Damn, I’ve been a fan of your channel for years, I’m so happy to see you doing stuff most of the ecotec community would dream of being able to do, even though I’ve left the ecotec life, behind I’m still a big fan of these new developments.
Hey matt been following for some years now. Your heavenly angel would be super proud of you right now . One thing . Please consider wearing a leather apron that is fire resistant and it pulls ur loose clothing tighter to you . We all love you and dont need you injured .obviously your safety is you're choice but i say this with ❤ . Thank you for this more consistent awesome content. 🎉❤
Really great to see you back at it and posting regular content again. (Was pretty worried for a while there) You're getting a lot done in a short time with such limited tools. Whikst its a little while awayb yet, im looking forward to the first 4wd drive under its own power. Keep up the positive vibes.
Thanks! Great to be back to a regular schedule and things to be more stabile on the personal side of things. Definitely was a rough period, however, time heals all wounds. Can't wait as well! Looking forward to seeing how it'll work.
You're right about that! Definitely going to look into one. I've always kept it simple with my tool setup though. Showing you don't need a ton of tools to do this stuff.
Great video. So glad you're doing this. Now you won't need slicks to get decent 0-60 times, and some slip on the tires is better than breaking your hard work. Peace out with your Peace out!
Was supposed to replace the turbocharger on my cruze this weekend, but #1 fedex delayed it, #2 its frozen outside. I've already replaced it once and the housing cracked at the wastegate once again so I bought a maxpeedingrods one that is supposed to have a different alloy exhaust housing
LOL, right!? Well, holidays and kiddos are still home for their Christmas break. That, and this stuff does take a long time. That was a weeks worth of work.
LOL, you're right about that. I'll look into one. Slips my mind at times. I'm not sure what that hoodie is made out of, but definitely not poly lol. Thanks!
Getting there! Now that I verified the 3D printed version fits, I'll send them out to be CNC machined. More than likely out of stainless steel so they're nice and strong.
Did you take into account the torsional spring rate of the beam axle? Yours looks like it could be stiffer than the factory axle, which means that it would handle like it has a very stiff swaybar in the rear.
I did. After some research and studying the factory beam, I made an educated guess. I didn't use any modeling or anything like that, but the factory beam is a round tube, 3.5" with a .125 wall thickness. That tube is pressed into a C channel shape. I used a 3x2 design. Could have kept it a c channel design, but I would rather have it stiffer than not stiff enough. The goals with the car are drag racing. If it acts like a stiff I beam axle, that's okay. If my goals were circuit racing, I would've came up with another solution. But there's really only one way to tell how it'll respond, real world testing. Thanks for looking out.
@cmattdabrat I've got my 99 Chevy metro I'm working on doing the awd swap in using the swift gti rear suspension and transmission at the moment...still trying to find the transmission that's not blown up with a good power transfer unit (t-case as everyone calls it)
Should've backpurged so it doesn't crystallized/sugar on the backside of weld that's gonna be a weak area. Also shouldve used er70 filler and not stainless filler for the mild steel to mild steel.
There really wasn't a good way to back purge the joint. I don't think everything needs to be back purged. I did a root pass and a cap. The caps on the trailing arms I welded up are stainless. Both joints were mild steel to stainless in which 309L is used for joining dissimilar steels, as well as joining mild steel or low alloy steel to stainless steel. At least that's my understanding. I'm not worried about it. It'll hold just fine. :). We'll test and put it through the ringer safely.
Thanks! Easier, yes and no. They the same chassis type. The AWD rear suspension will bolt right up. However, the Trax has a lift built into the trailing arms. Also, for the rear diff mount, there is no stock mounting holes like the cruze for the diff support. That'll have to be made, but could be easy as welding some steel plates and bolts. Also, from what I've seen, you would have to cut out the rear spare tire well. The plus, it's power steering motor is under the steering column in the cabin. With the Cruze, it's mounted on the rack. So I'll have to retro fit one inside the cabin like the Trax / Sonic. Aside from that, if you follow along, you'll see what other changes need to be made.
Yes! I'll definitely make what I'm putting together available on a custom order basis. Everything I've designed. Just a matter of testing it all before I do.
I must have lost the plot somewhere along the way. That fabricated cross piece is for....anti-roll? This whole time I thought it was a subframe or something. It just doesn't look like the kind of part that's made to twist around. Help me understand.
If you take a look at the cruze rear torsion bar. It's just a round tube with a bend in it. Making it more like a C channel. That connects the trailing arms. That torsion beam is straight and goes right where the diff wants to sit. So I designed a "torsion beam" with a drop to allow room for the diff. If you take a look at say a cobalt, it's a torsion beam, c channel type, with holes in it as well, to light the torsion beam. I just happen to reinforce the beam by boxing it off. I could've just bought some 2x3 square tubing to get the job done, but it's pretty heavy. There really was no point in getting fancy with the design aside from me just wanting to. Also, I'm building this to go fast in a straight line. I really don't have any plans to do road courses. So if it's more rigid and doesn't twist much, or at all, then that's okay if it acts like a straight axle. This car has not see daily road use since 2020.
@@cmattdabrat I did some reading and I didn't get a super clear explanation. I do know that people talk about adding an anti-roll bar so extra stiffness in the torsion beam could be desirable. However, without doing the actual calculations on the torsional stiffness compared to stock, you are really shooting in the dark. It COULD work out great, or it could be ridiculously stiff and almost unsafe to drive through corners.
@@kevin9c1 All good points. Sometimes it just takes real world testing. Only one way to find out. My concern is going in a straight line. I don't plan on doing any road course stuff. If the design turns out to be bad, then back to the drawing board. Many of the concepts I've come up with don't even make the light of day until revision 2 or 3. Just takes testing and time.
Thanks for the feedback. Sure can. I'll lower it in the next video, or just remove more. I'll give it a shot to see how everyone likes no tunes, but just keeping the fast forwarded audio. Sound like a plan?
@@cmattdabrat I like the music, it just blasts louder compared to your talking. I would keep the music, just not as loud. Thank you. I wish I had your energy, I have too many projects.
Damn, I’ve been a fan of your channel for years, I’m so happy to see you doing stuff most of the ecotec community would dream of being able to do, even though I’ve left the ecotec life, behind I’m still a big fan of these new developments.
Thanks! The Ecotec community definitely could use a little more love. After all, the first 4 cylinder into the 5's was the Ecotec platform. :)
Awesome work dude! Coming along real great! Keep up the great work, you're doing stuff a lot of people over here could only dream of!
Thank you! Hopefully I'll have this wrapped up by the end of this month.
Love what you're doing w/ your 1.8 project Cruze. Keep up the good work! Thanks
Thanks, appreciate it!
Damn this is coming along fast. Can't wait to see it completed. You'll have a little weapon on your hands!
Thanks! Will make for a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Hey matt been following for some years now. Your heavenly angel would be super proud of you right now . One thing . Please consider wearing a leather apron that is fire resistant and it pulls ur loose clothing tighter to you . We all love you and dont need you injured .obviously your safety is you're choice but i say this with ❤ . Thank you for this more consistent awesome content. 🎉❤
Thank you!!! I'll have to get one. My first thought was. Why does it feel warm. Thanks for all the kind words.
Badass work as always dude! I've gotta do a little similar fab for the V10 Impreza eventually in the rear.
Thanks bro! Looking forward to what you produce.
Heck yah Matthew that looks awesome not to much longer spacers came out sweet 👍
Thanks! I appreciate it. I agree!
Really great to see you back at it and posting regular content again. (Was pretty worried for a while there) You're getting a lot done in a short time with such limited tools. Whikst its a little while awayb yet, im looking forward to the first 4wd drive under its own power. Keep up the positive vibes.
Thanks! Great to be back to a regular schedule and things to be more stabile on the personal side of things. Definitely was a rough period, however, time heals all wounds. Can't wait as well! Looking forward to seeing how it'll work.
I genuinely dig seeing ya making huge progress one hell of a come back keep on jammin bro, an inspiration
Thanks bro!
Aye if ya had a miter saw/chop saw can put medal cutting wheel on those way easy straight cuts
You're right about that! Definitely going to look into one. I've always kept it simple with my tool setup though. Showing you don't need a ton of tools to do this stuff.
Great video. So glad you're doing this. Now you won't need slicks to get decent 0-60 times, and some slip on the tires is better than breaking your hard work.
Peace out with your Peace out!
Right! This is true. Going to look into a clutch slipper and a way to slip the rear diff as well during launches. Peace out with your piece out!
Was supposed to replace the turbocharger on my cruze this weekend, but #1 fedex delayed it, #2 its frozen outside. I've already replaced it once and the housing cracked at the wastegate once again so I bought a maxpeedingrods one that is supposed to have a different alloy exhaust housing
I hope it works out better for you. Keep me posted on how it goes.
Damn brother awesome work. You have leveled up so many times during this build. 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I appreciate it!
Nicely going!!! Getting it done much faster then I thought!
Thanks! Ready to get this done while the weathers nice and go to as man track events as possible before it's unbearable this summer.
@cmattdabrat hell yea that be nice. If you can pull 13 sec run with a full interior that be crazy
I waited your video for whole week
LOL, right!? Well, holidays and kiddos are still home for their Christmas break. That, and this stuff does take a long time. That was a weeks worth of work.
Been waiting for an update ! Thanks buddy
Thanks for watching! Makes the videos worthwhile
@cmattdabrat thank you mate
How many times have you shocked yourself on your table my good man? LOL Love the videos!
LOL, zero times. The reason it was sparking is because I had it set on that rusty rotor. :)
@ makes sense! 🤣 keep going buddy, love the work!
@@NissanZSmith Thanks!
Nice project ✌️✌️✌️👌👌
Thanks!
Brother, can you get a Miter saw. You've already caught yourself on fire, and them angles would be much easier to cut, lol. Great stuff regardless 🔥
LOL, you're right about that. I'll look into one. Slips my mind at times. I'm not sure what that hoodie is made out of, but definitely not poly lol. Thanks!
Hell yeah, so close, I think this build is dope AF. Do you need to take those spacers to be made out of metal?
Getting there! Now that I verified the 3D printed version fits, I'll send them out to be CNC machined. More than likely out of stainless steel so they're nice and strong.
Did you take into account the torsional spring rate of the beam axle? Yours looks like it could be stiffer than the factory axle, which means that it would handle like it has a very stiff swaybar in the rear.
I did. After some research and studying the factory beam, I made an educated guess. I didn't use any modeling or anything like that, but the factory beam is a round tube, 3.5" with a .125 wall thickness. That tube is pressed into a C channel shape. I used a 3x2 design. Could have kept it a c channel design, but I would rather have it stiffer than not stiff enough. The goals with the car are drag racing. If it acts like a stiff I beam axle, that's okay. If my goals were circuit racing, I would've came up with another solution. But there's really only one way to tell how it'll respond, real world testing. Thanks for looking out.
Fire!!!!! Bet you could do a sonic awd.... ??
You could do a Sonic as well. It would be about the same amount of work, but the spare tire well would have to go.
@cmattdabrat I've got my 99 Chevy metro I'm working on doing the awd swap in using the swift gti rear suspension and transmission at the moment...still trying to find the transmission that's not blown up with a good power transfer unit (t-case as everyone calls it)
Should've backpurged so it doesn't crystallized/sugar on the backside of weld that's gonna be a weak area. Also shouldve used er70 filler and not stainless filler for the mild steel to mild steel.
There really wasn't a good way to back purge the joint. I don't think everything needs to be back purged. I did a root pass and a cap. The caps on the trailing arms I welded up are stainless. Both joints were mild steel to stainless in which 309L is used for joining dissimilar steels, as well as joining mild steel or low alloy steel to stainless steel. At least that's my understanding. I'm not worried about it. It'll hold just fine. :). We'll test and put it through the ringer safely.
We need more videos!
Lots more to come. Just takes time. :)
Nice! Do you know if it'll be easier to do an awd conversion on a sonic hatch?
Thanks! Easier, yes and no. They the same chassis type. The AWD rear suspension will bolt right up. However, the Trax has a lift built into the trailing arms. Also, for the rear diff mount, there is no stock mounting holes like the cruze for the diff support. That'll have to be made, but could be easy as welding some steel plates and bolts. Also, from what I've seen, you would have to cut out the rear spare tire well. The plus, it's power steering motor is under the steering column in the cabin. With the Cruze, it's mounted on the rack. So I'll have to retro fit one inside the cabin like the Trax / Sonic. Aside from that, if you follow along, you'll see what other changes need to be made.
Are you going to sell your plans and parts list for this when you are done?
Yes! I'll definitely make what I'm putting together available on a custom order basis. Everything I've designed. Just a matter of testing it all before I do.
Could you do this to my 2016 chevy cruze please.
I'll make it a kit in the near future once I get it all sorted out.
Lmao terrible using you micrometer to score lines with haha 😅
lol, they're cheap and it doesn't change it's effectiveness.
I must have lost the plot somewhere along the way. That fabricated cross piece is for....anti-roll? This whole time I thought it was a subframe or something. It just doesn't look like the kind of part that's made to twist around. Help me understand.
If you take a look at the cruze rear torsion bar. It's just a round tube with a bend in it. Making it more like a C channel. That connects the trailing arms. That torsion beam is straight and goes right where the diff wants to sit. So I designed a "torsion beam" with a drop to allow room for the diff. If you take a look at say a cobalt, it's a torsion beam, c channel type, with holes in it as well, to light the torsion beam. I just happen to reinforce the beam by boxing it off. I could've just bought some 2x3 square tubing to get the job done, but it's pretty heavy. There really was no point in getting fancy with the design aside from me just wanting to. Also, I'm building this to go fast in a straight line. I really don't have any plans to do road courses. So if it's more rigid and doesn't twist much, or at all, then that's okay if it acts like a straight axle. This car has not see daily road use since 2020.
@@cmattdabrat I did some reading and I didn't get a super clear explanation. I do know that people talk about adding an anti-roll bar so extra stiffness in the torsion beam could be desirable. However, without doing the actual calculations on the torsional stiffness compared to stock, you are really shooting in the dark. It COULD work out great, or it could be ridiculously stiff and almost unsafe to drive through corners.
@@kevin9c1 All good points. Sometimes it just takes real world testing. Only one way to find out. My concern is going in a straight line. I don't plan on doing any road course stuff. If the design turns out to be bad, then back to the drawing board. Many of the concepts I've come up with don't even make the light of day until revision 2 or 3. Just takes testing and time.
😅 clicked so fast
Hahaha, that's awesome!
Congratulations??😂
I admire the effort but it way less work to just buy a WRX
AWD ✔
Turbo ✔
4 cylinder ✔
manual ✔
similar dimensions ✔
This is true. The finish line wont have the same title though. Worlds first and only AWD Chevy Cruze. 😉
can you ease up on the tunes, I have head phones and it's blasting in a bad way.
Thanks for the feedback. Sure can. I'll lower it in the next video, or just remove more. I'll give it a shot to see how everyone likes no tunes, but just keeping the fast forwarded audio. Sound like a plan?
@@cmattdabrat I like the music, it just blasts louder compared to your talking. I would keep the music, just not as loud. Thank you. I wish I had your energy, I have too many projects.
@@jeffgates7645 Makes sense. Thanks for the feedback!