Camaro SS Bandit Conversion

[hesster]

Yesterday I wanted to assess if I needed to Paint the whole car (Roof, Quarters, Doors) based on the condition of the 14 year old Black paint on this low mileage and seldom used beauty.

Short answer is no, thankfully.

PAINT 101
This is based on my experience painting and top coat refinishing a number of cars, from custom Lacquer's to Enamels to Imron (dangerous), to Urethanes and Clear Coats. And some wild jobs like I did on my '73 Baldwin Motion Camaro I sold to my Bro - Radiance heavy flake and pearls.

To assess this car's paint, I did a quick hand polish to see how well I could get it to a high gloss, PRIOR to Buffing it out to eliminate the fine scratchs, and get a truly high gloss. I call it "Black Glass" when you get it right, like a mirror.
My Barn has intense LED lightening and shows every Paint issue on a Black car.
I use Meguires products to finish Paint, they have always worked for me. The roof had a few what looked like Acid Rain tiny spots that had etched into the Clear Coat. To fix this, you wet sand carefully with 1500 if they are bad, or 2000 or 3000. Then you can use Meg's Ultra Cut and rub like hell until the sand paper scratches are gone.
On factory clear coats, if the clear coat is tired, you can actually wet sand the entire area or even the whole car with 2000 then 3000. Then Buff it out. There is enough factory clear to do this, but it is not for the novice. That is how ALL of the Pro's like Kindig, Foose, Count Customs, and all the rest do it. Yes, it is labor intensive and time consuming, and especially with a Black Car.
Notice that on cars, the horizontal surfaces usually take the brunt of abuse, and of course any imperfections are more visible when you look at these surfaces of the car.
So I fixed the spots by wet sanding and polish, and then hand polished the entire roof and Rear Quarter Uppers with the Ultra Cut, folowed by Meg's Ultra Finishing, a shot of Jet Black and finally Meg's Instant Detailer.
No buffing yet, that will happen after the whole care is put together, and will eliminate any fine scratches. Rule of thumb is, if you can catch a finger nail in the scratch, it may be too deep to buff or polish out.

So the Paint looks great even w/o the final polishing I usually do - which is Buffing with Meg's polish's, then Megs Show Car Glaze, and finally the Turtle Wax Black Box. Once you get the paint to a high gloss, you can keep it that way using a detailer of choice. I swear by the Jet Black and Megs Instant detailer, and have tried all of them, Nano this, Titanium that, "Unubtainum", etc. More on final finishing when I actually get to it.

I had a hard time keeping the product on the roof for the pic, it wanted to slide off.

Next is taking the car apart, and working to make the scoop functional.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Oh this is sooo cool!! Following this one. Great stuff!!! Can't wait to see the finished product. Have fun!!! Love the Bandit cars..

[hesster]

Yesterday had a old neighbor friend stop buy and we pulled off the Hood and Deck Lid. Straight forward job, Nuts, Clips, Electrical connection, and Wash Bottle Hose. Geez fellow Members. that Air Intake Tube with its (3) silencer protrusions is Butt Ugly. In general, the LS Engines and Engine Bay is not pretty, but with the cover and some Bling add on's it can be whipped into shape.
Unbolted the Spoiler off the Rear Deck, it was stuck until I saw a little plastic barbed push pin near one of the nuts, just knocked it off with a screwdriver and hammer. Not really needed, prob a factory quick alignment thing to locate the Spoiler.
Then pryed off the SS and Chevy Bowtie Emblems. SS Emblem was easy, the Bowtie was not and gotta be careful not to scratch the Paint when getting under it to pry it off. Used a Bondo Hand Applicator for protection and a putty knife. Then getting the 3M adhesive off was endless, lots of Mineral Spirits and scraping.
Now have to steam off the Deck White Stripes, and assess the paint. This may need to be repainted for best results, depends on what I see after getting off the stripes. A number of scratch's but will try to polish everything out, if it sucks it will get painted like the Hood.

As for the Spoiler, it was a option and I bought it. Hmmm... It is nice, and def has a great profile, but I am thinking now that a "Dove Tail" type of spoiler with the end "Winglets" is more Trans Am-ish. I need to noodle this over - keep it, or sell it and get a Dove Tail?

[1JEWLDSSRS]

[SlowLS1]

Dove tail would definitely be more in the favor of the Trans Am.

[hesster]

Originally Posted by SlowLS1

Dove tail would definitely be more in the favor of the Trans Am.

Agree - but searching for one, they are hard to find, and not sure about it fitting. And the cost is all over the place.
I see "Duraflex" sells a knock off, and generally their quality is not stellar.

Found this, and wonder if it is the GM Dove Tail. Says it fits 2011+ V6 vehicles, but drilling new holes or making it fit, if it does in fact fit, would not be issue.

https://parts.jakesweeneychevrolet.c...-rear-92234281

[hesster]

Got the "Honey Do's " out of the way this morning and off to the barn to get a little done on the project.
I want my Shaker Sccop Funtional. The best solution is to pull intake air flow out the back of the Scoop, that would actuate the flapper plate versus some solenoid set up.
So the initial plan is to draw the intake air from the scoop opening through the RH bottom of the scoop, then through a fabricated 4" aluminum/silicone pipe cobbled into the stock Air Box. I would block off the snorkel in the Air box. And also either eliminate the (3) noise baffles on the pipe at the TB, or buy a replacement pipe like Air Raid or something. All 4" Dia plumbing, same as stock. The final restriction is the Throttle Body Diameter, so any plumbing must flow enough to satisfy this.
It looks like it is tight to fit a ovalized 4" flattened aluminum pipe spliced into the bottom of the Stock Air box, and then get it up and over the Engine Cover, but that is the plan. A silicone 45 or 90 degree elbow would provide some flex as the engine rocks under acceleration, and then ovalize anorther aluminum 4" section and tie that into the Shaker Base. The concept is like the Pic from the Web, but the U-Tube Video shows vacuum is not the way to actuate it. No idea where that fabbed interconnect came from, but it is the concept of what I want to accomplish with my plan.
I got the flapper plate in the Scoop to operate properly with some safety wire tied into the clevis on the inside of the flapper, just enough tension to keep the door shut, and index fully open, hopefully under acceleration. More to come.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

I definitely vote for the GM dovetail. I’ve put them on both cars I’ve owned. I bought my current one from a dealer in TX in 2022. There were about 5 of them left on dealer shelves brand new at that point in time. Let me see if I can dig a part number up and then you can go to your dealer parts department and have them search for all the colors/part numbers and see if any are left. I paid $5-600 shipped for mine. It’s my favorite spoiler for the early 5th gens. This one was originally white so if there are any left you’ll likely have to repaint it but clearly that’s not an issue.

*****edit****
That link you posted above does appear to be a good part number for the victory red dovetail. The reason it says on v6 cars you may have to drill the holes is because not all v6 cars came with factory spoilers. If you find one new it will come with a plastic template that you use to mark and drill the necessary holes to mount the side pieces. The spoiler itself mounts into the same holes as the stock SS spoiler except you have to drill 1) 5/8” hole for the brake light wiring to go thru the deck lid. I’ll see if I have any pictures of the template on mine. Take that number and call up your dealer of choice and see if they can find one for you. Don’t be surprised if you order it online and the order gets cancelled. It happened to me a couple times before i called my dealer and found mine. Seems the online stores don’t do a very good job of keeping there inventories up to date.

[hesster]

Yesterday I also changed the Oil, as it was dirty, and bothering me knowing that is WAS dirty. Even though I won't be driving it for a while. I wonder if it was EVER changed during the 7k miles on this car.

I decided not to use my Quick Jack just yet, as I see that the rocker bottoms are real close to the Frame Pinch Weld Rails. Love the Quick Jack, as it get's the car way up in the air enough to do any under the car work, and it not a permanent fixture like a hoist. Imagine the Rockers would deflect enough and not crack, but just used a Floor Jack and Jack Stand. Gott a get some of those Pinch Weld Frame Puck Adaptors.

The Oil Filter was the correct Mobil One M1-113A, and looked like it was original (aged). I stick with Mobil 1 oil on these cars, 5W-30, but imagine any synthetic is OK as it has the Dexos certification. Had a few quarts of 10W-30 left and used that to top off the 6 Qts I purchased. Summer car only so the slightly heavier viscosity in a small amount is not a issue.

Then I cleaned the engine and bay. It was very clean as purchased, but I like to "get it clean, and keep it clean". Judges at car shows with pick you apart right away if your car is not detailed out.
With the Car up in the air somewhat I took the time to inspect everything. Looks great and no surprises, no damage.

The car salesman said it had LEDs installed, and I found those in the Front, Rear, and Sides. The Front was zip tied to the Fascia and got curbed just enough to crack the 3' Strip, and it is inop, and the kind that is not repairable. It is some obsecure "East Sun" brand, no luck finding them on the Web. The mini controllers do not seem to work. I fished around under the dash and found the controller, unplugged, pluged it in and they worked, except the front. Messed around with the "C", P", and "S" buttons a bit on the main controller and they obviously change the color and sequences. It must be hot wired as they can be turned on with the car off by hitting the power button on the controller. More important stuff to do so I will get back to sorting that crap out.

Next is to see if I can get a Dovetail Style Spoiler (PN 9223428"X") in lieu of the ZTA one, and see if Woodward Speed shop will let me return it. The Dove Tail is a hard item to find, so gotta secure that first, will try a Chevy Dealer (thanks AB for that Tip).

Then steam off the Stripes on the Deck Lid. (Thanks Tony for that Tip).

[SlowLS1]

My Camaro pretty much lives on the quickjacks now. I recommend buying the lift pads that bolt to the pinch welds.
ZL1addons have them along with plenty of choices on Amazon.

[hesster]

Yeah - got my Paint today.
Was watching a guy named "PHARRAWAY" on You Tube, and he is a good painter, and was using Tamco Products. There are many outlets now selling Paint, other than your local Painters Supply. So I checked out Tamco and was impressed with their product. They had the correct GM BC/CC Black at a reasonable price, as well as their other products.

So talked to a paint rep who made recommendations on Painting RIM Fascias, Fiberglass Hood, Plastic parts, etc. The guy knew his stuff. So I ordered everything but Paint Cups, Tape, Protective Paper, etc - that is Amazon.

Even purchased a small trial bottle of premixed Snowflake Gold. Will spray some of that on the Engine Cover Wings to see how it stacks up against the $20 Rattle Can SF Gold.

This is gonna remind me of painting that Camaro '73, and some parts on my "Other" Camaro, but hopefully WAY easier. I painted those Valve Covers using Black Acrylic Urethane, followed with Alsa Blue, Purple, and Silver Pearl Flake, and finally tinted with some black in Clear Coat. They "pop" in the sun.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Dude! That is gonna be killer with the gold accents on it. I can’t wait to see this come together.

[Leadsled]

awesome build

[SSE 4 2SS]

Ok, you got my attention…

I can’t wait to see this one come together… I’ve known a few people that were really talented and had the patience to detail paint as you are doing. I’m not one of those…. Especially black paint… And honestly if it didn’t make my car faster, I wasn’t much interested in it, other that a Dove Tail three piece spoiler and wheels and tires… Mine was a sleeper… at least initially…

Alas, my car is gone, but, I have a three piece spoiler, intact minus a few (10 mm? ) nuts used to install it… It is the one that comes with the third brakelight… The only thing I don’t have is the mounting template, which was paper, though I’m sure it’s available from GM if the right people are questioned… I had it on a 2010, and it’s currently Red Jewel Tint… apparently not an issue…

Pay shipping and put it to good use and it’s yours for the asking… If you end up not using it, just please give it to someone else…

I’ll be following along with this build thread…

The 77 is amazing, but the Split Bumper… OMG, 71or 72? Split bumper, “Cragars, with knock-off spinners” and a “homemade” wide body kit…??? The gauges in the cowl… So reminiscent of my youth…