What did you do to your GMT today?

[dmanns67]

Anyone wanna sell me their black bezel headlights loool
Attempted for the second time to paint the bezels of my headlights black and then i got to the sealer they use to seal the lenses to the housings and gave up lool
Anyone know a easier way to get in there? Or a easy solution? Im at the point where im debating whether or not to cut into the lenses

Almost all GM headlight housings are permasealed which makes it very difficult to seperate the lens from the housing. Some retrofitters will cut the headlight open with a dremel behind the lens. You could also try baking the headlight 200 to 225 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes to get the permaseal softened up. I would recommend getting a heat gun versus the oven technique. You could also purchase OEM style DEPO headlights and those are not permasealed. DEPO headlights is what I used to do my retrofit.

Here is a video of dremeling the headlight open. Then you could use some epoxy to seal everything up.

[video=youtube;55Glb9UyVo0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Glb9UyVo0[/video]

 

[longspur]

Well after 8 years as a passsenger vehicle it has come time to turn this thing into a work truck. Not ideal but it did what it had too. I bought a 3.5 ton dumper and today made the Envoy tow a ton and a 1/2 of material.

It is at its limit at this point, yo9u could feel the pull. Now we will see what problems begin to show there ugly head. thsi is the first time I have ever used it to pull somthing that heavy - overall it was a pretty good experience.

 

[fr34kout]

I cut my headlights open with a dremel and resealed them with silicone. Not the best way to do it, but it works.

 

[Ryda55555]

I was trying to cut it with a dremel till i hit the permaseal lool got maybe an inch of permaseal off and said screw it lool
What is the depo lights sealed with? Silicone?
And i might cut the lenses before the permaseal just dont wanna ruin anything and be headlightless

 

[DDonnie]

figured i would tackle my in mirror turn signals that lasted 10 minutes I have 2 mirrors (glass) pieces on order I'm going to do mine little different with the same effect. I only have a tiny chip in the one but I can already see it saving me a lot of work just being able to rip those old mirrors right off. UPS needs to hurry up so I can get this trans cooler moving.

Ouch! At least now you don't have to be careful taking off the back

 

[Ryda55555]

Almost all GM headlight housings are permasealed which makes it very difficult to seperate the lens from the housing. Some retrofitters will cut the headlight open with a dremel behind the lens. You could also try baking the headlight 200 to 225 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes to get the permaseal softened up. I would recommend getting a heat gun versus the oven technique. You could also purchase OEM style DEPO headlights and those are not permasealed. DEPO headlights is what I used to do my retrofit.

Here is a video of dremeling the headlight open. Then you could use some epoxy to seal everything up.

[video=youtube;55Glb9UyVo0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Glb9UyVo0[/video]

Yea i cut one open already like that thanks to conekilrautox but the bezel is still permasealed to the remaining housing and lense and even cutting the clips off the bezel its still sealed... Im debating whether or not to order pre blacked headlights off ebay for $120 +$80 shipping
But i'd honestly rather use the money for a tune and do the headlights myself

 

[fr34kout]

Do it yourself! Even if the bezels are black, that hideous orange reflector is still there lmao. If you want, next time I get a chance I can take a pic of where I cut my headlights to get them open. I would recommend ordering a new set (TYC from RockAuto are very good replicas, but their clear coat on the lens starts to peel off within 6 months. I would recommend having a body shop spray a good coat of clear over them) and then using your OEM set as a test bench. Once you figure out how it works on your OEM ones (and you have 2 chances to mess up) you can to to town on the new set lol.

 

[Ryda55555]

Its raining all weekend but that would be great. Damnnn.. The more i think about it the more i want to do it....

Plus how bad can i mess up? Hahahaha

 

[dmanns67]

Yea i cut one open already like that thanks to conekilrautox but the bezel is still permasealed to the remaining housing and lense and even cutting the clips off the bezel its still sealed... Im debating whether or not to order pre blacked headlights off ebay for $120 +$80 shipping
But i'd honestly rather use the money for a tune and do the headlights myself

Ok, I got ya now. I thought you were having issues separating the lens from the housing which is why I suggest the dremel route. I thought you were planning on painting all of the chrome black, other than the headlight reflector bowl for the headlight bulb.

On another note, I shipped out the PCM for its tune today. Should be back and installed by Thursday next week!

 

[tokahao]

Got tired of the rear bottoming out around town so I raised it an inch with the 1" spacers Tony threw in with the Belltech 2/3 drop kit. Rides like a dream now

 

[Ryda55555]

Wth is up with you hawaians? Can you ship some mod bugs to me so i know how you're modding your voys? Lool keep it up!

 

[fr34kout]

Do you know what it was bottoming out on? If you didn't remove the bump stops, you could probably take them out and ride without the spacer and not bottom out. Unless you already removed them and your axle is starting to hit your frame like me =/

 

[tokahao]

Do you know what it was bottoming out on? If you didn't remove the bump stops, you could probably take them out and ride without the spacer and not bottom out. Unless you already removed them and your axle is starting to hit your frame like me =/

You bottoming out even with the C-notch?

Learned from others before me to replace the stock bump stops with the shorter ones from the Belltech kit. However, Day-1 of being lowered proved that it wasn't cut short enough and I had to remove the bump stops all together. Just by looking at it I only had maybe 2" of clearance between the bump stop catch plate and the frame. Good thing is I don't see any proof that the axle met the frame but I could be wrong.

 

[BO TIE SS]

(yesterday) Sanded and polished the IPCW tails that I had re-painted...

 

[05tbowner]

Installed my new 20" tires for my tbss rims. I really like the tread pattern and they are a ton better than the Goodyear rsa's that came with them. Will take a picture later. Also painted my iPhone otterbox case the same color as my trailblazer.

 

[fr34kout]

(yesterday) Sanded and polished the IPCW tails that I had re-painted...

The tail lights look good Sam! Are they clear coated as well? The left one looks a little less shiny, but it might just be the red barely coming through and tricking my eyes haha.

You bottoming out even with the C-notch?

Learned from others before me to replace the stock bump stops with the shorter ones from the Belltech kit. However, Day-1 of being lowered proved that it wasn't cut short enough and I had to remove the bump stops all together. Just by looking at it I only had maybe 2" of clearance between the bump stop catch plate and the frame. Good thing is I don't see any proof that the axle met the frame but I could be wrong.

The guy didn't measure correctly, TWICE. The notch is supposed to give me an extra 2" of clearance, but the axle is hitting the front plate instead of the top plate. Instead of letting him cut up my truck 3 times and probably still going it wrong, I'm going to do it myself when I get around to swapping a TBSS rear end.

 

[Darkrider_LS]

Got a tire repaired...thats about it lol

 

[STLtrailbSS]

View attachment 28541

 

[Darkrider_LS]

View attachment 15020

Torque app?

 

[STLtrailbSS]

Yeah I just used Velcro disc it held on launch so I'm ok with it

 

[Darkrider_LS]

Yeah I just used Velcro disc it held on launch so I'm ok with it

Nice! Eventually i want to get a tablet and possibly use a proclip mount to place it in roughly the same area for the same reason. But ultimately i will prob wind up using my old Samsung Galaxy S for that purpose mounted down by the Hvac controls.

 

[dmanns67]

Cleaned the K&N air filter. Thinking about upgrading to the Spectre 6"x10" air filter. Anyone ever use Spectre air filters before? Pros/Cons?

 

[tokahao]

Tapped into the vent relay RAP power source in the rear seat fuse block to power the headrest monitors, and USB hub. :wootwoot:

 

[tokahao]

...when I get around to swapping a TBSS rear end.

 

[fr34kout]

I've been wanting to do it for a while simply for the increased acceleration. 4.10 gear ratio vs 3.42 should be pretty noticeable. I'm hoping I can find one locally instead of paying 3-400 for shipping alone.

 

[BO TIE SS]

The tail lights look good Sam!

Thanks!

Are they clear coated as well? The left one looks a little less shiny, but it might just be the red barely coming through and tricking my eyes haha.

Yep, several coats of clear. One could be finished a little better than the other. I couldn't find my 3000 grit paper, and was in a hurry when I was polishing them up. I'll be touching them up when I get to the store and buy more sand paper.

 

[ConeKilrAutoX]

successfully tapped the oil pan! pics in my build thread. WHAT A GREAT DAY TODAY IS

 

[Short Bus]

I ordered these

[EBAY]140973979025[/EBAY]

 

[Boricua SS]

by far the most I've driven the beaSSt in over 3 years and the first time she has felt mother natures elements in over a year (got caught in a rain storm coming home from the Columbus meet last year)... put about 1000 miles on her in 4 days going to jrSS' house and going to Chicago for the Midwest meet (which rained all 3 days)...

drove home today, and she'll be going to the dealership this week (as soon as tomorrow, but gotta call the dealership) for her last and final surgery... Crate motor is waiting for me as I type :wootwoot:... if this surgery fails, adios SS , but I just don't have a choice... more updates to come...

 

[STLtrailbSS]

Was doing a ton of maintenance getting the tranny cooler all perfect.... Checked oil my SS is thirsty in a bad way I had lost almost 1 1/2 quarts of oil. Changed it immediately double checked filter seal and drain bolt all tight. Plan on watching it like a hawk noticed no leaking my engine is damn clean. Something is not right.. almost positive there is some knock going on but I can not distinguish if its a lifter or legit rod. Great timing.

 

[Boricua SS]

hope you don't have to go through what I just did... hoping for the best man...

 

[DDonnie]

Not really to the gmt, but started working on my write-up for the tablet install(by popular demand). It's going to take forever to finish this thing, lol

 

[Sparky]

Well over the past couple of days I've put 730 miles on the truck and spent 13 hours behind the wheel It was worth it to go to the midwest meet however The new headlights are nice at night also They need a slight adjustment (driver side is a little low) but not much.

I've also been looking at replacement liftgate prices (why does green have to be so hard to find!) and reading up on fiberglass. Curious how cheaply I can do some body work myself to get a little more life out of it.

 

[fr34kout]

What bodywork are you considering using fiberglass on? I can't think of anything on the exterior of the car that is made from fiberglass.

 

[Fire06]

by far the most I've driven the beaSSt in over 3 years and the first time she has felt mother natures elements in over a year (got caught in a rain storm coming home from the Columbus meet last year)... put about 1000 miles on her in 4 days going to jrSS' house and going to Chicago for the Midwest meet (which rained all 3 days)...

drove home today, and she'll be going to the dealership this week (as soon as tomorrow, but gotta call the dealership) for her last and final surgery... Crate motor is waiting for me as I type :wootwoot:... if this surgery fails, adios SS , but I just don't have a choice... more updates to come...

You have waited a long time for this... Hopefully it goes well for you and the beasst.

 

[Ryda55555]

I guess third times the charm :wootwoot:
1 down 1 to go

 

[BINGA]

I guess third times the charm :wootwoot:
1 down 1 to go

Looking good man Waiting for the end result pic...

 

[Ryda55555]

The question is, should i or should i not leave the signal cover on
Signal cover might make it too black and it wont contrast nicely

 

[Playsinsnow]

The question is, should i or should i not leave the signal cover on
Signal cover might make it too black and it wont contrast nicely

Without seeing a pic of either, I say ON all the way...

 

[jrSS]

Removed vht from old tail light. Boredom