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Old 05-06-2015, 03:16 PM   #1
lcrosss
 
Drives: 2012 SS Camaro
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Houston
Posts: 76
Arrow Screwed Over & Picking Up the Pieces: My 1000hp 5th Gen Rebuild [COTW 8/31/15]

So, a few of you know the story about my car.. For those who don't here's a few links to get you acquainted with my fiasco of a 5th Gen project, named "Katrina". Here's a few posts.. Which were made in haste and in anger. I cannot tell you how disheartening it has been to go through this. It sucks the life out of you, causes marital conflict, and has cost me a small fortune in the process.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=397956
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=399008

Since then, the car was removed, and brought home on a flat bed. It barely idled, rattled and squeaked, had scrapes and scratches all over the place, and just overall was in piss-poor shape. It sat in the garage until I found a suitable shop to make sense of this mess. I am not even going to say names, or call people out. The folks that all had a hand in creating this mess know who they are.

I am going to put this stuff behind me, as the rebuild has finally commenced. Due to the fact that I was drained financially, without a complete/running car to show for it, I've been forced to sell a bunch of the brand new parts, and downsize my expectations. The car will be receiving a PD blower in place of the F1x setup, and the engine will be rebuilt, as it's a complete train wreck.

I wanted to show pics of the tear down/rebuild. These are from the shop that's fixing the car, as it comes apart. They say that a pic is worth a thousand words? These pics are worth around 30 grand (and still counting).. This is from the shop that's working on the car now-



First few things that we see when we pop the hood-

Butt connectors were used for the new injector plugs for the Injector Dynamics fuel injectors:



Rats nest of wiring and lines for the nitrous system (which was left open/uninstalled)-



Incorrect pulley spacing on this idler caused it to dig into my brand new polished throttle body-



Lots of grit and dirt on the throttle blade. Makes me wonder how long the car was run without a filter. Keep in mind that it was not drive-able when it left the shop-



The hose to nowhere. Just dangling in the engine bay from a catch can that wasn't even securely mounted in it's holder-



One of the many scrapes and scratches. This one is probably the worst. The entire engine bay will need to be repainted at this point, as there's at least a dozen places where it's down to bare metal-



Lost the correct bolts for the strut bar? No problem. Just air gun a few Home Depot zinc plated bolts in. Stripped one out? Ah, just go ahead and leave it out. Two bolts should hold-




Digging a little deeper. Here's a pony tail holder and a sheet metal screw that's been run into the metal fender, apparently trying to hold it in place. You can see where the 10mm bolt that's supposed to hold it in place is cross threaded, and not tightened down all the way. I literally have no words for this-





Pulling the fender liners out, and getting ready to remove the power train, this was found. Bare wires, on sharp edges, un-loomed, with relays just dangling, and a nitrous line that's been left loose, to rub on the inner fender and other wires-





We remove the power train, and find this. Every bolt was finger tight, and 3 were backed out. The drive shaft bolts connecting the rubber donut to the transmission were also barely snugged down. No wonder the car rattled and made a bunch of racket.-



Fully "done up" heads-




A little silicone for your FAST intake?-


Whoever changed the rear main seal didn't do the job properly. The seal was replaced, but someone forgot to put a few dabs of silicone where the rear seal cover, pan, and block meet up. The result was a leak from that point-




That leak caused oil to get on the Mantic twin disc clutch, and it slipped bad enough to destroy the discs and floater plates. I've cleaned everything up as best as possible with brake cleaner so you can see the discoloration and damage to the pucks-




So, all that we have left to do now is tear the engine down. Hopefully the parts that were paid for are in there. The heads have to be gone through, as they're definitely not up to par.. Nor do they contain the parts that they were supposed to have. They may well have to be replaced, as someone went in with a dremel and hogged out the ports on the intake side. I'm not sure what they flow at low lift, but it could cause drive-ability issues. We will have them flow tested and provide data.

The camshaft is the wrong spec as you suspected(turbo cam), so it will have to be replaced as well. As far as the bottom end.. Someone decided that h-beam rods and a stock sleeve/stock head bolt diameter LS3 were good enough for about 1400bhp.


I've accepted what's happened, and I'm still very angry about this. Civil action is not out of the question. However, I just want to get my car running right now. I've been without it for almost 6 months. So, stick with us as we fix this thing.. It's a nightmare, but we'll get it sorted out.
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:21 PM   #2
Splitter
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damn.

I hope you get everything sorted out man.
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:22 PM   #3
Dfault

 
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Hey make sure you let locals know about that shop and put that shop on blast. If I were you I would sue that shop for everything it could be worth and shut them down.
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:37 PM   #4
lcrosss
 
Drives: 2012 SS Camaro
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Thanks guys.. I really had no idea how to handle this situation until I started asking around. So many things have left me speechless. It's like having the wind knocked out of you.
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:39 PM   #5
Homeless Man
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lol I'll stick to my longtube headers
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:42 PM   #6
Splitter
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Originally Posted by Homeless Man View Post
lol I'll stick to my longtube headers
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:42 PM   #7
lcrosss
 
Drives: 2012 SS Camaro
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dfault View Post
Hey make sure you let locals know about that shop and put that shop on blast. If I were you I would sue that shop for everything it could be worth and shut them down.
That was pretty much my intent when I posted up a few months ago. But, I was so angry and just flat out steam rolled at that point, I really didn't have pics or words to describe just how bad it had gotten. That's why I think it's important to post pics as we go from here on out. That way, it paints the picture of what really happened, without bias, or conjecture.

People in Houston/Katy know this car, and most of the shops around here know about what happened. If they don't, hopefully word gets out. I don't want anyone to go through what my wife and I just went through!
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:43 PM   #8
lcrosss
 
Drives: 2012 SS Camaro
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Homeless Man View Post
lol I'll stick to my longtube headers
lol.. Sure makes it feel that way.
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:44 PM   #9
mariojmoe
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Op I'm soooo sorry man, this is botched piss poor negligence in the worse degree. Been there done that on my 98 ss. Hope whoever did this never tuches a car again. Wow???
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:45 PM   #10
mariojmoe
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Are they in west houston off highway 6?
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:46 PM   #11
Dfault

 
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PM me since I'm not too far from Houston and I'm still shopping for shops.
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:46 PM   #12
lcrosss
 
Drives: 2012 SS Camaro
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Houston
Posts: 76
Oh.. I forgot to mention that the car has a built TR6060. The shop forgot to fill it with oil, and the car was run this way on the dyno. So, it's at the shop being torn down/checked out.
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:47 PM   #13
lcrosss
 
Drives: 2012 SS Camaro
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mariojmoe View Post
Are they in west houston off highway 6?
Barker Cypress and FM529
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Old 05-06-2015, 03:51 PM   #14
lcrosss
 
Drives: 2012 SS Camaro
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Houston
Posts: 76
BTW, I'm selling the brand new Procharger F1X / Cog drive setup from the car.. It's over in the FS section under FI. If you guys know anyone interested, I'm willing to make a deal on it to get some cash flow to fix this thing. It's all brand new stuff.. has dyno pulls on it. That's about it.
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