I figured since I'm gonna be modding the car soon, I'd throw up a worklog to keep track of future modifications, and changes in the way the car feels.
Bought the car in 06/06 for $2800. I had $3200. $1600 from Pops, $1300 of my own collecting, and $300 of borrowed fundage. Drove it home from Salinas, CA. Had to stay the night in King City, I think it was. The trip killed my mother's Fiero, but these sacrifices happen in name for the greater good. Made it home safe and sound, except for the Fiero.
08/23/2006: I run in the Kingman Street Drags III. Both time slips are now gone, so I cannot report how well I did. I destroyed my ICM. Bought a new one for $27, installed it, and did a few more runs. Also entered the burnout contest, and should have done better, but seeing as I didn't know how to burnout, I did pretty good.
Two months go by. No modifications. Fuelin' up on premium, just like the manual said to. Eventually bought a B&M Shift Kit, Coil, Wires, Plugs, O2 Sensor. Strangely enough I only installed the shift kit. O.o
10/14/06: Shift kit installed. Started at dead noon. Finished at 9AM. Oh yea. I pulled an all-nighter. Came together just like it said in the book. Saved all parts I replaced. Just in case. (08/17/2007: Debating swapping back to the original parts, and getting the TransGo kit. Dunno. Hard decision.) Found grey gunk on the bottom of the tranny pan. Cleaned it all out, put it back together. Seemed to run fine.
12/2006: UPS man showed up carrying four 245/50/ZR16 Kumho All-Terrains. Had them mounted for $60. New shoes!
Before the end of the year, I decided I needed me some education, and that I needed it down in Tucson. Between June and December, the car had made three or so trips to Vegas and at least two trips to Phoenix. Ran beautifully. I decide to take it down to Tucson in December, to explore the college, see my friends, and generally take a vacation. Drive down was awesome. Drive back up, I left Tucson at 9 PM. It's normally a five hour drive, and I really didn't want to be home at 2 AM, as I had work the next day at 5. I made it home at 11:58. My mother was not pleased.
We had a bad freeze in the next week after I had gotten back. Apparently my TC lockup had failed, and all of that high speed driving had fried my TC completely by overheating (if it hadn't been fried already), and it agitated problems I had noted earlier (Grey gunk in pan). A few different problems cropped up after the freeze. Hard start, belt squeal, and strange transmission noises. Had to have the car do an emergency rebuild at ATR in Kingman, Az. Also installed a trans cooler from Hayden. I no longer have the receipt, so I can't elaborate, but he said he replaced every hard part with an upgraded and stronger model, and said it should handle about 500 horsepower. Dunno how true it was, and for the price (I wish I was more in the know when I did this) I could have gotten a Pro Built. Wish I did, actually.
01/04/2007: Transmission rebuild finished, Poly Tranny mount installed, throttle body removed, cleaned, along with a replaced IACV. Fixed hard start. Also sprayed down MAF Sensor. Runs normal for a week, then back to rich. (08/17/2007: Car still has belt squeal. Three different belts. That bastard.)
Two days later I moved down to Tucson. Went to a local brake shop, had pads and rotors checked. Rotors were down to minimum specification, but pads were at 80% or better. Rears at 95%. Had them re-adjust the rear brakes, and the car drove like a DREAM. They also told me that my front shocks were shot, and that my idler arm was worn. Three months later I got around to doing the idler arm.
04/16/2007: Idler arm replaced. Steering feels tighter.
04/27/2007: I get into my first car accident. Yay. I was hit by two people in a parking lot. Fender caved in. (8/17/2007: May need new nose and front GFX if I can't straighten them since they've been dented so long)
05/16/2007: Hit a junkyard, buy the left and right serpentine bracket, AIR pump, power steering pump, reverse rotation water pump, A/C hose assembly, and all the nuts and bolts. Still need a few bolts, a bracket, and a working tensioner.
05/18/2007: Replaced worn out torque arm bushing with Polyurethane equivalent. Removes high-speed vibrations.
05/25/2007: Replaced alternator due to bad diode. Tried to rebuild, failed miserably. Bought an Autolite with a lifetime warranty. Replaced belt with Goodyear Gatorback model. More often belt squeal. Brackets are straight, bearings in alternator are good. Dunno where it comes from. Bought temperature sender for false gauge readings. Bought wrong sender.
06/13/2007: Car is stolen. Steering column smashed in. Attempted theft of T-Tops. Camaro Flashlight stolen. Car makes rattling noise.
06/20/2007: Replaced steering column, interior detailed. Car feels like my car again. Driving still feels like a rape victim though.
08/06/2007: Replace front and rear U-joints in attempt to end rattling noise. Does not fix noise. Rear wheel bearings next. Bought A/C Delete Pulley. Replaced cracked IACV plug.
08/13/2007: Bottomed car out on a sand bank that got washed into the road. Now rattles at 75+ BADLY. Could have bent something, or it could be U-joints.
08/17/2007: Bought proper temperature sender, Accel Coil, the proper set of plug wires, and am going to do a full tune up. Ordering a new MAF today, cleaning doesn't work anymore. Also bought new thermostat, new radiator cap, new overflow tank cap, and thermo gasket. Gonna run baking soda in the coolant for two weeks, flush with flush solution, flush with water and replace all of the above. Also ordering new maf Power/Burnoff relays, just in case. Installing all parts I have on hand that I can. Also bought a replacement fender with very slight surface rust and almost no damage.
Current issues with the car:
Belt squeal on alternator belt. Hoping that Serpentine convert fixes this.
Bad readings on temp gauge. Trying sender, checking for grounds, then replacing gauge.
Rattling noise assumed to be rear left axle bearing.
Car shakes itself to pieces at 75+.
Runs rich, assumably to bad MAF.
Fender dented in.
Parts I need for the car to look pretty:
Inside:
Center Console Auto Tranny Plate
Center Console Leather Pad
Passenger Area Carpet
Dyed Seat Belts
Refinish back plastics and clean carpet
Camaro Flashlight
Inner + Outer Window Felts
T-Top Domelight Cover for Overhead Console
Snap-On Covers for rear hatch struts
Replacement lense for ashtray light
Chuck Pelton Steering Wheel
OEM Driver's Side Floormat
Outside:
Gold Emblems all around (for the repaint)
2 Rocker Z28
2 Rocker 5.7L Tuned Port Injection Stickers
1 Rear Z28
1 Rear 5.7L Tuned Port Injection
4 IROC Wheel Centercaps
2 IROC Door Stickers
1 Gold/Black Stripe kit
1 Red (or Black) Door molding kit (The stuff that makes you not get door dings)
Paint Job.
Refinished chin spoiler.
New front parking lights.
Posting this up so I can keep track, and if anyone knows anything that can help with any problems I have, please post. I'm all ears.
sounds like a lot of work, how does that b&m shifter feels? i was thinking of buying one for a while. As for your shaking problem, my bird was shaking like crazy at 70 or above until i rebalanced the rear tires. I think it also could be because of drive shaft being unbalanced.
Hmm. Might go get it balanced again and see if that subsides. Needs to be rotated anyway. The B&M Shift Kit feels.... Neat. Everythings really powerful. I kinda want to get a B&M Megashifter Camaro Console style. Means I won't need a new auto tranny plate. Hell, I might just do it next week.
8/26/2007: Finished changing plugs, wires, etc. Ignition is now top notch. (except I don't think my #8 plug wire is on all the way. Stupid 180* boots.) Found out why the car occasionally overheats (and why my fan wasn't coming on) while changing plugs. Felt the wire harness going down towards the motor mount, and I felt a broken piece of plastic. Yea, my fan switch connector is shattered. Can't tell if the sender is still there, need to get a mechanic's mirror to get a view under there.
8/26/2007: Felt the wire harness going down towards the motor mount, and I felt a broken piece of plastic. Yea, my fan switch connector is shattered. Can't tell if the sender is still there, need to get a mechanic's mirror to get a view under there.
check the fusible link by the starter, i still have to look for mine but i've been told that it can cause issues.
werent you looking for a 10bolt posi disc? i cant remember if it was you but im just gonna throw this up here cause i found it looking around today http://phoenix.craigslist.org/pts/412116568.html
I was looking for a 10 bolt posi disc. Right now, I love you. That means instead of using all of my money on a new rear and brakes for it, I can mod other things and have a freshly rebuilt 10 bolt! Yay!
Replaced the fan relay. Primary fan works fine now. Need to fix the sender for the secondary (I guess my primary comes on with A/C. Haven't tested it yet.)
