1996 Camaro Z28 LT1 Project

[alone_and_insane]

Definitely willing to help you - but this weekend isn't good for me. Angie's parents are coming over tomorrow and we're doing a crap ton of work around the house while also having AT&T U-Verse installed in the afternoon. Sunday my family is doing a Father's Day BBQ. What's your schedule like during the week? I'm available M-F after 5pm.

that's fine I'm not available this weekend either. Next week Tuesday or Thursday would probably be the best time I could do it.

[JoeliusZ28]

Overall the paint job came out really good - we made a mistake with the hood though because we bought it from the manufacturer (they literally were popping the hood out of the mold when we showed up) and then IMMEDIATELY had it painted which we learned afterwards is a big "no no" and doesn't allow the gelcoat to cure fully so there's really small bubbles in the hood. The rest of the car though looks pretty good - a little orange peel here and there but for the price it simply couldn't be beat. My dad and I had originally figured even if it only lasted 2-4 years it'd still be worth it. There's a whole bunch of pictures here: http://s892.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20oct%2025th/ as well as in his album.


Definitely willing to help you - but this weekend isn't good for me. Angie's parents are coming over tomorrow and we're doing a crap ton of work around the house while also having AT&T U-Verse installed in the afternoon. Sunday my family is doing a Father's Day BBQ. What's your schedule like during the week? I'm available M-F after 5pm.

Honestly for the price he paid, I wouldnt even mind getting the car back with all the orange peel still there and just wetsanding it out myself! thats basically what I am doing with the repair work on my car. They wetsanded it, but not to my standards.

[meissen]

Oh yeah - and don't get me wrong the orange peel isn't that bad IMHO. He went from having tons of peeling clear coat to a car that's completely worthy of pulling into a car show.

[alone_and_insane]

ugh...........LONG weekend with the car. I drove from here to Indianapolis to visit some friends for the weekend. I noticed part of the way down that the car didn't want to shift into 4th gear (only did very rarely, and when it did it wasn't for long). With the cruise control, I was buzzing at around 3500 rpm, so as you can imagine, it totally killed my gas mileage (18 highway ftl). When I finally got to Indy, the car shifted really, really hard from 1st to 2nd. Usually I could chirp the tires under hard acceleration quite easily, but now it was chirping them under very light acceleration. The unusually hard shift was also accompanied by a very audible thump! sound. After I had it sitting off for about 45 mins, it drove just fine. Yesterday when I drove from Indy to Shelbyville, the driver's side window wouldn't even go down (fortunately I have new motors sitting in my bedroom right now). Driving back from Shelbyville today, the trans was doing the same thing. I stopped for gas after about 250 miles, and after that, the thing wouldn't shift into 4th at all. I had to stop for a bathroom break after a while, and I realized that the thing wasn't downshifting into 1st or 2nd either. So for the last half of the trip today, the car was in 3rd gear the whole time. What gives???

On a secondary note, I'm going to take the car to another shop to get a second opinion on the noise.

I'm really getting sick of feeling like I'm taking a gamble every time I drive my car

[meissen]

Dude seriously - if you take a long screwdriver and put the handle against your ear and the tip of the screw driver against the valve cover, you'll know immediately if the noise you're hearing is one of the lifters. No need to pay for a second opinion.

The transmission issue sounds heat related?

[alone_and_insane]

Dude seriously - if you take a long screwdriver and put the handle against your ear and the tip of the screw driver against the valve cover, you'll know immediately if the noise you're hearing is one of the lifters. No need to pay for a second opinion.

when I do this test, what exactly am I listening for?

also to anyone else out there, any input on the trans issue would REALLY be appreciated. I'm going to check the ATF as soon as I get back from work, but there's no leak AFAIK.

[DETROITMUSCLE]

You will know if its a valvetrain problem trust me, put the screwdriver anywhere else on the motor and that and the problem area will sound completely different. As for the trans I'd guess the fluid was low and it overheated and burned up the clutches and probably needs a rebuild. Check the fluid 4l60es are very tempermental with fluid levels and you said you had problems with it being low after the initial swap. Make sure the car is on level ground and running when you check the atf.

[alone_and_insane]

well the last time ATF was checked was when I had the car in the shop 3 weeks ago, they said it was good. I don't know of any leak that I might have had since then.

[meissen]

Yup, like Jeff said - you'll know 100% what it is because when you put the screw driver against the area the sound is actually coming from, you'll hear it really loud and clear. It's actually really cool - it's like using a stethoscope.

[alone_and_insane]

well I tried the screwdriver trick, and results were...inconclusive. I just don't know what I'm looking for. I didn't hear the same kind of noise as what you can hear normally coming from the valve cover though.

[DETROITMUSCLE]

does one valvecover sound louder or worse than the other? That what your listening for.

[alone_and_insane]

does one valvecover sound louder or worse than the other? That what your listening for.

kinda? I guess, idk...

[meissen]

If and when we get together to work on your window motor I'll help listen for it.

[alone_and_insane]

Put in some more ATF today, didn't do a thing. I tried driving it putting the shift lever in 1, 2, or D w/ no square, and it's always in 3rd gear. I have no idea what's going on.

[alone_and_insane]

can anyone here recommend a good transmission shop in the Sterling Heights area? Got it scanned, turns out it's just a connection (insert MAJOR sigh of relief here).

Also, I need to do some valvetrain work pretty soon too. Can anybody give me a hand?