James's Camaro - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

jamesc1123 · 09-25-2009, 07:47 AM

Well, since I don't do the website thing, I figured I wanted something to track where I've been and where I'm going with my Camaro, so here it is...
I placed my order on 20 October 2008 (it almost surprises me now that I lasted a week before breaking down and ordering) from KAF in Afghanistan. I placed the order through Reeder Chevy in Knoxville, TN since it is pretty near to where my parents live. It is a CGM 2SS/RS with white rally stripes and Inferno Orange interior, and I picked it up 2 July 2009, a couple weeks after returning from a year long deployment in Afghanistan. I do own one other performance vehicle (1973 Corvette), but modern performance and classic performance are two different things entirely.
So I drove her to Texas at the end of block leave (about 11 Aug 09) where I am fortunate enough to be able to keep her in a garage. I ended up changing the oil a little late compared to many forum members (3500 miles), and shortly thereafter changed out the rear differential fluid in preparation for ever actually getting to the track.
Just last week, I installed Pfadt sway bars and BMR trailing arms. The sway bars have made a huge difference, and we'll see what the trailing arms do for me at the track. Heading to test and tune tonight, so we'll see how that goes...

z28mass · 09-25-2009, 08:43 AM

Wow, Jamesc1123
Both you and I ordered the same day and got it the same day.
22SS/RS IOM

jamesc1123 · 09-25-2009, 02:05 PM

Wow, that's somethin' else. I hope you like your IOM. The toss up for me was between those two. I know I would definitely have been happy with either one though.

jamesc1123 · 09-26-2009, 07:36 AM

First night at the strip. Not so hot. Ave about 2.5+ 60 ft time. Best run 14.12. Realized that I was probably domping the clutch every run. Better luck next time.

jamesc1123 · 10-22-2009, 03:25 PM

Alright, so last week I received my MGW short throw shifter and over the weekend (Oct 17) I installed it (MGW provided us with an awesome step-by-step on youtube). While I was at it, I also installed a separate clutch fluid reservoir and changed the oil (6900 miles). Saturday is Midnight Madness at the San Antonio drag strip and hopefully I'll be able to make up for my sorry times back in September.

jamesc1123 · 10-24-2009, 02:03 PM

So found out from the Austin F-Bodies forum that there would be a discounted dyno day out at Maxwell Dodge so I decided to check it out. I was first in the shoot this morning and I got 358.65 hp and 358.60 ft-lb tq. Some have said that this dyno is consistently lower than what people expect/get at other dynos, but hey, I just need a baseline to know how much I'm making with any future mods.
A lot of cool cars came out. A few GTOs (it was actually coordinated as a GTO event and others were invited to get more numbers), a 1970 Trans Am, 1969 Z/28 Camaro, a few 4th gens, a beetle, and a Mitsubishi Starion.
Next up: Midnight Madness in San Antonio. I plan to run a second quicker than last time, let's see if I can pull it off.

jamesc1123 · 01-21-2011, 07:49 PM

Back in November I missed out on the East Coast Shootout III because I began this endeavor: Installation of a G6X3 camshaft, Melling High Volume Oil Pump, Katech Timing Chain and all the necessary valvetrain parts. It was a little bit intimidating at first, but I was confident and came away successful. I took some pictures early on, but frustration mounted and after removing the old valvesprings, I stopped the pictures. Otherwise I could have done a decent DIY thread. Anyways, here's some of the pics. There's even a label on the car with my name on it!

jamesc1123 · 01-21-2011, 07:57 PM

jamesc1123 · 01-21-2011, 08:07 PM

I've wanted to do this for a while and finally decided to stop waiting for the perfect easy solution and make something work. Well, it was really easy to do it turns out. Anyways, I used the racecartowhooks.com website, asked Mitch over there which one to go with, and then tore apart the front end and threw this new one on there. At first I was just going to bolt it in place, but it was too easy to take the bumper bar in and just weld the hook on, so I did that. Now it's welded AND bolted in place.

ToolFan66 · 01-21-2011, 08:38 PM

What is the hook for???

jamesc1123 · 01-21-2011, 10:17 PM

Going to road courses, they recommend you have a tow hook (front and back really) so in case you go off into the gravel they can pull you out without damage.
I saw Tool in concert by the way. Awesome. I'd see them again and again.

09-25-2009, 07:47 AM	#1
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	James's Camaro Well, since I don't do the website thing, I figured I wanted something to track where I've been and where I'm going with my Camaro, so here it is... I placed my order on 20 October 2008 (it almost surprises me now that I lasted a week before breaking down and ordering) from KAF in Afghanistan. I placed the order through Reeder Chevy in Knoxville, TN since it is pretty near to where my parents live. It is a CGM 2SS/RS with white rally stripes and Inferno Orange interior, and I picked it up 2 July 2009, a couple weeks after returning from a year long deployment in Afghanistan. I do own one other performance vehicle (1973 Corvette), but modern performance and classic performance are two different things entirely. So I drove her to Texas at the end of block leave (about 11 Aug 09) where I am fortunate enough to be able to keep her in a garage. I ended up changing the oil a little late compared to many forum members (3500 miles), and shortly thereafter changed out the rear differential fluid in preparation for ever actually getting to the track. Just last week, I installed Pfadt sway bars and BMR trailing arms. The sway bars have made a huge difference, and we'll see what the trailing arms do for me at the track. Heading to test and tune tonight, so we'll see how that goes...

10-24-2009, 02:03 PM	#6
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	Dyno'd Today So found out from the Austin F-Bodies forum that there would be a discounted dyno day out at Maxwell Dodge so I decided to check it out. I was first in the shoot this morning and I got 358.65 hp and 358.60 ft-lb tq. Some have said that this dyno is consistently lower than what people expect/get at other dynos, but hey, I just need a baseline to know how much I'm making with any future mods. A lot of cool cars came out. A few GTOs (it was actually coordinated as a GTO event and others were invited to get more numbers), a 1970 Trans Am, 1969 Z/28 Camaro, a few 4th gens, a beetle, and a Mitsubishi Starion. Next up: Midnight Madness in San Antonio. I plan to run a second quicker than last time, let's see if I can pull it off.

01-21-2011, 07:49 PM	#7
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	Updates Back in November I missed out on the East Coast Shootout III because I began this endeavor: Installation of a G6X3 camshaft, Melling High Volume Oil Pump, Katech Timing Chain and all the necessary valvetrain parts. It was a little bit intimidating at first, but I was confident and came away successful. I took some pictures early on, but frustration mounted and after removing the old valvesprings, I stopped the pictures. Otherwise I could have done a decent DIY thread. Anyways, here's some of the pics. There's even a label on the car with my name on it! Attached Images __________________ LGM G6X3 cam, LGM headers, Vararam intake, throttle body and intake ported by ADM Performance, 477 hp 454 ft-lb tq, tuned by PCMforLess

01-21-2011, 07:57 PM	#8
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	Cam idle clip __________________ LGM G6X3 cam, LGM headers, Vararam intake, throttle body and intake ported by ADM Performance, 477 hp 454 ft-lb tq, tuned by PCMforLess

01-21-2011, 08:07 PM	#9
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	Tow Hook I've wanted to do this for a while and finally decided to stop waiting for the perfect easy solution and make something work. Well, it was really easy to do it turns out. Anyways, I used the racecartowhooks.com website, asked Mitch over there which one to go with, and then tore apart the front end and threw this new one on there. At first I was just going to bolt it in place, but it was too easy to take the bumper bar in and just weld the hook on, so I did that. Now it's welded AND bolted in place. Attached Images __________________ LGM G6X3 cam, LGM headers, Vararam intake, throttle body and intake ported by ADM Performance, 477 hp 454 ft-lb tq, tuned by PCMforLess

09-25-2009, 08:43 AM	#2
z28mass z28 mass Drives: 4 gen of camaros, 2012 ZL1 vin#1499 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Easton Ma Posts: 535	Wow, Jamesc1123 Both you and I ordered the same day and got it the same day. 22SS/RS IOM

09-25-2009, 02:05 PM	#3
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	Wow, that's somethin' else. I hope you like your IOM. The toss up for me was between those two. I know I would definitely have been happy with either one though.

09-26-2009, 07:36 AM	#4
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	First night at the strip. Not so hot. Ave about 2.5+ 60 ft time. Best run 14.12. Realized that I was probably domping the clutch every run. Better luck next time.

10-22-2009, 03:25 PM	#5
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	Alright, so last week I received my MGW short throw shifter and over the weekend (Oct 17) I installed it (MGW provided us with an awesome step-by-step on youtube). While I was at it, I also installed a separate clutch fluid reservoir and changed the oil (6900 miles). Saturday is Midnight Madness at the San Antonio drag strip and hopefully I'll be able to make up for my sorry times back in September.

01-21-2011, 08:38 PM	#10
ToolFan66 Drives: 2011 2SS 6.2L W/RS package Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,008	What is the hook for???

01-21-2011, 10:17 PM	#11
jamesc1123 Drives: CGM 2SS RS w/ white stripes Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Clarksville, TN Posts: 182 View My Garage	Going to road courses, they recommend you have a tow hook (front and back really) so in case you go off into the gravel they can pull you out without damage. I saw Tool in concert by the way. Awesome. I'd see them again and again. __________________ LGM G6X3 cam, LGM headers, Vararam intake, throttle body and intake ported by ADM Performance, 477 hp 454 ft-lb tq, tuned by PCMforLess

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