One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
08-22-2011, 02:06 AM
#1
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Well I've surpassed the 3 year mark of thirdgen ownership. Within this timeframe I have met many interesting people, made a couple friends one of whom is a close friend and learned a ton of invaluable information, and I owe it all to my car. So I figured I would start this post as a tribute to my Camaro.
The whole ruckus began back in spring of 2008. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was 20 years old, young dumb and full of $^#. I had just gotten my license the previous fall and was daily driving my mom's cavalier. One morning, I was on my way to batteries plus to pick up a battery for my cell phone so I could co-ordinate an evening with the ex and it happened. A deer leaped out in the road and totaled the cavalier.
A few weeks went by, and it sucked hard not having a set of wheels anymore. My mom understood the accident was not my fault but since both my parents were retired and my dad had his truck which is well taken care of, they didn't see the need for a replacement car so it was looking like I was in the market for my first vehicle.
I knew I could not finance a used or new vehicle at the time, and I had always been looking into getting an oldschool domestic. I really wanted a firstgen, but knew there was no way in hell I could afford it. A honda or pretty much any other type of import was OUT OF THE QUESTION! When I was a kid growing up, I remember riding in my dad's '72 351c Torino. It eventually broke down, and he kept it just sitting at the other end of our complex. He gave me the keys to hang on my keyring and told me one day when I was old enough to drive it would become mine. I still remember getting off the bus in junior high and running straight to that car, just sitting in it and doing my homework. I'd open the hood and just stare at the engine. Not knowing WTF I was looking at but knowing one day I would. Well, things didn't exactly go so well due to the bastards at the HOA and the car ended up going to the salvation army. The good news is, 3 weeks later it came driving up with a guy who had rescued it looking for the title. Even though it was a Ford, a part of me still misses that car and hopes that it went to a good home and not to the crusher. It was this car that planted the seed in my brain at a young age and drew me towards domestics.
Well, I had gone and looked at a few rides. Investigated an IROC with an L98 but the guy never called back. I went to inspect a Bird with a TBI 350 swap but the car was not in all that great of shape. The paint was hardcore phucked, all the weatherstripping and seals were dry-rotted, and the guy simply could NOT get the engine running right. Then, the infamous girl came to me. It was a white 85 Z28 with gold trim and a 305TPI. We went to inspect it and I was happy with the initial impression. I knew I could not afford the guy's asking price of 2k at the time so my only hope was to talk him down some. I managed to get him down to $1500, then he further dropped the price to $1300 after he failed to fix the exhaust leak at the headers. I went to test drive it, scraped up what little savings I had and decided to bring her home that day. That's when it all started...
I immediately grew attached to the car. Countless hours were spent modding this, detailing that and cruising around town. However, being young and stupid, not understanding even the most basics of vehicle mechanics and thinking myself as well as my car were INVINCIBLE, I paid the price only 3 months later when the engine lost a cam lobe. Over the next few months, my dad took me to and from work after I decided I was going to save the car and saved up for a new longblock plus the labor to have it installed.
I ended up buying a "rebuilt" 350 from a guy on TGO. Plan was to remove the carb and bolt up mt TPI. I had already bought everything needed to make it work including an L98 ECM, new cam and valvetrain, knock sensor and etc. Turns out, this guy rebuilt the engine alright, right before he somehow managed to smash all the valves into the pistons severe enough to bend EVERY pushrod. No address or last name to go by, and it looks like I've been done with no rubber or KY.
New engine get's dropped in, and all is peachy for the next 3 months. Remember now though, I'm still in my young and stupid phase, and although I'm in the beginning stages of learning what makes cars tick and how to maintain them, I still have an arrogant and hasty attitude about it all. I set the TV cable wrong by not paying attention to directions and fried the B&M 700R4 only 3 months after having the longblock replaced. Back to being taxied to work and scrounging up cash...
Well, a few months even further down the road, and what I refer to as the giant 700R4 cluster%^$# ensues. I get into contact with Dana at pro-built since I am in the market for a new trans, but his prices are just a tad to steep for me. He refers me to Shane Cobb at Carolina Performance Transmission. I agree with shane on a Level 3 700R4, and he begins the build. Approximately 2 weeks later, the tranny arrives in a crate at the shop and I have it installed. Go to test drive the car and take it for a total of 10 miles before it completely blows the front seal out and dumps all the fluid into the street. Contact shane who is initially apologetic and even offers to cover the labor charge for R&R. RGA the torque converter to ACC Performance who informs me they could find nothing wrong with it and send me a new one. Shane "repairs" the transmission and sends it back, refusing the cover the labor and blaming the torque converter for the failure. Finally covers half of the R&R after a quick bickering match, and I'm back on the road again.
The front seal of the transmission still had a very slow drip leak, and the transmission would not hold 3rd gear at WOT. Shane refuses to perform anymore warranty work and refers me to an affiliate for repairs. At this point I just gave up. I continued to just normally drive the car to and from work as a DD. Yeah, no rubber and no KY, again.
Over the next year, I continue to go to local car meets just to hang with the guys. Talking, reading, researching and learning, but still having a lingering cloud of doom hanging over my head from all the previous mishaps and still afraid to turn a bolt on anything more complicated than an alternator. As time goes on, the car's condition continues to deteriorate. I have to keep adding tranny fluid due to the leak, I ended up getting into an accident and the engine continued to run worse and worse. It would idle horribly, threw codes, hesitated, surged and even on a day when it was running seemingly fine, the best time I could manage to pull in the 1/8th was 10.5 at 67MPH with a 2.3 60'
.
Fearing an impending disaster was ahead, I finally made the difficult decision to purchase an additional vehicle. I took out a loan to purchase what I THOUGHT would become a reliable daily driver. A 5 speed Saturn L200 with only 63,000 original miles in almost mint condition. A spend the next month practicing and learning how to drive stick, then register the Camaro as an antique. Not long after purchasing the saturn, the front seal on the Camaro gives up again, and It's further reduced to just sitting in our complex.
Time goes on, and the saturn keeps chugging along. I daily drove it over the course of a year. All this time, I continue to lurk throughout TGO and google, doing further research and reading on what makes my car tick just for the sake of passing time. Over time though, I begin to realize what a mistake it was to purchase a low end economy vehicle born out a need for a cheap domestic alternative. The first issue was when the slave cylinder started going bad, resulting in the clutch pedal loosing all hydraulic pressure after commuting on the highway. Then the exhaust manifold broke, and finally, things took a turn for the worst...
I got fired from my job, and only two weeks after that, the saturn begins to make rattling noises from the top-end. Turns out it had ate through 3 quarts of oil in less than 5k miles since my previous oil change (I was actually getting ready to change it in the next 1k), leaving only a quart in the pan without so much as a warning light and seized the timing chain tensioner. The timing chain jumped several teeth from the slack and the pistons hit the valves. The car was dead at only 74k ORIGINAL miles. I ended up selling it as-is for a grand.
Now, I'm really up the creek without a paddle. I have no job, and no ride. Finding a job wasn't a problem, but I needed a set of wheels to do that. I ended up going into MD and looking at a CLEAN 87 GTA that only had 63k ORIGINAL miles. They only wanted $5500 for it, but as soon as I started the engine and heard the collapsed lifter I knew why. Back to the drawing board...
After getting home from looking at said GTA, I stood by my old girl smoking a cigar, thinking to myself how much my once pride and joy was beginning to remind me of my dad's torino. It was covered in cobwebs, needed paint and bodywork, couldn't get out of It's own way if both of our lives depended on it and had been sitting for the past 8 months. Things weren't looking good for the ol' camaro
. I got in it, turned the key and fired it up. It backfired, misfired, hesitated and the tranny fluid smoked off the exhaust. I shut it down and got back out, and thought for a minute. The reason things never went well with this car is because I had always thought with my foot instead of my head. I was afraid to work on it for sake of breaking something and making matters worse, and I always made hasty decisions. It was with that precise thought that I knew what I had to do. No matter what vehicle I decided to purchase, I would always be running into problems. Unless I went new of course, but then the payments would be a nightmare. But I knew all the existing problems of the car sitting right in front of me, and I knew what went where (theoretically) and how to work on it. It was with that thought that I knew what I had to do. I didn't need to buy my way into another problem, I needed to bring her back.
I took the money I got for the saturn, cashed out my 401k from my previous job and got to work. I completely SCOURED the engine bay looking for anything that needed to be replaced. I determined that all 8 spark plugs were fouled, the EGR was clogged with carbon, the waterpump was leaking and about to fail and the diaphragm on the fuel pressure regulator was blown. The first thing I did to get me familiar with my car again was install the sound system I had never gotten around to doing, and tidying up the interior filling in small details, replacing screws and fixing broken parts I had neglected while doing the custom interior. After that, I performed the following engine modifications:
- Replaced MAF, TPS, IAT, CTS, MAT and upgraded the O2 to a 3 wire bosch unit.
- Replaced tired waterpump with an aluminum weiand unit
- Installed a new battery
- Deleted the EGR system
- Replaced all spark plugs and removed the incorrect red+white Accel supercoil and replaced it with a red+yellow.
- Junked the stock FPR and replaced it with the infamous Holley TPI AFPR.
- Probably a few other things I'm forgetting. I spent the better part of two weeks going out at 12AM til sunrise to avoid persecution by the HOA and while waiting for parts to arrive. The more things I replaced, the more parts I began discovering were bad
After all this time went by, I found a LOCAL transmission builder who I took the car to. It took him a couple weeks between projects, and I specifically told him if it meant doing the job right that time wasn't a factor. I backed the stall speed on the convertor down to 2400 - 2800 (previously 2800 - 3200). We determined the previous transmission failure was caused by, are you sitting down? ALL THREE PARTIES. Shane screwed up by not installing a plug in the seperator plate the RIGHT way. He used a hammer to pound it in and you can see the dents it made in the plate and well as gave it a slight bend. The builder believes this created a crossleak which was why 3rd gear failed to hold and the 3-4 clutches were burned. ACC Performance screwed up by NOT listening to anything I had to say. When we removed the converter, there were large depressions worn into the snout from it being welded on with a slight runout. Despite the fact that they claimed there was nothing wrong with it and stated they sent me a different converter, it still managed to trash the same transmission twice. The shop that performed the R&R screwed up by not listening again, since I specifically told them to check the runout on the converter snout BEFORE installing it which they said they did. NOT...
Anyways, I had the builder replace the seperator plate, all the clutches and bands, as well as install a transgo 2&3 full manual shift kit. I know full manual valvebodies aren't for everyone, but quite honestly I love it. I got the car back and was amazed. The car ran like a dream. No check engine light, no misfiring, and it picked up a TON of power. The front end now picks up through second gear and pulls to almost 5k. I'm taking it to the track this wednesday to see what it will run with a working transmission and properly tuned engine. I still have a few more things to tweak and replace, but it looks like she's back and better than ever, just in time for my new job at advance auto
.
I'll be uploading some photos tomorrow, and updating this post as time goes on. In only 2 weeks I'm taking out a loan to get the paint and bodywork done, slap on some new rims and finish off the interior.
Sorry to make that so long, but It's been a long road to get where I am now. In fact, I think I'll take her out for a spin before I turn in for the night
The whole ruckus began back in spring of 2008. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was 20 years old, young dumb and full of $^#. I had just gotten my license the previous fall and was daily driving my mom's cavalier. One morning, I was on my way to batteries plus to pick up a battery for my cell phone so I could co-ordinate an evening with the ex and it happened. A deer leaped out in the road and totaled the cavalier.
A few weeks went by, and it sucked hard not having a set of wheels anymore. My mom understood the accident was not my fault but since both my parents were retired and my dad had his truck which is well taken care of, they didn't see the need for a replacement car so it was looking like I was in the market for my first vehicle.
I knew I could not finance a used or new vehicle at the time, and I had always been looking into getting an oldschool domestic. I really wanted a firstgen, but knew there was no way in hell I could afford it. A honda or pretty much any other type of import was OUT OF THE QUESTION! When I was a kid growing up, I remember riding in my dad's '72 351c Torino. It eventually broke down, and he kept it just sitting at the other end of our complex. He gave me the keys to hang on my keyring and told me one day when I was old enough to drive it would become mine. I still remember getting off the bus in junior high and running straight to that car, just sitting in it and doing my homework. I'd open the hood and just stare at the engine. Not knowing WTF I was looking at but knowing one day I would. Well, things didn't exactly go so well due to the bastards at the HOA and the car ended up going to the salvation army. The good news is, 3 weeks later it came driving up with a guy who had rescued it looking for the title. Even though it was a Ford, a part of me still misses that car and hopes that it went to a good home and not to the crusher. It was this car that planted the seed in my brain at a young age and drew me towards domestics.
Well, I had gone and looked at a few rides. Investigated an IROC with an L98 but the guy never called back. I went to inspect a Bird with a TBI 350 swap but the car was not in all that great of shape. The paint was hardcore phucked, all the weatherstripping and seals were dry-rotted, and the guy simply could NOT get the engine running right. Then, the infamous girl came to me. It was a white 85 Z28 with gold trim and a 305TPI. We went to inspect it and I was happy with the initial impression. I knew I could not afford the guy's asking price of 2k at the time so my only hope was to talk him down some. I managed to get him down to $1500, then he further dropped the price to $1300 after he failed to fix the exhaust leak at the headers. I went to test drive it, scraped up what little savings I had and decided to bring her home that day. That's when it all started...
I immediately grew attached to the car. Countless hours were spent modding this, detailing that and cruising around town. However, being young and stupid, not understanding even the most basics of vehicle mechanics and thinking myself as well as my car were INVINCIBLE, I paid the price only 3 months later when the engine lost a cam lobe. Over the next few months, my dad took me to and from work after I decided I was going to save the car and saved up for a new longblock plus the labor to have it installed.
I ended up buying a "rebuilt" 350 from a guy on TGO. Plan was to remove the carb and bolt up mt TPI. I had already bought everything needed to make it work including an L98 ECM, new cam and valvetrain, knock sensor and etc. Turns out, this guy rebuilt the engine alright, right before he somehow managed to smash all the valves into the pistons severe enough to bend EVERY pushrod. No address or last name to go by, and it looks like I've been done with no rubber or KY.
New engine get's dropped in, and all is peachy for the next 3 months. Remember now though, I'm still in my young and stupid phase, and although I'm in the beginning stages of learning what makes cars tick and how to maintain them, I still have an arrogant and hasty attitude about it all. I set the TV cable wrong by not paying attention to directions and fried the B&M 700R4 only 3 months after having the longblock replaced. Back to being taxied to work and scrounging up cash...
Well, a few months even further down the road, and what I refer to as the giant 700R4 cluster%^$# ensues. I get into contact with Dana at pro-built since I am in the market for a new trans, but his prices are just a tad to steep for me. He refers me to Shane Cobb at Carolina Performance Transmission. I agree with shane on a Level 3 700R4, and he begins the build. Approximately 2 weeks later, the tranny arrives in a crate at the shop and I have it installed. Go to test drive the car and take it for a total of 10 miles before it completely blows the front seal out and dumps all the fluid into the street. Contact shane who is initially apologetic and even offers to cover the labor charge for R&R. RGA the torque converter to ACC Performance who informs me they could find nothing wrong with it and send me a new one. Shane "repairs" the transmission and sends it back, refusing the cover the labor and blaming the torque converter for the failure. Finally covers half of the R&R after a quick bickering match, and I'm back on the road again.
The front seal of the transmission still had a very slow drip leak, and the transmission would not hold 3rd gear at WOT. Shane refuses to perform anymore warranty work and refers me to an affiliate for repairs. At this point I just gave up. I continued to just normally drive the car to and from work as a DD. Yeah, no rubber and no KY, again.
Over the next year, I continue to go to local car meets just to hang with the guys. Talking, reading, researching and learning, but still having a lingering cloud of doom hanging over my head from all the previous mishaps and still afraid to turn a bolt on anything more complicated than an alternator. As time goes on, the car's condition continues to deteriorate. I have to keep adding tranny fluid due to the leak, I ended up getting into an accident and the engine continued to run worse and worse. It would idle horribly, threw codes, hesitated, surged and even on a day when it was running seemingly fine, the best time I could manage to pull in the 1/8th was 10.5 at 67MPH with a 2.3 60'
.Fearing an impending disaster was ahead, I finally made the difficult decision to purchase an additional vehicle. I took out a loan to purchase what I THOUGHT would become a reliable daily driver. A 5 speed Saturn L200 with only 63,000 original miles in almost mint condition. A spend the next month practicing and learning how to drive stick, then register the Camaro as an antique. Not long after purchasing the saturn, the front seal on the Camaro gives up again, and It's further reduced to just sitting in our complex.
Time goes on, and the saturn keeps chugging along. I daily drove it over the course of a year. All this time, I continue to lurk throughout TGO and google, doing further research and reading on what makes my car tick just for the sake of passing time. Over time though, I begin to realize what a mistake it was to purchase a low end economy vehicle born out a need for a cheap domestic alternative. The first issue was when the slave cylinder started going bad, resulting in the clutch pedal loosing all hydraulic pressure after commuting on the highway. Then the exhaust manifold broke, and finally, things took a turn for the worst...
I got fired from my job, and only two weeks after that, the saturn begins to make rattling noises from the top-end. Turns out it had ate through 3 quarts of oil in less than 5k miles since my previous oil change (I was actually getting ready to change it in the next 1k), leaving only a quart in the pan without so much as a warning light and seized the timing chain tensioner. The timing chain jumped several teeth from the slack and the pistons hit the valves. The car was dead at only 74k ORIGINAL miles. I ended up selling it as-is for a grand.
Now, I'm really up the creek without a paddle. I have no job, and no ride. Finding a job wasn't a problem, but I needed a set of wheels to do that. I ended up going into MD and looking at a CLEAN 87 GTA that only had 63k ORIGINAL miles. They only wanted $5500 for it, but as soon as I started the engine and heard the collapsed lifter I knew why. Back to the drawing board...
After getting home from looking at said GTA, I stood by my old girl smoking a cigar, thinking to myself how much my once pride and joy was beginning to remind me of my dad's torino. It was covered in cobwebs, needed paint and bodywork, couldn't get out of It's own way if both of our lives depended on it and had been sitting for the past 8 months. Things weren't looking good for the ol' camaro
. I got in it, turned the key and fired it up. It backfired, misfired, hesitated and the tranny fluid smoked off the exhaust. I shut it down and got back out, and thought for a minute. The reason things never went well with this car is because I had always thought with my foot instead of my head. I was afraid to work on it for sake of breaking something and making matters worse, and I always made hasty decisions. It was with that precise thought that I knew what I had to do. No matter what vehicle I decided to purchase, I would always be running into problems. Unless I went new of course, but then the payments would be a nightmare. But I knew all the existing problems of the car sitting right in front of me, and I knew what went where (theoretically) and how to work on it. It was with that thought that I knew what I had to do. I didn't need to buy my way into another problem, I needed to bring her back.I took the money I got for the saturn, cashed out my 401k from my previous job and got to work. I completely SCOURED the engine bay looking for anything that needed to be replaced. I determined that all 8 spark plugs were fouled, the EGR was clogged with carbon, the waterpump was leaking and about to fail and the diaphragm on the fuel pressure regulator was blown. The first thing I did to get me familiar with my car again was install the sound system I had never gotten around to doing, and tidying up the interior filling in small details, replacing screws and fixing broken parts I had neglected while doing the custom interior. After that, I performed the following engine modifications:
- Replaced MAF, TPS, IAT, CTS, MAT and upgraded the O2 to a 3 wire bosch unit.
- Replaced tired waterpump with an aluminum weiand unit
- Installed a new battery
- Deleted the EGR system
- Replaced all spark plugs and removed the incorrect red+white Accel supercoil and replaced it with a red+yellow.
- Junked the stock FPR and replaced it with the infamous Holley TPI AFPR.
- Probably a few other things I'm forgetting. I spent the better part of two weeks going out at 12AM til sunrise to avoid persecution by the HOA and while waiting for parts to arrive. The more things I replaced, the more parts I began discovering were bad
After all this time went by, I found a LOCAL transmission builder who I took the car to. It took him a couple weeks between projects, and I specifically told him if it meant doing the job right that time wasn't a factor. I backed the stall speed on the convertor down to 2400 - 2800 (previously 2800 - 3200). We determined the previous transmission failure was caused by, are you sitting down? ALL THREE PARTIES. Shane screwed up by not installing a plug in the seperator plate the RIGHT way. He used a hammer to pound it in and you can see the dents it made in the plate and well as gave it a slight bend. The builder believes this created a crossleak which was why 3rd gear failed to hold and the 3-4 clutches were burned. ACC Performance screwed up by NOT listening to anything I had to say. When we removed the converter, there were large depressions worn into the snout from it being welded on with a slight runout. Despite the fact that they claimed there was nothing wrong with it and stated they sent me a different converter, it still managed to trash the same transmission twice. The shop that performed the R&R screwed up by not listening again, since I specifically told them to check the runout on the converter snout BEFORE installing it which they said they did. NOT...
Anyways, I had the builder replace the seperator plate, all the clutches and bands, as well as install a transgo 2&3 full manual shift kit. I know full manual valvebodies aren't for everyone, but quite honestly I love it. I got the car back and was amazed. The car ran like a dream. No check engine light, no misfiring, and it picked up a TON of power. The front end now picks up through second gear and pulls to almost 5k. I'm taking it to the track this wednesday to see what it will run with a working transmission and properly tuned engine. I still have a few more things to tweak and replace, but it looks like she's back and better than ever, just in time for my new job at advance auto
.I'll be uploading some photos tomorrow, and updating this post as time goes on. In only 2 weeks I'm taking out a loan to get the paint and bodywork done, slap on some new rims and finish off the interior.
Sorry to make that so long, but It's been a long road to get where I am now. In fact, I think I'll take her out for a spin before I turn in for the night
Last edited by FireDemonSiC; 08-09-2012 at 12:52 AM.
The following 2 users liked this post by FireDemonSiC:
1986BANDIT (08-24-2019), Stoic Heroics (09-29-2020)
08-22-2011, 08:54 AM
#3
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Car: '83 Sport Coupe
Engine: 360
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt 3.73 TrueTrac
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Great story... I read every word. I to had a tendency to make quick and sometimes senseless decisions on my first third gen. Really nice to see someone who has stuck by the same car and finally got some success out of it. I now have the third gen of my dreams, and appreciate now more than ever, the importance of taking the time to do something the right way.
Looking forward to pics!
Looking forward to pics!
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1986BANDIT (08-24-2019)
08-22-2011, 12:23 PM
#4
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Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
08-22-2011, 12:59 PM
#5
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Car: '91 Camaro RS
Engine: Carb'd 383
Transmission: Built T5
Axle/Gears: 3.73 Posi
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
I know the feeling of ALWAYS having a problem with my camaro
08-22-2011, 01:49 PM
#6
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Location: Katy TEXAS (West Houston)
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Car: 1992 Camaro RS
Engine: 5.0 TBI L03 V8
Transmission: Rebuilt 700R4 W/ Corvette shift kit
Axle/Gears: 2:73 open
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Wow. I read every word. and just WOW. Looking forward to some pics.
08-23-2011, 10:14 PM
#7
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Here are a few pictures for you guys of the progress Ive made. I don't have many "before" pics, but I do have a few photos on my photobucket of the car when I first bought it. These might give you an idea on where I've come from. The car was mostly stock when I got it. It still had the factory beechwood tan interior (YUCK!).
Attached are the after pics of the progress I've made. A few pieces are still missing and It's not yet a complete project but It's coming along.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...y/CIMG0723.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...y/CIMG0731.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...y/CIMG0734.jpg
These pictures are recent from when I was installing the amp:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...707_002546.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...704_185759.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...704_142236.jpg
Attached are the after pics of the progress I've made. A few pieces are still missing and It's not yet a complete project but It's coming along.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...y/CIMG0723.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...y/CIMG0731.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...y/CIMG0734.jpg
These pictures are recent from when I was installing the amp:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...707_002546.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...704_185759.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...704_142236.jpg
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08-24-2011, 01:17 AM
#8
08-24-2011, 02:13 AM
#9
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Location: Katy TEXAS (West Houston)
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Car: 1992 Camaro RS
Engine: 5.0 TBI L03 V8
Transmission: Rebuilt 700R4 W/ Corvette shift kit
Axle/Gears: 2:73 open
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Noice. The engine and interior looks awsome. I was expecting a total piece of garbage. Photo bucket isn't working for me for some reason so I have no Idea what the outside looks like though.
08-24-2011, 11:40 AM
#10
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Thanks guys! The outside is NOT pretty right now. The cheap maaco paint job a PO did is chipping and peeling down to the primer, and the car still has a smashed up fender, bumper and hood from the accident.
It will all be totally reworked soon though. Stay tuned...
It will all be totally reworked soon though. Stay tuned...
08-24-2011, 08:05 PM
#11
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Ran her in the 1/8th guys. With a lousy R/T of .6xx, I managed a 9.8 @ 68MPH with a flat 2.0 60'. Not bad for a 3.23 rear with 28" tires.
Lot's of work left to do, but I'm proud of her!
Lot's of work left to do, but I'm proud of her!
08-24-2011, 08:54 PM
#12
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Location: San Antonio Texas
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Car: 1982 Trans Am, 1986 Gmc sierra
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Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
wow your smart! make sure u do the body work yourself, and use lots of bondo, that way it will look good!
09-05-2011, 08:54 AM
#13
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Location: niles mi
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Car: 1986 iroc-z
Engine: LG4 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 273
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
hi iam chris i read your post. i have 3 camaros love all of them. but my frist camaro was a 1986 iroc-z i bought new off the show room floor in june of 1986. over the years i have done the same as you. she sat for 6 years with a front seal out, and almost sold her three time but back out. i still have her and she run like the day i brought her home.. dont ever sell your car,you will be sick if you do.. i dont drive her much but i do wash her every weekend she has 34,000 miles on her. sometimes i just set in her and remember the good times, i dont drive her but maybe 200 miles a year. just dont want anyone to hit her.. check out my pic. great job on your car..
09-05-2011, 10:29 AM
#14
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Location: Oradell, bergen county, new jersey
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Car: 88 Camaro Coupe - 99 Corvette
Engine: 305TPI - LS1
Transmission: A4 - A4
Axle/Gears: 3:73 - 3:15
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
looks cool, same color combo my car was originally
09-05-2011, 01:51 PM
#15
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
I went through a somewhat similar ordeal, but my original engine and trans were always flawless. The week after I brought her home from NC, the brakes epic failed on me (had a stuck caliper on passenger side). But it was for the most part a slow, reliable car.
Then I was finally ready to make it a fast, reliable car. Dropped a built 355 in it. Turns out I got hosed on some overly-ported cylinder heads I bought on TGO that were a little too good to be true. Then I replaced those a few months later after I had saved enough and my engine block developed a crack in one of the cylinder bores. So I had to start over. I was pretty devastated and the car sat for about a year. Towards the end of that year I decided I still had a decent top end waiting to go on a good shortblock, and I found a T56 for sale, and I had always wanted a manual thirdgen. Then shortly after that I found a nice posi 3-series carrier 9-bolt and it just sort of came together several months later with a couple of weeks of work that me and my friends all put into it.
Sat like this for a year:
Just gotta keep on truckin and hopin it will come together eventually. Perseverance pays off.
Im the guy with the ridiculous excited grin to have my **** coming together finally.
You can see how dirty the car had gotten. So I know how you feel.
I dontk now how bad your damage is from the accident, but hopefully it's fairly minor. Good luck with it. You can learn a lot about bodywork by just doing it.
Then I was finally ready to make it a fast, reliable car. Dropped a built 355 in it. Turns out I got hosed on some overly-ported cylinder heads I bought on TGO that were a little too good to be true. Then I replaced those a few months later after I had saved enough and my engine block developed a crack in one of the cylinder bores. So I had to start over. I was pretty devastated and the car sat for about a year. Towards the end of that year I decided I still had a decent top end waiting to go on a good shortblock, and I found a T56 for sale, and I had always wanted a manual thirdgen. Then shortly after that I found a nice posi 3-series carrier 9-bolt and it just sort of came together several months later with a couple of weeks of work that me and my friends all put into it.
Sat like this for a year:
Just gotta keep on truckin and hopin it will come together eventually. Perseverance pays off.
Im the guy with the ridiculous excited grin to have my **** coming together finally.
You can see how dirty the car had gotten. So I know how you feel.I dontk now how bad your damage is from the accident, but hopefully it's fairly minor. Good luck with it. You can learn a lot about bodywork by just doing it.
Last edited by InfernalVortex; 09-05-2011 at 01:56 PM.
09-07-2011, 03:07 PM
#16
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Car: 92 Chevy Camaro RS TBI
Engine: 5.0
Transmission: 700 R4
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Great story! Its good that you still have your first Fbody. Not a day goes by that I dont think back to 1985 and looking at my 1980 Camaro sitting in my Moms backyard. Your lucky you got hit with the 3rd Gen bug early. Ive had it since I was a kid but never managed to keep a single 3rd Gen "forever". Im hoping my 92 RS will be the one. My son is 8 years old and I tell him everyday, "Thats your car bud". Id say that 26 years of stupid decisions has come to an end. When I bought the 92, I made the decision that this was it and my son will be driving this car when he turns 16. So needless to say, I have 8 years to get it bad azz. Times are hard but if it takes 7 years and 11 months... Ill work 24/7 for 30 days!
Sorry to be so long but 3rd Gens are more then a car. Its a brotherhood/sisterhood(for my wife and fellow female 3rd Gen'ers) Ive met a lot of great people and look froward to meeting more. So F&%k the deuce! Throw up the Trips!
Sorry to be so long but 3rd Gens are more then a car. Its a brotherhood/sisterhood(for my wife and fellow female 3rd Gen'ers) Ive met a lot of great people and look froward to meeting more. So F&%k the deuce! Throw up the Trips!
09-10-2011, 04:26 PM
#18
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Car: 1992 Z28
Engine: LB9 305
Transmission: 700R4
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Kinda reminds me of my first Thirdgen. It was a 1987 SC with a 2.8 V6. The thing was a major headache to say the least. It left me stranded more times than I could count, but for some reason I loved that car! After having it for 5 years I finally ended up having to face the facts and sell it. It's still out on the road and I see it every once in a while.
I ended up carefully looking for another Thirdgen and finally found one about 5 years ago. It's cool that you held on to yours and giving it the TLC that it deserves!
I ended up carefully looking for another Thirdgen and finally found one about 5 years ago. It's cool that you held on to yours and giving it the TLC that it deserves!
09-10-2011, 07:32 PM
#19
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Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Thanks for all the feedback guys. Looks like a few packages came in today while I was at work. Inside them were and SSBC slotted rotors and pads package, UMI solid motor mounts (I do NOT look forward to installing these!) and a bosch 22lb injector kit from FIC
While I was leaving work I grabbed two new calipers ($12.99 a piece plus my discount it was a no brainer even though I don't know the condition of the existing ones) and who can forget the Accel manifold that can go on as soon as I re-drill the bolt pattern for a SBC. This picture is better than ****
BTW, the bank approved my loan for 6k. In the next few months we are going to be doing this in 4 stages. Stage 1 is going to be things I will do including the injector swap, manifold swap and brake job. Stage 2 is rims and tires which I am actually ordering on monday. Stage 3 will be taking the car to have a 3.73 rear professionally installed by the same guy who did my transmission and after all that is said and done, stage 4 will commence in which I strip the car of anything and everything that is stuck/bolted on and drive it straight to the bodyshop where it will be painted straight black with a 4" cowl hood and a 5" hawks spoiler.
While I was leaving work I grabbed two new calipers ($12.99 a piece plus my discount it was a no brainer even though I don't know the condition of the existing ones) and who can forget the Accel manifold that can go on as soon as I re-drill the bolt pattern for a SBC. This picture is better than ****
BTW, the bank approved my loan for 6k. In the next few months we are going to be doing this in 4 stages. Stage 1 is going to be things I will do including the injector swap, manifold swap and brake job. Stage 2 is rims and tires which I am actually ordering on monday. Stage 3 will be taking the car to have a 3.73 rear professionally installed by the same guy who did my transmission and after all that is said and done, stage 4 will commence in which I strip the car of anything and everything that is stuck/bolted on and drive it straight to the bodyshop where it will be painted straight black with a 4" cowl hood and a 5" hawks spoiler.
Last edited by FireDemonSiC; 09-10-2011 at 07:36 PM.
09-11-2011, 10:31 AM
#20
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Car: 1983 Z28
Engine: Lt1
Transmission: t5
Axle/Gears: 4th gen limited slip
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
i definitely like where you're going with this. i bought my first third gen april of 2008 when i was 18. i did a lot of stupid things with it which cause it to sit in the driveway with no transmission for a year while i drove another thirdgen that i couldnt get attached to like my first. but now i have her on the road again as my daily driver (made affordable by working at advance auto also). so keep up the good work, i look forward to seeing more pictures.
09-11-2011, 08:44 PM
#21
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Car: '86 IROC-Z/'94 Z28
Engine: 350 LT1/382 LT1
Transmission: 4L60-E/T-56
Axle/Gears: 3.45/3.42 (soon 4.10)
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
I still have my first thirdgen. Managed to get it running great after picking it up with a straight body and not much else. Blew the original 305 TPI engine in 2001 due to a stuck injector. It sat for years without a drivetrain, until 2006 when I installed a tuned port 350 LT1 (yes, that's correct) using an Accel conversion base. I got it running, drove it around the block, decided I wasn't happy with it, and tore it back down. Intake stayed nice a cold, but didn't have the oomph I was looking for. Still sits without an engine today, waiting for me to finish the 427 for it. I'm planning on getting a 4thgen and swapping most subcomponents from it to include the firewall, then swap most suspension subcomponents from a C5, get it dipped and coated, then reassemble from scratch. I've got 2 GTA's to play with in the meantime so I can wait until the engine is done. I've got most of the parts now
09-16-2011, 10:16 PM
#22
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Car: 88 GTA/86 C20 Burb/91 325i
Engine: L98/454/M20
Transmission: 700R4/NV4500/Getrag
Axle/Gears: 3.27 9-bolt/3.73 14 Bolt/3.73 IRS
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
I too am rapidly approaching my 3rd year of 3rd gen ownership. I'd have to check the records to be exactly certain, but it should have been December of 2008 that I bought my first 3rd gen. It was a 1987 T/A, 305 TPI, auto car. Maroon and silver. It had about 130k on the odometer. It had been my mom's car for two years, and she'd bought it from the original owner who was a doctor and had taken the car back and forth to the dealership for 20 years having every single imaginable thing fixed on it when it went out. He had a slightly misaligned sticker fixed 3 times, and took it back 5 times for a gap in the door panel. Car had been repainted, the trans had been rebuilt, and the top end of the engine had been freshened about 20k before I bought it. I paid my mom the sum of $4000 and proudly walked away with the title to my first 3rd gen. That, of course, was back home in West Texas. The photo below was a picture of the car all cleaned, waxed, and ready to go the day before I pulled out of Texas. Three days and 2000 miles later, it would be sitting "by the dock of the bay" in Annapolis, MD.
We had a good run, and I took that thing all over the place. Her final voyage was in the Shenandoah mountains, and she gave it a good run. If you've never driven the skyline drive in a 3rd gen, it's something to try. Unfotunately, while taking in the scenery, I came around a blind curve and found a multi-car pile-up in front of me. Had I been locked on the road, I would have had time to stop. But the split time it took my vision to swing to the wreck and then hit the brakes, I was into it. Apparently someone had pulled out into the highway without looking, and two or three automobiles had slammed on the brakes to avoid them. By the time I came around the curve, it was a mess of cars and not that much room to stop. Heartbreak doesn't even begin to describe the emotions that I felt sitting on the side of the road looking at my once beautiful and then mangled car.
What can I say other than that she carried me home? As my liberty time rapidly faded away, I pulled out the spare tire, checked all the fluids, roped down the hood, and hit the road. 300 miles later I was reporting in, and still didn't have a clue what I was going to do.
Anyone could tell that the frame was toast. The car was a goner, and I only had liability insurance, so that wasn't going to help either. The only thing I knew is that she had given her all getting me back home safe and on time. The old car never skipped a beat, and I owed it to her to somehow carry on her legacy. I knew, even though it would be tough, that the 3rd gen legacy must go on.
I found the next link in the chain in September of 2009. Nearly two years ago to the day, I caught a plane to Charlotte, NC and purchased my obsession for the next 24 months. That obsession was a 1987 Pontiac Formula. It was rough. She'd been rode hard and put away wet, but it was a real formula. It deserved better than what it had been given. It was a chance for me to redeem myself. Money was tight, and it was cheap. It had to be.
That's me on day one. I finally had a project. I'd been given everything with the first car, it was all done to start with. This one on the other hand, it needed a helping hand.
Ah, the good times. I started making good pay, and the 'bird reaped the benefits. Her maiden voyage was from Charlotte to Columbia, SC. We had friends to visit at USC, and my what some good times we spent there. That's another story for other times though.
As the paychecks came in, long weekends were spent in the shop, swapping one piece or another from the wrecked gem to the new beneficiary. Then, as parts to be swapped were exhausted, new things found their way in. Engine work, a T56, a borg warner 9-bolt, new interior, C5 vette brakes, the list, and the time input, goes on and on. We spent many a long night together. And for two of my hardest years at the academy, and in my life for that matter, she became my venting point. My hobby. My chance to get away from it all.
So came life. Girlfriends came and went. Roadtrips were had, and memories were made that will never be forgotten. Slowly she earned her spurs, and slowly it became a brand new car. Paint and bodywork followed, and for the first time in the last two decades, it looked like a new car.
And then, the great adventure. With graduation came new freedoms, and new tests. With 30 days of paid leave, I had to find something to do. What better than spending thirty days traversing the sparsely populated wilderness that is Western Canada? That was the challenge, and the 'bird rose to meet it.
And thus the miles clicked by. Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virgina, Ohio and Michigan. Then Lake Superior, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The first time I'd ever seen the great plains. Then the first time I'd ever seen the Rocky Mountains. Oh, what an experience.
From there we headed "North to Alaska", and despite the most valiant of efforts, the roads were just too rough, and we were forced to turn around just south of the Yukon border.
Not to be discouraged, I set out to tour British Columbia, and tour it we did. Prince George, Kamloops, Kelowna, Osoyoos, and Victoria. They all fell prey to the slightly freezing Texan and his rumbling Formula.
Alas, all good things must end, and meet her end she did. A careless driver, a stop sign ignored, and through no fault of my own, another beautiful 3rd gen met her end.
She gave her all, and kept me safe from an accident that might have maimed, or killed, in another vehicle. The old 'bird bit the bullet, and did what she was designed to do. Once more I patched it up. I found a new radiator. The wrecker driver and I used the winch to pull out the fender to clear the tire. The hood came off, the A/C came out, odds and ends were repaired. It was roadworthy, though not pretty. I was 3000 miles from home, and depending on the old gal to get me home. And oh how she pulled through.
In some ways, it was a last hoorah. She did her part, and I gave her the reigns. Problem free, we saw Mt Rainer, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, the Great Salt Lake, Arches and Canyonlands, Monument Valley, and one very long night crossing the divide in New Mexico with "One Headlight." Kind of like the Wallflowers song, except with a whole bunch of Elk thrown in for good measure.
I made it home, and once again faced the question? What to do? Insurance would have me covered this time, but did I really want to go through the work of building another 3rd Gen?
Initially I said no. I looked at Corvettes, I looked at old Mopars, I looked at 2nd Gens, and I looked at Lincoln Mark VIIIs. I found many things I liked, but wasn't happy. It took me a while to make up my mind, but now I know. There's not really a choice. The saga must go on. There must be a third 3rd.
I don't know yet which it will be. I have some in mind, and there's others that I haven't seen yet. I know it will be special, and I'll know it when I see it. Rest assured though, Chapter 3 will begin. It must when it gets this deep in your blood.
To make a long story short, keep up the good work. It's more than driving a car, it's driving YOUR car. Call me crazy, but it's a relationship that goes beyond plastic and steel. It's the American dream, carried out in an American automobile. That's a feeling that can't be bought, it can only be built...
-cal30sniper
We had a good run, and I took that thing all over the place. Her final voyage was in the Shenandoah mountains, and she gave it a good run. If you've never driven the skyline drive in a 3rd gen, it's something to try. Unfotunately, while taking in the scenery, I came around a blind curve and found a multi-car pile-up in front of me. Had I been locked on the road, I would have had time to stop. But the split time it took my vision to swing to the wreck and then hit the brakes, I was into it. Apparently someone had pulled out into the highway without looking, and two or three automobiles had slammed on the brakes to avoid them. By the time I came around the curve, it was a mess of cars and not that much room to stop. Heartbreak doesn't even begin to describe the emotions that I felt sitting on the side of the road looking at my once beautiful and then mangled car.
What can I say other than that she carried me home? As my liberty time rapidly faded away, I pulled out the spare tire, checked all the fluids, roped down the hood, and hit the road. 300 miles later I was reporting in, and still didn't have a clue what I was going to do.
Anyone could tell that the frame was toast. The car was a goner, and I only had liability insurance, so that wasn't going to help either. The only thing I knew is that she had given her all getting me back home safe and on time. The old car never skipped a beat, and I owed it to her to somehow carry on her legacy. I knew, even though it would be tough, that the 3rd gen legacy must go on.
I found the next link in the chain in September of 2009. Nearly two years ago to the day, I caught a plane to Charlotte, NC and purchased my obsession for the next 24 months. That obsession was a 1987 Pontiac Formula. It was rough. She'd been rode hard and put away wet, but it was a real formula. It deserved better than what it had been given. It was a chance for me to redeem myself. Money was tight, and it was cheap. It had to be.
That's me on day one. I finally had a project. I'd been given everything with the first car, it was all done to start with. This one on the other hand, it needed a helping hand.
Ah, the good times. I started making good pay, and the 'bird reaped the benefits. Her maiden voyage was from Charlotte to Columbia, SC. We had friends to visit at USC, and my what some good times we spent there. That's another story for other times though.
As the paychecks came in, long weekends were spent in the shop, swapping one piece or another from the wrecked gem to the new beneficiary. Then, as parts to be swapped were exhausted, new things found their way in. Engine work, a T56, a borg warner 9-bolt, new interior, C5 vette brakes, the list, and the time input, goes on and on. We spent many a long night together. And for two of my hardest years at the academy, and in my life for that matter, she became my venting point. My hobby. My chance to get away from it all.
So came life. Girlfriends came and went. Roadtrips were had, and memories were made that will never be forgotten. Slowly she earned her spurs, and slowly it became a brand new car. Paint and bodywork followed, and for the first time in the last two decades, it looked like a new car.
And then, the great adventure. With graduation came new freedoms, and new tests. With 30 days of paid leave, I had to find something to do. What better than spending thirty days traversing the sparsely populated wilderness that is Western Canada? That was the challenge, and the 'bird rose to meet it.
And thus the miles clicked by. Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virgina, Ohio and Michigan. Then Lake Superior, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The first time I'd ever seen the great plains. Then the first time I'd ever seen the Rocky Mountains. Oh, what an experience.
From there we headed "North to Alaska", and despite the most valiant of efforts, the roads were just too rough, and we were forced to turn around just south of the Yukon border.
Not to be discouraged, I set out to tour British Columbia, and tour it we did. Prince George, Kamloops, Kelowna, Osoyoos, and Victoria. They all fell prey to the slightly freezing Texan and his rumbling Formula.
Alas, all good things must end, and meet her end she did. A careless driver, a stop sign ignored, and through no fault of my own, another beautiful 3rd gen met her end.
She gave her all, and kept me safe from an accident that might have maimed, or killed, in another vehicle. The old 'bird bit the bullet, and did what she was designed to do. Once more I patched it up. I found a new radiator. The wrecker driver and I used the winch to pull out the fender to clear the tire. The hood came off, the A/C came out, odds and ends were repaired. It was roadworthy, though not pretty. I was 3000 miles from home, and depending on the old gal to get me home. And oh how she pulled through.
In some ways, it was a last hoorah. She did her part, and I gave her the reigns. Problem free, we saw Mt Rainer, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, the Great Salt Lake, Arches and Canyonlands, Monument Valley, and one very long night crossing the divide in New Mexico with "One Headlight." Kind of like the Wallflowers song, except with a whole bunch of Elk thrown in for good measure.
I made it home, and once again faced the question? What to do? Insurance would have me covered this time, but did I really want to go through the work of building another 3rd Gen?
Initially I said no. I looked at Corvettes, I looked at old Mopars, I looked at 2nd Gens, and I looked at Lincoln Mark VIIIs. I found many things I liked, but wasn't happy. It took me a while to make up my mind, but now I know. There's not really a choice. The saga must go on. There must be a third 3rd.
I don't know yet which it will be. I have some in mind, and there's others that I haven't seen yet. I know it will be special, and I'll know it when I see it. Rest assured though, Chapter 3 will begin. It must when it gets this deep in your blood.
To make a long story short, keep up the good work. It's more than driving a car, it's driving YOUR car. Call me crazy, but it's a relationship that goes beyond plastic and steel. It's the American dream, carried out in an American automobile. That's a feeling that can't be bought, it can only be built...
-cal30sniper
Last edited by cal30_sniper; 09-16-2011 at 10:27 PM.
09-17-2011, 01:42 AM
#23
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Location: Katy TEXAS (West Houston)
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Car: 1992 Camaro RS
Engine: 5.0 TBI L03 V8
Transmission: Rebuilt 700R4 W/ Corvette shift kit
Axle/Gears: 2:73 open
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Thats a sad story man. Good luck finding another thirdgen. And drive it sloooooww this time 
09-17-2011, 12:12 PM
#24
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Car: 87' Firebird Formula
Engine: 350
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Wow guys, you all have had some pitfalls. But at least you all did not give up on ya 3rd gens (not fully anyway).
cal30_sniper, are those BMW wheels on ya formula in that B-E-A-UTIFUL car to mountain pic?
cal30_sniper, are those BMW wheels on ya formula in that B-E-A-UTIFUL car to mountain pic?
09-17-2011, 11:25 PM
#25
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Car: 88 GTA/86 C20 Burb/91 325i
Engine: L98/454/M20
Transmission: 700R4/NV4500/Getrag
Axle/Gears: 3.27 9-bolt/3.73 14 Bolt/3.73 IRS
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Yeah man, those are the M6 parallel wheels. The shot was taken in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
Fit and backspacing is perfect with the C5 brakes up front. However, they ain't for sale. Those will be the first things that get swapped to my next 3rd gen. They're still readily available though, although they're fairly collectible amongst the BMW community. The ones I bought came from a 2002 760 series BMW. Check ebay and the BMW forums, they come up fairly often. They're available in polished aluminum like mine, or chrome repops. Paid $460 for my set.
-cal30sniper
Fit and backspacing is perfect with the C5 brakes up front. However, they ain't for sale. Those will be the first things that get swapped to my next 3rd gen. They're still readily available though, although they're fairly collectible amongst the BMW community. The ones I bought came from a 2002 760 series BMW. Check ebay and the BMW forums, they come up fairly often. They're available in polished aluminum like mine, or chrome repops. Paid $460 for my set.
-cal30sniper
09-17-2011, 11:35 PM
#26
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Car: 87' Firebird Formula
Engine: 350
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
lol nah bud, i wasnt trying to buy your wheels. just complimenting them. a BMW is the only 4dr car i PLAN to ever get..and MAN THAT PLACE MUST HAVE BEEN PRICELESS!!!!! any idea of what your next 3rd gen will be?
09-18-2011, 09:22 AM
#27
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Car: '91 Camaro RS
Engine: Carb'd 383
Transmission: Built T5
Axle/Gears: 3.73 Posi
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Those are two BEAUTIFUL 'birds man, and I'm glad you're ok after those accidents
09-18-2011, 11:05 AM
#28
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Car: 88 GTA/86 C20 Burb/91 325i
Engine: L98/454/M20
Transmission: 700R4/NV4500/Getrag
Axle/Gears: 3.27 9-bolt/3.73 14 Bolt/3.73 IRS
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
They were definitely eye opening experiences for certain. I seem to be having a horrible string of vehicle luck lately. First my black T/A got wrecked in June, then I got T-boned in my suburban by some guy trying to run a red light at way over the speed limit. We did finally settle the debate of "Built Ford Tough" vs "Like a Rock", because he was completely inoperable and got towed from the scene, and I'm still driving the old Tiger Tank around. That being said, it's starting to get extremely frustrating the way other people are driving. It's getting impossible to have something nice on the road. I think I'm going to start shooting people's tires off from now on when I see them texting and driving. Completely Unbelievable!
End Rant. On another note, that country I traveled this summer was completely indescribable both in size, beauty, and wilderness. If any of you fellows EVER get the chance to see Western Canada, I highly, highly recommend the trip. I've got a whole album full of pictures that will absolutely blow your mind away. I mean, seriously, how often do you get to take a picture of a grizzly bear out the side window of your 3rd Gen?
I've got a few in mind for my next car. I know it will be a Firebird of some sort, whether base, Formula, or Trans Am. I'm looking for something that's lower miles, unmolested and well cared for, and unique. I've got my eye on one right now, but I'm not going to go into details for fear of someone on here finding it before I can buy it, lol.
I'll know it when I see it, and trust me, it's going to be good. It's like having a blank check to find the 3rd gen I want, and then a "free junkyard" of $15,000 worth of speed parts sitting outside, haha.
-cal30sniper
End Rant. On another note, that country I traveled this summer was completely indescribable both in size, beauty, and wilderness. If any of you fellows EVER get the chance to see Western Canada, I highly, highly recommend the trip. I've got a whole album full of pictures that will absolutely blow your mind away. I mean, seriously, how often do you get to take a picture of a grizzly bear out the side window of your 3rd Gen?
I've got a few in mind for my next car. I know it will be a Firebird of some sort, whether base, Formula, or Trans Am. I'm looking for something that's lower miles, unmolested and well cared for, and unique. I've got my eye on one right now, but I'm not going to go into details for fear of someone on here finding it before I can buy it, lol.
I'll know it when I see it, and trust me, it's going to be good. It's like having a blank check to find the 3rd gen I want, and then a "free junkyard" of $15,000 worth of speed parts sitting outside, haha.
-cal30sniper
09-18-2011, 11:12 AM
#29
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Car: '91 Camaro RS
Engine: Carb'd 383
Transmission: Built T5
Axle/Gears: 3.73 Posi
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
I bet the next one will be special, post some pics on here when you buy one
09-18-2011, 11:05 PM
#30
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Car: 1992 Camaro RS
Engine: 5.0 TBI L03 V8
Transmission: Rebuilt 700R4 W/ Corvette shift kit
Axle/Gears: 2:73 open
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Sniper, lived in Washington State for 13 years, very beautiful part of the country, great driving roads, sweet sights. The mountains were beautiful. I have seen many sights like the one's you have. Snow boarding was cool too. If I had the chance and the money I'd fly up there, buy another thirdgen, and just drive around that part of the country.
09-18-2011, 11:27 PM
#31
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Car: 88 GTA/86 C20 Burb/91 325i
Engine: L98/454/M20
Transmission: 700R4/NV4500/Getrag
Axle/Gears: 3.27 9-bolt/3.73 14 Bolt/3.73 IRS
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
I was born and raised in West Texas, so I guess you could say I missed out on the snow and ice most my life, haha. Washington state to Katy, TX, huh? Now that there is one heck of a climate change. What was it like to see the sun everyday after 13 years of rain?
I'm looking forward to going back up there. One of my best friends and companymates from Annapolis is now a P-3 NFO stationed up in Whidbey Island. Once I get a new set of wheels I may have to take a trip up there to see him, hit all the sights I missed the first time around. We'll see, definitely some pretty country up there. Wouldn't want to catch too many of the winters though.
I'm looking forward to going back up there. One of my best friends and companymates from Annapolis is now a P-3 NFO stationed up in Whidbey Island. Once I get a new set of wheels I may have to take a trip up there to see him, hit all the sights I missed the first time around. We'll see, definitely some pretty country up there. Wouldn't want to catch too many of the winters though.
10-05-2011, 11:56 PM
#32
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
That is a very sad story cal. But 3 is often a lucky number. Maybe you will get going for good this time. Best of luck with whatever comes your way next.
Anyways, I know you guys have probably been wondering if I've fallen off the face of the earth. On the contrary. I've been very busy!
I got the first stages of the the body done by getting the new rims put on along with 4 new tires. I decided on American Racing AR-23 rims 15x7 front with Kuhmo ASX 225/60 tires and 15x8 back with Nitto NT555R 275/50 tires. I then addressed the brakes which was the first brake job I have ever done and the first brake job this car received since I purchased it. Upon doing this I discovered just how much of a deathtrap this car has been. The condition of the front brakes were enough to scare anyone. The pads were paper thing and what little material was left was cracking apart. The calipers were worn, the rotors were glazed/warped and the brake hoses were rotted and split down to the core. What really gave me a shock however was the rear brakes. When I removed the drums, I noticed that all 4 shoes looked almost brand new. Upon inspection of the passenger drum I discovered that the shoes were not self adjusting properly due to a PO installing the parking brake lever on BACKWARDS. Upon inspection of the driver side drum, I discovered the shoes were not self adjusting AT ALL due to the fact that the PO had bent the adjuster spring and the adjuster was not making proper contact with the starwheel.
I installed the SSBC rotors and pads package, replaced the calipers (Stock due to costs although debating getting some PBR calipers) and painted them, installed braided hoses, replaced the drum shoes, replaced the wheel cylinders and installed new drums hardware plus bled all the old fluid out and put in fresh DOT 4. I never got to test drive after doing the driver side drum however due to the car deciding to revert back to her old tricks when the S hook inside the tranny pan that connects the linkage to the valvebody came off resulting in the car getting stuck in neutral
. Good thing it was in It's parking space when this happened.
The car is currently with the transmission builder who made quick work of the S hook problem and is now building me a bulletproof 10 bolt rearend consisting of the following modifications:
- 3.73 richmond gears
- Eaton clutch patch carrier
- Welded axle tubes
- Moser forged axles
I skimped on the girdle cover for the time being to make sure I have enough funds left for paint and bodywork but this will not be a hard install and in the meantime I don't plan on doing any hard launches.
One more surprise I am having worked on is a TPI manifold which is being custom ported while the car is having the rearend done. I will be installing this manifold at the same time I do my 22/lb injector upgrade. This manifold is having all restrictive casting removed, runner ports enlarged to 1.670" and the runner paths straightened plus a nice 80 grit finish on the runners.
With the help of Lou, one other thing I did to pass the time was to fabricate a custom circuit to control my TCC lockup. This had been a huge problem since I got the full manual shift kit installed since my transmission has the oldschool lockup method of being controlled by governor pressure. Since the full manual kit puts a spring on the governor to bring it to full pressure 24/7 my converter would stay locked up 24/7 the moment I hit 2nd gear. This was a problem to the point that I unplugged the TCC harness at the transmission. My solution was to fabricate a relay cluster consisting of 4 relays to toggle the TCC on/off with the push of a momentary button. I installed this in line with the TCC brake switch, wired it to the momentary button on my shifter, custom fabricated a TCC cluster light and called it a day. Works like it was factory!
Until next time guys, stay tuned...
Anyways, I know you guys have probably been wondering if I've fallen off the face of the earth. On the contrary. I've been very busy!
I got the first stages of the the body done by getting the new rims put on along with 4 new tires. I decided on American Racing AR-23 rims 15x7 front with Kuhmo ASX 225/60 tires and 15x8 back with Nitto NT555R 275/50 tires. I then addressed the brakes which was the first brake job I have ever done and the first brake job this car received since I purchased it. Upon doing this I discovered just how much of a deathtrap this car has been. The condition of the front brakes were enough to scare anyone. The pads were paper thing and what little material was left was cracking apart. The calipers were worn, the rotors were glazed/warped and the brake hoses were rotted and split down to the core. What really gave me a shock however was the rear brakes. When I removed the drums, I noticed that all 4 shoes looked almost brand new. Upon inspection of the passenger drum I discovered that the shoes were not self adjusting properly due to a PO installing the parking brake lever on BACKWARDS. Upon inspection of the driver side drum, I discovered the shoes were not self adjusting AT ALL due to the fact that the PO had bent the adjuster spring and the adjuster was not making proper contact with the starwheel.
I installed the SSBC rotors and pads package, replaced the calipers (Stock due to costs although debating getting some PBR calipers) and painted them, installed braided hoses, replaced the drum shoes, replaced the wheel cylinders and installed new drums hardware plus bled all the old fluid out and put in fresh DOT 4. I never got to test drive after doing the driver side drum however due to the car deciding to revert back to her old tricks when the S hook inside the tranny pan that connects the linkage to the valvebody came off resulting in the car getting stuck in neutral
. Good thing it was in It's parking space when this happened.The car is currently with the transmission builder who made quick work of the S hook problem and is now building me a bulletproof 10 bolt rearend consisting of the following modifications:
- 3.73 richmond gears
- Eaton clutch patch carrier
- Welded axle tubes
- Moser forged axles
I skimped on the girdle cover for the time being to make sure I have enough funds left for paint and bodywork but this will not be a hard install and in the meantime I don't plan on doing any hard launches.
One more surprise I am having worked on is a TPI manifold which is being custom ported while the car is having the rearend done. I will be installing this manifold at the same time I do my 22/lb injector upgrade. This manifold is having all restrictive casting removed, runner ports enlarged to 1.670" and the runner paths straightened plus a nice 80 grit finish on the runners.
With the help of Lou, one other thing I did to pass the time was to fabricate a custom circuit to control my TCC lockup. This had been a huge problem since I got the full manual shift kit installed since my transmission has the oldschool lockup method of being controlled by governor pressure. Since the full manual kit puts a spring on the governor to bring it to full pressure 24/7 my converter would stay locked up 24/7 the moment I hit 2nd gear. This was a problem to the point that I unplugged the TCC harness at the transmission. My solution was to fabricate a relay cluster consisting of 4 relays to toggle the TCC on/off with the push of a momentary button. I installed this in line with the TCC brake switch, wired it to the momentary button on my shifter, custom fabricated a TCC cluster light and called it a day. Works like it was factory!
Until next time guys, stay tuned...
10-05-2011, 11:59 PM
#33
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
More photos...
10-06-2011, 12:06 AM
#34
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Car: 1992 Camaro RS
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Transmission: Rebuilt 700R4 W/ Corvette shift kit
Axle/Gears: 2:73 open
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Sweet man! Full manual 700R4? Interesting. Love the Nitto NT555R tires BTW, but I personally went with the more DD capable NT555s. I got 285/40-17s on mine, but I love the look of yours. So much tire. You got alot of work done man. Scary story about the brakes.
10-06-2011, 12:41 AM
#35
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Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Full manual valvebodies cancel ALL automatic shifting. the transmission will always be in whatever gear the shifter is in and will never automatically upshift/downshift under any circumstance. I didn't replace the entire valvebody though I installed the transgo full manual shift kit which turns the stock valvebody into full manual.
10-06-2011, 09:26 AM
#36
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Car: 1992 Camaro RS
Engine: 5.0 TBI L03 V8
Transmission: Rebuilt 700R4 W/ Corvette shift kit
Axle/Gears: 2:73 open
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Interesting. That's pretty sweet man.
12-12-2011, 10:05 PM
#37
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Well guys, I've been pretty lazy about keeping this thread current, but I've been busy "Behind The Scenes".
I have the ported intake manifold in my possession. I gave it the same VHT base coat/clearcoat treatment I gave all my other intake parts, and installed the new 22lb injectors. It's going on the motor as soon as the bulk of winter is over.
The rearend has also been rebuilt. Consisting of:
- Welded axle tubes
- Moser forged axles
- Eaton carrier
- 3.73 Richmond ring and pinion
- Summit girdle cover
I suppose I'm safe from all the 10 bolt horror stories from here on out
I also got around to finally installing my dash pod, and scored some nice parts at the pick and pull today. It was my day off, and with nothing to do I figured I'd hit the junkyard one final time before the snow starts and see if there was anything worth salvaging. Paid the $1 admission fee and headed around the bend to the chevy section to see about any new arrivals. I found two "new" thirdgens. One was an early model Camaro that appeared to have a *******-i-fied 305/350 under the hood with a sparkling neon orange rattlecan job
. This car was the most barebones thirdgen I had ever seen. So much that it did not even have side vents in the dash. I then went over to the second thirdgen, cursing to myself as I noticed someone had already swiped the hood louvers. Yep, there went a $150 profit . I briefly got excited when I saw the motor was a TPI since it is extremely rare to find them here, but cursed to myself once again when I saw everything was bone stock. The badging said Z28, so I sat down in the drivers seat and scanned the interior. Then I noticed the fog light switch. @_@ IROC!!!!
This was actually a huge coincidence, since just last night I had done some research into wonderbars debating whether or not I should go with a Spohn or like aftermarket one. After coming to the conclusion that they would provide practically no benefit over the stock piece, I decided that when the right time came I would acquire a stock unit for my car. I got back under the hood and checked. YES, still there!!! I was not done yet however. Upon being inside the car, I noticed that it had black interior rocker panels in great shape and a black spare tire cover which were the last remaining interior plastics I was in search of (Technically I still need the headliner panel but that's on the back burner until the time comes that I buy a headliner). Also, I have always wanted a set of aluminum drums. Since I have no current plans to do a full on brake upgrade, I figure I might as well get the most out of what I've got. Aluminum drums are the last remaining upgrade left to my stock brake system, but I never once saw a thirdgen or any G-body at the local yard with them. I checked...They were aluminum.
Ran home, grabbed my tools and headed back. Set up shop on the back of an adjacent cadillac and got to work. Ran around the next couple rows of cars grabbing tires and a bumper jack. For the next ten minutes it felt like I was the main character in an RPG because I was looking for the tool to operate the bumper jack:
"You got the bumper jack!...but you need the prybar"
Open trunk > "It's locked..."
.
.
.
.
.
.
"You found the prybar!"
Stuck the bumperjack underneath the spare tire compartment and raised the passenger wheel off the ground. Stuffed a tire underneath the lower control arm and began my pathetic attempt to get the first brake drum off. For some reason unknown to me, I simply could NOT get this frigging drum off. I made sure the parking brake was released, then stepped on the brake pedal to make sure nothing was afoul. After the brake pedal hit the floor and ran around to the engine bay and deduced that since the master cylinder had been disconnected from the brake booster there should have been NOTHING holding this drum on. Mangled the park lock cable so that I could put the tranny in neutral and spin the drum, except this turned out to be a G92 and one rear wheel was still on the ground -__-
I tried whacking all around the perimeter of the drum, completely mangled the backing plate with the prybar trying the brute force approach, and even attempted dicking with the starwheel adjuster through the backing plate. I simply could not get it off. By this time it was within an hour of closing and I hadn't even removed the wonderbar yet. Then I remembered the other thirdgen. Given the early model year of this car and the frequency that aluminum drums appear in this yard I had no hopes whatsoever of having any luck with this car, but I checked anyway... WTF, ALUMINUM!!!
Took the bumper jack from under the IROC ran over to the other thirdgen, began cracking the lugnuts loose and got to watch as the car rolled forward and crashed into another junk chevy. Oops! Didn't know it was in gear. Suppose I don't need wheelchocks though. Got both drums from said thirdgen, ran back over to the IROC and committed thirdgen sacrilege by jacking the car up at the lower front fender mounting point. Got under, dropped all 4 15MM bolts and swiped the wonderbar. Just as I was coming out from under the car, the guys were driving around telling everyone it was time to leave.
$5 for the wonderbar, $10 per drum and $15 for the plastics. Can you say score?
I have the ported intake manifold in my possession. I gave it the same VHT base coat/clearcoat treatment I gave all my other intake parts, and installed the new 22lb injectors. It's going on the motor as soon as the bulk of winter is over.
The rearend has also been rebuilt. Consisting of:
- Welded axle tubes
- Moser forged axles
- Eaton carrier
- 3.73 Richmond ring and pinion
- Summit girdle cover
I suppose I'm safe from all the 10 bolt horror stories from here on out
I also got around to finally installing my dash pod, and scored some nice parts at the pick and pull today. It was my day off, and with nothing to do I figured I'd hit the junkyard one final time before the snow starts and see if there was anything worth salvaging. Paid the $1 admission fee and headed around the bend to the chevy section to see about any new arrivals. I found two "new" thirdgens. One was an early model Camaro that appeared to have a *******-i-fied 305/350 under the hood with a sparkling neon orange rattlecan job
. This car was the most barebones thirdgen I had ever seen. So much that it did not even have side vents in the dash. I then went over to the second thirdgen, cursing to myself as I noticed someone had already swiped the hood louvers. Yep, there went a $150 profit . I briefly got excited when I saw the motor was a TPI since it is extremely rare to find them here, but cursed to myself once again when I saw everything was bone stock. The badging said Z28, so I sat down in the drivers seat and scanned the interior. Then I noticed the fog light switch. @_@ IROC!!!!This was actually a huge coincidence, since just last night I had done some research into wonderbars debating whether or not I should go with a Spohn or like aftermarket one. After coming to the conclusion that they would provide practically no benefit over the stock piece, I decided that when the right time came I would acquire a stock unit for my car. I got back under the hood and checked. YES, still there!!! I was not done yet however. Upon being inside the car, I noticed that it had black interior rocker panels in great shape and a black spare tire cover which were the last remaining interior plastics I was in search of (Technically I still need the headliner panel but that's on the back burner until the time comes that I buy a headliner). Also, I have always wanted a set of aluminum drums. Since I have no current plans to do a full on brake upgrade, I figure I might as well get the most out of what I've got. Aluminum drums are the last remaining upgrade left to my stock brake system, but I never once saw a thirdgen or any G-body at the local yard with them. I checked...They were aluminum
.Ran home, grabbed my tools and headed back. Set up shop on the back of an adjacent cadillac and got to work. Ran around the next couple rows of cars grabbing tires and a bumper jack. For the next ten minutes it felt like I was the main character in an RPG because I was looking for the tool to operate the bumper jack:
"You got the bumper jack!...but you need the prybar"
Open trunk > "It's locked..."
.
.
.
.
.
.
"You found the prybar!"
Stuck the bumperjack underneath the spare tire compartment and raised the passenger wheel off the ground. Stuffed a tire underneath the lower control arm and began my pathetic attempt to get the first brake drum off. For some reason unknown to me, I simply could NOT get this frigging drum off. I made sure the parking brake was released, then stepped on the brake pedal to make sure nothing was afoul. After the brake pedal hit the floor and ran around to the engine bay and deduced that since the master cylinder had been disconnected from the brake booster there should have been NOTHING holding this drum on. Mangled the park lock cable so that I could put the tranny in neutral and spin the drum, except this turned out to be a G92 and one rear wheel was still on the ground -__-
I tried whacking all around the perimeter of the drum, completely mangled the backing plate with the prybar trying the brute force approach, and even attempted dicking with the starwheel adjuster through the backing plate. I simply could not get it off. By this time it was within an hour of closing and I hadn't even removed the wonderbar yet. Then I remembered the other thirdgen. Given the early model year of this car and the frequency that aluminum drums appear in this yard I had no hopes whatsoever of having any luck with this car, but I checked anyway... WTF, ALUMINUM!!!
Took the bumper jack from under the IROC ran over to the other thirdgen, began cracking the lugnuts loose and got to watch as the car rolled forward and crashed into another junk chevy. Oops! Didn't know it was in gear. Suppose I don't need wheelchocks though
. Got both drums from said thirdgen, ran back over to the IROC and committed thirdgen sacrilege by jacking the car up at the lower front fender mounting point. Got under, dropped all 4 15MM bolts and swiped the wonderbar. Just as I was coming out from under the car, the guys were driving around telling everyone it was time to leave.$5 for the wonderbar, $10 per drum and $15 for the plastics. Can you say score?
12-12-2011, 10:07 PM
#38
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Dash pod
12-12-2011, 10:30 PM
#39
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
However, there is one more unexpected upgrade that has been done. I had always wanted to redo the exhaust the way I wanted it and not the same some ghetto PO envisioned. Well, looks like I got my chance.
About a month back, I was coming down a narrow country road on an afterwork cruise and entered a turn too wide. The car came off the road and began a sideways drift around the turn in the grass. While I did keep the steering in check enough to avoid spinning out or careening into any heinous trees gone afoul, I wasn't able to save myself from going over a few minor bumps and dips. When I got back on the road, I touched the gas and my car sounded like the most disgusting billy bob truck you could ever imagine. I knew the exhaust was toast. Pulled over and discovered the Y-Pipe had been smashed almost shut as well as broke off at the catalytic converter like a soda can. Limped the car back home, tossed it on jackstands and removed the Y-Pipe. Cut a small section off the Y-pipe and bolted it to the driver side header so the oxygen sensor could read properly and limped back and forth to work for the next 2 weeks with open headers while I pondered a fix.
Turns out, Edelbrock no longer makes the Y-pipe for these headers. In fact they don't even make the headers themselves anymore. I talked to an exhaust shop about fabbing a Y-Pipe, but after doing much research on these edelbrock headers and discovering they are AT BEST only a hair above stock manifolds, I decided I wasn't dumping any money into them. Did plenty of research on TGO and decided to go with a set of Hooker 2055 headers and matching Y-Pipe. Got the whole setup through my job all expenses paid with my discount came to $415.
The headers arrived, and I had someone at a local fab shop (This job is GREAT for making connections) weld up the holes for the air tubes for $30 after I took them off with hacksaw. I then took them home, and used carb cleaner, lacquer thinner and aircraft stripper to remove the black finish from the headers and Y-Pipe. I then hung them from the chain in my yard and sprayed them down with VHT aluminum colored header paint. I made sure the surface of each header was prepped good enough to perform open heart surgery on, and cured them in the oven once finished. The Y-Pipe required a slightly different approach since it was too large to fit in the oven. I spent over 2 hours curing it with a propane torch, and got a harsh lesson about carbon monoxide and using a torch in a closed room when I randomly lost consciousness 4 hours later after standing up too fast
Everything bolted up nicely however with a little elbow grease and some choice cuss words. The car is going to the exhaust shop this wednesday to have a straight pipe (No mufflers or cats) system welded up from the Y back. The old catback was in too bad of shape to salvage. I couldnt even get the bolts out of the converter flange, so I stayed outside until 2AM with the car on jackstands cutting all that POS crap out with yet another hacksaw.
The end result is simply amazing though. I noticed an increase in power from those POS edelbrock headers, as well as a very nice new exhaust note and so far the paint is holding up great.
About a month back, I was coming down a narrow country road on an afterwork cruise and entered a turn too wide. The car came off the road and began a sideways drift around the turn in the grass. While I did keep the steering in check enough to avoid spinning out or careening into any heinous trees gone afoul, I wasn't able to save myself from going over a few minor bumps and dips. When I got back on the road, I touched the gas and my car sounded like the most disgusting billy bob truck you could ever imagine. I knew the exhaust was toast. Pulled over and discovered the Y-Pipe had been smashed almost shut as well as broke off at the catalytic converter like a soda can. Limped the car back home, tossed it on jackstands and removed the Y-Pipe. Cut a small section off the Y-pipe and bolted it to the driver side header so the oxygen sensor could read properly and limped back and forth to work for the next 2 weeks with open headers while I pondered a fix.
Turns out, Edelbrock no longer makes the Y-pipe for these headers. In fact they don't even make the headers themselves anymore. I talked to an exhaust shop about fabbing a Y-Pipe, but after doing much research on these edelbrock headers and discovering they are AT BEST only a hair above stock manifolds, I decided I wasn't dumping any money into them. Did plenty of research on TGO and decided to go with a set of Hooker 2055 headers and matching Y-Pipe. Got the whole setup through my job all expenses paid with my discount came to $415.
The headers arrived, and I had someone at a local fab shop (This job is GREAT for making connections) weld up the holes for the air tubes for $30 after I took them off with hacksaw. I then took them home, and used carb cleaner, lacquer thinner and aircraft stripper to remove the black finish from the headers and Y-Pipe. I then hung them from the chain in my yard and sprayed them down with VHT aluminum colored header paint. I made sure the surface of each header was prepped good enough to perform open heart surgery on, and cured them in the oven once finished. The Y-Pipe required a slightly different approach since it was too large to fit in the oven. I spent over 2 hours curing it with a propane torch, and got a harsh lesson about carbon monoxide and using a torch in a closed room when I randomly lost consciousness 4 hours later after standing up too fast
Everything bolted up nicely however with a little elbow grease and some choice cuss words. The car is going to the exhaust shop this wednesday to have a straight pipe (No mufflers or cats) system welded up from the Y back. The old catback was in too bad of shape to salvage. I couldnt even get the bolts out of the converter flange, so I stayed outside until 2AM with the car on jackstands cutting all that POS crap out with yet another hacksaw.
The end result is simply amazing though. I noticed an increase in power from those POS edelbrock headers, as well as a very nice new exhaust note and so far the paint is holding up great.
12-12-2011, 10:32 PM
#40
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Hooker headers
12-12-2011, 10:34 PM
#41
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
More hooker headers and sound clip of new exhaust. Don't pay any attention to the gear noise in the beginning of the video that has been corrected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfRnYeqZq60
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfRnYeqZq60
12-15-2011, 09:42 PM
#42
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Got the new exhaust finished up by AA speed in woodbridge, VA. Dan did a really great job. I had him do a custom 3" system from the hooker y pipe all the way out the back split into 2 2.5" pipes. Straight pipe system; no cat, no muffler. All joints were welded this system uses NO crappy clamps of any sort and the hangers were done very professional and welded right to the pipes instead of wrap around. He used aluminized steel but to my surprise he sprayed the entire system with the same VHT header paint I used for the headers and y-pipe without even asking him and included it in the agreed upon price!
I went with Magnaflow LT1 style tips as I have always thought these to look the best for our cars. They don't look all THAT spectacular now, but once the car is painted they are really going to stand out.
Here is a picture as well as a video clip of me starting the new exhaust up this morning on my way to work. Didn't really get a chance to snap some pictures of what's underneath but the work is quality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unPfg...ature=youtu.be
I went with Magnaflow LT1 style tips as I have always thought these to look the best for our cars. They don't look all THAT spectacular now, but once the car is painted they are really going to stand out.
Here is a picture as well as a video clip of me starting the new exhaust up this morning on my way to work. Didn't really get a chance to snap some pictures of what's underneath but the work is quality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unPfg...ature=youtu.be
12-15-2011, 09:51 PM
#43
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Also managed to swap out the brake drums before going on vacation tomorrow.
I took the aluminum drums I got from the junkyard to one of the local shops who turned them for free (Like I said, this job is GREAT at making connections). The old iron drums were a little glazed so when I removed them I roughed the 2 week old carbon brake shoes up with 600 grit sandpaper. I then hosed everything down with brake cleaner, re-adjusted the starwheels to meet up with the new drums and threw them on.
I took the car out for a test run wondering if they would make much of a difference in braking efficiency since I now had a set of freshly turned drums without and glazing on the braking surface. Boy did they ever. The brakes feel much more efficient now. When I first start to ease into the brakes, I no longer have that "deadzone" feeling where the beginning of the pedal feels really weak. Car stops much easier as well. I know the drums themselves aren't responsible for this, moreso a properly functioning system is. However, we did manage to shave off 10lbs of rotating weight by doing this swap, and the aluminum drums can dissipate heat faster due to aluminum's superior heat transfer and the larger cooling fins on the aluminum drums.
Here are some before and after photos. I also have NO ****ING IDEA how one of the centercaps for my new AR-23's got destroyed but you can bet I'm not too happy about it.
Also, after I come back to VA from going south I'm taking the car to the bodyshop to have the frame pulled then I'm gonna start lining up body panels and preparing the cowl induction hood. Biggest phase is soon to come.
I took the aluminum drums I got from the junkyard to one of the local shops who turned them for free (Like I said, this job is GREAT at making connections). The old iron drums were a little glazed so when I removed them I roughed the 2 week old carbon brake shoes up with 600 grit sandpaper. I then hosed everything down with brake cleaner, re-adjusted the starwheels to meet up with the new drums and threw them on.
I took the car out for a test run wondering if they would make much of a difference in braking efficiency since I now had a set of freshly turned drums without and glazing on the braking surface. Boy did they ever. The brakes feel much more efficient now. When I first start to ease into the brakes, I no longer have that "deadzone" feeling where the beginning of the pedal feels really weak. Car stops much easier as well. I know the drums themselves aren't responsible for this, moreso a properly functioning system is. However, we did manage to shave off 10lbs of rotating weight by doing this swap, and the aluminum drums can dissipate heat faster due to aluminum's superior heat transfer and the larger cooling fins on the aluminum drums.
Here are some before and after photos. I also have NO ****ING IDEA how one of the centercaps for my new AR-23's got destroyed but you can bet I'm not too happy about it.
Also, after I come back to VA from going south I'm taking the car to the bodyshop to have the frame pulled then I'm gonna start lining up body panels and preparing the cowl induction hood. Biggest phase is soon to come.
Last edited by FireDemonSiC; 12-15-2011 at 09:54 PM.
12-15-2011, 09:52 PM
#44
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Before
12-15-2011, 09:53 PM
#45
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Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
After
12-15-2011, 10:49 PM
#46
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Join Date: Nov 2007
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Car: '83 z/28
Engine: 305
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: Stock?
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Great thread man, that car is turning out pretty nice!
It blows my mind when people spend a bunch of money for someone else to mess up there car. Glad you decided to just start wrenchin.
It blows my mind when people spend a bunch of money for someone else to mess up there car. Glad you decided to just start wrenchin.
12-22-2011, 10:09 PM
#47
Senior Member
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Well I've surpassed the 3 year mark of thirdgen ownership. Within this timeframe I have met many interesting people, made a couple friends one of whom is a close friend and learned a ton of invaluable information, and I owe it all to my car. So I figured I would start this post as a tribute to my Camaro.
The whole ruckus began back in spring of 2008. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was 20 years old, young dumb and full of $^#. I had just gotten my license the previous fall and was daily driving my mom's cavalier. One morning, I was on my way to batteries plus to pick up a battery for my cell phone so I could co-ordinate an evening with the ex and it happened. A deer leaped out in the road and totaled the cavalier.
A few weeks went by, and it sucked hard not having a set of wheels anymore. My mom understood the accident was not my fault but since both my parents were retired and my dad had his truck which is well taken care of, they didn't see the need for a replacement car so it was looking like I was in the market for my first vehicle.
I knew I could not finance a used or new vehicle at the time, and I had always been looking into getting an oldschool domestic. I really wanted a firstgen, but knew there was no way in hell I could afford it. A honda or pretty much any other type of import was OUT OF THE QUESTION! When I was a kid growing up, I remember riding in my dad's '72 351c Torino. It eventually broke down, and he kept it just sitting at the other end of our complex. He gave me the keys to hang on my keyring and told me one day when I was old enough to drive it would become mine. I still remember getting off the bus in junior high and running straight to that car, just sitting in it and doing my homework. I'd open the hood and just stare at the engine. Not knowing WTF I was looking at but knowing one day I would. Well, things didn't exactly go so well due to the bastards at the HOA and the car ended up going to the salvation army. The good news is, 3 weeks later it came driving up with a guy who had rescued it looking for the title. Even though it was a Ford, a part of me still misses that car and hopes that it went to a good home and not to the crusher. It was this car that planted the seed in my brain at a young age and drew me towards domestics.
Well, I had gone and looked at a few rides. Investigated an IROC with an L98 but the guy never called back. I went to inspect a T-Bird with a TBI 350 swap but the car was not in all that great of shape. The paint was hardcore phucked, all the weatherstripping and seals were dry-rotted, and the guy simply could NOT get the engine running right. Then, the infamous girl came to me. It was a white 85 Z28 with gold trim and a 305TPI. We went to inspect it and I was happy with the initial impression. I knew I could not afford the guy's asking price of 2k at the time so my only hope was to talk him down some. I managed to get him down to $1500, then he further dropped the price to $1300 after he failed to fix the exhaust leak at the headers. I went to test drive it, scraped up what little savings I had and decided to bring her home that day. That's when it all started...
I immediately grew attached to the car. Countless hours were spent modding this, detailing that and cruising around town. However, being young and stupid, not understanding even the most basics of vehicle mechanics and thinking myself as well as my car were INVINCIBLE, I paid the price only 3 months later when the engine lost a cam lobe. Over the next few months, my dad took me to and from work after I decided I was going to save the car and saved up for a new longblock plus the labor to have it installed.
I ended up buying a "rebuilt" 350 from a guy on TGO. Plan was to remove the carb and bolt up mt TPI. I had already bought everything needed to make it work including an L98 ECM, new cam and valvetrain, knock sensor and etc. Turns out, this guy rebuilt the engine alright, right before he somehow managed to smash all the valves into the pistons severe enough to bend EVERY pushrod. No address or last name to go by, and it looks like I've been done with no rubber or KY.
New engine get's dropped in, and all is peachy for the next 3 months. Remember now though, I'm still in my young and stupid phase, and although I'm in the beginning stages of learning what makes cars tick and how to maintain them, I still have an arrogant and hasty attitude about it all. I set the TV cable wrong by not paying attention to directions and fried the B&M 700R4 only 3 months after having the longblock replaced. Back to being taxied to work and scrounging up cash...
Well, a few months even further down the road, and what I refer to as the giant 700R4 cluster%^$# ensues. I get into contact with Dana at pro-built since I am in the market for a new trans, but his prices are just a tad to steep for me. He refers me to Shane Cobb at Carolina Performance Transmission. I agree with shane on a Level 3 700R4, and he begins the build. Approximately 2 weeks later, the tranny arrives in a crate at the shop and I have it installed. Go to test drive the car and take it for a total of 10 miles before it completely blows the front seal out and dumps all the fluid into the street. Contact shane who is initially apologetic and even offers to cover the labor charge for R&R. RGA the torque converter to ACC Performance who informs me they could find nothing wrong with it and send me a new one. Shane "repairs" the transmission and sends it back, refusing the cover the labor and blaming the torque converter for the failure. Finally covers half of the R&R after a quick bickering match, and I'm back on the road again.
The front seal of the transmission still had a very slow drip leak, and the transmission would not hold 3rd gear at WOT. Shane refuses to perform anymore warranty work and refers me to an affiliate for repairs. At this point I just gave up. I continued to just normally drive the car to and from work as a DD. Yeah, no rubber and no KY, again.
Over the next year, I continue to go to local car meets just to hang with the guys. Talking, reading, researching and learning, but still having a lingering cloud of doom hanging over my head from all the previous mishaps and still afraid to turn a bolt on anything more complicated than an alternator. As time goes on, the car's condition continues to deteriorate. I have to keep adding tranny fluid due to the leak, I ended up getting into an accident and the engine continued to run worse and worse. It would idle horribly, threw codes, hesitated, surged and even on a day when it was running seemingly fine, the best time I could manage to pull in the 1/8th was 10.5 at 67MPH with a 2.3 60'.
Fearing an impending disaster was ahead, I finally made the difficult decision to purchase an additional vehicle. I took out a loan to purchase what I THOUGHT would become a reliable daily driver. A 5 speed Saturn L200 with only 63,000 original miles in almost mint condition. A spend the next month practicing and learning how to drive stick, then register the Camaro as an antique. Not long after purchasing the saturn, the front seal on the Camaro gives up again, and It's further reduced to just sitting in our complex.
Time goes on, and the saturn keeps chugging along. I daily drove it over the course of a year. All this time, I continue to lurk throughout TGO and google, doing further research and reading on what makes my car tick just for the sake of passing time. Over time though, I begin to realize what a mistake it was to purchase a low end economy vehicle born out a need for a cheap domestic alternative. The first issue was when the slave cylinder started going bad, resulting in the clutch pedal loosing all hydraulic pressure after commuting on the highway. Then the exhaust manifold broke, and finally, things took a turn for the worst...
I got fired from my job, and only two weeks after that, the saturn begins to make rattling noises from the top-end. Turns out it had ate through 3 quarts of oil in less than 5k miles since my previous oil change (I was actually getting ready to change it in the next 1k), leaving only a quart in the pan without so much as a warning light and seized the timing chain tensioner. The timing chain jumped several teeth from the slack and the pistons hit the valves. The car was dead at only 74k ORIGINAL miles. I ended up selling it as-is for a grand.
Now, I'm really up the creek without a paddle. I have no job, and no ride. Finding a job wasn't a problem, but I needed a set of wheels to do that. I ended up going into MD and looking at a CLEAN 87 GTA that only had 63k ORIGINAL miles. They only wanted $5500 for it, but as soon as I started the engine and heard the collapsed lifter I knew why. Back to the drawing board...
After getting home from looking at said GTA, I stood by my old girl smoking a cigar, thinking to myself how much my once pride and joy was beginning to remind me of my dad's torino. It was covered in cobwebs, needed paint and bodywork, couldn't get out of It's own way if both of our lives depended on it and had been sitting for the past 8 months. Things weren't looking good for the ol' camaro. I got in it, turned the key and fired it up. It backfired, misfired, hesitated and the tranny fluid smoked off the exhaust. I shut it down and got back out, and thought for a minute. The reason things never went well with this car is because I had always thought with my foot instead of my head. I was afraid to work on it for sake of breaking something and making matters worse, and I always made hasty decisions. It was with that precise thought that I knew what I had to do. No matter what vehicle I decided to purchase, I would always be running into problems. Unless I went new of course, but then the payments would be a nightmare. But I knew all the existing problems of the car sitting right in front of me, and I knew what went where (theoretically) and how to work on it. It was with that thought that I knew what I had to do. I didn't need to buy my way into another problem, I needed to bring her back.
I took the money I got for the saturn, cashed out my 401k from my previous job and got to work. I completely SCOURED the engine bay looking for anything that needed to be replaced. I determined that all 8 spark plugs were fouled, the EGR was clogged with carbon, the waterpump was leaking and about to fail and the diaphragm on the fuel pressure regulator was blown. The first thing I did to get me familiar with my car again was install the sound system I had never gotten around to doing, and tidying up the interior filling in small details, replacing screws and fixing broken parts I had neglected while doing the custom interior. After that, I performed the following engine modifications:
- Replaced MAF, TPS, IAT, CTS, MAT and upgraded the O2 to a 3 wire bosch unit.
- Replaced tired waterpump with an aluminum weiand unit
- Installed a new battery
- Deleted the EGR system
- Replaced all spark plugs and removed the incorrect red+white Accel supercoil and replaced it with a red+yellow.
- Junked the stock FPR and replaced it with the infamous Holley TPI AFPR.
- Probably a few other things I'm forgetting. I spent the better part of two weeks going out at 12AM til sunrise to avoid persecution by the HOA and while waiting for parts to arrive. The more things I replaced, the more parts I began discovering were bad
After all this time went by, I found a LOCAL transmission builder who I took the car to. It took him a couple weeks between projects, and I specifically told him if it meant doing the job right that time wasn't a factor. I backed the stall speed on the convertor down to 2400 - 2800 (previously 2800 - 3200). We determined the previous transmission failure was caused by, are you sitting down? ALL THREE PARTIES. Shane screwed up by not installing a plug in the seperator plate the RIGHT way. He used a hammer to pound it in and you can see the dents it made in the plate and well as gave it a slight bend. The builder believes this created a crossleak which was why 3rd gear failed to hold and the 3-4 clutches were burned. ACC Performance screwed up by NOT listening to anything I had to say. When we removed the converter, there were large depressions worn into the snout from it being welded on with a slight runout. Despite the fact that they claimed there was nothing wrong with it and stated they sent me a different converter, it still managed to trash the same transmission twice. The shop that performed the R&R screwed up by not listening again, since I specifically told them to check the runout on the converter snout BEFORE installing it which they said they did. NOT...
Anyways, I had the builder replace the seperator plate, all the clutches and bands, as well as install a transgo 2&3 full manual shift kit. I know full manual valvebodies aren't for everyone, but quite honestly I love it. I got the car back and was amazed. The car ran like a dream. No check engine light, no misfiring, and it picked up a TON of power. The front end now picks up through second gear and pulls to almost 5k. I'm taking it to the track this wednesday to see what it will run with a working transmission and properly tuned engine. I still have a few more things to tweak and replace, but it looks like she's back and better than ever, just in time for my new job at advance auto.
I'll be uploading some photos tomorrow, and updating this post as time goes on. In only 2 weeks I'm taking out a loan to get the paint and bodywork done, slap on some new rims and finish off the interior.
Sorry to make that so long, but It's been a long road to get where I am now. In fact, I think I'll take her out for a spin before I turn in for the night
The whole ruckus began back in spring of 2008. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was 20 years old, young dumb and full of $^#. I had just gotten my license the previous fall and was daily driving my mom's cavalier. One morning, I was on my way to batteries plus to pick up a battery for my cell phone so I could co-ordinate an evening with the ex and it happened. A deer leaped out in the road and totaled the cavalier.
A few weeks went by, and it sucked hard not having a set of wheels anymore. My mom understood the accident was not my fault but since both my parents were retired and my dad had his truck which is well taken care of, they didn't see the need for a replacement car so it was looking like I was in the market for my first vehicle.
I knew I could not finance a used or new vehicle at the time, and I had always been looking into getting an oldschool domestic. I really wanted a firstgen, but knew there was no way in hell I could afford it. A honda or pretty much any other type of import was OUT OF THE QUESTION! When I was a kid growing up, I remember riding in my dad's '72 351c Torino. It eventually broke down, and he kept it just sitting at the other end of our complex. He gave me the keys to hang on my keyring and told me one day when I was old enough to drive it would become mine. I still remember getting off the bus in junior high and running straight to that car, just sitting in it and doing my homework. I'd open the hood and just stare at the engine. Not knowing WTF I was looking at but knowing one day I would. Well, things didn't exactly go so well due to the bastards at the HOA and the car ended up going to the salvation army. The good news is, 3 weeks later it came driving up with a guy who had rescued it looking for the title. Even though it was a Ford, a part of me still misses that car and hopes that it went to a good home and not to the crusher. It was this car that planted the seed in my brain at a young age and drew me towards domestics.
Well, I had gone and looked at a few rides. Investigated an IROC with an L98 but the guy never called back. I went to inspect a T-Bird with a TBI 350 swap but the car was not in all that great of shape. The paint was hardcore phucked, all the weatherstripping and seals were dry-rotted, and the guy simply could NOT get the engine running right. Then, the infamous girl came to me. It was a white 85 Z28 with gold trim and a 305TPI. We went to inspect it and I was happy with the initial impression. I knew I could not afford the guy's asking price of 2k at the time so my only hope was to talk him down some. I managed to get him down to $1500, then he further dropped the price to $1300 after he failed to fix the exhaust leak at the headers. I went to test drive it, scraped up what little savings I had and decided to bring her home that day. That's when it all started...
I immediately grew attached to the car. Countless hours were spent modding this, detailing that and cruising around town. However, being young and stupid, not understanding even the most basics of vehicle mechanics and thinking myself as well as my car were INVINCIBLE, I paid the price only 3 months later when the engine lost a cam lobe. Over the next few months, my dad took me to and from work after I decided I was going to save the car and saved up for a new longblock plus the labor to have it installed.
I ended up buying a "rebuilt" 350 from a guy on TGO. Plan was to remove the carb and bolt up mt TPI. I had already bought everything needed to make it work including an L98 ECM, new cam and valvetrain, knock sensor and etc. Turns out, this guy rebuilt the engine alright, right before he somehow managed to smash all the valves into the pistons severe enough to bend EVERY pushrod. No address or last name to go by, and it looks like I've been done with no rubber or KY.
New engine get's dropped in, and all is peachy for the next 3 months. Remember now though, I'm still in my young and stupid phase, and although I'm in the beginning stages of learning what makes cars tick and how to maintain them, I still have an arrogant and hasty attitude about it all. I set the TV cable wrong by not paying attention to directions and fried the B&M 700R4 only 3 months after having the longblock replaced. Back to being taxied to work and scrounging up cash...
Well, a few months even further down the road, and what I refer to as the giant 700R4 cluster%^$# ensues. I get into contact with Dana at pro-built since I am in the market for a new trans, but his prices are just a tad to steep for me. He refers me to Shane Cobb at Carolina Performance Transmission. I agree with shane on a Level 3 700R4, and he begins the build. Approximately 2 weeks later, the tranny arrives in a crate at the shop and I have it installed. Go to test drive the car and take it for a total of 10 miles before it completely blows the front seal out and dumps all the fluid into the street. Contact shane who is initially apologetic and even offers to cover the labor charge for R&R. RGA the torque converter to ACC Performance who informs me they could find nothing wrong with it and send me a new one. Shane "repairs" the transmission and sends it back, refusing the cover the labor and blaming the torque converter for the failure. Finally covers half of the R&R after a quick bickering match, and I'm back on the road again.
The front seal of the transmission still had a very slow drip leak, and the transmission would not hold 3rd gear at WOT. Shane refuses to perform anymore warranty work and refers me to an affiliate for repairs. At this point I just gave up. I continued to just normally drive the car to and from work as a DD. Yeah, no rubber and no KY, again.
Over the next year, I continue to go to local car meets just to hang with the guys. Talking, reading, researching and learning, but still having a lingering cloud of doom hanging over my head from all the previous mishaps and still afraid to turn a bolt on anything more complicated than an alternator. As time goes on, the car's condition continues to deteriorate. I have to keep adding tranny fluid due to the leak, I ended up getting into an accident and the engine continued to run worse and worse. It would idle horribly, threw codes, hesitated, surged and even on a day when it was running seemingly fine, the best time I could manage to pull in the 1/8th was 10.5 at 67MPH with a 2.3 60'
.Fearing an impending disaster was ahead, I finally made the difficult decision to purchase an additional vehicle. I took out a loan to purchase what I THOUGHT would become a reliable daily driver. A 5 speed Saturn L200 with only 63,000 original miles in almost mint condition. A spend the next month practicing and learning how to drive stick, then register the Camaro as an antique. Not long after purchasing the saturn, the front seal on the Camaro gives up again, and It's further reduced to just sitting in our complex.
Time goes on, and the saturn keeps chugging along. I daily drove it over the course of a year. All this time, I continue to lurk throughout TGO and google, doing further research and reading on what makes my car tick just for the sake of passing time. Over time though, I begin to realize what a mistake it was to purchase a low end economy vehicle born out a need for a cheap domestic alternative. The first issue was when the slave cylinder started going bad, resulting in the clutch pedal loosing all hydraulic pressure after commuting on the highway. Then the exhaust manifold broke, and finally, things took a turn for the worst...
I got fired from my job, and only two weeks after that, the saturn begins to make rattling noises from the top-end. Turns out it had ate through 3 quarts of oil in less than 5k miles since my previous oil change (I was actually getting ready to change it in the next 1k), leaving only a quart in the pan without so much as a warning light and seized the timing chain tensioner. The timing chain jumped several teeth from the slack and the pistons hit the valves. The car was dead at only 74k ORIGINAL miles. I ended up selling it as-is for a grand.
Now, I'm really up the creek without a paddle. I have no job, and no ride. Finding a job wasn't a problem, but I needed a set of wheels to do that. I ended up going into MD and looking at a CLEAN 87 GTA that only had 63k ORIGINAL miles. They only wanted $5500 for it, but as soon as I started the engine and heard the collapsed lifter I knew why. Back to the drawing board...
After getting home from looking at said GTA, I stood by my old girl smoking a cigar, thinking to myself how much my once pride and joy was beginning to remind me of my dad's torino. It was covered in cobwebs, needed paint and bodywork, couldn't get out of It's own way if both of our lives depended on it and had been sitting for the past 8 months. Things weren't looking good for the ol' camaro
. I got in it, turned the key and fired it up. It backfired, misfired, hesitated and the tranny fluid smoked off the exhaust. I shut it down and got back out, and thought for a minute. The reason things never went well with this car is because I had always thought with my foot instead of my head. I was afraid to work on it for sake of breaking something and making matters worse, and I always made hasty decisions. It was with that precise thought that I knew what I had to do. No matter what vehicle I decided to purchase, I would always be running into problems. Unless I went new of course, but then the payments would be a nightmare. But I knew all the existing problems of the car sitting right in front of me, and I knew what went where (theoretically) and how to work on it. It was with that thought that I knew what I had to do. I didn't need to buy my way into another problem, I needed to bring her back.I took the money I got for the saturn, cashed out my 401k from my previous job and got to work. I completely SCOURED the engine bay looking for anything that needed to be replaced. I determined that all 8 spark plugs were fouled, the EGR was clogged with carbon, the waterpump was leaking and about to fail and the diaphragm on the fuel pressure regulator was blown. The first thing I did to get me familiar with my car again was install the sound system I had never gotten around to doing, and tidying up the interior filling in small details, replacing screws and fixing broken parts I had neglected while doing the custom interior. After that, I performed the following engine modifications:
- Replaced MAF, TPS, IAT, CTS, MAT and upgraded the O2 to a 3 wire bosch unit.
- Replaced tired waterpump with an aluminum weiand unit
- Installed a new battery
- Deleted the EGR system
- Replaced all spark plugs and removed the incorrect red+white Accel supercoil and replaced it with a red+yellow.
- Junked the stock FPR and replaced it with the infamous Holley TPI AFPR.
- Probably a few other things I'm forgetting. I spent the better part of two weeks going out at 12AM til sunrise to avoid persecution by the HOA and while waiting for parts to arrive. The more things I replaced, the more parts I began discovering were bad
After all this time went by, I found a LOCAL transmission builder who I took the car to. It took him a couple weeks between projects, and I specifically told him if it meant doing the job right that time wasn't a factor. I backed the stall speed on the convertor down to 2400 - 2800 (previously 2800 - 3200). We determined the previous transmission failure was caused by, are you sitting down? ALL THREE PARTIES. Shane screwed up by not installing a plug in the seperator plate the RIGHT way. He used a hammer to pound it in and you can see the dents it made in the plate and well as gave it a slight bend. The builder believes this created a crossleak which was why 3rd gear failed to hold and the 3-4 clutches were burned. ACC Performance screwed up by NOT listening to anything I had to say. When we removed the converter, there were large depressions worn into the snout from it being welded on with a slight runout. Despite the fact that they claimed there was nothing wrong with it and stated they sent me a different converter, it still managed to trash the same transmission twice. The shop that performed the R&R screwed up by not listening again, since I specifically told them to check the runout on the converter snout BEFORE installing it which they said they did. NOT...
Anyways, I had the builder replace the seperator plate, all the clutches and bands, as well as install a transgo 2&3 full manual shift kit. I know full manual valvebodies aren't for everyone, but quite honestly I love it. I got the car back and was amazed. The car ran like a dream. No check engine light, no misfiring, and it picked up a TON of power. The front end now picks up through second gear and pulls to almost 5k. I'm taking it to the track this wednesday to see what it will run with a working transmission and properly tuned engine. I still have a few more things to tweak and replace, but it looks like she's back and better than ever, just in time for my new job at advance auto
.I'll be uploading some photos tomorrow, and updating this post as time goes on. In only 2 weeks I'm taking out a loan to get the paint and bodywork done, slap on some new rims and finish off the interior.
Sorry to make that so long, but It's been a long road to get where I am now. In fact, I think I'll take her out for a spin before I turn in for the night
12-23-2011, 01:43 AM
#48
Supreme Member
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Katy TEXAS (West Houston)
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Car: 1992 Camaro RS
Engine: 5.0 TBI L03 V8
Transmission: Rebuilt 700R4 W/ Corvette shift kit
Axle/Gears: 2:73 open
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Man you've been busy.
Formula, that's freakin funny. The best part is that the two thirdgens look really agressive and confidant, and the fox body looks really nervous haha.
Formula, that's freakin funny. The best part is that the two thirdgens look really agressive and confidant, and the fox body looks really nervous haha.
12-25-2011, 09:47 PM
#49
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: NEPA but mostly NYC for now
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Car: '92 Angrybird
Engine: 305 TBI the "Leaky Bastard"
Transmission: 700R4 with B&M shifter
Axle/Gears: 3.21 Posi off of '93 Camaro(RIP)
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
I too am rapidly approaching my 3rd year of 3rd gen ownership. I'd have to check the records to be exactly certain, but it should have been December of 2008 that I bought my first 3rd gen. It was a 1987 T/A, 305 TPI, auto car. Maroon and silver. It had about 130k on the odometer. It had been my mom's car for two years, and she'd bought it from the original owner who was a doctor and had taken the car back and forth to the dealership for 20 years having every single imaginable thing fixed on it when it went out. He had a slightly misaligned sticker fixed 3 times, and took it back 5 times for a gap in the door panel. Car had been repainted, the trans had been rebuilt, and the top end of the engine had been freshened about 20k before I bought it. I paid my mom the sum of $4000 and proudly walked away with the title to my first 3rd gen. That, of course, was back home in West Texas. The photo below was a picture of the car all cleaned, waxed, and ready to go the day before I pulled out of Texas. Three days and 2000 miles later, it would be sitting "by the dock of the bay" in Annapolis, MD.
We had a good run, and I took that thing all over the place. Her final voyage was in the Shenandoah mountains, and she gave it a good run. If you've never driven the skyline drive in a 3rd gen, it's something to try. Unfotunately, while taking in the scenery, I came around a blind curve and found a multi-car pile-up in front of me. Had I been locked on the road, I would have had time to stop. But the split time it took my vision to swing to the wreck and then hit the brakes, I was into it. Apparently someone had pulled out into the highway without looking, and two or three automobiles had slammed on the brakes to avoid them. By the time I came around the curve, it was a mess of cars and not that much room to stop. Heartbreak doesn't even begin to describe the emotions that I felt sitting on the side of the road looking at my once beautiful and then mangled car.
What can I say other than that she carried me home? As my liberty time rapidly faded away, I pulled out the spare tire, checked all the fluids, roped down the hood, and hit the road. 300 miles later I was reporting in, and still didn't have a clue what I was going to do.
Anyone could tell that the frame was toast. The car was a goner, and I only had liability insurance, so that wasn't going to help either. The only thing I knew is that she had given her all getting me back home safe and on time. The old car never skipped a beat, and I owed it to her to somehow carry on her legacy. I knew, even though it would be tough, that the 3rd gen legacy must go on.
I found the next link in the chain in September of 2009. Nearly two years ago to the day, I caught a plane to Charlotte, NC and purchased my obsession for the next 24 months. That obsession was a 1987 Pontiac Formula. It was rough. She'd been rode hard and put away wet, but it was a real formula. It deserved better than what it had been given. It was a chance for me to redeem myself. Money was tight, and it was cheap. It had to be.
That's me on day one. I finally had a project. I'd been given everything with the first car, it was all done to start with. This one on the other hand, it needed a helping hand.
Ah, the good times. I started making good pay, and the 'bird reaped the benefits. Her maiden voyage was from Charlotte to Columbia, SC. We had friends to visit at USC, and my what some good times we spent there. That's another story for other times though.
As the paychecks came in, long weekends were spent in the shop, swapping one piece or another from the wrecked gem to the new beneficiary. Then, as parts to be swapped were exhausted, new things found their way in. Engine work, a T56, a borg warner 9-bolt, new interior, C5 vette brakes, the list, and the time input, goes on and on. We spent many a long night together. And for two of my hardest years at the academy, and in my life for that matter, she became my venting point. My hobby. My chance to get away from it all.
So came life. Girlfriends came and went. Roadtrips were had, and memories were made that will never be forgotten. Slowly she earned her spurs, and slowly it became a brand new car. Paint and bodywork followed, and for the first time in the last two decades, it looked like a new car.
And then, the great adventure. With graduation came new freedoms, and new tests. With 30 days of paid leave, I had to find something to do. What better than spending thirty days traversing the sparsely populated wilderness that is Western Canada? That was the challenge, and the 'bird rose to meet it.
And thus the miles clicked by. Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virgina, Ohio and Michigan. Then Lake Superior, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The first time I'd ever seen the great plains. Then the first time I'd ever seen the Rocky Mountains. Oh, what an experience.
From there we headed "North to Alaska", and despite the most valiant of efforts, the roads were just too rough, and we were forced to turn around just south of the Yukon border.
Not to be discouraged, I set out to tour British Columbia, and tour it we did. Prince George, Kamloops, Kelowna, Osoyoos, and Victoria. They all fell prey to the slightly freezing Texan and his rumbling Formula.
Alas, all good things must end, and meet her end she did. A careless driver, a stop sign ignored, and through no fault of my own, another beautiful 3rd gen met her end.
She gave her all, and kept me safe from an accident that might have maimed, or killed, in another vehicle. The old 'bird bit the bullet, and did what she was designed to do. Once more I patched it up. I found a new radiator. The wrecker driver and I used the winch to pull out the fender to clear the tire. The hood came off, the A/C came out, odds and ends were repaired. It was roadworthy, though not pretty. I was 3000 miles from home, and depending on the old gal to get me home. And oh how she pulled through.
In some ways, it was a last hoorah. She did her part, and I gave her the reigns. Problem free, we saw Mt Rainer, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, the Great Salt Lake, Arches and Canyonlands, Monument Valley, and one very long night crossing the divide in New Mexico with "One Headlight." Kind of like the Wallflowers song, except with a whole bunch of Elk thrown in for good measure.
I made it home, and once again faced the question? What to do? Insurance would have me covered this time, but did I really want to go through the work of building another 3rd Gen?
Initially I said no. I looked at Corvettes, I looked at old Mopars, I looked at 2nd Gens, and I looked at Lincoln Mark VIIIs. I found many things I liked, but wasn't happy. It took me a while to make up my mind, but now I know. There's not really a choice. The saga must go on. There must be a third 3rd.
I don't know yet which it will be. I have some in mind, and there's others that I haven't seen yet. I know it will be special, and I'll know it when I see it. Rest assured though, Chapter 3 will begin. It must when it gets this deep in your blood.
To make a long story short, keep up the good work. It's more than driving a car, it's driving YOUR car. Call me crazy, but it's a relationship that goes beyond plastic and steel. It's the American dream, carried out in an American automobile. That's a feeling that can't be bought, it can only be built...
-cal30sniper
We had a good run, and I took that thing all over the place. Her final voyage was in the Shenandoah mountains, and she gave it a good run. If you've never driven the skyline drive in a 3rd gen, it's something to try. Unfotunately, while taking in the scenery, I came around a blind curve and found a multi-car pile-up in front of me. Had I been locked on the road, I would have had time to stop. But the split time it took my vision to swing to the wreck and then hit the brakes, I was into it. Apparently someone had pulled out into the highway without looking, and two or three automobiles had slammed on the brakes to avoid them. By the time I came around the curve, it was a mess of cars and not that much room to stop. Heartbreak doesn't even begin to describe the emotions that I felt sitting on the side of the road looking at my once beautiful and then mangled car.
What can I say other than that she carried me home? As my liberty time rapidly faded away, I pulled out the spare tire, checked all the fluids, roped down the hood, and hit the road. 300 miles later I was reporting in, and still didn't have a clue what I was going to do.
Anyone could tell that the frame was toast. The car was a goner, and I only had liability insurance, so that wasn't going to help either. The only thing I knew is that she had given her all getting me back home safe and on time. The old car never skipped a beat, and I owed it to her to somehow carry on her legacy. I knew, even though it would be tough, that the 3rd gen legacy must go on.
I found the next link in the chain in September of 2009. Nearly two years ago to the day, I caught a plane to Charlotte, NC and purchased my obsession for the next 24 months. That obsession was a 1987 Pontiac Formula. It was rough. She'd been rode hard and put away wet, but it was a real formula. It deserved better than what it had been given. It was a chance for me to redeem myself. Money was tight, and it was cheap. It had to be.
That's me on day one. I finally had a project. I'd been given everything with the first car, it was all done to start with. This one on the other hand, it needed a helping hand.
Ah, the good times. I started making good pay, and the 'bird reaped the benefits. Her maiden voyage was from Charlotte to Columbia, SC. We had friends to visit at USC, and my what some good times we spent there. That's another story for other times though.
As the paychecks came in, long weekends were spent in the shop, swapping one piece or another from the wrecked gem to the new beneficiary. Then, as parts to be swapped were exhausted, new things found their way in. Engine work, a T56, a borg warner 9-bolt, new interior, C5 vette brakes, the list, and the time input, goes on and on. We spent many a long night together. And for two of my hardest years at the academy, and in my life for that matter, she became my venting point. My hobby. My chance to get away from it all.
So came life. Girlfriends came and went. Roadtrips were had, and memories were made that will never be forgotten. Slowly she earned her spurs, and slowly it became a brand new car. Paint and bodywork followed, and for the first time in the last two decades, it looked like a new car.
And then, the great adventure. With graduation came new freedoms, and new tests. With 30 days of paid leave, I had to find something to do. What better than spending thirty days traversing the sparsely populated wilderness that is Western Canada? That was the challenge, and the 'bird rose to meet it.
And thus the miles clicked by. Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virgina, Ohio and Michigan. Then Lake Superior, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The first time I'd ever seen the great plains. Then the first time I'd ever seen the Rocky Mountains. Oh, what an experience.
From there we headed "North to Alaska", and despite the most valiant of efforts, the roads were just too rough, and we were forced to turn around just south of the Yukon border.
Not to be discouraged, I set out to tour British Columbia, and tour it we did. Prince George, Kamloops, Kelowna, Osoyoos, and Victoria. They all fell prey to the slightly freezing Texan and his rumbling Formula.
Alas, all good things must end, and meet her end she did. A careless driver, a stop sign ignored, and through no fault of my own, another beautiful 3rd gen met her end.
She gave her all, and kept me safe from an accident that might have maimed, or killed, in another vehicle. The old 'bird bit the bullet, and did what she was designed to do. Once more I patched it up. I found a new radiator. The wrecker driver and I used the winch to pull out the fender to clear the tire. The hood came off, the A/C came out, odds and ends were repaired. It was roadworthy, though not pretty. I was 3000 miles from home, and depending on the old gal to get me home. And oh how she pulled through.
In some ways, it was a last hoorah. She did her part, and I gave her the reigns. Problem free, we saw Mt Rainer, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, the Great Salt Lake, Arches and Canyonlands, Monument Valley, and one very long night crossing the divide in New Mexico with "One Headlight." Kind of like the Wallflowers song, except with a whole bunch of Elk thrown in for good measure.
I made it home, and once again faced the question? What to do? Insurance would have me covered this time, but did I really want to go through the work of building another 3rd Gen?
Initially I said no. I looked at Corvettes, I looked at old Mopars, I looked at 2nd Gens, and I looked at Lincoln Mark VIIIs. I found many things I liked, but wasn't happy. It took me a while to make up my mind, but now I know. There's not really a choice. The saga must go on. There must be a third 3rd.
I don't know yet which it will be. I have some in mind, and there's others that I haven't seen yet. I know it will be special, and I'll know it when I see it. Rest assured though, Chapter 3 will begin. It must when it gets this deep in your blood.
To make a long story short, keep up the good work. It's more than driving a car, it's driving YOUR car. Call me crazy, but it's a relationship that goes beyond plastic and steel. It's the American dream, carried out in an American automobile. That's a feeling that can't be bought, it can only be built...
-cal30sniper
02-03-2012, 10:41 PM
#50
Supreme Member
Thread Starter
Re: One Man's Story of His Refusal to Give up His Thirdgen
Progress update:
I've been lazy about keeping up with this post yet again, but here are the pictures of the new exhaust system as promised.
We also had an unexpected surprise mod. For $230 I grabbed a viper 5901 alarm with remote start and tilt sensor. Spent 3 days doing all the wiring myself and everything works flawlessly. Link to video of remote start in action and pics of new exhaust (Also viewable is my newly acquired hawks spoiler):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YW10I8o8ns
Stay tuned, guys. Body work and paint is up next and is coming real soon.
I've been lazy about keeping up with this post yet again, but here are the pictures of the new exhaust system as promised.
We also had an unexpected surprise mod. For $230 I grabbed a viper 5901 alarm with remote start and tilt sensor. Spent 3 days doing all the wiring myself and everything works flawlessly. Link to video of remote start in action and pics of new exhaust (Also viewable is my newly acquired hawks spoiler):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YW10I8o8ns
Stay tuned, guys. Body work and paint is up next and is coming real soon.