The Grey Skid – Chevy Beat TCDi LS (December 2012)

[deville_56]

By the looks of the 2 pin coupler it is for boot lamp. Just get any boot lamp from Maruti stable and install it.

Checked the first thing , but not for boot lamp. Boot lamp comes on the other side. No door switch either.

 

[deville_56]

July 2020 - Mended Mat

Six plus year old 3D mats. Star Mats bought from Sai Mag Wheels back then. Driver side mat started developing small tears due to improper placement of the mats by the previous driver. It developed over time. All other three mats still look spanking new, 95% solo use. No point in wasting such a good set of mats. COVID-induced M deficiency also supported repairing instead of replace.

Left over carpet material from previous projects. Replenished supply of Fevibond. Thicker thread used by cobbler (bought for another DIY) and bigger needle.

Removed the metal plate - washed the mat - cut the carpet to shape - glued in - stitched it - installed the metal plate - done.

 

[deville_56]

July 2020 - Disastrous Debadge

Bought some Woodland beige thread as well with the black one used for the mat rework. While checking the thread got the idea of debadge.

It was pretty easy with the thicker thread. Cut through like butter.

Cleaned off with some turpentine.

Result was The car was repainted 75% twice. I lost count of which all panels repainted. So, boot was also painted twice. There was height difference of base coat and clear coat times two. Effort was deemed fail. Re-badged without any second thoughts

Plan B, paint all logos gloss black till the time boot lid repainted (again)

 

[deville_56]

July 2020: DIY Lightweight CF Hubcaps

Alloys came with no hubcaps. It gave an incomplete look.

Painted the hubs black to subdue it, but still was haunting.

AliExpress hiked the shipping with no certainty of delivery. Front and rear alloys being different, there needed 2 sizes of hubcaps. Neo Wheels was available in one size, but asking price was unjustifiable. Ended in this seemingly stupid jugaad

There was abundance of foam board at home.

Picked the 3 mm one.

Old sexy compass and new clutch pencil.

Some el cheapo craft blade.

Cut a square piece.

Marked the circle. Masking tape stuck to prevent the compass going deep.

Cut it round.

Sanded the edges clean.

Permanent marker ink.

Blacked out the edges.

Textured CF vinyl.

Final product.

Stuck with superglue.

Three more.

Peace of mind.

 

[Nairrk]

I read in the media that Kerala Police started sending penalty Challans to those who have after market modification on the rides. I understand mainly they are after the alloys. Number plate, stickers on the windshield, body graphics etc. .

No checking or questions asked, but you will know only after you receive a notification on your mobile.

Be careful guys!

 

[deville_56]

I read in the media that Kerala Police started sending penalty Challans to those who have after market modification on the rides. I understand mainly they are after the alloys. Number plate, stickers on the windshield, body graphics etc.

No checking or questions asked, but you will know only after you receive a notification on your mobile.

Be careful guys!

It was Kerala Motor Vehicle Department. There are many voice clips and forwards running in the social medias for 2 days about insane fine amounts, but the Joint Commissioner himself denied in on the news. They are okay with near-stock spec and subtle mods. Number plates, window tints, protruding tyres, custom body kits, fog lamps, pressure horns, etc will take a hit. Anyway will be getting new number plates soon.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Is Bumper Lip an issue @deville_56 bro?
I am currently overshores , so "Grey Beast" is driven by Dad, if some MVD catches up , he's gonna screw me.

 

[deville_56]

Is Bumper Lip an issue @deville_56 bro?
I am currently overshores , so "Grey Beast" is driven by Dad, if some MVD catches up, he's gonna screw me.

Technically, it shouldn't be an issue, but all depends on the mood/discretion of the MVD.

 

[Christo Zachariah]

are you in thiruvall nerby that old ice cream parlour

 

[deville_56]

are you in thiruvall nerby that old ice cream parlour

Nope. I am from Trivandrum.

 

[deville_56]

July 2020 - Glow Plug Check

My favourite, drenching in rain.

The ever glowing "service soon light" was quite annoying. I'd clear it with the OBD tool and it pops up after some day or may be within an hour. Some times, it will go off on its own. ELM327 based scanners won't reveal much of the error on the ECM and needs a dedicated Chevy or a high-end scanner with proper car profile. The previous moron garage guy who kept the glow plugs unplugged once accidentally mentioned it could be due to glow plug issue (and he might've purposefully avoided rectifying it as he wanted the car for some of his acquaintance). Google also revealed quite common in Beat. Checked my history and it showed a single plug has been replaced by the Chevy dealer during the rebuild. YouTube showed the old school way of checking the heater plugs. Need to directly connect the glow plug to battery. If it arcs, then plug should be fine. If not, then the plug could've been gone.

Took some wire and crimped a bullet clip.

Sleeved it.

Unplugged the heater plug connector and connected the clip.

Connected to battery. Just touching or scratching the battery would create small spark. Constantly holding would heat up the plug.

Two of them were fine. One was having no spark. The one that was hard to reach.

Now, gotta double check with a proper mechanic or get scanned at the Chevy dealer to confirm.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

That's a daring task bro.

 

[deville_56]

July 2020 - Fixing the mute reverse sensor

Not a fan of reverse sensors. Skids already had one and when it went mute abruptly, was itching to fix it despite it was annoying and the display was still working. It had a mute switch, but it wasn't unmuting either.

The unit was made by Defys, if I remember right, it was a Kerala brand and sold as GM Genuine Accessory through the Chevy dealer. Paid ₹ 3,700.00 during delivery.

Hate the messy wiring. Gotta trim to length.

Connections are straight forward. Empty red slot is for audio. Maybe the same unit is sold without display.

Dissected open.

Mirror. Extra large with anti glare. No el cheapo feel like the accessory shop ones with Bluetooth.

Connector at the mirror end, so can easily disconnect from there.

Rear. Mute/unmute switch.

Spare speaker to check the issue.

Display works fine. Display shows sound intensity level as well (but no sound)

Inside the casing minus the contents.

Vacuum fluorescent display. Old school.

Most prominent part of the board is the CS16312 vacuum fluorescent display IC.

Speaker sits on the cover. Space for a buzzer.

Connections terminating at board.

Culprit was the switch itself. Shorting with the knife, sorted out the diagnosis part.

To replace the switch, have to remove the display, which would be a mess.

Dismantled the switch instead and shorted with the copper slide permanently and assembled back the switch and the mirror unit.

Working perfect with the annoying STOP! STOP! STOP!

More itch. Dismantled the HU front panel for no obvious reason. Just checked for scope of changing display colour, but tiny LEDs.

HU starts showing age visually, but working like a charm. Tempted to go for a 2DIN.

Incidental finding when pulling out the reverse sensory unit. The coupler for boot lid. Pre-wired for rear wiper motor. Connection terminates at this coupler and rest of the wiring is only for high mount brake lights and number plate illumination. LT variant got a different sub-wiring for that part.

 

[deville_56]

July 2020 - Logo Tint

Found these while browsing through my vinyl stock. Headlight tints. Bought these from Bhavani Stickers years back when I was in search for yellow ones for partially tinting headlight for a Kodai trip to cut through the fogs. These are stretchable than the usual window tints like normal vinyl.

Logo lost the golden colour due to prolonged sun exposure as the car was standing in rain and sun for long before I took over. Not a liker of full opaque tints everyone does.

After. Cut a small piece, fixed and shaped. It's the easiest to work with logo in India. Almost flat with straight lines and distinct partition between chrome. Chrome needs polishing.

Other colours I have. Neon green, the favourite of all the Dio freaks.

Deep yellow, good for quick fog conversion. These leave no residue. Old school drivers use yellow plastic sheets, the ones used to wrap the rose water bottles, for this purpose. They'll simply pour some water over the sheet and stick them on the head light, but it will fly off when the water dries up.

Lots of other shades available like red, light brown, blue, rainbow chrome, etc.

 

[deville_56]

August 2020 - Heart-breaking moment

Puncture on brand-new tyre, barely 200 km run.

The moron who threw it on the road and his dad will be remembered. Amen.

Fixed at home.

Don't think I can run far with a flat tyre. Side wall feels so soft.

Windtek. Takes around 5 minutes from 0 to 33 PSI.