Well yesterday was the swapping of the steering rack, today get an alignment, there's no pulling left or right but the steering wheel is off at about 1 o'clock, so it's going to get recentered.
I determined that the ball joints are loose also , so I'll change them first.
They are 5years old and over 200,000 klms , so not to bad for all the rough roads and potholes we have encountered!

 

I thought I was finishing my drums today. After paint, dry, clear, and dry, I followed Rustoleums directions on the can to cure the paint, and this is what I have now. The vinyls didn't hold up to the heat and my drums are now a burnt red/brown. Oh well, more painting tomorrow, and I'll be holding off of the vinyls for the time being

 

Never heard of putting clear coat on painted drums.
Fwiw. I've painted drums on several vehicles before. Never used the specialized caliper type paints. Just used high quality gloss rattle can stuff.
4-5 coats on 2 drums.......or till the can is empty.

 

I might do the door handles too.
The flaps were not a bad deal from the GM Parts site, but I am going to have to make the "HHR" letters stand out. Maybe make them red somehow. Probably should have done that before installing them!

 

I think that little pop of color will look good on the flaps. FMG, I used the clear to protect the stickers. I'll still throw a coat of clear or two on today, but no baking to cure. The stickers were a little big anyways, so I'm not too upset about ruining then.

 

Today we drove out to s picnic for stem cell transplant survivors for Sweetie, it is amazing how far we have advanced in this !
We took a drive after a total of 200 miles, the new steering rack has resolved the high speed shake and the shakeup steering wheel at low speeds over bumps and such.

 

Today I finally resealed my factory style Depo fog lights. They'll have LEDs bulbs a pictured. I tinted from a spray can and inserted a 120 mm halo into the reflector. The 120 fits perfectly around and doesn't hit the lens. I tinted because I didn't want to have it be white and to try and darken the look of it to match the black Depo head lights. The120 mm refracting rings I also bought from super bright LEDs.com didn't fit behind the lens without cutting, so I just tinted the halo itself. You can see the individual LEDs, but you'll be able to in the headlights as well, so at least they'll match ugh night pics of lights. Even with the tint, they're super bright. Won't install for a few weeks though, I've got bumper work to do first.
BTW, I was kind of scared to work with the headlight sealant, but it is really super easy to do, as long as the wife doesn't mind baking car parts in the oven.

 

Installed a set of Goodrich G-Force comps. They handle very well in the rain. The ride is a lot quieter.
Also installed some rear cobalt SS coils.

 

Well yesterday my 21 year old pressure washer kicked the bucket, so today the hunt is on for a replacement, being this close to Father's Day, not many places have them in stock to look at.
Also yesterday, I replaced those worn out ball joints, they've seen some potholes and rough roads over the last 5 years. I went back to get the alignment double checked and lucked out again, it's within spec, the HHR tracks straight and true! Not rattles or noises over the bumps ,it hasn't been this quiet since I bought 6 1/2 years ago at 34,000 miles.

 

Today we completed the instalation of a timing chain, balance chain, waterpump and all guides/tensioner on my 2006 HHR with a 2.2 ecotec engine. We enjoy the car so much we wanted it to continue to live. She has 329,012 miles on her and still travels over 600 miles/week. I know why they don't make them anymore, with the right maintenance they last foreve, Great Car.