My Build Journal - A Red 2014 2SS/RS

[Red2014SS]

My story began when I was fortunate enough to luck into a great deal on a car rental. A free upgrade! I had flown into Florida and Alamo was all out of econo-boxes. So they handed me the keys to a black V6 convertible Camaro. I drove that car for one week and decided right then and there, that as soon as I got home, I was buying a new Camaro. I wonder how many Camaros were sold because someone rented one? I swear, once you drive one, you're hooked!

I bought my car back in December of 2014. She's pretty much a typical 2SS/RS. It has the Recaro seats. At that time, I swore I'd never modify it. Who would ever want to change the perfect car? Who could ever need more power? How could it get better than this?

The very first day of ownership, a good friend said, "Hey, you should get the windows tinted." ... so I did. And that was the first of many mods to come..

Here she is, windows all tinted. My very first mod!

[Red2014SS]

Shortly after this, I discovered Camaro5. Then I learned about all of the cool things that could be done to these cars!

First things first! I needed a CAI! My car purred like a kitten, but I missed the roar of the intake. Memories of flipping the air cleaner cover upside down on my first Camaro (1976 LT) came back. After a lot of research, I chose a Volant CAI. The PowerCore filter was top notch and I didn't want any dirt getting in my engine.

The new Volant did the trick. It sounded great. But it only sounded great when I stepped on the gas. I wanted it to sound like a V8. I asked my wife about a new exhaust and she didn't even answer. I got "the look." All guys know what that means. So, I did what any red blooded male would do..

.. I got the mufflers cut off! ..

Now it sounded like a real car. She never noticed. Or if she did, she never said anything...lol

[Red2014SS]

Of course, this whole time, I am reading Camaro5. I see all the beautiful things everyone is doing to their car. Mine looks plain in comparison. I needed some stripes, but which ones? I must have studied every car on the site. I didn't want Rally Stripes. I needed something a little different, but still cool. I ended up ordering a bunch of different stripes on Ebay. In the end, I used these.. I don't remember the vendor, but if anyone wants these, I can go look it up..

[Red2014SS]

About this time, I drove down the highway and I saw a car on fire. So my next mod was a fire extinguisher. I ordered the bracket from a fellow on the forum....

[Red2014SS]

After reading a zillion rave reviews, I coughed up the money for a Vitesse Throttle Controller. It is a great mod. Really brought the car to life. Instant throttle response. If you want to do easy burnouts, get one of these. Tire makers should give these away free. No CELs yet, knock on wood!

I also ordered a Range Device. My muffler delete really amplified the dreaded AFM on these cars. It was driving me crazy. The Range solved that issue.

[Red2014SS]

I forgot to mention that I also got some Commemorative Edition badges. I know, it's kind of cheesy to add badges to a car that really isn't a commemorative edition, but I liked the badges. So I got 'em.

[Red2014SS]

I'm trying to go back in time and remember all the things I did, and the order in which I did it. It's tough. I wish I had started a journal when I got the car.

At some point, I decided I needed a splitter. These things aren't cheap! After looking at every splitter known to man, Maureen at Rodgers Chevrolet came through. She took my VIN and I had a matching splitter about two days later. If you've never dealt with Maureen, you are missing out. She really is the best! I got a great deal. It took about an hour to install, but it wasn't hard.

We also added some gill stripes. I saw "we" because the Mrs picked them out and ordered them. She even put them on! Ahh... involving her really makes things easier! I highly suggest this sneaky move..

[Red2014SS]

A friend on this forum sent me some info on a spoiler he had purchased. After buying the splitter, I couldn't believe how cheap the spoiler was. I think I paid $110 bucks for it. Z-28 style, painted to match! Install was easy-peasy. We really get ripped off on splitters. No way they should cost as much as they do.

Here is the spoiler..

[Red2014SS]

Now we're cookin' with peanut oil! .. OK, one thing is missing. The stock wheels and tires gotta go. I'd been wanting wheels since day one, but they cost a lot. I am also very picky about how they look. Once type really stood out, the ZL1 replicas. I had contacted Doug Heideman at Factory Reproductions back in January. He talked me into waiting on the black chrome models. Apparently they were stuck on a boat somewhere in the Pacific. There was a strike at the dock, and he had no idea when they'd come in. He promised me it would be worth the wait!

.. so I waited. And waited, and waited. Finally, about April.. he called. My wheels were in! Wooohooo!! I got a tracking number and checked each day. I was like a kid waiting on Santa! ..


BLING!!! ... (Did I mention that I painted the calipers too?) I'm glad I waited! Doug was right. BTW - Factory Reproductions are great people! .. They were always nice, even when I called every single day for two months. "Are my wheels in yet?"...

[Red2014SS]

About the same time that I got the wheels, I decided to black out the gold Chevy bow tie emblems. I used black plastidip. There are a zillion threads on this, so no sense in going into details.

I also added some sheepskin seat belt covers. The seat belt retainer loop causes premature wear on the Recaros. I'm hoping the sheepskin covers prevent this. While I was working on the interior, I added a leather emergency brake handle boot.

Other interior upgrades are a PapaGo Dash Cam, and a Valentine One radar detector. I really like PapaGo products. The dashcam has worked flawlessly since day one. I'm not much of a speeder, but the Valentine One allows me to relax a little when I'm on the highway. Both are hard wired right into the fuse box. Once again, Camaro5 came to the rescue. There is a thread detailing the use of an add-a-fuse, then routing wires under the headliner. Worked great!

Little mods, but they all add up. And they are a part of the car.

[Red2014SS]

I picked up a used Pfadt rear sway bar from a member on the forum. He gave me a great deal. Ever since I'd added the new wheels and tires, I noticed a pronounced understeer. I should've listened to Justice Pete and gone with a square setup. Oh well, too late... my car pushed terribly during any aggressive cornering.

The sway bar went in without a hitch. I installed it using the stiffest postions, and the car corners like it's on rails. It will still push if I force it, but nothing like before. One issue with the Pfadt is creaking. The grease nipples on the clamps don't allow the grease to be evenly distributed. The cure is to drop the bar and grease it by hand.

Add another chore to the car maintenance schedule!

While I was under there, I changed the rear diff lube. I used Mobil One synthetic and a bottle of GM additive. It was amazingly simple and quick. I think the dealer charges $150 for this? Unreal...

[Red2014SS]

Last month, I made my very first trip to the drag strip. I read up as much as I could, but ended up being very disappointed in my times. I couldn't get under 14 seconds, no matter what I tried. My best run was a 14.1 at 101mph. I instantly fell in love with racing though!

I asked for help on the forum, and everyone agreed that my car should be faster. It should run mid 13's easily. But it wasn't... It drove me crazy. I kept wondering if my car was just a slug, or maybe I was just a horrible drag racer.

After racking my brain and looking at every mod on my car, I decided to try a new CAI. The Volant that was installed has a great filter. The best on the market. But I suspected it was hurting my top end.

So.. off with the old, and on with the new. If it's good enough for a Z-28, it's good enough for Red...
My new Z/28 CAI - Special thanks to Maureen at Rodgers Chevrolet! She gave me a fantastic deal on this!

[Red2014SS]

So? Did it work? ... You be the judge!

13.4 at 104mph!!! Woohooo... I love it!

[Red2014SS]

This pretty much brings my journal up to date. I'm going to try to document all of my mods from now on.

Like I said, I am hooked on racing. I bought some Stainless Works headers and high flow cats and made an appointment with a tuner. The headers and tune will be done sometime in the next two weeks. I'm hoping I can get into the 12's after the tune. Drag radials and a stall converter are on my wish list. I am also planning to get some road course track time at NCM in Bowling Green. I've been reading up on autocross and may try to hit an event this summer.

We took Red to a car show last week. It's not really a show, more like a cars and coffee. All kinds of cars show up and everyone is welcome. It was really cool and we met a lot of nice people.