Well with more and more people adding build threads I figured I would join in the group.
I bought the car in April of 2013 after my wife was in a serious accident in our G8. Never thought I'd sell that thing, but destroyed is destroyed. Drinking and driving isn't cool people (the lady who hit my wife was drunk, not my wife). Anyway, while in search of another G8 and coming up empty I did a search for Camaros near me and ended up finding an Aqua Blue Metallic, the one color both my wife and I wanted if we were going to buy a Camaro. So after a test drive and some negotiation here we were.
It had a few mods done by the previous owner, but I was willing to take the risk given the low miles, ABM color, right price, and close proximity. When we got it, it had a Hennessey intake (no heat shield), pin stripe in the stripes, stainless gill inserts, "427 hp" badges, BBK shorty headers, and some cheap drone like none other mufflers that while sounded good had such bad drone that they had to go.
I wanted to make the car my own even though it already had some mods because while the mods weren't bad, they weren't quite what I wanted. The first thing I did was add a Roto-fab cold air intake that I purchased from a member here after they sold their ABM.
With an ABM painted head shield and stainless steel tube it really made the engine bay stand out. Since then I have used blue oil to recharge the filter which just made the intake that much better.
Next I let Bo White work his magic with a Stage II ported throttle body. The man is a legend and anyone thinking of doing this upgrade, especially if you have a L99, it is a MUST!
Up until this point I had been doing minor mods as I was trying extremely hard to pay off student loans and the car itself. So after finally paying off both (best feeling EVER, especially the title mod. Worth it 100%) I gave myself a 30th birthday present by finally getting rid of the droning disaster that was stated in the add as a "catback exhaust" which was just some cheap mufflers welded in place of the factory suitcases. For those wondering
www.solo-performance.com has an excellent exhaust system. I went for their Mach XL catback and it was amazing the difference it made for the car. The in cabin noise was gone, no drone and the outside sound was mean.
After that I had to upgrade the side marker lights as big orange and red squares on the side of a blue car really don't go so I went to
www.phastek-performance.com and picked up a set of Oracle's LED side markers and while there I had to pick up some daytime running lights to match the HID lights.
From here I got the itch to upgrade headers and after many MANY searches, going back and forth between Texas Speed, Stainless Works, Stainless Power, Kooks, and OBX I settled on Kooks 1 7/8" headers with high flow cats and the icing on the cake was that I got free ceramic coating. The headers were great! The coating was perfect, coated inside and out, and the look was great when installed on the car and the sound...WOW!!
From here I ditched the 427 badges as they were always a lie since automatic Camaros were never 427 horsepower cars and it always drove me nuts that they were on the car. Plus I added a heritage grill, something I had always wanted since first seeing one on these cars.
In comes spring of April 2016. Almost 3 years to the date after I bought the car I took it to Keith's Pit Stop in Gettysburg, PA and let Jeremy Formato work his magic with the computer. As much as the rest of the mods combined did for the car, a tune is an incredible thing for these cars. He tuned out a lot of the torque management so the car will actually do a burnout, changed the shift points and firmness so the car shifts like it should (especially in 'M' mode) and even tuned a "wife mode" for me so that when in 'D' the car shifts similarly to stock but 'M' will bark the tires at 60 mph on the 2-3 shift. The car pulls hard and is just a beast. The number I put down were 365 rwhp and 390 rwtq.
If you have taken the time to read all of this I thank you. More mods are coming over the next couple of years. I'm currently saving up for a supercharger and cam, I have a set of factory ground effects sitting waiting to be installed, and I plan on changing out the wheels, spoiler, and possibly the hood and tinting the windows too so watch for eventual updates on them. Thanks for taking the time to check out my build and if you have any questions about anything I did and/or why please comment.
Updated 1-12-18 with factory ground effects
Update 8-25-18 cleaned up after 35% door tint and 20% backseat tint
Update 1-3-19 Going "under the knife" with a cam swap!
After the cam swap was done, I was tagged in this picture before I could even get notice from the shop owner that the car was ready. Not only did the guy tuning the car like it, but the ABM guys couldn't stand to wait and see who claimed this ABM on their page. She is a heck and a half of a lot of fun!!
Update 1-4-19 MORE mods!! Nothing nearly as significant as yesterday, but still nice. I got tired of the dim, yellow light around the license plate, in the car, and in the trunk. So I went over to Diode Dynamics (used to be a camaro5 sponsor, still a camaro6 sponsor) and got some LED bulbs. The license plate lights I've had for a couple months, but the map light and trunk light I got while the Camaro was out getting a new cam. These things are POWERFUL!
Before and after light comparison
Interior before and after
Trunk before and after
Engine eye candy! 7/24/19
Did someone say LOUDER?!
Update 4/20/21, first real interior mod other than some upgraded lights.
Update 4/22/22 install: Almost a year to the date later, I found and got to install a "holy grail" Hurst shifter plate to compliment the Hurst shifter handle.
Update 3-9-23 Dyno Run!: Well I FINALLY put the car on the dyno for the first time in years and the first time since my cam install. I was a little disappointed to have not made higher numbers, but I had just driven an hour to get to the dyno and I still had my engine covers on so I think heat soak may have been a contributing factor. Even then, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my Noweeds Diverters picked up at least 15rwhp. I always thought they were only there for fun, but turns out they boosted power too.
Update 5-20-23 Color changing halos! Thanks to Diode Dynamics for some great color changing halos. P.I.T.A. to get the headlights open to do this, but once open, it was a very easy install.
Update 11-15-23 Thank you Phastek for the open box special! I found an aqua blue metallic painted radiator cover from Roto-fab and had to go for it! I have almost their entire catalog now.
Update 5-9-25 I took my sweet time with this minor upgrade, but I’m pleased with the result. I finally got rid of the aging yellow on the oil dipstick and have an ABM dipstick in its place thanks to
www.rpidesigns.com.
Update 2-8-26 Well, I found something else to add again! This time it’s getting rid of the faded, broken positive terminal cover. Thanks Phastek for keeping coming out with things to take my money! I definitely think it cleans up turn engine bay, even if it a minor piece.
