Building The Cruzen2.0

Got the condenser in, the bumper put togeather and on the car last night, I'll get a pic of it this evening. Still need to find some way of calibrating the steering sensor and finish some interior things like the radio controls and seat wiring. Also pulled the bent hood off my Eco last night and set it aside to get painted rattle-can black, picked up the replacement hood for the Eco this morning and it makes a heck of a difference.

First pic is of the Eco before I straightened the hood and made it a bit more ugly (but so it would close), seccond pic is it with the new hood. I'll get a pic of the red good this evening as well.

Probably going to stop and pick up a black rear bumper and move the sensor mounts from the buick part to the cruze part. I wanted to get one with the sensor mounts but they are hard-ish to come by as they only ever came with blind spot on the later cars and only the Ltz (I dont want an rs bumper).

EDIT: So there is no confusion, the red cruze is my Eco and NOT the 2.0 swapped one

Got the start button installed in its final location, loose paint off hood, hood painted and installed, radio controls trimmed to fit in cruze dash, and mounts made for rear exhaust shields (my dad did that last one because he was bored)

Got the car out for a test of the steering sensor calibration (still not right) and took some pics of it in the neighbors driveway.

Blasirl- plate bracket attaches to the car via one of the rear bumper crash bar bolts, then has a hole to bolt the buick heatshield mount to. The first pic is looking down on the drivers side of the bar, the second from underneath. In one pic in this post you can see the passenger side bracket peeking out from behind the crash bar

Taxman- LUJ/LUV (1.4T) is 250lbs dry, LHU (2.0T) is 310-330lbs dry, and the LUZ (diesel) is upwards of 380lbs dry.
The 6T40 is 180lbs incl fluid, the F40 is 125lbs, and the Asin trans is 200lbs

What I WAS beginning to look at was ECO front and 30mm lowering springs rear, thinking the extra weight in the nose should match them fairly well without dragging the front lip on the ground. At the same time I was also considering ECO springs with spacers in the front to lift it just enough to compensate for the extra 80lbs of heft (if it really looked that bad).

Then I looked up the weights of the transmissions and discovered the 2.0T + F40 is only max 25lbs heavier than the 1.4T + 6T40, my work toolbag weighs more than that and it sits in the passenger footwell more often than not (in my ECO), so the Auto ECO springs should work perfectly.

EDIT: upon further consideration, Maybe manual ECO driver and auto ECO passenger should keep the difference from stock corner weight about the same? to keep the front level? the M32 only weighs 92lbs putting an extra 30lb on the LF and 60+ on the passenger, so with time it should sag level?

Any of you wondering where I get it from...

This is my dads project that WILL be done in time for the woodward dream cruise.

It's a 1968 c10 that just arrived from Montana after months of sitting trapped in snow on a farm. It will receive a 700+hp 540 BBC and look just the way it does.

See, I got it from somewhere!

@thebac - correct, I was refering to your post asking how the exhaust would interfere with the bumper. I was only partially correct, however some trim is still required. If you would be satisfied with only one tip, you could use a regular/base 2.4L Verano muffler and final section, then you could just flex the bumper a bit and let it rub on the tip. If you are set on duals, since you will have to cut a notch on the other side, another inch or 2 of trim on the drivers side shouldn't be a problem (as you've already "damaged" the bumper to make the second tip fit). Keep in mind that the Vreano exhaust requires an additional exhaust hanger on the passenger side and is NOT the same as the drivers side. That said, all the other exhaust hangers are the same. The final thing worth thinking about is that the Verano has secondary mufflers by the tips, and along with those are heat shields that have only 1 mount on the cruze body and all 3 on the Verano body (thus the brackets my dad made up).

@Blasirl - Without investing too much time into your question, there are only 2 ways of implementing such a system and both would require some small ammount of soldering or modification on your end. Also, money and car parts are good motivators...


I was able to do a final assembly of the front end, assemble the rear bumper with sensors (via jb weld), cut off and begin installation of exhaust tips, and an oil change.