The Adventures of my Camaro in China

[rocknroll_jeph]

The last day of my 2 week Chinese New Year vacation was a blast. My friend invited me to go on a mystery road trip. We saw some amazing sights along the way and at the top of a mountain had a hot pot lunch, both of our wives didn't want to join so it was just the two of us.

After lunch we kept driving deeper into the mountains enjoying the views. It's always unbelievable that all of the things I do are all within "Beijing". It's more than just the Forbidden City and summer palace, and after 24 years here I am still finding new places.

[MSgt O]

Originally Posted by rocknroll_jeph

Glad you got to watch that video, I was just joking about learning to drive on that car, to clarify, the first car I ever drove in 1997 was a stick shift and I've always had a manual until the Camaro, and that's just because it wasn't available with a manual in the local market.

HA! Yeah, was very cool to see! Saw your trip into the moutains as well just now. Enjoying it all, and how cool is it with your car as well! You ever get back home, we will have to meet up!

[The_bald_eagle_machine]

Originally Posted by rocknroll_jeph

The last day of my 2 week Chinese New Year vacation was a blast. My friend invited me to go on a mystery road trip. We saw some amazing sights along the way and at the top of a mountain had a hot pot lunch, both of our wives didn't want to join so it was just the two of us.

After lunch we kept driving deeper into the mountains enjoying the views. It's always unbelievable that all of the things I do are all within "Beijing". It's more than just the Forbidden City and summer palace, and after 24 years here I am still finding new places.

Looks like a really good time.

[rocknroll_jeph]

Originally Posted by MSgt O

HA! Yeah, was very cool to see! Saw your trip into the moutains as well just now. Enjoying it all, and how cool is it with your car as well! You ever get back home, we will have to meet up!

Thanks, I'd love to get up north this summer, we'll be in touch!

[rocknroll_jeph]

During last weekend's road trip I also recorded video and while I only have one camera, I had enough footage to make a basic video. I tries some new editing techniques (it took me a few hours to learn how to create an animated map) and this is the first time I tried a narration. It's not the best, but it was a learning exercise. Usually when I record my voice it's for a punk/ ska song, so making it clean and bold was a challenge. I learned a lot and next time it will be better!

https://dcd.zjbyte.cn/i7337981571460...app=automobile

I hope that the link works around the world, and hope you all enjoy the views (and hospitality) that I get living abroad! I'm always excited to share my experiences.

[SlowLS1]

Absolutely love the video. You did a great job on it. I bet you and your Camaro get a lot of attention! Your friend’s SRT 8 was very nice also.

[rocknroll_jeph]

Originally Posted by SlowLS1

Absolutely love the video. You did a great job on it. I bet you and your Camaro get a lot of attention! Your friend’s SRT 8 was very nice also.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. My friend wrecked his Aston Martin last summer and the SRT8 was his replacement.

There are a lot of Jeeps in China, but SRTs are very rare.

[rocknroll_jeph]

Lately work and adult responsibilities are taking all the time that I set aside for fun so there is not much going on here. I bought a used LSD, drive shaft and axles for the swap but either I have been too busy or the shop has been too busy.

A bit of drama, however, because I had collected all the necessary parts and pieces, which are extraordinary rare overseas, and went to the shop to install the LSD a few weeks ago.

While I can say it was my fault, because I am too trusting, I'll summarize like this- we took all the drivetrain out and got the new differential in, but then noticed the new axles I bought splines didn't line up...

Let's go back a little bit. I bought a used differential and the seller only had 1 axle. I tested it at home and it fit in and worked well, but it was pretty beat up so I extensively researched the right part number, spline count and dimensions. I called around for days and finally found someone with the parts and bought them.

While those were being shipped, I also found a drive shaft and matched that up with my new diff so I knew it would fit. Knowing that I had the diff, drive shaft one axle and two more on the way, I took my diff to the shop to be rebuilt.

While the diff was away, the new axles and hub/bearings also arrived, and I test fit them and they went together very smoothly. The bearings were the last part because they took over a week to find, once again, I had part numbers, spline counts and all of the information that I shared with the seller, and was very specific on exactly what I needed.

When we went to install the diff, the replacement driveshaft I bought was too short, but that wasn't an issue because I only needed the back half, which was the correct fit, so that went in easily enough. I guess it was from a manual transmission?

The drama started when the axles and bearings I ordered, even thought they had a sticker with the correct part number on them, wouldn't go in. they were parts for the automatic V6 Camaro.

At that point we were at a dead end, without the correct axles and hubs there was no way to continue, and seeing that they were the same as what I had on my car, I was extremely depressed for wasting so much money on parts I didn't need. Worst of all, all people I know had already looked high and low and there was nothing local.

I could have ordered the parts from the US, but that would take a long time and double the price, and I am trying to do the swap as cheap as possible.

From the research I did, I knew that the proper axles and bearings couldn't be sourced locally. Fortunately I bought the bearings from an authorized seller and while they felt they were 100% positive they sent me the parts I asked for, eventually they refunded me for the parts. The axle seller however ghosted me so I was stuck with a set that I already had and had no real use to anyone else in China so I took a risk.

I went to another tuning shop and told them my problem and asked if they could help me prove my theory that the CV joint on the V6 shaft could be swapped with the SS shaft.

After a few minutes of destroying a brand new v6 axle and a thrashed SS axle they separated the CV and after a comparison we concluded that the SS CV could fit directly on the v6 axle. Now the only problem was that I only had one SS inner CV joint so I called around and found a shop that would be able to modify my V6 parts with the SS inner splines to fit into the SS diff, and still be able to reuse my original V6 hubs.

There must be a problem with my communication, because I was absolutely sure that I told them I wanted the V6 inner CVs to be replaced with the SS CV, and I even sent them all the parts. They sent me a photo of all the CVs rebuild... so a headache later they finally got the meaning and swapped the inner CVs for the bigger SS CV.

When the parts arrived I plugged them into the diff and they were the correct size... finally! The diff spins nicely and everything when bench tested appears to be on spec.

Next step is the see how it all fits in the car. I'm a bit worried about the length but the lengths found online all vary and my modified axles are within the dimensions I found online.

It's a Chinese holiday this weekend, so hopefully some time after this weekend I'll put it in and can finally enjoy the traction of both rear wheels on the track!

[rocknroll_jeph]

Two posts in one day! I also attended the Beijing Auto Expo yesterday... please don't be angry but a representative from Ford send me a free ticket.

The exhibition center is about 15 minute bike ride from my new house, it was across the street from my old house, but at least I didn't have to fight for a parking spot or some people travel from all over China just to see the show.

I have been chatting with a Ford representative for a few months regarding the Dark Horse. My Camaro is getting up there in age and the only car sold in China that I am remotely interested in is the Mustang.

So to get me to become more interested the car she invited me to the exhibition. I would have gone anyway, but it was nice to get a free ticket. While I was there they also treated me to a coffee and snack in the VIP section of the Ford booth. I had a great conversation with them and also learned a lot about the China edition of the Dark Horse.

Here are some interesting facts- due to the Chinese environmental department being more strict that the US, the 5.0L has been detuned. Not sure of the HP but the 0-60 time is around 4 seconds, but it's around 3.7 for the US version.

Only 200 Mustang Dark Horses will be imported into China and will all be the same- automatic transmission, blue Brembo calipers and non-carbon fiber wheels, so I think its just the basic Dark Horse with no options.

The price is around 700,000RMB or as of today comes to about $96,673 USD

I tried to configure it on the US website and it looks like it would be about $65,805 USD for the version they are selling in China. In the US it would cost about $866/ mo and the sales rep told me that if I were to put down a 20,000RMB ($2,762) down payment, there would be no interest for a few years and the monthly payments would be about 12,000/mo ($1657/mo), for 5 years, with options to pay off early. Which, to my current working situation, wouldn't be too difficult for me.

The downside would be I'd be a Mustang owner, and the cost of insurance and gas would go up.

The positive would be finally having a V8 of my own and being able to own 1 of 200 Dark Horses in China...

That being said, I only know of a handful of Silver Camaros in China, so there are probably even less of my Camaro than the Dark Horse.

Anyway, my wife doesn't let me spend $20 on the Lego Mustang Dark Horse, so I doubt she'll let me get a new car that would cost more in every way.

Thanks for reading and here is the video I made from yesterday. Most of the other cars in the exhibition were electric SUVs with gaudy lights and features to take the fun out of driving...

https://www.dongchedi.com/ugc/articl...ation_backflow