So with a couple kids driving and another soon, we've been on the lookout for a cheap vehicle.
What turned up, was a 2004 two-door Chevrolet Cavalier. $750. after the seller put a new battery in which was included as part of the sale, the car started and drove without major issues. It's been sitting for a few years, and the brakes are beyond salvage.
Unfortunately, the wheels we're held on with some weird nine-pointed torx-like "tuner lug" that is not the current standard 9-pointed torx-like fastener that is a half-inch across.
I bought a set of lug nut removers through Amazon but none of those fit.
However, the tried and true 18 mm 12 point socket plus hammer tactic worked to remove all 19 of the tuner nuts and a traditional wrench took off the remaining standard nut.
A couple of them went flying across the garage after I used a punch to get each of them back out of the socket. About halfway through the process, the final inch of the punch actually snapped which was quite surprising. I did put on some standard spline drive lug nuts which came with a bit, and my set of bits from Amazon included one that works as well so I have two tools that can remove them.
Today I put the car onto the pad and started with front brakes.
It's mostly intact, except for rust holes on the rear quarter panels in front of the rear wheels. The family had kids, and the car has been heavily used.
To keep costs down I went ahead with RockAuto for most of the parts. The brakes in front had one option that included drilled and slotted rotors so I ended up getting the package that included operated pads and powder coated calipers, not knowing the age of the current ones. I also replaced the rubber lines up front.
Lots more cleaning to go, rear brakes to go, filters plugs wires etc. It will need new tires. And rust removal and at least some cosmetic repair to the rear quarter panels to get it past inspection.
On the driver's side, the inner tire was corded so it looks like I will be needing an alignment at a minimum. It looked like the tie rod ends for steering will probably also need to be replaced.
if you look at the after picture on the front brakes, there is still a lot of rust colored residue on the wheels. Do any of you have recommendations for something that will take the brake dust and rust residue off? Brake cleaner and a rag did a decent first start but it would be nice to get them cleaner.
