Planning out my mods to the Ion. I want to get rid of the electric power steering (It's SO numb!) for hydraulic steering, preferably from a J-body 2.2 ecotec Cavalier or Sunfire. My worry is the BCM. Would the BCM pose a challenge, and if so, is there a way to tune it or switch to a standalone BCM (are these even available)? I know there are standalone ECM's and TCM's.

On another note, I'm swapping transmissions next week or the week after as 5th gear went out. While it's out, I'm putting in a SPEC stage 1 clutch.

 

Don't you love how easy and cheap it is to find jbody parts. Best of luck bro Ion's are nice love the back doors not many cars around with em. Just could never get past having gauges in the center of dash.

 

I love the back doors. The center gauges don't bother me anywhere near as much as I thought they would. The Toyota Prius and Yaris have similar set ups so it's not too unique in that respect, and the Mazda RX8 has a similar door set up. I said J-body because it's about the same size and should give me no trouble getting it in the car. My worry are the computers. lol

 

I hate the electronic power steering, to me it feels like every rut I get into, the steering tries to go with it like it's me turning and I have to yank it back straight.

 

I don't know if its the electric steering so much as the cheap rack. I had my 04 Grand Am, and it essentially did the same thing in every rut. Whether the boost is electric or not, I think the steering dynamic of the hardware is going to be hard to change.

 

I had a spec stage 2 and it was decent. Very light to push down and the engagment point wandered every now and then, but held up with an sc/full exhaust/intake. From what I remember stage 1 is very similar to stock. What power levels are you going for? Or is it more gearted toward suspension/audio? I did a bit of everything on my last jbody ecotec. The stock 5speed is actually quite good at holding more power, go german getrag go! A quaife LSD would be killer but last time I checked few years ago it was quite expensive. And upgrading brakes are so cheap. You think of swapping to rear disks?

 

At the moment, I just want it running so I can finish school (Porter and Chester Institute, Automotive Technology. Graduate this April) and apply to another local university to go after a degree in Journalism. If you can't tell, I'm trying to go for a career in Automotive Journalism.

EVENTUALLY, I will upgrade, but as of right now, it's my daily driver. My project car is my Monte Carlo. That will never change. I will always have that car unless anyone can convince me otherwise.

My big problem is the chassis is nowhere near as communicative as I want it to be. My big FWD 3,450 lbs Monte Carlo provides more feedback, steering, engine and suspension response than the Ion. That's my big thing is I'm planning to make it more communicative. I don't care whether the steering tries to follow a rut in the road. I'd like for the steering to tell me about it though. And that's what pisses me off.
The electric steering is VERY numb, I have to concentrate to know what it's saying. That's why I wanna switch to hydraulic power steering. No Delta I know of had that so the closest I can find is a J-body Cavalier and Sunfire.
Engine and transmission responses are what I'd like them at, so if anything, just updating the mounts there.
The suspension is very loose feeling (Everything checked out fine on the lift and on the alignment rack). Eventual plans are FE5 control arms, progress rear sway bar, and either Tein lowing springs, a set of coilovers, or Cobalt SS/TC struts and shocks with Pedders springs. And either Goodyear Eagle GT or Firestone Firehawk GT tires. rear disk conversion is a given. I hate dealing with drums. Here's a photo of the ones on the Monte to show you WHY. Monte has rear wheel drums.... which is oddly 1995 only. 1996+ got 4 wheel disk.


Engine plans, again, eventually, is forged connecting rods and pistons, crane street supercharger grind camshafts, GM Performance Parts Cavalier/Sunfire supercharger kit, Megasquirt II standalone ECU, and a SPEC stage 3 clutch. Power goal is 220-250 HP, which I believe is plenty and should be enough with those mods to make a reliable fun boosted daily driver.


Now back to my question. Will the BCM present an issue when swapping to hydraulic power steering? And if so, how can I get around it?