Deke736's AGM ZL1 Journal [COTW 12/3/12]

[Deke736]

So, in the spirit of tracking my my progress while building "Deke II" my 2012 Ashen Gray ZL1 #218, I thought I would start this building thread.

Here is Deke II today:



And here is a list of current mods:

Exterior:

Gen5DIY.com H11 Plasma LED fog lights (4300K)
Gen5DIY.com PSX26W Plasma LED DRL bulbs (4300K)
Gen5DIY.com ZL1 DRL harness
AAC concept side markers painted AGM with tinted lenses
AAC high-powered reverse LED’s (tinted)
AAC Red grill LED’s with an Oracle multifunction controller
AAC Dual RGB LED Scanners
JDP Motorsports color-shifting halo kit
JWMotoring LED license plate bulbs
Technostalgia taillights with rapid fire brake lights and sequential turn signals
Night Shades NS-1 matte black stripes
Window Tint- 30% ceramic by Night Shades
Emblem Pros custom ZL1 badges
TJK_ART Carbon Fiber bowties with flat black border
River City Creations custom painted Victory Red engine cover
River City Creations custom painted Victory Red fuse box cover
River City Creations custom painted Ashen Gray & Victory Red strut tower brace & bolts
River City Creations custom painted Victory Red Radiator Support
River City Creations custom painted Victory Red Engine Bay Caps
RPI Designs custom painted Victory Red brake reservoir cover
RPI Designs custom painted Victory Red engine oil dipstick
RPI Designs custom painted matte black bow ties
RevXtreme powdercoated Victory Red catch can
Customs by Mike (mike@thepowdercoater.com) powdercoated Victory Red brake calipers
Sunset Orange Creations ZL1 Exhaust Commander
Drake Muscle Cars black strut tower caps
Gorilla black locking lugnuts from Apex Motorsports
Matte black taillight bezels
Custom painted Victory Red remote battery terminal cover
Chrome turn signal bulbs
Removed CAMARO badges from fenders
Removed ZL1 badges from hood


Interior:
AAC Red footwell lighting
JWMotoring RGB LED light pod in the interior
JWMotoring RGB LED light pod in the trunk
CFD Custom pistol grip shifter with carbon fiber grips and integrated line-lock switch
ZL1 floor mats from Maureen at Rodgers Chevrolet
Lloyd’s ZL1 trunk mat
JL Audio XD700/5 amp installed with Subthump FARK harness & mounting panel
JarheadBobandMax Custom trunk liner


Performance:
Roto-Fab cold air intake powdercoated red with red hose couplers and custom black hose clamps
Roto-Fab W/W reservoir relocation tank
Roto-Fab Big Gulp
Hurst Roll-Control line lock kit from JDP Motorsports
Nitto NT05R drag radials mounted on 18x9.5 Corvette Grandsport replica wheels

My journey with Deke II started on December 16, 2011 when I placed my order with my Chevy dealer for my 2012 AGM ZL1. We previously had a Victory Red 2011 2SS/RS (Deke) that we purchased in August of 2011, but after seeing the ZL1 at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals auto show in November, I decided that I had to have one.

Here is Deke I:



Deke II was ordered as an automatic with a sunroof, standard black wheels, and the exposed carbon fiber hood insert.



It was built on February 14, 2012, and it was the perfect Valentine's Day present! After waiting 6 agonizing weeks during the QC hold, Deke II was shipped to the dealer on March 30, 2012. It turned out to be the first ZL1 delivered to St. Louis, and it arrived off the train on April 5. On the morning of April 6 I got the call from my salesman that the car had been delivered to their lot!!

Here are the first pics I received via text from my salesman (pre PDI):





Here is a pic of the first time I saw Deke II:



First time in the drivers seat:



Here I am taking delivery:





The mods started right away. I switched the DRL's to AAC plasma P13W's the day after pick up.



Fast forward a few weeks and I got the windows tinted with 30% ceramic tint all around with a 6" sunstrip on the windshield. I also had NS-1 stripes installed courtesy of Night Shades and SSTG. While they were at it, the blacked out my bowties to match the flat black stripes.

At Night Shades getting tint and stripes:







After getting the stripes and tint done, I decided that a full detail with paint protection was in order. Luckily, Seth (SSTG) is an excellent detailer and allowed me to assist and to learn a few pointers while he worked his magic. Here are a few pics of the results:









The following day I decided to get out the ladder and take a few pics of Deke freshly detailed in the sun:













My next mods moved under the hood, where I had Lupe (overhaulengines) custom paint a strut brace and my engine cover. The strut brace is painted Ashen Gray with Victory Red ends with a flat black ZL1 badge mounted in the middle. The engine cover is also Victory Red with a flat black ZL1 badge mounted in the original LSA spot. Here is a before and after:





Eventually I added a painted fuse box cover from Lupe as well. Here is the engine bay today:



After the engine bay, I moved back outside the car and removed the CAMARO badges from the fenders and added flat black tail light bezels and bowties. I added AAC's painted and tinted concept side markers, which really cleaned up the look of the car:

[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k102/vettevert00/3f97****.jpg[/IMG]



Finally, I added the Technostalgia tail lights (which are awesome) and attempted to add AAC's tinted LED tail lights but had to send them back due to a warranty issue. The bumper removal wasn't as bad as I thought:







At the same time I switched out the chrome lug nuts to black Gorilla lug nuts from Apex. My goal is to remove all the chrome from the car to give it a mean, blacked out look. So far I have succeeded, with only the ZL1 badges on the hood, trunk, and grill remaining. I will be ordering some custom badges soon.

On the interior, I haven't done a whole lot, but I have done a few things. I added the suede ZL1 shifter from GMpartshouse, ZL1 embroidered floor mats from Maureen at Rodgers Chevrolet, and I have added the color changing map LED pod from JW Motoring to the map light and the trunk.

Here are a few pics I took yesterday after getting Deke all cleaned up after the Fest last weekend.















I haven't had any performance modifications done yet, mainly because I want to preserve the warranty. I finally had a chance to see what this car could do at Camaro5Fest last weekend on the AutoX course. Man, all I can say is that I want to do it again, SOON! This car is an absolute blast to drive! I really wanted to get it down the dragstrip too, but I ran out of time. Luckily, our local dragstrip is having a Midnight Madness event in a few weeks and I'll be going with a group of coworkers! I cannot wait!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my thread. I have many more changes in store that I am working on, so feel free to stop by an check them out. I appreciate any feedback you all have.

[pierre777]

Great build man looks very promising ,car looks killer sick with those stripes and keep up the good work.

[laditee]

Beautiful ride...wow

[MoeIv]

Sick!

[snaphappy]

The most amazing things is how good it look straight from the factory! I mean your mods are great, no doubt about it, but GM got everything right with the ZL1!

[Deke736]

Originally Posted by snaphappy

The most amazing things is how good it look straight from the factory! I mean your mods are great, no doubt about it, but GM got everything right with the ZL1!

I agree with you; Chevy gave us on great car to start with! This is why all of my mods are just enhancements what GM started with. I got tons of compliments from the Chevy guys themselves at the Fest last weekend complimenting all the little things I have done to my ZL1. It meant a lot to me because most of my mods are simple and understated (except my stripes).

Thanks for checking out my thread!

[Ivan @ Southwest Speed]

Car is looking GREAT man! Love the stripes....totally.

Ivan

[Mishimoto]

The strut brace and engine cover custom paint make that engine bay look great!

[Deke736]

Ordered the JDP halos this week and I am getting ready to order some grill and underhood lighting! Can't wait to make this BEAST look even more menacing!!

[blade_ss]

I've always wanted to see those stripes with AGM, they look great. Cant wait to see what else you are planning.

[MackMan]

I love your car. It looks amazing!

[2014]

What were all of the chrome items on the car you had to change? And off the top of your head can you give me a rough estimate on how much it cost, just to remove the chrome from the car, and replace it with flat black. Would appreciate it muchly!

[Silver85IrocZ]

Very Nice AGM ZL1 ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Congrats ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
have yet to see a ZL1 in the Stlouis area and i am
just a stones throw away over in the City Of Granite !

[Deke736]

Originally Posted by Silver85IrocZ

Very Nice AGM ZL1 ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Congrats ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
have yet to see a ZL1 in the Stlouis area and i am
just a stones throw away over in the City Of Granite !

I actually live in Glen Carbon, so we are pretty close!

I have only seen 1 other ZL1 on the streets in STL and I saw another one at Gateway Motorsports Park at Midnight Madness a few weeks ago.

I really need to find some time to update this thread. I've done some pretty cool stuff since my last update. Maybe this weekend I'll have some time!

[Deke736]

Originally Posted by 2014

What were all of the chrome items on the car you had to change? And off the top of your head can you give me a rough estimate on how much it cost, just to remove the chrome from the car, and replace it with flat black. Would appreciate it muchly!

This is off the top of my head, but here's the list of what I changed from chrome to flat black and the approximate cost:

Tail light bezels- $65 from eBay

Gorilla black locking lug nuts: $75 from Apex Speed

Flat black painted bowties: $100 from RPI Designs

Flat black painted ZL1 emblems: $195 from Lupe @ overhaulengines

I think that's everything. I replaced all of my items instead of painting them so if I want to put the car back to original I can.

[2014]

Originally Posted by Deke736

This is off the top of my head, but here's the list of what I changed from chrome to flat black and the approximate cost:

Tail light bezels- $65 from eBay

Gorilla black locking lug nuts: $75 from Apex Speed

Flat black painted bowties: $100 from RPI Designs

Flat black painted ZL1 emblems: $195 from Lupe @ overhaulengines

I think that's everything. I replaced all of my items instead of painting them so if I want to put the car back to original I can.

So you had the bowties and zl1 emblem painted?

[Deke736]

Originally Posted by 2014

So you had the bowties and zl1 emblem painted?

Yes. I purchased painted versions of the emblems and the bowties from the vendors I mentioned. I still also have the original chrome ones in a box.

[Deke736]

So, it's been a while since I have updated this thread so I figured I would provide some updates.

Since last time I added JDP halos and AAC grill lighting. Here's a pic:



I love these lights. They give the car the attitude it came from Chevy with!

I also added some custom painted ZL1 emblems to the fenders. These are temporary until I get my custom emblems made by Roger at Emblempros. Here is a pic of the temp ones:



I have also recently gotten into drag racing at our local track. I have been 4 times now with a total of 19 1/4 mile runs. My best run to date is a 12.21 and my best trap speed is 116.xx! I recently put on a pair of Nitto NT05r drag radials for track nights. They are awesome and I ahve seen my 60' times drop steadily. My best is currently a 1.87! Here are a few pics and videos of my races along with my best timeslip from last Wednesday:









I am car #3093 in the slip below:



I am installing a line lock next weekend which will be controlled with a custom shift knob from CFD:





Finally, here are my two favorite pics. They were taken by a professional photographer the other night at the drag strip:





Thanks again for stopping by my thread!

[Mishimoto]

Awesome pics!

[SSTG]

Can't believe I missed this thread!?!?
For sure COTW in your future Matt! Car is off the hook.

[pierre777]

great pics and car looks fantastic.

[trewyn15]

Wow, one of my new favorite ZL1's it's simple, but looks awesome!

I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

[Kartashian]

Your car is amazing!!

[Deke736]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the comments! I I will definitely have more updates coming soon!

[mako22]

looks great love the stripes