Hey where's the motor....er engine.......wink.......Happy New Year.....Anthony's had some pretty good stuff and now yu got it thanks for letting us watch from bleachers.......this beeatch rocks!!!
Hey where's the motor....er engine.......wink.......Happy New Year.....Anthony's had some pretty good stuff and now yu got it thanks for letting us watch from bleachers.......this beeatch rocks!!!
In reply to 759NRNG :
Its buried under all that E36 M3. It looks bad, and truthfully working on ones not great, but its really not that bad. You have little windows and access to most things. Plus the benefit of buying a car where essentially 80 percent of the dollars you spent when new went to the drivetrain, it normally means the rest of the vehicle is very simple. That is the case here, and if you arent working under the hood its very simple and easy, and if you learn the quirks most jobs under the hood arent too crazy. I will admit plug wires are real bad, and I dont wish it on my worst enemies. Luckily this thing has a relatively new set of MSDs.
Wow that looks way nicer. That is a Strano rear sway bar. Leave it alone! The car should handle awesome once the front Koni's are in. It's already a million times better than when I got it. The steering and rear suspension changed it completely!
In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
Nice. that means its a hollow 22mm which is very similar in stiffness to the solid 21mm 1LE bar I ran. Now I just need to measure the front one. I ran an ST 35mm because it was the cheapest 35mm i could find back in the day. Stranos front is also 35mm, but hollow. I really liked my old setup, but I also very much trust Sam. Not sure which way Ill go, or even what frot I have on the car right now.
The front is a BMR 35. Sam said to keep it that it's okay. He said BMR copied his spring rates so leave them too. The front bushings will be dry like the rears were too.
I decided if I didnt get the headliner in quickly it was going to get stepped on or creased, and I have terrible luck with 4th gen headliners. I opened up the trunk and I found the 5th C6 Z06 wheel it came with.
Anthony told me about it and I never looked at it. Truthfully I had forgot about it. I figured the tire was destroyed, but was surprised when it still held air. It may have some sidewall damage but really id still run it. A useable spare wheel and tire was a nice surprise. Speaking of that I should see if the car has the spare and tools still in the back.
So here is the headliner it came with.
Its saggy, a weird material and very hard. I think its hard because of whatever glue they used, when it was redone.
In the car it looked like it was darker than the original, but out you can see how bad it was faded and how its actually lighter than the original.
You can see they are essentially all TTop cars. A tiny but of work with a sawzall, and shes ready for the ttops. I wouldnt do it though, I actually prefer the hard top
New one installed
Much better.
When I popped the trunk, I found 2 hatch struts laying there. I remembered Anthony telling me he had picked up some new ones. I didnt make the connection that those where the new ones though. I sat there thinking why did he save the old ones, and damn these new ones suck, they dont even hold the hatch up. Im dumb. After a minute or two I came to my senses and decided to swap them out. Nothing weird or out of the ordinary.
The things that used to hold the hatch up. Anthony with the price of lumber I can mail you back your hatch prop if you'd like.
Got back up under the car to do some more cleaning and I spotted this
Not a huge fan of the poly trans mount. Well i like the poly mount, but if they didnt do the engine mounts in poly at the same time, sometimes the back of the trans breaks. I have no desire to buy a T56 right now, so I made a mental note to inspect the engine mounts, and proceeded to immediately forget.
Figured it was time to actually go drive this thing, so I went and did my first real extended test drive. It seems like pretty much everything except the passenger side window works. It may have a wounded trans. It popped out of 3rd a couple times, could be driver error but also could be a bent 3/4 shift fork, which is real common. I need to investigate it and make sure its not the aftermarket shifter. It really doesnt bother me, I drove around for a year with an exploded second gear in my old one, even went to the track and street races a bunch of time, so worse case scenario and its a bent shift fork, Ill still beat on it, until I run it over to TDP to be viper specced. Visibility is much improved over the 6th gen, but the mirrors are too small, not quite as bad as a c5 though. Its more comfortable than the 6th gen, minus the stereo. It needs better tunes and bluetooth, but Im undecided on which path im going to take right now. It sounds good but it does need to be a little louder and raspier. The 2OTL isnt going anywhere, but headers and some performance cats will probably be the sweet spot. It will have electric cutouts, just like my last one, for when I want to be real obnoxious. The skip shift has been eliminated but the little light still comes on. I found out it has an airfoil, so thats a couple HP. I forgot how slow these things are when they are stock. It reminds me of a miata, its a ton of fun but its also very slow. Its not quite the same league, it will blow the tires off in the first two gears, and I understand that, but its not fast. I got a ton of thumbs up and revs from Mustangs and newer Camaros. Overall I love this thing. I immediately remembered why I had so much fun with my old one. A couple power slides and 2nd or 3rd gear pulls without immediately being doing extra legal speeds is exactly what I enjoy when I go out for a drive. I couldnt be happier with my purchase and I dont see it leaving the family for quite a long time.
I also went and rinsed it off, it had got a little dusty. The ceramic coating is awesome. It did exactly what I wanted. It took about 2 minutes to rinse everything off. All the bird poop and dirt came right off. It beads water like crazy. I drove it around a little after washing it and I didnt get any water spots.
I made an exhaust clip. I didnt document my all of my exhaust setups on my old car and I always regretted it
Drove it to the upholstery shop today to get a price on fixing the seat. Actually ended up being more reasonable than expecting. I did get an Evap code again. Kinda sucks because it actually ran the EVAP monitor and passed. I half expected it though. I went ahead and ordered a cannister, a passenger side window motor, and a rubber trans mount.
Outside of that its been running pretty good. Probably going to change the rear diff fluid and oil here pretty soon. Im ready to get everything fixed because Im hankering to start modifying this thing.
" Im ready to get everything fixed because Im hankering to start modifying this thing.
suspension /motor ......Both ???
Both. The suspension is pretty much already done
Konis - Fronts are in the garage, rears are already installed
BMR springs - already on
Sway bars - BMR 35mm front and Strano 22mm rear are already installed
C6 brakes - have the calipers, rotors, pads, and hoses, just need to grab some brackets
Stock SS Wheels -already have, going to get the refinsihed and tires
Subframe connectors - need to order some
Torque Arm - probably going to aftermarket down the road
LCAs - buddy is bringing me some this weekend, I have to see if I can get poly roto joints for them, if not, Ill do 1LE bushings in the stock arms.
Bushings - when I tear the front apart for the Konis Ill throw some bushings in. Ill stick with rubber and do the harder 1LE rubber in places where they are available
Engine will just be bolt ons at first, which isnt much since this car already has a catback (SLP 2OTL) and intake (SLP ram air, and aftermarket elbow).Itll just be headers with a catted Y and electric cut out, an electric water pump, a tune, aluminum LS1 driveshaft and 4:10 gears. Eventually Ill do a cam (between the CC306 and tick hatermaker stage 1, CC306 if I go big and hatermaker if I go mild). Then Ill start building a larger cube stroker to swap in. Want to do a 396 with Lloyd elliot ported stock heads and intake and a big enough cam to have a linear high RPM powerband but good drivability.
In reply to Opti :
How do the canisters fail? I accidentally sawzall'd the one from my C4 donor and I kinda think I should have one on MonZora.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
They come apart internally and send carbon through the whole system
I have the brake brackets. I can probably locate them next weekend. This weekend we are out of town at kiddo's swim meet.
In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
That'd be great. Youve got my number, if you find them just shoot me a message. I appreciate it.
In reply to Opti :
Will do. You can do the Koni's and get the MC brace all sorted out while you wait on the brackets. Do not buy new ones. I also found the gasket for the rear end, but I think I can use that on my truck too (maybe).
In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
Ive told myself I have to fix all the problems (interior, window, etc) and catch up all the maintenance prior to any modifications, even if I already have the parts. I did this in the wrong order on my first one, big mistake. So its no hurry on the brackets.
I might do some mental gymnastics and consider the cross threaded bolt on the mount a "repair" and might as well do the konis while im fixing it, but im trying real hard to fix everything prior to modifications.
2OTL... please 'splain I'm an old fart......tanx 
In reply to 759NRNG :
Two on the left. It refers to the exhaust pipes both exiting on the left side of the rear of the car.
In reply to 759NRNG :
Blunder got it. SLP had this exhaust and a more traditional dual exhaust setup with dual tips. To differentiate them the 4th gen enthusiasts started calling them dual/dual and 2OTL or TOTL.
It wasnt very popular when it was available and was regularly discarded or sold very cheaply. When supply dried up, demand skyrocketed. Many people consider them one of the best performing and sounding exhausts available for the 4th gen, and also one of the quietest. A buddy has one on a NA 445 based LS, with a radical cam. Its not quiet at all, it is by far the meanest engine ive ever seen muffled by the 2OTL, it sounds wicked.
Got some parts in yesterday but Im hosting a baby shower this weekend so I didnt have much time to work on it. Figured Id throw the easy stuff on though.
Started with the poly trans mount. The hardware was different from side to side, I cant stand that, so I put it on my list to see if I can order the correct bolts. Either way I got a factory replacement rubber mount
Made a MASSIVE difference in NVH. I still forgot to check if it has poly engine mounts. Ive driven cars with all 3 poly mounts that werent that bad. General consensus is smoked rubber engine mounts combined with a poly trans mount is the absolute worst combination, so based on that Im guessing the this thing probably has rubber engine mounts. The trans does move around quite a lot now with the rubber trans mount. All of my cars have been poly engine and rubber trans and I didnt notice any increased NVH, and the trans didnt seem to move around this much. I did toss the poly mount on the shelf, I may try it again when I put poly engine mounts on this thing.
I ordered a Charcoal canister, so I put it on next.
I got the old one off and tapped it on the ground a couple times
Yah pretty sure it had come apart. I knew because the code came back the purge valve was hung open again, so I popped it off, and got SO much carbon out of it. Id tap it on the ground and a couple pieces would come out, then Id power it and see if it clicked. Took probably 7 tries to get it to cycle and seal back up. I didnt bother to blow all the lines out when I had the cannister out, so in all likelihood the code will probably come back, hopefully Ive got a little more time when it does so i can blow all the lines out. Heres hoping though.
Still need to put the pass side window motor in. Ill probably do an oil change next, then I think its a couple trim pieces, some key fobs, and the drivers seat.
In reply to Opti :
Oil is less than 1k miles and a year old, FYI. It's also valvoline semi syn high mileage. Trans oil is redline synchromesh and also 1 yr old. Rear diff fluid is an unknown.
Had a little time today so I pulled the pass side door panel to go after the window motor. I was going to do it the correct way, and yank all the rails and regulator out, that way I didnt have to drill holes in the door.
Couple things. Immediately I noticed the aftermarket speakers, may be a good or a bad thing. GM set the sound stage doing weird stuff with resistance of the speakers. If you just willy nilly drop some speakers in without doing them correctly it moves the sound stage into the back seat. Ive done it. I havent even listened to the radio on this so I dont know how good they are. Im not an audio guy so maybe one of you can give me info on these,
Once the panel was off I noticed the window switch wasnt plugged in. I plugged it in and the window worked, slowly. They are pretty slow from the factory because the wiring is garbage. I figured someone unplugged it because it got stuck a couple times, so I might as well swap it out. I cleaned up the guides and added some sylglide I had left over from my NA miata. I popped the motor in and checked everything, the window was faster, still slow but what Id consider normal for these. The grease was real hard and sticky, so Im not sure if the motor or the new grease helped more. I tossed the old one of the shelf just in case. I was going to do the wiring upgrade, but the kits I saw jammed 2 relays into the panel which I wasnt a fan of, so I decided Ill have to make my own, and put the relays behind the pass side kick panel.
Also noticed the interior mirror plate is broken on both sides, and I broke the pass side seat belt guide so I need to order those. This thing also needs some wiper blades but the LT1 cars have a jhook that goes under the wiper instead of over, and you cant use a good beam blade. The solution is some LS1 wiper arms, I need to grab a set of those to so I can get some nice blades.
Also threw some a 37 bulb in the door handle light. The bulbs are too small for me to tell if they are burned, and I was there. I think I drove my old car for about 5 years before I noticed there was a light there that wasnt working.
Took the car to a local meet today.
A wide variety showed. Couple of high HP diesels, a clean C10, viper, a few boosted coyotes (trucks and mustangs), a NA miata, a red LS1 WS6, 2 cammed GXP G8s, a handful of cammed or boosted GMT800 and 900s, a clean OBS, an R33, a Saab 9-7x, and the celics/supra thing parked next to me.
A guy on the local group came to the meet and apparently took some pictures on an old vintage camera and posted them. He got a couple of the Camaro
So all week the Camaro has looked like this
It got left outside, because I cook on my blackstone regularly and I wasnt going to do it outside so the blackstone got put in the garage and the camaro got put outside. A little ice wont hurt it.
Ive been dealing with the extended crank on hot start, which I thought was a fuel pump. I checked the fuel pump and it is indeed a little weak and bleeds off quicker than it should, so I need to grab a 255 with the racetronix hot wire fix, but Im not excited about dropping the tank in the recent weather so I havent bothered to order it. Another common common problem is the coolant temp sensor for the PCM fails when it gets hot, which reports a -40 temp to the computer and it can create an extended crank when warm. The sensor is about 20 bucks and easy to put on so I grabbed one and put it on.
I also picked up some LS1 wiper arms a few weeks ago, so I painted them and put them on.
The left one is the 93-97 arm and the right one is the 98 and up arm. Notice the Jhook is upside down on the LT arm. This means you cant run a beam style blade, at least I havent found one, and you cant even run most blades from the parts house. Ive pretty much only found anco framed blades which are decent but I much prefer a beam blade. I like the plastic cover on the LT arms, but I cant transfer them over, so I just tossed them on the shelf, incase I need them for originality later.
Installed
I need to find some covers for the nuts, I cant remember what the later cars use to cover them or if they even do. If they dont I know some manufacturers have little black nuts that are nicer than these stock ones.
I also broke the passenger side seatbelt guide so I order a pair.
Here is the original non broken one
The new ones are darker and have a little slit so I dont have to take the seatbelt off the change them.
Im aware I need some new seatbelts. Im keeping an eye out for some ebony belts. I also have a broken buckle on the pass side so I need a pair. Havent come across a set yet. Found some in a junkyard but the junkyard cuts them because they dont want to sell them. I get it.
I went to a swap meet last week and managed to pick up a set of Midwest Chassis subframe weld in subframe connectors for 50 dollars. Im not going to put them in myself so I need to run them up to a buddy and have him weld them in.
I also picked up a set of OEM injectors for 15 dollars. Im going to clean them myself or send them off to be cleaned and swap them in. It currently has what I believe are some ebay specials. Ive had a bunch of problems with the cheap injectors with flowing too little or too much, plus they are light blue and look out of place, so kill two birds.
I havent got much done to the car the last month. We welcomed a little Opti to the family a couple days ago. I do have a small update though.
I ordered a pair of the trim pieces that go on the interior door panel where the mirror mounts, both of mine are broken.
The bigger update is I got a parts car for the tidy sum of nothing.
Its a 94 Camaro Z28 Manual.
The best part about it
A rare pristine red interior
The story was my dad was looking for a T56 for his 57 Chevy, Around here a SBC T56 runs from 1500-3500. I found this thing on FB for 1400 and figured it was the cheapest way he could get a T56 and I could buy some parts from him to help him recoup. I gave him a block, 2 sets of vortec heads, a couple T5s, a couple intakes, a carb from qjet doctor, so he wont let me pay him for anything I need. So I told him Id pay him in labor to yank it apart. Currently ive claimed the engine and rear, and some trim pieces. I really like the red interior, but it probably has the most value of anything on the car we are going to sell. I just posted it and we will sell whatever we can. The plan is to try to get it to run so we can test everything, its been sitting in a storage unit since 2019. The seller told us it cranked but wouldnt start and he gave up.
PS: Outside of the longblock, trans (an accompanying parts), and rear if any GRMers needs parts ill give them the GRM discount.
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