fastfreddie's build thread [COTW 12/10/12]
 

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After owning my Camaro for a year and a half, I decided to create a build thread and post this modification craze I've been sucked in to. Nothing fancy, but good information for anyone insterested. So, let’s get started…

Camaro Modifications to Date:

Exterior:
- Custom Painted Striping Carbon Flash & Inferno Orange Metallic - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- Custom Painted Roof Carbon Flash - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- ZL1 Front End - Gen5DIY & Mr. Showstopper
- GM Ground Effects Kit (Painted) - GM Parts House
- Motorsports Performance Design (MPD1) Rear Wing Spoiler - Showstopper Accessories
- Custom Painted IOM/CF Bowtie Emblems - River City Creations & Lighting
- Custom Painted Carbon Flash "CAMARO" Side Lettering - River City Creations & Lighting
- LED Side Markers - Showstopper Accessories
- LED Side Mirrors - Showstopper Accessories
- LED Fog Light Bulbs - Showstopper Accessories
- Side Gill Graphics - Auto Trim Design
- Powdercoated Black Exhaust Bezels and Exhaust Tips - Like New Powdercoating
- Pro Custom Headlight Covers - Ohio Speed
- Showstopper Heat Extractor Hood - Showstopper Accessories
- Polished Billet Hood Hinges - The Billet House

Interior:
- Lloyds "Camaro SS" Floor Mats - Phastek Performance
- Cup Holder Surround - Billet Custom
- 35% Window Tint - Showstopper
- IOM Painted Gauge Bezel - River City Creations
- IOM Painted Steering Wheel Bezel - River City Creations
- Painted Seat Trim Pieces - River City Creations
- Painted Console Pieces - River City Creations
- White Accent Knob Pieces - Billet Custom
- "Supercharged SS" Billet Door Sill Plates - The Billet House

Trunk:
- Trunk Lid Liner - ACS Composites, Painted By Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- Painted Rear Truck Surround - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- Painted Side Panel Covers - RPI Designs
- GM Factory Sub Woofer - GM Parts Direct
- Painted Sub Woofer Speaker Covers - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- White Shock Covers - Billet Custom

Engine Bay:
- Cold Air Inductions, Inc. Cold Air Intake - Apex Motorsports
- Custom Painted CAI Box - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- Custom Painted Engine Cover - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- Custom Painted Radiator Cover - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- Custom Painted Front Latch Cover - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)
- Custom Engine Bay Covers - Showstopper Accessories
- VMAX Ported Throttle Body painted Carbon Flash Metallic - Apex Motorsports
- Custom Painted ROTO-FAB Engine Covers - Pete Petruzzelli (Mr. Showstopper)

NicKey Chicago Performance Modifications: (see post #107)
·Magnuson TVS2300 Supercharger including Rear Cog Overdrive, 3.4” Pulley & Belt, Super Tensioner
·NicKey Stage II CAM Kit including Custom Length Push Rods, 3 Bolt CAM Gear, High Performance Valve Springs, Valve Locks & Seals
·L99 to LS3 Conversion Kit including LSA Head Gaskets, Head Bolts, Valley Cover Assembly, Lifters, Lifter Trays & Bolts, Crank Bolt, Timing Cover Assembly
·NicKey Stage II CNC Ported Heads
·ZL1 Dual Fuel Pump
·ZL1 Controller
·Kenne Bell Boost-A-Pump
·Yank 3200 Torque Converter
·Driveshaft Shop 1000hp Axles
·Driveshaft Safety Loop
·ADM Transmission Cooler
·Rocker Trunions
·ZL1 Map Sensor
·RX Catch Can
·NicKey Custom Dyno Tune & Data Logger

Exhaust:
- Magnaflow Stainless Steel Cat-Back Exhaust – NicKey Performance
- KOOKS Long Tube Headers
- MBRP Exhaust Tips Powdercoated Black - Southwest Speed

Suspension:
- BMR 1.0” Lowering Springs - NicKey Performance
- IOM Powdercoated Brembo Brake Calipers – Mike the Powdercoater
- Granatelli Extreme Performance Drilled & Slotted Brake Rotors – Summit Racing
- Hawk Performance Ceramic Brake Pads - Apex Motorsports

Wheels and Tires:
- Z28 Replica Rims, 20x10 F, 20x11 R Powdercoated Harley Black
- Pirelli P-Zero's - Front: 285/35ZR20, Rear: 305/35ZR20 - Deerfield Tire Co.
- Custom Painted Wheel Center Caps - River City Creations & Lighting
- Gorilla Wheel Locks - Apex Motorsports


The Beginning:
I purchased my 2010 2SS/RS on 2/19/2011 – Summit White with Inferno Orange Metallic Rally Stripe Package, IOM Interior Leather Package. The car was the last 2010 model the dealer had and he wanted it off his lot. I kind of felt like I stole this car from them, but hey, they were willing to take my offer.

The car came with a GM car cover (grey with black stripes), and I also got to select $1200 in GM Accessories as a promotional deal. I chose the GMPP Exhaust, IOM Engine Cover, and some really nice Orange “Camaro” Floor Mats. Below are pictures of what I came home with on that unusually warm day in February, 2011. It was so warm; I collected bugs on the front of the car on my drive home, not normally the case for Central Illinois in February.

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My first mod was the addition of a cold air intake. I selected the Cold Air Inductions brand based on the performance numbers at the time. I purchased the unit from APEX Motorsports in Louisville, KY.

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Next, I thought the engine needed a little dressing up so I picked up these nice polished caps from CamaroCollection.com

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Also from Camaro Collection, I ordered this cool Camaro rear license plate frame which surrounded my special ordered Route 66 plate nicely.

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Next, I added some faded style side gill graphics from Revolution-Motorsports.

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I didn’t care for the look of the gold bowtie with IOM so I picked up these white bowtie overlays from Big Worm Graphics to go with the body color. Afterwards, I wish I had gone with IOM, but they didn’t look too bad.

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Next, came some badging for the hood. I liked the L99 theme so I went with block lettering style to match the CAMARO on the side of the car. I picked them up from Emblem Pros. I also put a set on the orange trim portion of the dash, along with a more descriptive dash plate.

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Very nice sir.

nice ride .

I decided to go back to the engine bay for some dress up. I contacted Pete @ Showtstopper Accessories and asked for custom painted IOM/SW engine covers and bowtie for the hood liner. We decided to do some covers in polished aluminum to go with the CAI Intake, and then finish it off with a Radiator Cover.

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This prompted me to paint the black portion of the engine cover white and add an oil cap cover, oil dip stick cover and bling out the V8 symbol with polished aluminum from Emblem Pros.

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And now for the completed engine look:

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The GMPP Exhaust just wasn’t enough "roar" for me. After researching and watching many YouTube videos, I decided on a Borla “ATAK” Series Exhaust and Borla Shorty Headers. I couldn’t be happier with the sound and performance of this set up. At wide open throttle, this thing sounds like a race car. APEX Motorsports again delivers the goods!

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Next, I start thinking about the outside again. The stock rims look okay, but I though some chrome and bigger tires would be nice. Again, after researching, and many, many, PM’s with Jon at Best Wheel Deals.com, I decided on the Euro 33’s. I went with a package deal, 20”x10” deep concave wheels all around, and Toyo Proxy STII’s – 275/40R20 on the front and 315/35R20 on the rear.

So, I’ve got some nice rims on the car now, and my thought is that she’s setting way too high for these fat tires. My mechanic suggests Belltech 1.4” drop springs all around, so that’s what I went with. Again, the look is amazing….the ride…not so much. I’m still happy with the decision though.

The look is wide and mean!

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Next, I decided these calipers would look a lot better if they were IOM to match the rally stripes. So, I contact Mike “The Powdercoater” on C5 and he takes care of me. I was amazed at how nice the calipers looked when I opened the box from Mike.

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I thought, since I’m changing out the calipers, I may as well do the rotors too, so I purchased a set of Granatelli Black Sport rotors from Summit Racing. Glad I went ahead with rotors because the combination looks sweet, and she stops on a dime! (What does that mean, really.) I decided to keep the roller skates at this time just so I don't have any issues.

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Okay, so what’s next? I think some custom paint would look nice, right? I had witnessed some of Pete’s (Mr. Showstopper) striping work and was very impressed. Since I have the IOM interior and IOM calipers, I felt like I needed to use IOM in the scheme somewhere. I decided to take some current pictures of my car and use Microsoft “Paint” software to create sketches of my ideas I had in my mind. I created approximately 30 different sketches ranging from some form of a Rally Stripe theme to totally changing the look. I sent a few ideas to Pete and we traded several emails to come up with a final design.

As for color choice, I had always liked a white Camaro with black rally stripes so I knew I wanted to go towards the black more than orange. I also really liked the Carbon Flash color on the 45th Anniversary Edition Camaro. Pete thought using Carbon Flash as our main stripe color was a great choice so that’s what we went with, Carbon Flash striping with IOM outlines.

Let’s start with a few process pictures to reveal Pete's secrets. Notice my scketch laying on the window in the second picture.

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Pete had to remove the front end of the car for paint, so I decided to change out the front grill to a Heritage Grill. I made a quick call to GMPartsHouse.com and Patrick sent a pre-painted Heritage Grill to Pete’s shop. I’ve also always liked the MPD1 rear spoiler so Pete scored one of those and incorporated it into the project as well.

I wanted to keep the bowtie on the front of the car, but it had to be color coordinated with the new striping. Lupe, from River City Creations & Lighting was the man for the job and created these awesome looking Bowties for me in Carbon Flash with IOM outline. After seeing how great the bowties looked, I called him back and asked for "CAMARO" side lettering in Carbon Flash as well.

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During my conversations with Pete about the paint scheme we decided now was also the time to incorporate Pete’s LED Sidemarkers. He did an awesome job working them into the Hockey Stripe. But wait, since we decided to install the LED Sidemarkers, we just had to do the LED Mirrors as well to complete the look.

One last touch that we decided to do was a 35% Window Tint which tied in to the new dark striping. This was a lot of work for Pete to complete in the short amount of time he had allotted, but being the pro that he is, he pulled it off.

The finished product was unveiled at Pete’s Open House on June 16th, 2012. It was a pretty exciting day for me as I had not seen the car since I dropped it off 3 ½ weeks earlier. It was like Christmas morning and I got to share it with my fellow C5G forum members!

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And NOW...Pete's finished product....

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Before I drove off the day of the unveiling, Pete says to me, “You know it would look even better if we had painted the roof Carbon Flash”. Say what? http://www.chicago5thgen.com/images/...new/zoinks.gif

Okay, that was embedded into my brain, so a month later I contacted Pete yet again. I said, “Pete, oh buddy, oh pal.....I’m going to C5 Fest in two weeks, can you paint my roof in time?” “Oh, and while you’re at it, can you install a GM GFX Kit too?” You see, I had been contemplating adding the GM GFX Kit for a long time, long before I even had the paint work done, so I thought now would be a good time to do it. Pete said, “I think I can work it in”. Little did I know he already had a shop full of Camaros getting work done just for C5 Fest. With the upcoming addition to his family, guess Pete figured he needed a little extra money for diapers. http://www.chicago5thgen.com/images/.../new/yikes.gif

So, this is how she looked when I picked her up on July 28th, 5 days before I left for C5 Fest in Indy. I have to agree, the painted roof (Carbon Flash) is a nice addition to the complete look of the car and like Pete said, made it look even better. As for the GM GFX Kit, I know some people don’t care for it, but I for one really like it and love how it looks on the car. :thumbup:

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And here’s a few shots at Lucas Oil Dragway during C5 Fest.

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Next up, maybe some interior changes...:iono:

Looks great Freddie!

Installed these great looking steering wheel and gauge cluster bezels to replace the stock silver ones. Lupe, of River City Creations and Lighting fixed me up. The IOM looks much better!

Before:

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After:

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