11-24-2018, 06:07 PM | #1 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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Mid Life Crisis - 2010 SS M6
I bought this car as a mid life crisis gift to myself. I just turned 47, so it's my turn to relive my youth, but this time with more resources and better insurance! The car was mostly stock when I bought it, with the exception of the Flomaster American Thunder 3" cat back exhaust. I wanted a clean slate so to speak, so this car was perfect for me, although it has a few more miles than I hoped at 63K. My plan is to make this into a strong street/strip car that I can enjoy driving to work. Hadda get some vanity plates for it: The first few things I did was StopTech Z23 brakes, a cold air intake and LT headers with cats and downstream o2 sensors because of emission laws here.
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GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA Last edited by zlathim; 03-21-2019 at 12:44 PM. |
11-24-2018, 06:12 PM | #2 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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I knew the car needed a clutch when I bought it, but I drove it around for a while and it never really slipped until I tried to show my son a 2nd gear burnout. I already had the McCleod ready to install, so I wasn't too concerned with all of the clutch smoke that I smelled when I should have smelled tire smoke. I pulled it in the garage and tore it apart the next day:
I had a nice big pile of parts to install: The first night I got the transmission out and exposed the stock clutch:
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GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA |
11-24-2018, 06:38 PM | #3 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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I didn't get very many pictures of the clutch install because I was busy measuring and calculating to determine release bearing to clutch finger clearance and slave cylinder travel. Here is a picture of the slave cylinder installed on the trans:
A picture of the flywheel, bottom disk and intermediate plate. I had it on a glass sheet so I knew it was flat and level for measuring: I didn't get any pictures of the clutch installed on the engine, so here is a photo of it complete in the box: I ended up pinching a couple of wires between the block and transmission when I put it back together, but I didn't know until after I finished with the rear suspension upgrades. Other than that, The clutch install went great. The coolest part of the install is the hydraulic adjuster. It was worth every penny: I also installed a remote slave bleeder to make life easy in the future. The last piece of this puzzle is the MGW shifter. Easy install and a very well built product:
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GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA Last edited by zlathim; 11-24-2018 at 07:12 PM. |
11-24-2018, 06:48 PM | #4 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
|
I didn't even take the car off the jack-stands after the clutch install because I had a bunch of BMR stuff to upgrade the rear suspension. Here is a comparison of the toe rods, trailing arms and upper control arm bushing from BMR vs factory:
Getting the old cradle bushings out was easy with the heat and jack method, but getting the BMR bushings back into the cradle was a bitch. I struggled with them for a while and eventually got them installed, along with the trailing arms and toe rods:
__________________
GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA |
11-24-2018, 06:57 PM | #5 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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Getting the old differential bushings out was also a chore. First you have to cut the centers out with a hole saw, which is much easier said than done. Use lots of lube and plan on using a knife to get them completely freed:
Then you go after the steel shells. I used an air hammer to cut them out. After that, I installed the new bushings, put everything back together and install the sub-frame brace that conveniently arrived that day:
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GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA Last edited by zlathim; 11-24-2018 at 07:51 PM. |
11-24-2018, 07:07 PM | #6 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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For this phase of the build, I logged 54 hours in the garage. All of this under the car work is hard on an old man, so I wanted to get most of it done in one project.
I've been driving the car like this for the last week. I still have a couple of hundred miles to go to break in the clutch, so no hot-rodding yet. I'm already planning the next mod. I ordered 4.10s and some other goodies today so I will update this thread soon.
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GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA |
11-24-2018, 07:34 PM | #7 |
'It's an experiment'
Drives: [COTW 2/09/15] '11 GPI LSA SC Z/LE Join Date: May 2014
Location: Dallas TX
Posts: 8,694
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Amen to that!
But, worth every minute when you do it yourself... -Don
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747 RWHP 794 RWTQ
"Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races." - Enzo Ferrari See My Build: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=385577 |
11-24-2018, 07:47 PM | #8 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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You got that right! I'm proud of the work I've accomplished, and glad to know that I won't be back under it soon. I'm taking it to s shop to install the gears. That's something I don't want to muddle through myself. I've only set up 2 differentials, and it was years ago. I'm fine paying for some things with regard to labor, but most of it I want to do myself. That's hot-rodding to me!!
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GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA |
11-25-2018, 01:47 PM | #9 |
Space Shuttle Aficionado
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Awesome build so far!
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11-25-2018, 02:25 PM | #10 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
|
__________________
GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA |
11-30-2018, 09:53 AM | #11 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
|
Some shiny new parts arrived yesterday. I'm still waiting on my diff cover to show up. As soon as it does, I'll be taking it all to a local shop to be installed. One of the few things that I will pay someone else to do for me.
__________________
GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA |
12-01-2018, 07:13 PM | #12 |
Drives: 2015 2SS/1LE Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: World Wide
Posts: 19
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This is a pretty BA build if I say so myself. I was going to pay a shop to do some (most) of my mods for me when I get back from my remote tour, but you have given me the drive to do them myself again. I will continue to follow your build.
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12-03-2018, 10:46 AM | #13 |
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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Thanks!! Good luck on the build. Let me know if you have any questions.
__________________
GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings Hotchkis sub-frame brace Stop Tech Z-23 brakes 4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA |
12-03-2018, 11:06 AM | #14 |
"Old School"
Drives: 2010 2SS L99 Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Sherrills Ford, NC
Posts: 1,295
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Looks good especially that shiny new Coors Light.
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