1997 Sunfire 4 spd automatic repair & modding

[Daox]

I got a new wheel cylinder last night. I'll throw it on over the weekend. Its starting to lock up pretty badly again and has been for the past week or so. I just take it easy and use engine braking if need be.

[Daox]

I put the new wheel cylinder on last night. I got good brakes again, yay!

[Xist]

Originally Posted by Daox

I put the new wheel cylinder on last night. I got good brakes again, yay!

I tried to do that the other day, but my friend still had my tools, so I went to U-fix it. It was not my major concern, it was only my rear wheels, and I try to minimize braking. Both sides leaked, but the brakes worked fine. We took care of the other issues, at least as much as we could, and I decided to replace the cylinders, but I had not looked into it, and my repair manual did not have very good instructions. The mechanic said that he would tell me how, but he took over.

Does your parking break feel different now? I figure that it was because I was low on fluid.

[Daox]

Nope, my parking brake still feels the same, still doesn't work worth a darn...

[Carbon]

GM parking brakes... they're only good for about 20,000 miles from the assembly line... including the trip on the trailer to the dealership.

[Daox]

Yeah, thats what I've found out. Its too bad too, I use and like to use the parking brake on my cars!

[Daox]

Last night was the beginning of the end. I started getting the Sunfire ready to sell. It was just the normal maintenance stuff that needed being done last night, but there'll be a few more things done to it. Also, before the Sunfire is ready to go, I still have to get some work done on the Metro.

Last night I did:
1) tire rotation
2) oil change
3) air filter change

To do yet:
1) fix evap code (small leak)
2) possibly fix A/C, though I don't know if its worth the time since the car is only worth ~$1200
3) wash and wax
4) clean up the interior
5) polish headlights (going to use the spar urethane & mineral spirits coating, I'll post it when I do it)

I'm also pretty excited to get into the Metro. With the weather getting pretty cold in the morning (30F this morning!), I've been struggling to even get 30 mpg out of the Sunfire.

[Daox]

I took care of #3, 4 and 5 this weekend. I cleaned the car up and washed it. I also polished the headlights.

I purchased a new gas cap for it on Friday and reset the codes, but the check engine light came back on this morning on the way in to work. Looks like I have an evap leak to track down. I'm not really looking forward to that. Anyone got any tips?

[Daox]

I have to work on the evap code yet. I have a leak that isn't at the gas cap. Still looking for suggestions on how to track that down.

Anyways, last night was most likely the last fill up for the Sunfire. The Metro is ready enough to get on the road. But anyway, 448.3 miles on 13.56 gallons gave me 33.1 mpg. Not bad for the last tank, thats my 4th best tank. The lifetime is only at 26.7 mpg, but thats still higher than the EPAs rating of 25 mpg combined.

[IsaacCarlson]

You may have seen my thread on the 3800 sunfire. If not, I am putting a 3800 series 2 in a 2002 sunfire. The motor was in our olds 88 and that car got 30-32 in stock form and weighed 2 tons with us in it. I got it up to 46 mpg with aero mods before it rusted out. The sunfire is still solid, so the motor/tranny will go in there. It is 1,000 lbs lighter and smaller. I am hoping to see 40-50 mpg average once completed. I was toying with a mid engine build, but that would take out the back seat, and we didn't like that with a boy and 2 dogs. The balance would have been awesome though. Can you find a 3800 engine? They can be found in junk cars or on craigslist. Some have superchargers on them