Project "Evanescence"

[ihaveacamaro]

7/3/07:

Saw Bumblebee (the concept 5th gen) in Transformers... At the time, couldn't wait until I was old enough to drive. I must confess, I didn't know a single thing about Camaros and I was just one of those people that sad "wow, that yellow gold car looked pretty awesome." I didn't grow up on Chevys, my family never even owned a Chevy, and American cars were looked down upon by my parents since they (at the time) sucked in reliability. My parents are nothing, if not practical. Little did I (or they) know that one day I would own a Camaro...

Approximately October '09:

Decision between getting a nissan 350z then and there, or waiting who knows how long for a camaro... hard decision believe me. Ended up deciding to get the Camaro A very good choice indeed!

Joined Camaro5.com

2/1/10:

Dad and Mom give me the OK to start looking for camaros (they put up the money so I needed their OK). We had a deal, I'm not going to go into it but I worked my ass off for a very very long time, and I fulfilled my side of the bargain. Their side was to provide me with wheels. No I did not buy my own car, no I'm not a spoiled brat, but yes I did what was asked of me and they gave me permission to get a Camaro.

Searching for: What I can get for $23k, manual, ABM, 2LT. Lot to ask for for $23k, but I'm patient and willing to wait it out.

2/14/10:

One of my Dad's friends is a car dealer, he goes to car auctions (where only dealers are allowed), buys cars and ships them off to Lebanon. Seems to make a pretty good living out of it too. My dad gets us in touch and thus begins my search. Camaros haven't been out for long, and I didn't have enough money to buy new. It's ok because I wanted only an ABM, and GM stopped production of those last december. So I had to get a used camaro if I wanted ABM. That was perfectly OK with me, as it would be a first car anyways. And everyone knows first cars are supposed to be used

Note: Every Thursday, a new stock of cars is put up on the car auction site, and each following Tuesday, they are sold. Past prices for cars are up on the website, and prospects for the camaro are not good: too expensive, and only one or two cars a week sold. I found Audi S4s S5s, BMW M3's X3's X5's, but not Camaros...

4/2/10:

No luck finding an ABM or a good price on used camaros. SS's were going for $32,000 (at the car auctions) and v6's were going for around $25,000. This is no good, since I don't have enough money even for the v6. I did note however that all the v6's being sold only had around 2-3000 miles on them and were practically new. That meant should I find something with more miles on it, I might get lucky.

Also, on this day, I decided my car's name. She is a female and I would call her "Evanescence." Evanescence is defined as "to disappear gradually; vanish; fade away." That works perfectly since I would be leaving most cars in the dust, but since it was going to be a v6 it would be gradual lol. As you may have noticed, "Evanescence" is quite a mouthful; Eva is now her nickname. Yes, I came up with a nickname and name before I even had a car lol.

4/10/10:

5 Camaros come up this week. A 2010 2LT ABM Manual with 21K miles pops up at the dealer auction site.... THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS HOPING FOR!! calls are made, and my father and I are going to Orlando, Fl in 4 days for the auction...

4/13/10:

I'm not allowed to say how I got into that dealer auction, since it wasn't technically following their rules, but let's just say that my Dad, Dad's dealer friend, and I were in at the auction by 9 AM. And my Dad was a "dealer" looking to buy a camaro

Naturally, the camaro that I wanted was the last camaro to be sold. The other 2 v6's were sold for 24,600 and 25,200... both too expensive for me. I'm biting my tongue as I see the Aqua Blue Camaro in the auction line steadily moving one car length up at a time... The moment is here, my car is to be bid on. What?!?! bidding started at 20k for her... 21k someone calls out, 22k... 23k... I put my head down, my dad is not going to be bidding after 23k, that was our deal. 23,200 yells the announcer... 23,400... 23,600... 23,800... bidding stops. Car goes for 23,800. I look up to see who is going to get the sheet that says they bid and won for the car. There are no words to explain how astonished I felt when I saw that it was my dad holding the paper and smiling a huge grin at me. I'll never forget what he said, "I know how much this car meant to you and I just couldn't let it slip by, so I never stopped raising my hand and bidding." I must confess, my dad is the best in the world

Here is a picture of Eva at the auction: It was love at first sight


Now I drove my brother's car down from Gainesville to Orlando, and my Dad and his friend came up in one car from Tampa. That meant that after I got my car, I had to give it away and it had to go home to Tampa, while I went the opposite direction to G-ville. I would've complained, but I was too happy that I actually got the ABM Camaro of my dreams that I didn't mind at all

4/23/10:

Back in Tampa, got a ride from a friend. Took the baby out for a spin and man do I got a bad case of the PERMAGRIN Loving every second of this and I brought it back up with me this weekend to G-ville. My baby is finally here with me

Summer 2010

I'm in summer school at the University of Florida. My car is bare-bone stock and that needs to change!! I have the v6 and quite frankly I'm just going for cosmetic appeal.... but maybe a little "extra" performance

First things first, since everyone knows decals add about 50 hp each, I have to show my Gator Love and add some Orange N' Blue flare. Sadly, this is all I pretty much did to Eva over the summer (other than washing, waxing, detailing of course)...




8/7/10

Got some vinyl and started changing the bowtie colors... made the front white to match with the stripes and the back orange to match with the decal.

The white:



The orange:



8/21/10

Subtle orange rim highlights as I like to call them. At this point, I realize I need to do something about those ugly looking calipers!







9/17/10

I have been waiting for the Injen CAI for what seems like forever. The group buy is finally over and it has been shipped and I can finally install it!!!!

All of the goodies:



Stock engine bay:



Working with some friends:



Finished Product (took 2 hours):



Injen CAI makes a world of difference! I love the sound and the new better throttle response!

9/26/10

Finish off the Gator theme in the rear of the car with a Gators license plate holder! Yes, I'm a little obsessed about the Gators, but I'm even more so about Camaros hahah



9/27/10

My friend, who got his Escalade calipers painted red (which looks sweeet!), referred me to a guy that could paint my calipers. Local guy = great quality and service for cheap!

So I requested my exact paint code (gotta have more ABM!!) for my calipers. Total price for everything, 90 bucks. You decide if it was worth it

Stock caliper:



All taped up and ready to go:



Painted:



Took the tape off and voila. How amazing does that look :



Finished product (looks WAY WAY WAY better in person):



10/5/10

Been wanting to do this for a long time... Ordered AAC amber (orange) halos for headlights AND fogs, SMD afterburner taillights, and the interior ABL kit. Should come in soon!! BTW, if you're ordering from AAC, use coupon code "fbfan10" it's a 10% discount: saved me 50 bucks!

10/7/10
Forum gold member sponsor SC1250 needed a v6 camaro to install an oil catch can, so he could take pictures and then send out his catch can to buyers. Of course, I took him on his offer and got a free catch can and installation. The catch can even matches the ABM! Awesome!

The cross section of the oil catch can:



My oil catch can in ABM:



Engine bay before installation:



After install:



AAC lights coming today, but being shipped to Gainesville and right now I'm in Tampa!?!?! install coming soon

[HzMajesty]

congrats!!

now let the modding begin!!!

[ihaveacamaro]

Originally Posted by HzMajesty

congrats!!

now let the modding begin!!!

has already begun and I just collected all of my paychecks... decisions decisions

part 2 of the story will be mods I've done so far and what I still want to do

[Indpowr]

Welcome to the ABM club

[CaniacFan]

Congrats to you - what a heartwarming story. Welcome to our family, glad to have you aboard. PS: Your dad is an awesome guy too.

[aet08]

best color stripe combo ever!

[ihaveacamaro]

Originally Posted by Indpowr

Welcome to the ABM club

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Silverine DeSilva

I thought I was the biggest Camaro Freak. after seeing you bro, I know I'm just the 2nd best. *kudos*

Hahah if you love camaros, that's all that matters

Originally Posted by CaniacFan

Congrats to you - what a heartwarming story. Welcome to our family, glad to have you aboard. PS: Your dad is an awesome guy too.

Thanks! and yes I know I will one day be telling my grandchildren how awesome my father was to get me my first car/camaro...

Originally Posted by aet08

best color stripe combo ever!

Hell ya!

[ihaveacamaro]

Finally, the project is up to date!!!

sorry about making it soo long

[ihaveacamaro]

Originally Posted by Davon Murray

Badasss!! Kudos man! too awesome! just like Kung-Fu Panda!

Thanks!!



I love this car and this is the first time I have ever had a journal for anything! lol

[Edge.128]

cool build!!

[2010 SSRS]

very nice

[rtcat600man]

Nice story and good job with mods. Keep them coming. There are many to choose from. In case you need some help on some more ideas.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77861

[larryt1026]

Nice! Next time I'm in Gainesville I'll give you a shout to see your car!!