pyroguy's build of the SSHARK

[pyroguy]

Well with more and more people adding build threads I figured I would join in the group.

I bought the car in April of 2013 after my wife was in a serious accident in our G8. Never thought I'd sell that thing, but destroyed is destroyed. Drinking and driving isn't cool people (the lady who hit my wife was drunk, not my wife). Anyway, while in search of another G8 and coming up empty I did a search for Camaros near me and ended up finding an Aqua Blue Metallic, the one color both my wife and I wanted if we were going to buy a Camaro. So after a test drive and some negotiation here we were.



It had a few mods done by the previous owner, but I was willing to take the risk given the low miles, ABM color, right price, and close proximity. When we got it, it had a Hennessey intake (no heat shield), pin stripe in the stripes, stainless gill inserts, "427 hp" badges, BBK shorty headers, and some cheap drone like none other mufflers that while sounded good had such bad drone that they had to go.

I wanted to make the car my own even though it already had some mods because while the mods weren't bad, they weren't quite what I wanted. The first thing I did was add a Roto-fab cold air intake that I purchased from a member here after they sold their ABM.



With an ABM painted head shield and stainless steel tube it really made the engine bay stand out. Since then I have used blue oil to recharge the filter which just made the intake that much better.

Next I let Bo White work his magic with a Stage II ported throttle body. The man is a legend and anyone thinking of doing this upgrade, especially if you have a L99, it is a MUST!



Up until this point I had been doing minor mods as I was trying extremely hard to pay off student loans and the car itself. So after finally paying off both (best feeling EVER, especially the title mod. Worth it 100%) I gave myself a 30th birthday present by finally getting rid of the droning disaster that was stated in the add as a "catback exhaust" which was just some cheap mufflers welded in place of the factory suitcases. For those wondering www.solo-performance.com has an excellent exhaust system. I went for their Mach XL catback and it was amazing the difference it made for the car. The in cabin noise was gone, no drone and the outside sound was mean.



After that I had to upgrade the side marker lights as big orange and red squares on the side of a blue car really don't go so I went to www.phastek-performance.com and picked up a set of Oracle's LED side markers and while there I had to pick up some daytime running lights to match the HID lights.



From here I got the itch to upgrade headers and after many MANY searches, going back and forth between Texas Speed, Stainless Works, Stainless Power, Kooks, and OBX I settled on Kooks 1 7/8" headers with high flow cats and the icing on the cake was that I got free ceramic coating. The headers were great! The coating was perfect, coated inside and out, and the look was great when installed on the car and the sound...WOW!!



From here I ditched the 427 badges as they were always a lie since automatic Camaros were never 427 horsepower cars and it always drove me nuts that they were on the car. Plus I added a heritage grill, something I had always wanted since first seeing one on these cars.



In comes spring of April 2016. Almost 3 years to the date after I bought the car I took it to Keith's Pit Stop in Gettysburg, PA and let Jeremy Formato work his magic with the computer. As much as the rest of the mods combined did for the car, a tune is an incredible thing for these cars. He tuned out a lot of the torque management so the car will actually do a burnout, changed the shift points and firmness so the car shifts like it should (especially in 'M' mode) and even tuned a "wife mode" for me so that when in 'D' the car shifts similarly to stock but 'M' will bark the tires at 60 mph on the 2-3 shift. The car pulls hard and is just a beast. The number I put down were 365 rwhp and 390 rwtq.



If you have taken the time to read all of this I thank you. More mods are coming over the next couple of years. I'm currently saving up for a supercharger and cam, I have a set of factory ground effects sitting waiting to be installed, and I plan on changing out the wheels, spoiler, and possibly the hood and tinting the windows too so watch for eventual updates on them. Thanks for taking the time to check out my build and if you have any questions about anything I did and/or why please comment.

Updated 1-12-18 with factory ground effects



Update 8-25-18 cleaned up after 35% door tint and 20% backseat tint



Update 1-3-19 Going "under the knife" with a cam swap!





After the cam swap was done, I was tagged in this picture before I could even get notice from the shop owner that the car was ready. Not only did the guy tuning the car like it, but the ABM guys couldn't stand to wait and see who claimed this ABM on their page. She is a heck and a half of a lot of fun!!



Update 1-4-19 MORE mods!! Nothing nearly as significant as yesterday, but still nice. I got tired of the dim, yellow light around the license plate, in the car, and in the trunk. So I went over to Diode Dynamics (used to be a camaro5 sponsor, still a camaro6 sponsor) and got some LED bulbs. The license plate lights I've had for a couple months, but the map light and trunk light I got while the Camaro was out getting a new cam. These things are POWERFUL!

Before and after light comparison



Interior before and after



Trunk before and after



Engine eye candy! 7/24/19



Did someone say LOUDER?!



Update 4/20/21, first real interior mod other than some upgraded lights.



Update 4/22/22 install: Almost a year to the date later, I found and got to install a "holy grail" Hurst shifter plate to compliment the Hurst shifter handle.



Update 3-9-23 Dyno Run!: Well I FINALLY put the car on the dyno for the first time in years and the first time since my cam install. I was a little disappointed to have not made higher numbers, but I had just driven an hour to get to the dyno and I still had my engine covers on so I think heat soak may have been a contributing factor. Even then, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my Noweeds Diverters picked up at least 15rwhp. I always thought they were only there for fun, but turns out they boosted power too.



Update 5-20-23 Color changing halos! Thanks to Diode Dynamics for some great color changing halos. P.I.T.A. to get the headlights open to do this, but once open, it was a very easy install.



Update 11-15-23 Thank you Phastek for the open box special! I found an aqua blue metallic painted radiator cover from Roto-fab and had to go for it! I have almost their entire catalog now.

[Scottiemac]

ABM is a great looking color. Nice car

[QmaroSS]

Nice write up.

Originally Posted by Scottiemac

ABM is a great looking color. Nice car

It is a nice car I can personally vouch for that.



.

[Ashen 6.2]

Nice ride and write up!

[pyroguy]

Originally Posted by Scottiemac

ABM is a great looking color. Nice car

Thanks! I wanted an ABM since I first saw one and was so excited to be lucky enough to get one.

Originally Posted by QmaroSS

Nice write up.

It is a nice car I can personally vouch for that.

.

Thanks Q!

Originally Posted by Ashen 6.2

Nice ride and write up!

Thanks. I'll keep it updated as it continues to be modified.

[pyroguy]

Ok I know it's been a while since the write up, but some big mods are coming up soon!! Stay tuned, can't wait to post about them!

[pyroguy]

Here's some teaser shots of what's coming!











Some final work on the pieces are needing to be done because they're a little rough on the edges. Also, there's a new spoiler that's coming too. Can't wait for everything to be painted and for her to be back in my garage.

[QmaroSS]

It's going to look so good, I can't wait to see the new spoiler.

[pyroguy]

I recently had a request for some video clips of the car. It just so happens that I have a couple clips. One is pre tune where the highest I kick the rpms is 4.5k while the other is post tune and I accidentally bang off of the rev limiter at 6.2k.

Here’s the first Pre tune exhaust

Now the second Post tune exhaust

The car sounds real good and only a couple years later do I have a hint of drone. Nothing a little tweaking of the J pipes won’t fix though. Solo FTW! Also, both pre and post tune have AFM enabled for the people who say you can’t have a good sounding exhaust with AFM enabled.

Dyno Day

[pyroguy]

Second update for the day:

I stopped by body shop today to get a little more update on the car’s progress. She’s looking good and almost ready to go back together!

[c0r3yr0s3]

That thing sounds like a beast and I seen your knuckles turn white on the post tune acceleration

[pyroguy]

Originally Posted by c0r3yr0s3

That thing sounds like a beast and I seen your knuckles turn white on the post tune acceleration

Thanks! Yeah, the difference a tune makes for a 5th gen automatic is unreal! The car felt sluggish with the factory transmission tune, but after that got reworked the thing will now bark the tires on the 2-3 shift at 60 mph!

[Gunmetal Speedster]

Can't believe I just found this, I always thought you should have made a build thread. Looks good buddy! Coming along nicely

[pyroguy]

Originally Posted by Gunmetal Speedster

Can't believe I just found this, I always thought you should have made a build thread. Looks good buddy! Coming along nicely

Thanks man. I was reading through yours the other day actually and I have to say I like the layout much better than how I started this one and the build is excellent of course. I can't wait to get her back though. The suspense of waiting for her to be done is killing me. The shop has been taking their time and the results are looking very nice so I'm eager to see her all back together.