atom two upgrade

[s996]

I began tear down yesterday for a few improvements and wanted to post a few observations. I consider myself quite wrench worthy over the years with a well stocked shop but was suprised with this job.

The tear down to get the tank gaskets and the supercharger out involves several bizarre steps. 

The first and most difficult of the day was removal of the seats.  12 allen bolts in a very tight spot made for a few sore muscles today. 
The fire wall was removed after drilling all the "rivettes" out. And then the multiple steps to get the SC free were like trying to pull 300 pound gorilla though a key hole.  I didnt think it would go with the MAP sensor in place but it did.

After seeing the oil filter for the first time I wondered- who would put an oil fillter in a place like that?  how much is the remote kit?

Overall only a few sore muscles and I dont think I broke anything.

Hopefully back and running in a week or so.

[silver]

so are you doing the harrop swap then?

what are you plans?

I think the oil relocation kit is like $1200 with the oil cooler, not sure how much just a filter relocation kit is, but once you've changed the oil 1 time, your next time is easily done in 15 minutes, or at least for me it was that much easier the 2nd time.

[s996]

Now not the sc change, but all the shinoo upgrades.  I need to change the tank gaskets and the insert for the intercooler at the intake.

I would just like to move the filter.  I thought we didnt need an oil cooler addition ??

I would like to figure out something for the filter though.

[silver]

oh I see, I was wondering why you would remove the supercharger, I guess if it's easy to take off and gives you more room to work, makes sense.

There have been a few threads on here about the oil filter replacement, we have a stock factory oil cooler that's hard to see but it's crammed in there, the $1200 kit when we did the research seemed to comprise of about $150 worth of parts except there were some custom pieces fabricated for fitment, sooooo, if you just want to move the filter, just google an oil filter relocation kit for a cobat ss

found these but I'm not sure if they would work with the LSJ

http://www.summitracing.com/search/Depa ... roductName

[Heywood-Yablowme]

The oil filter is not as difficult to change as it seems.Once you move the shift cables up just a bit,the filter is accessed OK.  No,not easily,but if you only change it every 3-5k miles,I don't think the relocation kit is that necessary. The filter is a snap when the LSJ is in its regular engine bay,with lots of access to the front on the engine,like on a Cobalt or Saab(fwd). In all honesty,I don't plan on replacing my filter every oil change as I don't see the need.
You must have the individual seating to have 12 bolts.The one piece "tub" is held in place with 4 bolts.
To remove the blower in the future,if you remove the LF motor mount/tranny mount bolt (just the one large through bolt) and drop the transaxle/motor assy 1/2",it makes all the difference in the world getting the blower on/off.
I replaced my blower,most of the intercooler plumbing,and all the tank gaskets without drilling out the firewall.

[DarthChicken]

if you remove the supercharger and put a turbo on the car, there is ALL SORTS of room to change the filter.  Just one more reason to turbo.

[s996]

Yes its those bolts under the front of the individual seats that were the hardest.  I needed a cable flex, 1/4 inch 3/16 allen attachment.  Snap on has one but I dont.

As for the oil.  When they put this motor in the atom the very first modification the engineers should have thought about after, remove the hood and latch is to move the fiilter.  Can you reach in from the side without taking things off the top to get to it?  maybe between the ecu and the wheel?

lots of fun!!!! cant wait for summer.


anyone going to VIR in april? Silver, Darth and MAx you need to come this way so I can check out your upgrades.

[s996]

Silver,

the shinoo kit has a new intake with the IC portion modified.  Believe me, I would never dig that deep just to see what it looks like!!

[silver]

[quote="s996"]
Yes its those bolts under the front of the individual seats that were the hardest.  I needed a cable flex, 1/4 inch 3/16 allen attachment.  Snap on has one but I dont.

As for the oil.  When they put this motor in the atom the very first modification the engineers should have thought about after, remove the hood and latch is to move the fiilter.  Can you reach in from the side without taking things off the top to get to it?  maybe between the ecu and the wheel?

lots of fun!!!! cant wait for summer.


anyone going to VIR in april? Silver, Darth and MAx you need to come this way so I can check out your upgrades.


[/quote]

A:  I didn't find taking the seats out too difficult, I used an angled ratcheting wrench, you might want to pick a set up for your reinstall, took me 15 minutes to do each seat if memory serves, I bought my set from harbor freight, $5 for the whole set, apparently the expensive ones from snapon/matco don't fit as they are different lengths...

B: do you have the oil filter wrench that brammo supplied with the car? when you attach a standard 3/8 socket head to the end of that wrench it fits perfectly inside and over the oil filter top, you can move it about 1/32 of a turn each time you push the wrench in there, but after 10-20 tiny turns you can do the rest by hand.  As MAD already stated, you do need to move the shifter cables around to make this work by putting the car in different gears, I think maybe 3rd or 5th gives the most slack, but I can't remember.

C: no VIR for me too far away and I can't really take time off work...not for the foreseeable future.

[Heywood-Yablowme]

S996,I will be going to VIR some time this year. The club I run with, COMSCC  (comscc.org) is not going there this year,but I will be at some time...I have not decided with which club,yet.    Some clubs won't let me run because I run my Atom fenderless,and they have decided it is an open wheel car,which it absolutely isn't.It is only a street car without fenders,just like a 32 Ford coupe without fenders or a Plymouth Prowler without fenders,or a Caterham or Locost without fenders.. There is a huge difference!  BMWCCA is so anal...         There are plenty of other clubs that don't care what you drive as long as it techs OK for safety.  I will be giving THEM my money.. . 
S996,you should consider coming up to Monticello motor park (in NY) on May 3rd/4th with COMSCC as there should be a few Atoms there,one from the factory(Mark Swain),Marcus may come up with his Atom3, and myself. Might even be a Nemesis if Fran decides to play.. Plus the whole COM clan: a really great bunch of track hounds! There is also a new Atom3 owner in NH (yea!) who is talking about running his car on track as well. Once he gets acclimated to his car....maybe I can convince him to come to Monticello to play as well.  Atoms East! 

[Terry Kennedy]

The first and most difficult of the day was removal of the seats.  12 allen bolts in a very tight spot made for a few sore muscles today. 

12? Allen?

My individual seats are held on the frames w/ 4 hex head bolts (each). The fronts are an incredible PITA.

The fire wall was removed after drilling all the "rivettes" out.

Will you be installing matching riv-nuts and bolts? You can get stainless Allen head bolts that match the other ones on the car perfectly. For small quantities, you can get them at Lowes, etc. and for larger quantities (and the riv-nuts and tool) from McMaster.

After seeing the oil filter for the first time I wondered- who would put an oil fillter in a place like that?  how much is the remote kit?

You have to remember that in the cars the engine was designed for, that cap is quite accessible.

The problem with remoting it is that the only good place to do it is by removing the oil cooler from the block. Fortunately, the block adapter is the only Ecotec-specific part of the install - the rest of the parts are generic.

One thing to be aware of is that the oil filter housing on the block has a valve to block the oil if the engine is run without a filter and cap on. You need a spring that presses down on this valve when the cap is put back without the filter, or you won't flow any oil.

As far as why Brammo didn't do this on all cars - they blew up an engine the first time they tried it, and it took some work before they had a setup they were comfortable with. That didn't happen until around October or November of 2006.

I've put up a page with pictures of the Brammo remote filter and cooler setup, here.

[s996]

Max,  when you are coming to the south let me know, there are a lot of groups at VIR that will let atoms run, but like you say a few are very strict like PCA.  I stopped running my turbo on DE's and they say no to the atom - good bye PCA

Terry,

2 allen head bolts about 3/16s in the rear and 4 bolts on at  the front of each seat - agree PITA

Are those stainless rivets?  can I put them in with my regular pop rivet tool?

The oil cooler write up is great.  you have a weatlh of info about the atom.  As for the cooler swap, expensive.  I may just struggle through the changes as needed-- unless it starts running hot.

Do you have any other write ups like that one?

thanks again guys

[Terry Kennedy]

2 allen head bolts about 3/16s in the rear and 4 bolts on at  the front of each seat - agree PITA

I expect you have the later Sparco (fuzzy) seats instead of the Recaros I have.

Are those stainless rivets?  can I put them in with my regular pop rivet tool?

I was suggesting using the same Riv-nuts that were used elsewhere on the car. They're available from McMaster, as are the Allen head stainless screws and (if you need 'em) the rubber-and-metal washer that is used between the Allen head screws and the body panels. If you need me to, I can dig up all of those part numbers.

The oil cooler write up is great.  you have a weatlh of info about the atom.  As for the cooler swap, expensive.  I may just struggle through the changes as needed-- unless it starts running hot.

You can probably get all the parts on the general market - the only LSJ-specific part is the oil cooler replacement adapter, and I'm sure some Cobalt guys know where to get those.

Do you have any other write ups like that one?

I'd start at http://www.tmk.com/atom

[s996]

Terry,

You have put together a great site.

Your daily log of the dragon is spectacular.

I live about 2 1/2 hours from the dragon tail and even so, we dont frequent it enough.

[s996]

update

Shinoo's bits are in the mail.

I have removed the exhaust for the hytech and the intake manifold today to get to the laminova? tubes.

I have a couple of tips for the next warrior:

first- the intake just barely fits between the engine and frame.  you MUST remove the two lateral studs from the head to get it to move left or right.

next tip.  I used up 2 new torx sockets to get the old studs out of the exhaust and still  double nut worked best.



Question  I dont know the right answer -- how should I plum the new system? any thermdynamic guys around?

1 Leave the old IC and plumbing and add on
2 remove the old IC and use the new IC alone
3 redirect the flow to avoid air lock

Question how can I tell which wiring loom I have/need for 60 injectors?  I have the grey/blue ones now do I need to order new ones for upgraded injectors?