahoe is too filthy to mess with the body so I haven't finished debadging it. Maybe I'll rinse it tomorrow and do a little.


Speaking of body mods... Anyone want a full set of chrome door handles and mirror caps? Maybe I'll post in the classifieds.

 

[iamdub]

To complete the de-chroming, I'm gonna have to do something about the grille. I could just trade someone my LTZ grille for their LT or LS grille, but I'm considering doing some paintwork.

Lemme know what y'all think about these ideas.

All black (what's chrome around the bow tie on this one would be body color or black):




Just the middle part black. I know these are inserts, just pretend it's the chrome lacing painted black and the outer shell body color:




Or, should I get fancy and cut it all out for this piece? I'd really like to see this grille on a Graystone or even silver Tahoe to get a better idea:

 

[GranPrix]

Which ever the second is, it's SICK!

 

[HiHoeSilver]

I also like #2.