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Old 11-24-2018, 06:07 PM   #1
zlathim
 
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Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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.
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Old 11-24-2018, 06:12 PM   #2
zlathim
 
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Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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:

__________________
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
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Old 11-24-2018, 06:38 PM   #3
zlathim
 
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Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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:



__________________
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.
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Old 11-24-2018, 06:48 PM   #4
zlathim
 
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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
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Old 11-24-2018, 06:57 PM   #5
zlathim
 
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Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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:

__________________
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.
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Old 11-24-2018, 07:07 PM   #6
zlathim
 
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Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
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.
__________________
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
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Old 11-24-2018, 07:34 PM   #7
hammdo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zlathim View Post
All of this under the car work is hard on an old man...
Amen to that!

But, worth every minute when you do it yourself...

-Don
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Old 11-24-2018, 07:47 PM   #8
zlathim
 
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Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hammdo View Post
Amen to that!

But, worth every minute when you do it yourself...

-Don
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!!
__________________
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
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Old 11-25-2018, 01:47 PM   #9
Overflow
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Awesome build so far!
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Old 11-25-2018, 02:25 PM   #10
zlathim
 
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Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
Quote:
Originally Posted by Overflow View Post
Awesome build so far!
Thanks!!!
__________________
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
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Old 11-30-2018, 09:53 AM   #11
zlathim
 
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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
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Old 12-01-2018, 07:13 PM   #12
Skooba_95
 
Drives: 2015 2SS/1LE
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: World Wide
Posts: 19
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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Old 12-03-2018, 10:46 AM   #13
zlathim
 
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Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skooba_95 View Post
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.
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
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Old 12-03-2018, 11:06 AM   #14
WoodBoss
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Drives: 2010 2SS L99
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Looks good especially that shiny new Coors Light.
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