GBRunner24's Project Ion Redline Progress Thread
05-14-2016, 05:34 PM
#1
GBRunner24's Project Ion Redline Progress Thread
So anyone who knows me personally, or follows in my Cobalt thread I went ahead and bought myself a project. The Cobalt is still around, and still improving that, this is just something to work and hoon on.
Bought it a month ago now and figured it was time to start a thread to keep track of all my progress with it.
2004 Saturn Ion Redline
113xxx miles
The car is definitely not in perfect shape, and needs/will need a lot of work to get it where I want it. However I picked it up for a good price, and it's already a little ripper. The car did have some modifications on it when I bought it...
-2.9" pulley
-60# injectors
-K&N intake
-ZZP heat exchanger
-Unknown brand (I assume ZZP) mid length header and downpipe
I thought the color was a rare Storm Grey, however that was only produced in later years. After closer inspection the car was originally Electric Blue and repainted sometime over the years. Things that need to be fixed/have been fixed by myself already.
-Nasty clunking/cracking noise when taking off and shifting to second (Fixed)
-Grinds 3rd every shift
-Clutch feels odd, huge dead spot and engages about and inch from the floor
-Sunroof drains are clogged and water rains from the headliner (ha)
-Alignment need (Done)
-Exhaust gaskets need replaced
-Drivers door panel is a different color/has no clear
-Aftermarket radio sticks 2 inches out of dash
-Bad idle/stalls without a bunch of gas (Fixed)
-Needs a tune
-Supercharger makes a decent amount of noise, may be the supercharger coupler
One of the biggest oddities with this car is it's history. I bought it from a guy who had the car for about three days, he got it from his grandfather who owned it for about a month, and the person before that had apparently owned the car since new. I was put in touch with the original owner to try and find out more about the car. Apparently the engine is new as of 20k ago, put in by ZZP. I contacted ZZP and they have no record of the P.O., and they don't remember the car. Past that the P.O. claims it has an aftermarket clutch and flywheel (the flywheel I believe, this car revs very quick while in neutral) and that it made 495hp on the dyno
. We'll see where the car takes me.
Bought it a month ago now and figured it was time to start a thread to keep track of all my progress with it.
2004 Saturn Ion Redline
113xxx miles
The car is definitely not in perfect shape, and needs/will need a lot of work to get it where I want it. However I picked it up for a good price, and it's already a little ripper. The car did have some modifications on it when I bought it...
-2.9" pulley
-60# injectors
-K&N intake
-ZZP heat exchanger
-Unknown brand (I assume ZZP) mid length header and downpipe
I thought the color was a rare Storm Grey, however that was only produced in later years. After closer inspection the car was originally Electric Blue and repainted sometime over the years. Things that need to be fixed/have been fixed by myself already.
-Nasty clunking/cracking noise when taking off and shifting to second (Fixed)
-Grinds 3rd every shift
-Clutch feels odd, huge dead spot and engages about and inch from the floor
-Sunroof drains are clogged and water rains from the headliner (ha)
-Alignment need (Done)
-Exhaust gaskets need replaced
-Drivers door panel is a different color/has no clear
-Aftermarket radio sticks 2 inches out of dash
-Bad idle/stalls without a bunch of gas (Fixed)
-Needs a tune
-Supercharger makes a decent amount of noise, may be the supercharger coupler
One of the biggest oddities with this car is it's history. I bought it from a guy who had the car for about three days, he got it from his grandfather who owned it for about a month, and the person before that had apparently owned the car since new. I was put in touch with the original owner to try and find out more about the car. Apparently the engine is new as of 20k ago, put in by ZZP. I contacted ZZP and they have no record of the P.O., and they don't remember the car. Past that the P.O. claims it has an aftermarket clutch and flywheel (the flywheel I believe, this car revs very quick while in neutral) and that it made 495hp on the dyno
. We'll see where the car takes me. 
05-14-2016, 06:04 PM
#2
Ripped into the car within the first few weeks to try and get it running better.
-Took off and cleaned the hell out of the throttle body. Thankfully that seems to have fixed the idle hunting/stalling issue.
-Took out the injectors to find out what exactly what they were since I didn't know when I bought the car. Ended up being 60#.
-Replaced the front tie rod ends with Moog units in hopes of that helping the clunking. It did not, but glad I got them replaced.
Wanted to swap in an old head unit I had laying around because the touch screen one in this is garbage. This is how the harness looks...
So I said F that and tossed it all back in. I did adjust how the head unit sat though, only sticks out a little now.
Next I grabbed an OTTP short shifter while they were on sale. Super quality unit, I absolutely love it.
A big improvement over the stock shifter, and would recommend it to anyone!
-Took off and cleaned the hell out of the throttle body. Thankfully that seems to have fixed the idle hunting/stalling issue.
-Took out the injectors to find out what exactly what they were since I didn't know when I bought the car. Ended up being 60#.
-Replaced the front tie rod ends with Moog units in hopes of that helping the clunking. It did not, but glad I got them replaced.
Wanted to swap in an old head unit I had laying around because the touch screen one in this is garbage. This is how the harness looks...
So I said F that and tossed it all back in. I did adjust how the head unit sat though, only sticks out a little now.
Next I grabbed an OTTP short shifter while they were on sale. Super quality unit, I absolutely love it.
A big improvement over the stock shifter, and would recommend it to anyone!
05-14-2016, 06:17 PM
#3
Picked up a CopperTop front strut bar locally for super cheap. I know they don't do much, but I used to be a huge fan of CopperTop's stuff back in the sixthsphere days and thought it couldn't hurt.
After the tie rod ends didn't fix the clunking I figured it had to be in the control arms. Grabbed a pair of FE5 replacements from RockAuto
That was the miracle fix. No more clunking and cracking noise from the front end.
Of course I can't leave anything alone and I ordered a set of B&G springs new of eBay, along with picking up a used set of FE5 shocks and struts.
After an alignment and settling I'm quite pleased! Not a bad drop for springs, and the ride isn't bad either (I do daily on coilovers). The back looks a little saggy but I think the fenders are just cut differently because the car looks level.
After the tie rod ends didn't fix the clunking I figured it had to be in the control arms. Grabbed a pair of FE5 replacements from RockAuto
That was the miracle fix. No more clunking and cracking noise from the front end.
Of course I can't leave anything alone and I ordered a set of B&G springs new of eBay, along with picking up a used set of FE5 shocks and struts.
After an alignment and settling I'm quite pleased! Not a bad drop for springs, and the ride isn't bad either (I do daily on coilovers). The back looks a little saggy but I think the fenders are just cut differently because the car looks level.
Last edited by GBRunner24; 05-14-2016 at 06:26 PM.
05-14-2016, 06:22 PM
#4
Bought a set of RPF1 reps off eBay. Pretty good looking wheel for a quarter of the price of the real ones. I need to weight them up, they're heavyish, but don't feel awful.
Also grabbed a set of Bridgestone Potenza S001's for super cheap locally ($200 with only 200 miles on the set), only downer is that they're 205/45r17s. The current tires on the car are 235/40 but they're dry rotted to hell and I still think these skinny bitches will grip better. I got everything mounted up, but to my surprise I need to run spacers on all four corners for them to clear. That's all I'm waiting on at the moment.
Also grabbed a set of Bridgestone Potenza S001's for super cheap locally ($200 with only 200 miles on the set), only downer is that they're 205/45r17s. The current tires on the car are 235/40 but they're dry rotted to hell and I still think these skinny bitches will grip better. I got everything mounted up, but to my surprise I need to run spacers on all four corners for them to clear. That's all I'm waiting on at the moment.
Last edited by GBRunner24; 05-14-2016 at 09:39 PM.
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Snail_SS (05-15-2016)
05-17-2016, 11:06 PM
#14
Got the wheels and tires all mounted up! Needed 5mm spacers up front. Will be doing extended lugs tomorrow, although I could probably get away without them. I love these wheels, and they saved a bunch of weight over the stockers (the smaller tires don't hurt that either haha). I would like to grab some sort of extra bump stop to raise the rear up a little to match the front. The car is level, but the way the fenders are cut it makes the rear look saggy. Real camera photos to come soon!
09-05-2017, 09:21 PM
#16
Didn't realize how long it had been since I updated this. There's been a hell of a lot that's happened with the car within the last year and a half.
Last year was going alright, until the transmission started going. Ever since I had bought the car the transmission had been really loud and grindy, as well as 3rd gear would grind every time. Fifth decided to not stay in gear without holding it, then, coming back from class one day 3rd gear decided it wanted to **** the bed. Drove the car a few times without third and then 4th finally decided to go.
These were some of the last shots I had taken last year before parking the car for a few months.
After hiding under a car cover in the driveway for a couple months, Adam (Slowbalt2000) graciously offered to help with swapping in a new F35 since him and a buddy had space to do so, and more expertise than me. So off to Big Rapids it went.
I picked up a used F35 off someone on Facebook. The guys attempted to put it in and realized that the spider gears had dropped and weren't able to be put back in place. After many attempts, they gave up on that F35. After a bit more sitting, we collectively decided to swap the car to an F23.
They couldn't get the new trans in before the winter hit, so the car sat all winter. Come snow melting time they hit it again.
First progress pics
From what it sounds like, the swap really wasn't that big of a pain. Trans probably has around 250k on it, but it works so that's all that matters. Had to use Cavalier axles was probably the biggest hurdle.
Anyway while they finished up I got antsy and ordered new tires. I knew I was going to do an HDPE this summer and wanted something a little wider than the Bridgestones. Might have gone a little overboard, but the price was awesome!
Federal 595 RS-R 140tw 225/45/17
I'll talk more on the tires later, but I'll just say they're a great value for an awesome sticky tire.
To be continued.
Last year was going alright, until the transmission started going. Ever since I had bought the car the transmission had been really loud and grindy, as well as 3rd gear would grind every time. Fifth decided to not stay in gear without holding it, then, coming back from class one day 3rd gear decided it wanted to **** the bed. Drove the car a few times without third and then 4th finally decided to go.
These were some of the last shots I had taken last year before parking the car for a few months.
After hiding under a car cover in the driveway for a couple months, Adam (Slowbalt2000) graciously offered to help with swapping in a new F35 since him and a buddy had space to do so, and more expertise than me. So off to Big Rapids it went.
I picked up a used F35 off someone on Facebook. The guys attempted to put it in and realized that the spider gears had dropped and weren't able to be put back in place. After many attempts, they gave up on that F35. After a bit more sitting, we collectively decided to swap the car to an F23.
They couldn't get the new trans in before the winter hit, so the car sat all winter. Come snow melting time they hit it again.
First progress pics
From what it sounds like, the swap really wasn't that big of a pain. Trans probably has around 250k on it, but it works so that's all that matters. Had to use Cavalier axles was probably the biggest hurdle.
Anyway while they finished up I got antsy and ordered new tires. I knew I was going to do an HDPE this summer and wanted something a little wider than the Bridgestones. Might have gone a little overboard, but the price was awesome!
Federal 595 RS-R 140tw 225/45/17
I'll talk more on the tires later, but I'll just say they're a great value for an awesome sticky tire.
To be continued.
09-07-2017, 10:44 AM
#24
oh it does.
The ion speedo goes to 140
the cobalt to 160
if you pull the hp tuners ecm file
look into the VsS section. They are both different. If you slap on the numbers from a redline into a cobalt. The cobalt will lose power and take forever to accelerate. Not only do you feel it. You can see the speedometer climb super slow. I did not try the cobalt into redline.
The ion speedo goes to 140
the cobalt to 160
if you pull the hp tuners ecm file
look into the VsS section. They are both different. If you slap on the numbers from a redline into a cobalt. The cobalt will lose power and take forever to accelerate. Not only do you feel it. You can see the speedometer climb super slow. I did not try the cobalt into redline.
