TLSTWIN's 2SS/RS life & death

[TLSTWIN]

So, I really never thought about doing a build thread with my car because all of my mods and changes have been towards the purpose of doing HPDE's.

My wife & I ordered the car back in Oct of 08 when the first orders could be placed. The car was made in April of 09 and was one of the 1st 3,000 cars made and was held over for several months along with the rest of the 1st 3,000 cars. We finally took delivery in June of 09.

When we originally ordered our car no one knew what the inferno orange interior was going to look like (entire seat, just panels, etc), and no one knew how the ground effects looked on the car. We took a chance and it turned out great.

We also ordered the car with the hurst shifter. About a month or two in, we had to drop that option because Hurst couldn't meet GM's standards in time to allow them to be added on the assembly line. We ordered directly from hurst distributor and it was my first mod to the car the 1st winter in 09.

The ground effects were on back order and we didn't get them for another 2 months after we had the car. Once we got them, we had them painted by the dealership (Pat O'Brien) to match the body color. They looked great on the car.

Next mod was Pedders lowering springs. After about 6 months and one track day, I upgraded to the Pedders Pace Car kit plus a few other pedders parts ( SS brake lines, differential bushings, and toe rod bushings ).

In between putting on the lowering springs and switch to the coilovers, I did the Vararam Intake (over the radiator, tune style) and the SLP Loud Mouth I axle back.

Next winter I did the ZL1 calipers and CTS-V rotor with Hawk pads.

Some where in the first two years I "accidentally" bought the VIS Carbon fiber hood. It truely was an accident. I made what I thought was a ridiculously low bid on it on ebay and to my surprise & delight he accepted.

This past winter the only mod I did was the GTO clutch reservoir from JDP. then in the spring a set of pedders camber plates.

So, the final ride in the car was August 2nd, two days before I was to head to Gingerman with Camaro5 guys. About 2 miles from home it started to rain. Then it started to hail a little (made me a little worried my car was going to end up looking like a golf ball. The small hail turned into the hardest down pour I'd ever seen, and I was at Ft. Rucker Alabama when hurricane Andrew hit. I found out later it was 3" in 30 minutes.

Looking back at it now, I believe the ram air was sucking that water in like a buffalo. I got about 1/4 mile from home and the car sucked in a wave of water from the car in front of me. They are doing construction on my road so all of the manholes and catchbasins are covered with silt bags, so you could literally see the water rising as we were driving.

The motor hydro locked and stalled. it busted a rod and sent it through the block (didn't know this until I unloaded it off the flat bed at Pat O'Brien Chevy about an hr later). So with the car stalled, the water rose another 12" in about 20 minutes.

I called the wife and had her call AAA and the police. I focused on what was going on around me ( the water rising).

The water never came in around the doors. While I was on the phone with the police (they called me) I felt my foot getting wet. The water was rising from the floor boards..

I Called the insurance company while i was waiting on a tow truck. Truck coming was supposed to be a flat bed, it was not. Guy tried hooking from the front after I told him not to, so sctached up the front splitter. then he finally went to the rear pulled it out that way & took it the 1/4 mile home.

Insurance then sent a flat bed to take it to Pat o'Brien chevy where it sat waiting for the insurance guy. it took almost 2wks to tell me they were totaling the car. they 1st tried to say the car was only worth 23k really? still only came up with 25k after I explained all the factory options they didn't have & even showed them the window sticker of everything

**edit**
Well, after much deliberation & contemplation.... I have decided the best thing for me to do is walk away from this beautiful car & start over next year.

It's too late in the year to buy something before I put it away in 2 months tops, then it sits for 6 months.

I will be taking off almost everything except the bushings.

If someone was close, I would be willing to swap out the whole rear cradle, diff & bushings.

I am not sure if i will be selling all my stuff or waiting to see if I get another 5th gen.

I will be keeping the 27mm sway bars & mounts, coil overs, vis hood, oracle lights, ZL1 Trunk deck & spoiler & 3rd brake light harness, drl headlight harness & plasma leds bulbs, ZL1 calipers, cts-v rotors, ss brake lines (all 4 corners), gto clutch resevoir, ZL1/1LE wheels, hurst short throw shifter, SLP loudmouth I axleback, camber plates, vararam tune (over the radiator). I think that is all I can take off.

[TLSTWIN]

Here are some progression photos from when I first got it

[TLSTWIN]

More photos

[TLSTWIN]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/album.php?u=5149
High resolution photos can be seen in my albums here

[TLSTWIN]

Installing the Pedders Pace car kit at Back Street Performace

[TLSTWIN]

Here are some pictures of the end of the road

[TLSTWIN]

interior gutted

[tomster]

So what now? buying it back? Buying another one? 1LE? Pat o Brian here in Medina has a really nice Black 14 1LE

[TLSTWIN]

Originally Posted by tomster

So what now? buying it back? Buying another one? 1LE? Pat o Brian here in Medina has a really nice Black 14 1LE

I have thought about all of those. Insurance still has not given me a solid answer and procedure. Buy back price was originally 7k, then 8.5k, now he said they will let me know on Monday They are really complicating things. It's almost like they are trying to keep the car.... most likely not, but sure seems like it.

It's tough cutting the emotional attachment to the car and making a logical decision

[LuSe4]

Wow, that really sucks. Good luck!

[Green Machine]

Lol... a black 1LE

Sent from somewhere on the road.

[TLSTWIN]

Well, after much deliberation & contemplation.... I have decided the best thing for me to do is walk away from this beautiful car & start over next year.

It's too late in the year to buy something before I put it away in 2 months tops, then it sits for 6 months.

I will be taking off almost everything except the bushings.

If someone was close, I would be willing to swap out the whole rear cradle, diff & bushings.

I am not sure if i will be selling all my stuff or waiting to see if I get another 5th gen.

I will be keeping the 27mm sway bars & mounts, coil overs, vis hood, oracle lights, ZL1 Trunk deck & spoiler & 3rd brake light harness, drl headlight harness & plasma leds bulbs, ZL1 calipers, cts-v rotors, ss brake lines (all 4 corners), gto clutch resevoir, ZL1/1LE wheels, hurst short throw shifter, SLP loudmouth I axleback, camber plates, vararam tune (over the radiator). I think that is all I can take off.

[RED DEMON SS]

Good luck with all of that!

[TLSTWIN]

Originally Posted by RED DEMON SS

Good luck with all of that!

lol, I don't need luck, just a car.