SS #670 Assorted hacks

SS #670 Assorted hacks

Here is a list of hacks I've done to my SS. Many involve OEM parts.

Hack Description

Antenna Spiral-wrapped radio antenna cuts wind noise

Battery Terminal Covers Battery terminal covers protect against shorts

Body Control Module Resolder relay to fix retained accessory power

Engine Oil Life Reset Alternate way to reset the oil change light

Ebrake Handle Shim ebrake handle

Exhaust hanger squeak Install Teflon washer

Fuel Tank Cap Revised gas cap hangs away from body

Garage Door Opener Console mounted garage door remote

Hatch Release Fix Cure a stick hatch release

Headlight Switch Lamp Replace burned out headlight switch module lamp

Horn Splash Shields Protect horns from water

HVAC Cable Adjustment Eliminate binding in the temperature control knob

Oil Cap Mobil 1 logo oil filler cap

Remote Spare keyless entry fob and keys

US Flag Patriotic static cling decal

Weatherstrip Lubricant GM weatherstrip lubricant

Window Motor Window Lift Motor Upgrade

Hack	Description
Antenna	Spiral-wrapped radio antenna cuts wind noise
Battery Terminal Covers	Battery terminal covers protect against shorts
Body Control Module	Resolder relay to fix retained accessory power
Engine Oil Life Reset	Alternate way to reset the oil change light
Ebrake Handle	Shim ebrake handle
Exhaust hanger squeak	Install Teflon washer
Fuel Tank Cap	Revised gas cap hangs away from body
Garage Door Opener	Console mounted garage door remote
Hatch Release Fix	Cure a stick hatch release
Headlight Switch Lamp	Replace burned out headlight switch module lamp
Horn Splash Shields	Protect horns from water
HVAC Cable Adjustment	Eliminate binding in the temperature control knob
Oil Cap	Mobil 1 logo oil filler cap
Remote	Spare keyless entry fob and keys
US Flag	Patriotic static cling decal
Weatherstrip Lubricant	GM weatherstrip lubricant
Window Motor	Window Lift Motor Upgrade

Antenna

My car came with a black 18" AM/FM antenna. Newer cars have antennas with spiral staking (like my cell phone antenna). This is supposed to cut down on wind noise. I think it looks cool so I went to my dealer and had my buddies at the parts counter lookup the part number of one of the cars on the lot that had the new style antenna (GM 15739183).

Battery Terminal Covers

I noticed that the battery cables had lips on them as if they were designed to accept a protective cap. One day a friend saw caps on the battery of a 1995 Lumina; that was all I needed to order and install red (GM 12010050) and black (GM 12010049) caps on my battery cables.

Body Control Module

Over the years I've had a very intermittent problem where the radio would turn off for a few seconds and turn back on. When it started happening more frequently I did some research and found that this is a common 4th generation F-Body issue. The cause is one or more bad solder joints on a relay in the body control module. Symptoms include radio, retained accessory power and/or power windows intermittently working.

When you get the BCM opened up look at terminals of the larger relay. The picture on the right shows what mine looked like before resoldering it.

Engine Oil Life Reset

GM's Oil Life System is pretty slick; it keeps track of track of RPMs, engine coolant temperature, engine load, air intake temperature and vehicle mileage and uses heuristics to estimate when the oil should be changed. At somewhere between 3000 and 7500 miles (less than 3000 if you drive more aggressively), it illuminates the oil change light indicating it's time to change the engine oil and filter.

The owner's manual says the way to reset the oil change light is to turn the ignition key to the run position with the engine turned off and then press and hold the trip/oil reset button for 12 seconds. If the light was on, it will flash before going out. (If you reset it before it trips, there is no visual indication).

The problem with this procedure is that it also resets the trip odometer. However, the factory service manual shows an alternate method that works nicely. It says to turn the ignition key to the run position with the engine turned off and then press the throttle to the floor 3 times within 5 seconds.

Ebrake Handle

At some point my ebrake handle got a little loose. When I went to tighten it up, I discovered the handle is riveted to the arm. To fix it, I found a piece of scrap black plastic of the appropriate thickness and inserted it between the handle and the arm. This worked best on the side without the rivet.

Exhaust hanger squeak

Since the beginning, my SS had a mild squeak from one of the SLP dual-dual exhaust hangers. Eventually I made a washer from a piece of 1/32" Teflon. Squeak eliminated!

Fuel Tank Cap

The version of the gas cap that came on my SS had a long tether that you were supposed to hang on a hook on the inside of the filler door. Later a service bulletin was issued (#00-06-04-036) for a revised part (GM 22616286) that has a shorter tether that attaches to the door so it hangs away from the paint.

Garage Door Opener

I made better use of my console ash tray and mounted a garage door opener into it. I cut off the bottom of the ash tray, fitted some 1/8" ABS plastic into it and wired up some push button switches I had laying around.

Hatch Release Fix

At some point I started having with my electric hatch release sticking, especially in cold weather (not that it really gets that cold in California!) I did some research and the consensus at both blackcamaro.com and installuniversity.com was to add a second spring to the mechanism.

I learned the trick is all about finding the right spring. Most of the ones I tried were way too stiff and a few were too long or too short. Eventually I found one that was just right.

Headlight Switch Lamp

The (tiny) lamp that illuminates the controls in the headlight dimmer/switch module is not listed in the owner's manual or the factory service manual. However, it is in listed in the dealer's parts computer (GM 10195525). It's a T-1 neo-wedge base lamp that uses a PC board punch pattern. The one I got is a JKL Components Corporation CNW1-7219. The specs say it uses 60 mA @ 12 V and outputs 1.89 lumens with an average lifetime of 16000 hours.

It's pretty easy to change; gently pull out the air duct bezel and then use a small flat blade screw driver to gently twist 90°.

Horn splash shields

When I went to the dealer to buy a horn to replace one that died, one of my parts counter buddies told me about a service bulletin for a Chevrolet truck that gave a part number for a horn splash shield (GM 15071417). This is supposed to keep water from getting inside the horns where it causes corrosion and eventual failure.

As it turns out, the OEM horns are made by Fiamm and are cheaply available from many auto parts stores. The high/low horns are identical to the OEM versions but you do need to remove and reuse the weatherpack connector adapters from the OEM units. The stock horns are rated at 125 dB. There are also louder versions called the "Freeway Blaster Horn" which are rated at 130 dB. Here are the various part numbers.

	low	high
GM	12368062	12368061
A/C Delco	D1920C	D1921C
Fiamm	72012	72002
Fiamm Freeway	72112	72102

HVAC Cable Adjustment

Over time my HVAC temperature control knob would bind when attempting to set it to full heat. It was necessary to flip back and forth briskly to achieve the desired setting. Finally I peeked at the factory service manual and discovered the cable adjustment procedure:

Remove the bolt and remove the control head from the A/C module.
Set the control know half way between the full cold and full hot positions.
Gently disengage the spring and reposition the pulley so it is 10-15° towards the full cold position (see diagram) and then re-engage the spring.

I found mine was set to about 0°, probably due to cable stretch. Adjusting it correctly eliminated the binding condition.

Oil Cap

Mobil 1 is the factory fill engine oil for Corvettes. And Starting in October of 2001, all LS1 engines get Mobil 1 from the factory. For these and other reasons, I'm running Mobil 1 oil in SS #670.

The Corvette oil filler cap (GM 12555685) is embossed with the Mobil 1 logo and is interchangeable with the cap on the F-Body's LS1. It looks like and is a reminder to others what kind of oil you're using.

Remote

I like having an extra set or two of keys stashed away so I bought extra remotes (GM 16245100) and had my dealer make extra sets of keys. The instructions in the owner's manual for enabling a new remote are pretty straight forward.

US Flag

I'm not really big on putting decals or bumper stickers on my vehicles but after the events of 9-11, I installed a static cling US flag on the left side of the rear hatch.

Weatherstrip Lubricant

GM Weatherstrip Lubricant (GM 3634770, also known as Krytox) is a silicone-free grease used for dressing weatherstripping. It works great but is expensive.

It's listed in TSB (#99-08-64-016A) as being one of the two products that should be periodically applied to weatherstrip surfaces. A cheaper option is dielectric silicone grease (GM 12345579 or equivalent).

Window Lift Motor Upgrade

Like most 4th gen F-Bodies, the power window motors in SS #670 were pretty slow. A number of sources recommend the Siemens WL42014 as a strong replacement so I tried one.

The procedure in the factory service manual says to remove the regulator and motor as an assembly and then drill out three rivets that hold the motor to the regulator. Instead I used the procedure shown on shbox.com which removes the motor and leaves the regulator in place.

Roll the window half way up
Remove the door panel and switches
Lock the window in place with some rubber wedges
Pull back the splash shield
Remove the speaker
Make three holes corresponding to the motor rivets
(Wear a mask to protect yourself from fiberglass dust)
Drill out the rivets
Remove the old motor
Enlarge the regulator holes to 6/32"
Mount the new motor using screws and nuts
Test/reassemble/etc.

I used a Dremel tool to make the holes cleaner holes and more precisely centered. Here's a picture of the passenger side door after creating the new holes:

The new motor comes with screws and nuts but I upgraded to 6/32" X 1/2" panhead stainless screws and Nylocks.