JIMSS - 2013 Black 2SS/RSS/1LE

[JimE]

So this is my third Camaro. My previous versions were a 1982 and 1986 Z/28's. Which at the time I thought handled great and had decent power. I was sadly mistaken. In any case, I've been waiting 3 long years for this car. But other issues in life have prevented it's purchase until now, and also allowed my to take advantage of adding the 1LE package. It was worth the wait. The day it arrived home:

[Jims73z]

Awesome. Nothing like black.

[JimE]

Thanks. It is quite beautiful.


The first stop, the day after delivery, was to Ziebart to have Paint Protection Film applied.

I was contemplating not having it done. But I've heard many good things about ppf. And I wanted to ensure it would stay protected. I had the front clip and gills covered.

My only complaint is the installation. I've had it back once already to correct some problem areas. And while it's not perfect (yet), they are working and trying to correct the problems. It's now looking much better, but there are still a couple of areas that may need to be fixed.

We will see.

So my only word of caution, is to find a shop with skilled installers. From my research and what I've read, the various brands are all of similar quality. Which you should be able to tell by the warranty. The only question mark in the whole process is the installation. Which, at this point, I will have to suffer through.

[JimE]

Some photos from the first weekend:

[JimE]

One of the first things to catch my eye, was the valve stem covers. Black wheels and not even the cheap plastic covers, but bare aluminum ones. Yes I know the lug nuts are also silver, but I've always liked that look. So those will stay for now. But the Gorilla locks may be in my future

[JimE]

Next were the DRL's. The harness and LED bulbs are from Gen5DIY. I'm sure everyone has seen plenty of threads about these.

The hardest part for me was figuring out how to disconnect the new style connectors. I've not dealt with these before and I was afraid of breaking something. Easy enough after you figure it out.

[JimE]

The bowtie.

One of the first pictures I saw of a Gen5 had a red bowtie on the front grill and I really like the look. Especially as this car has hardly any chrome in the first place.

So this was a must have. Great work and quality by overhaulengines (River City Creations).

[Behic2320]

Nice love black a pain in the but to keep clean but when it is, Sexy is an understatement. Looks great man cant wait to see where this build is going

[JimE]

The windows had to be tinted so I took it over to my friend Bill at Route 66 Window Tinting.

As it turns out, he prefers to remove the interior panels to make the installation easier. He suggested this would be a good time to upgrade the stereo system. Which was very tempting, and I have another topic here containing the parts list I had planned to purchase. But it's not in the budget at the moment. And I don't really have any complaints with the stereo. It could use some more bass, but that's typical of most factory audio systems.

In any case, while the car was apart (which was a great deal of stress for me...it is only a week old after all), we took the time to do a little sound proofing. So in went the RAAMmat:


It covers the battery area, trunk floor, back panel, inside the rear quarters and up over the wheel wells as far as I could reach, the floor under the rear seats, back deck, roof behind the sunroof, and the doors.

It did reduce quite a bit of the road noise I noticed coming from the rear of the car on the highway. Some RAAMmat and Ensolite under the carpeting would have made a huge impact, but I didn't want to go that far.

[JimE]

While a complete sound system was out of the budget, I did decide to add a sub to solve the bass "problem".

I went with the large sub kit from ******** (******** 12” sub kit - http://********.com/product_info.php?products_id=449 ). It sounds great. I still have some adjusting to do, but I haven't driven the car much since this was installed.

A few notes on the kit and installation: MOST of the hardware needed for installation is included. I state most as I was under the assumption (yes, we all know what happens when you ass-u-me) everything needed was included. Just a small gripe, but you will need screws to attach the amp to the box, and screws to attach the sub to the box. Being a kit, I would have expected these to be included. Also of note is the wiring kit. While it does include everything needed, the RCA cable is medicore quality at best. The RCA plugs don't fit very tightly. I end up taping them to ensure they don't vibrate off.

Also, per the instructions, you need to slide the front of the box towards the center of the trunk. After several attempts (and breaks to walk away and gather myself), I could not get the rear of the box to slide past the stud (cargo net threaded stud). I finally pushed it straight in as far as it would go, then pushed the front in first...at which point the rear slide right into place. A few love taps with a rubber mallet and installation was complete.


And I forgot to mention that while the interior was apart, we ran the cable for the remote bass knob. It's mounted in the center console by the cup holders (as I've seen in someone elses pictures).

[JimE]

Last but not least for now, was a cargo net to keep the packages from sliding around.

Thanks to Maureen @ Rodgers Chevrolet.

[JimE]

And the first of my cleaning supplies:

[JimE]

Another nice weekend, and I took advantage to finish off my current Mod list.

I cut my own front splash guards and installed the ZL1 rear splash guards.




I will post pictures later. I'm getting the damn "security token" is missing error again which is really #$#%@ annoying.

[JimE]

Sub speaker grill...for a little protection.