My new econobox! (2000 Kia Sephia 1.8I4 16V DOHC 5 Speed)

[dirtydave]

The kelly bluebook says $1300. heh It was listed on craigslist for $700 and I paid $500. Only a fool would pay $1300 for this car.

Here's the factory AirDam on my grandfathers el camino / work truck/ winter beater. First tank 15MPG

[dirtydave]

So back in September I started this thread about some issues I was having.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...nce-30001.html

Well I haven't been driving the KIA much because work has slowed down to a crawl and I have been doing work online and around the house. Also searching for boat-tail materials.

The other day I went to the dollar store and heard a terrible noise, front left tire. I figured the wheel bearing took a crap. Great timing! U-turn in the middle of the road, 5 MPH limp back to the house. Put my finger on the brake pad / rotor. HOT AS HELL. look for a tire iron. no luck. found one made in china in the shed and it snapped right off. Its raining. a job for another day.

Fast forward to today. Bartered a friend for a american made steel tire iron! 1970's era!

heh



Look strange? Yeah man! I broke the damn lug nuts right off the bolts!

*sigh*



This was stuck between the dust guard / rotor! Making the terrible noise!
WTF IS IT? A DEAD COTTER PIN?!?!

So NOW I am going to replace the tie rod ends and the wheel bearings.
(I didn't beat winter to the job )

Shouldn't be too hard. I have never done it but I spent about 2-3 hours on Youtube and in my Haynes manual today. If can borrow the tools I can do it! Seriously.... nothing to lose here! I'm not a pro (If for some strange reason you couldn't tell.) But I'll do my best!

Hopefully the rotor is OK on the inside... All original bolts are still stuck.
PB blaster all around!! Working with a slim $99 for this job! RockAuto + email coupon!!

Let's do it!
*snow tomorrow, maybe not tomorrow

[dirtydave]

It turns out that was the bearing seal all jumbled up and stuck in there. The bearing failed and actually damaged the hub at the same time. I ordered new hubs for both sides bearings for both sides and seals. Just under $85.. I'm sure ill need grease or a bolt or something else as well. Very close to the $99 mark!

[Daox]

Glad to hear you figure out the issue. Can you currently drive it?

[dirtydave]

No I can't because the parts are in the mail and when I took the hub out of the bearing it all fell apart. Little silver balls all over the place.


Also I have been getting 45-50 MPG with this issue! Can't wait for another MPG bump when its all done.

Also I will set to 0 toe and get them napa brake clips if they make them for the Sephia.

[MetroMPG]

I hate doing winter car repairs.

At the rate you're going, I bet you'll have your boat tail made before mine, too!

[dirtydave]

Slow and Steady!

[dirtydave]

Ordered some stuff for the car today.

That $45 deep cycle I got a while back was a dud. Recycled it for $18.
I'm going to buy a fresh Group 24 soon. Put it in the trunk. Hopefully rob a truck at the junkyard of some nice long battery cables.

As I wait for my parts to arrive I am working on a rechargeable battery powered adjustable grill block!

[dirtydave]

First I took a POS electric screwdriver I found at work.
here is a link to one on ebay Cordless Screwdriver 3 6 Volt Ni CAD Adjustable | eBay



This thing is powered by 3 Ni-Cad AA batteries. And has enough torque to spin in a circle and that's about it. Horrible as an actual screwdriver.

Anyway
Went outside and measured the desired grill opening. 3" X 11" should be plenty for this car. If not It will be easy to make larger this summer.

I took it apart, sniped the wires that go from the switch to the motor,
Strip'ed em, got a super long strand of speaker wire (15' - 18').
Added the new wire Taped it all up. Put the other guts in a plastic box.




Add tape. Left a spot without tape to see the charging LED. I put the motor in a plastic bag to help waterproof it. Found a old metal coat hanger and duct taped it to the part that spins on the motor.

(wish I had zipties would work better.) Cut a piece of coroplast 3" X 11" put the coat hanger in the grooves.


I'm going to let it charge a while. after it is on the car I will need an extension cord to charge it. I figured it will last a while on a charge because I am only going to spin it once or twice a day.

Went out to the car and realized that I had to cut the motor off the box to fish it up and around to the inside of the car. and add about 3' more wire.




Works like a charm! I need some zipties and some masking tape to put on the edges around the piece of coroplast to fill the gaps. Ugly but works fine! Fits good on the dash wedged under the small useless solar panel.

Keep it ghetto yall!

[ME_Andy]

Found a new way to save $ that might interest you-- a rewards credit card! Now I'll be getting 1% back on everything, 5% on certain types of purchases.

Of course you'll have to start out with a crappy credit card if you don't have any credit history and build up from there.