PQs Camaro [COTW 9/20/10]

[PQ]

Welcome to my build and rebuild thread.

While I am missing events and references, here are most of my mods, engine rebuild and timeline as of August 2014.

Performance
TVS2300 Magnacharger
Magnuson OD Cog Pulley Set
Comp Cam
Forged Racetec Piston and Rods
Manley ProFlo Stainless Valves
Melling Oil Pump
Borla Long Tube Headers
Borla Catback 'S' Type Exhaust
Fastlane CAI
XXX Dyno Tune
ZL1 Fuel Pump
Kenne Belle BAP
85# Fast Injectors
JRE Super Tensioner
Noweeds Exhaust Diverters
Pedders Supercar Coilovers (rear)
Pedders XA Coilovers (front)
Pedders Full Sway Bars
Pedders Bushings
Forgeline Wheels / Nitto NT05 Tires
RX Catch Can and Breather
CFD Tap Shift Shifter
JDP Heater Hose Relocation Kit


Pretty Stuff
Heritage Grill
IOM Painted Hood Spears
Black and Chrome Rear Bowtie
T-Rex Lower Grill Insert
AAC Side Marker LEDs
Defenderworx Fender Badges
IOM Leather Door and Dash Panels
IOM Leather Center Gauge Wrap
Orange Gauge Backings





Refuse to order October 2008

I had always said there was no way I'm ordering one of the first ones because I wanted the bugs to be out and I'd order in January of the next year. But then I caved.

Order February 2009

I got lucky. So many dind't. I didn't order til Feb about a month before production. Many had ordered litteraly 5 months before me (6 months pre-production) but I found a dealer who had NO orders placed. Reason for that was they wanted too much down and non-refundable. I picked up my car on June 1st, 2009 and there were a lot of guys who ordered WAYYYYY before me who didnt' get their cars til WAYYYYYY after me. I really felt bad for them.

My order thread.

Delivery June 2009

June 1st 2009, my dealer played a joke. I'll explain.

Like so many others I was starting to freak out a little. Had to ask about undercoating. lol

But the morning my dealer called me to tell me my car was there (it had actually got there the night before) he decided to tell me that there has been a major mistake. That my car was tracked as being delivered to Texas. They said the order was intercepted by a rich Texas athlete who paid top dollar and my car was the exact specs so I would have to reorder. Turns out that Bonnies brother in Houston had called my dealer and talked them into the little stunt. I was freaking out. But all turned out well. hahahaha

Plate June 2009

Well, I decided I wanted a personalized plate. So I started this thread to ask about it. I ended up going with one of the least voted for.

First Dyno Runs with my L99 July 2009

Yup, didn't take me long to get it on a dyno and get some numbers.

Numbers were low and fuel was rich and we didn't know why. Chalked it up to simply GM making the Camaro 'safe'. the guys at the dyno shop were on to something though. They asked me if they could unplug the battery and plug it back in. Of course it didn't work on this car with the system power back-up. Needed to be the fuses. Could have saved a lot of time. hahahaha

Dent in my car. I'd rather have had a door ding August 2009

Here is the story of what happened with my dent. Pissed me off to no end. GRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still dented. It's like a battlescar to me. Wish I'd have done it driving though. I guess it's more like I dropped my gun on my foot.

Fuse Pull August 2009

Gotta splain my saga.

(Keep in mind, my username back then was irpq11)

Here is a quick link to my videos showing the 0-60 time difference and a quick link to my dyno sheets prior to the fuse pull. Notice the rich fuel condition and low power/torque numbers. It's what you get when you are on a low spark timing table and running high octane gas. We just didn't know it yet.

Leading up to my fuse pull, I had been on here freaking out about the slow times and was about to absolutely lose it. Here is an example of what I was dealing with. Coupled with my low dyno numbers I knew something was wrong and was getting madder and madder.

There was one member (If he reads this I would love for him to let me know as the PMs are LONG gone now) who PMed me and told me to "Stop Fing crying about it and learn how to drive it." He posted me his time slip and mentioned that instead of complaining about it he was just learning the car. I got a PM from him later with a LOT of these. >>>>>>>
He had increased his time by almost a full second better than his best run previously.
Even some of my buddies here were starting to kinda jump ship on me as far as if there actually was a problem. It was frustrating as frustrating can get. (I laugh now but I WASN'T then)

My thread blew the fuse pull wide open.

BTW, think I was happy after that.

Stripes September 2009

Xmicro_SS hooked me up, I installed.

Here is the story on my hood spears. I istalled them at halftime of a Bills game. The game sucked anyway. But My plan was to put them on, see how they looked and then take them off. If I liked it, I'd have them painted, if not, so be it.

They looked so good to me just the way they were. I kept them. (Painted them on later)

Pfadt install January 2010

The vid. and stuff.

Here is the install. Was a pain getting the front sway bar but I got it. LOVE the look and the way it corners.

Got my springs and sways........installed.......with VIDEO

Savini SV-29s March 2010

A tale within it's self.
Particularly the part where I break my finger and rip the skin off in the brake caliper while spinning them.

A long and well known tale on these forums. Absolutely a forgettable experience. Worst company ever.

Read the summary here. But there are other threads showing how sorry this company is when things go wrong.

Even had THIS happen. (The finger vid)

Defenderworks April 2010

Good stuff here. C5FI (Camaro5 Fest 1) was kick a$$.

Defenderworks hooked up my car with some of their stuff. Even after I showed up late and with a dirty car.
Stayed up with Kyle and Mlee ....... uh........drinking.

Here are some pics in this thread of the car at the fest after Defenderworx was done.

Slowly but surely the Defenderworx stuff was removed from my car. From the chrome fish gills, and front Grills to the bowties to the chrome gas cap cover and lastly the shifter. Only defenderworx left are the fender SS badges.

Heritage Grill July 2010

So I asked Dragoneye to do me up some PhotoShops of some orange accents. I really like the orange grill and with the nudging from Becky Rogers I made the leap to get the IOM Heritage grill. I say leap because it is such a contrast. It matched my stripes and gave it a look that is awesome in my opinion.

Here is the install thread. Becky is awesome and we ended up buying a Vette from her too.

Couple quick install pics fascia off and after.

Blackened my lower grill with two chrome slats.

Headers, Exhaust, CAI July 2010

So I decided to do my headers, exhaust and CAI. Had them shipped to GTAHVITs house for the install since me and Bonnie would be in Jacksonville. We didn't make a DIY video but did get a few drive by runs. Quick thread with the video is here.

We used the felt gaskets that came with the Borla Headers and they later blew through making me think I had a lifter tic that was an issue with early L99s. The slight exhaust leak made a sound that was very similar.



IOM Leather Interior August 2010

Bought my IOM leather 4 pack gauge shroud and door and dash inserts. Was amazed at how well they matched.

In fact the matched so well I started it's own thread of how well they matched. hahaha

A few install pics and some after pics.

The install was fun. hahaha Here is my DIY Video.

*Car of the Week September 2010

Back when it was easier because there were a LOT less of them. hahaha

Magnacharger January 2011

My supercharger install. Did it myself.

The 'orange hoses' were quite the facepalm. lol

After we got the orange hose problem taken care of we got my initial dyno-tune done. Here is the dyno video with the results.

Broken Lower Control Arm tabs March 2011

So I was also the first to find a broken LCA/End Link tab. It led to some of our vendors scrambling for a quick fix. The new FE 4/5 set-up addresses it on the assembly line. But it was an interesting story to watch.

Pedders April 2011

So thanks to Becky Doyle coming to my aid again and with some help from Pete at Pedders I decide to shed the Pfadt springs and get some coilovers and suspension bushings. I just snapped a few pics as the install had been covered already by GTAHVIT.

Bushing install video.
Radius Rod insert videos.

Cam and LS3 conversion June 2011

So after MUCH time and effort chasing down the leak, I decided to let a pro do it. It was such a simple problem I felt pretty stupid.

So after some discussion on wether to go VVT cam or LS3 Conversion, I decide, with help form Ron at Vengeance, to go conversion. (I still have the L99 piston heads )

So Ron agrees to come get my car and trailer it to Atlanta and do the job.

Love the car. Love the lope. Love the power.

To this very day it's the only work done to my car I didn't do myself. I'm totally happy with the job Vengeance did.

AAC Side Markers July 2011

Ordered my side marker led lights and LOVE them. So I decided to show them off. lol

So I had some troubles with water getting in them and I sealed them of as seen in this thread with video.

Quick pics of them.

Drive Shaft Problem August-December 2011

So I had a noise that turned out to be the hanger bearing on my drive shaft. Thanks to Speedster I was up and running quickly.

This video shows what happened.

Crushed side Rocker Panel March 2012

So Bonnie crushed my rocker panel against a curb and I ended up going to Jacksonville where GTAHVIT knew a guy who could paint.

Tap Shift Shifter March 2012

Promise. lol

Painted Hood Spears and Fascia March 2012

So I get to Jacksonville and decide that I might as well get the hood spears painted on while the painter has to do the rocker panel too. And I had him recoat my front fascia as well.

Got back to Alabama and let the paint cure for a few weeks and then wet sanded and polished.

The hood spears turned out great.

Supercharger Brace March 2012

Was bored one day so decided to do my supercharger brace and post a thread.

Forgeline Wheels with Nitto NT05s April 2012

So it was time to shed the Savinis. I started my search for wheels. Nine ball stepped up to the plate. Despite a generous offer from Vossen wheels. I had to have some performance this time around.

The wheels arrived about 4 weeks after I ordered them. I put them on that night I believe and I wasn't sure what to think.

Took some pics the next day and was still unsure of the look but the performance was GREAT.

Noweeds diverters May 2012

So I decided to do some cut-outs.

Ordered the Dougs Headers type diverters and they were way too big to fit under my low car.

I asked the forum and eventually decided the noweeds system was best for me. It was the only ones that would work with my car without welding as a straight bolt in and I didn't trust the shops here to weld with such a low stance.

This is where I put the switch after discovering Noweeds needed to redesign it. lol Leave it to me to find the flaws. hahaha


Pedders ZL1 Sway bar June 2012

So I installed some Pedders goodies on a local members car and found out the Pedders ZL1 bar wouldn't fit on the V6. It hit the banjo bolt on the rear brake caliper. I made it work by installing it on the ground without the suspension hanging but had to install an inboard bar for him later.

For my trouble and a donation to St. Judes, Pete let me keep the bar.

Had to make some temporary bushing inserts til I could replace the stock brackets I through away.


Gauge Inserts July 2012

Did Gauge inserts. LOVE THEM. Here are some pics and the DIY.

Center pack DIY.
Speedometer and Tach DIY.


Cam failure engine toast June 2013

So my oil pressure dropped and there was no reason why. No noises, no nothing. Car was still running great. Had to rebuild. Here is the saga in threads.

First question was this.
Can a bad oil pressure sensor go bad?

After that some more troubleshooting.
Pump or filter most likely to cause low pressure.

Then my oil filter after I cut it open.
Oil filter but open.

Then had to figure out what I wanted for rebuild.
Help me rebuild.



Engine rebuilt time to drop it in June 2014

So after a year I finally got it rebuilt and it was time to paint it up and drop it in. Jackstands in my driveway by myself was just what the doctor ordered.
Ok, so engine is done. Time to get to painting and installing.

Install went perfectly well but had some unforeseen problems once I got it started.

Like low brake booster due to low vacuum. (still unsolved)
Brakes not working after sitting over a year.
Cams and brake booster vacuum.

Headlights seemed low but turns out they were fine. I just had gotten used to Bonnies Corvette.
Headlight issue after rebuild.









There are other events and problems and mods as well.
Such as:

ECM Bracket Failure
The fix-a-flat incident
Tachometer Problems
Paint Warranty Work
Rubbing compound incident
'The Race'
Selling My Savinis
Rear Hub Assembly Thrust Washers
Boost gauge install


And a host of other issues and items.

I love this car. And this forum. And Mike&Ikes candy.

[Dowgg123]

You're always so hard to figure out PQ.

[TAG UR IT]

You're getting a Camaro soon? COOL!!!

Make sure you gas it up regularly.

[Camaro21]

[Gotthat02fire]

It's about time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[2010 SSRS]

where is the Camaro coming to.

[PQ]

[Scott@Bjorn3D]

Ah good more info for the Chris and I to have for our book on PQ.

[guiLT]

Ah. Well lets get some pics PQ!

[Camaro21]

Still

[PQ]

Ok. I think it's updated enough.

Now. I been talking about a heritage grill painted orange.

AND doing some stuff in the rear.

Dragoneye did me some PSs for me to gauge my next move. Whut ya'll thank?????

(Oh, and he's a wise guy with the license plate ) lmao

[GTAHVIT]

This



And this with a black bowtie...

[mlee]

From the rear shots it looks to me like the trash cans need to come off next...

Way to sum it all up in one thread... This one gets my vote for Car of the Week.

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by mlee

From the rear shots it looks to me like the trash cans need to come off next...

Way to sum it all up in one thread... This one gets my vote for Car of the Week.

He keeps complaining about how quiet his car is.....

Obviously he's a more "show" then "go" kinda guy.....