1996 Camaro Z28 LT1 Project

[nascarnate326]

car just came back yesterday from getting the transmission rebuilt. Total bill: $1635.25

More importantly, is it perfect?

[alone_and_insane]

More importantly, is it perfect?

idk, I probably won't drive it until Thanksgiving at the earliest. I likely won't find out for sure until next summer.

[prorac1]

I hope it works out for ya. Transmissions can be a slippery slope. Eric L

[alone_and_insane]

so I'm thinking about lowering springs...found these on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EIBAC...6#ht_511wt_939

I'm a little leery because these are about $150 cheaper than any other Eibach Sportlines I've seen, so I'm just worried it might be a little too good of a deal, if you know what I mean. The car has otherwise stock suspension as far as I know, although the rear shocks are orange. Also, is 1.8" drop a bit too much? Will I need to worry about clearance with that?

One more thing. I'm thinking about buying a used polished strut tower brace. My engine bay isn't done yet, but I think this would look really nice:





Guy wants $200, but that's a little more than I wanted to spend on something like that atm, especially if I get lowering springs relatively soon. Thoughts?

[MunsterZ28]

i had mine dropped with eibach sportlines and i had no issue until i put a 285 tire and the back and it rubbed going over certain bumps or bad rail road tracks. but nothing a big hammer couldnt fix

[nascarnate326]

I want mine to be lowered too

[mcalus]

Wow! I just read this whole thing. Yes I had plenty of time to burn

For starters I love the color!

As for repainting your bumper I would find someone that paints on the side, BUT works at a collision center. Don't give it to joe schmoe and expect something perfect. Sometimes you can even pull a painter aside and offer him $100 bucks to respray it. I bet he will. Find someone that has an in at a body shop.

I have that same STB but its not polished. Mines red it came on the car and I love the way they look. Personally it might clash if its the only polished thing under your hood. Just my opinion. Since its a hotchkis stb they tend to be a bit on the more expensive side. IDK why but thats what I have seen.

Maybe I missed it but why didn't you do a cam in the first place? You had the motor out.

Also maybe I missed it but what did the exhaust shop end up doing to it? You mentioned they were going to do duals. Pics?

Looks great, makes me want to start on the 93. Only if money grew on a tree!

Keep up the good work!

[alone_and_insane]

As for repainting your bumper I would find someone that paints on the side, BUT works at a collision center. Don't give it to joe schmoe and expect something perfect. Sometimes you can even pull a painter aside and offer him $100 bucks to respray it. I bet he will. Find someone that has an in at a body shop.

Larry Meissen said he got his whole car painted for about $600. I saw it, and it looks great. Apparently the guy worked at a body shop for a long time and just does some other stuff by himself on the side. I was probably gonna go with him.

I have that same STB but its not polished. Mines red it came on the car and I love the way they look. Personally it might clash if its the only polished thing under your hood. Just my opinion. Since its a hotchkis stb they tend to be a bit on the more expensive side. IDK why but thats what I have seen.

Well I don't have anything else polished in there right now, but I'm gonna keep adding things. I have an aluminum intake elbow and SLP CAI that I'd like to have polished, and I want chrome valve covers, and I want to paint the intake manifold probably green with chrome lines on top and polished fuel rails.

Maybe I missed it but why didn't you do a cam in the first place? You had the motor out.

yeah, in hindsight, that obviously would've made more sense. Originally I wasn't gonna run the V8 in this car (or this car for that matter). Our old insurance guy said I wouldn't be able to insure a V8 until I'm 25, and this thing was only running on 6 or 7 when I got it. We were gonna pull the motor/trans and swap in the V6/trans from the '95 I wrecked in high school. We got the LT1 out, got the V6 in, and only then learned about the switch from OBDI to OBDII, meaning none of the wiring was going to work. We threw in the towel and decided to put the V8 back in and sell the thing (I should probably mention that I was gonna sell the LT1, but the day before the guy was gonna pick it up my dad took off the power steering pump, and discovered that the serpentine had worn through two spark plug wires). The reason I actually bought Nate's 94 last year was because I was gonna sell this thing. Well we got the engine back in and were just about ready to get it sold. Then our new insurance agent came (our old one had gotten fired), and she ran the numbers on what it would cost. It turned out it would be cheaper for me to insure the LT1 than it is for me to insure my '99 Grand Am. Apparently our old guy never actually looked up how much it would be. So to make an already long story short, we quick threw it together and got it on the road for me this summer.

Also maybe I missed it but what did the exhaust shop end up doing to it? You mentioned they were going to do duals. Pics?

I don't have any pics, but that ended up being crap too. The car has true duals, but they suck. For one thing, it rattles on the underside of the car when you get on the gas. Also, the headers have a 3" exit, but they didn't use 3" pipe anywhere. They have two 2.5" pipes that run side by side to the back of the car, and go down to 2.25" when they go over the rear axle. The Xlerator Performance (wtf, never heard of them, especially when I asked for a Magnaflow) muffler has two inlets and two outlets. On one inlet, the shop took two pieces of pipe and welded them together at about a 45* angle, rather than using a curved section of pipe. The tips weren't nearly as big as I wanted them/thought they were gonna be, and they hang down too far from the rear bumper. Obviously, the better option would've been a y-pipe and a 3" pipe the rest of the way back. When I called the shop that sounded like it was what they were gonna have to do, but when I actually got the car there the guy was just like, "oh, don't worry, we'll just do a set of true duals for you." Also, I think this exhaust system cost me around $700, and I had been quoted at $525. I wasn't especially pleased with it, but I had to leave for Michigan the day after getting the car back. By the time I got the car back to WI a month later, it had major transmission issues that had to get figured out. So now it's November, the system was build in May, and there's nothing the shop's gonna do about it.

[alone_and_insane]

did some shopping today. 1.5/1.75" Lowering springs, $80

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/parts-...g-springs.html

Mostly concerned about the oddball brand...thoughts?

Also, silver STB for $75:



And I was thinking of a cam being a ways off, but I found a brand new one on LS1tech for $150. Specs are 218 230 .495 .510 on 114. I really don't know all that much about cams or specs, so what do you guys think of this one? Is the price about right? Would this cam be good for my car? My goals are @ least 300 rwhp, summer DD with occasional trips to strip and/or autocross course.

[ThreeHonks]

A cam is going to cost about $600-$1000 when all said and done. I would definately not go with that cam you listed.

[alone_and_insane]

Just bought the strut tower brace, hopefully gonna pick up some used Summit 1-1.5" lowering springs from Red355 on this site in Mt. Pleasant on Friday. I can't wait until Thanksgiving break so I can do some work

[meissen]

A cam is going to cost about $600-$1000 when all said and done. I would definately not go with that cam you listed.

Just to clarify what Ryan is saying a bit - a brand new cam from Summit Racing (meaning that it's a standard "off the shelf grind" cam like the CC503) is around $200-$300. So $150 for that cam, yes is a good price, but the $600-$1000 comes in when you start adding in all the additional stuff - new springs, new lockers, spring seats, etc.

Here's my parts list when I did the cam swap on my LT1 - just so you have an idea:

CS3Automotive 712-689-324-08-1113 Comp Cams Rocker Arms COM1305-16 $255.50
CS3Automotive 712-689-324-08-1113 Comp Cams Pushrods COM7640-16 $115.50
CS3Automotive 712-689-324-08-1113 Comp Cams Flat Guide Plates COM4808-8 $15.65
CS3Automotive 712-689-324-08-1113 Comp Cams Valve Springs COM26918-16 $159.50
CS3Automotive 712-689-324-08-1113 Comp Cams Steel Retainers COM795-16 $46.50
CS3Automotive 712-689-324-08-1113 Comp Cams Spring Locators COM4705-16 $30.69
CS3Automotive 712-689-324-08-1113 Comp Cams Super Locks COM613-16 $20.26
CS3Automotive 712-689-324-08-1113 ARP 7/16 Rocker Studs ARP234-7202 $54.50
CS3Automotive 712-689-331-08-2225 Comp Cams CC503 Camshaft COM07-503-8 $240.76
Summit Racing 5268584 Fel Pro Valve Stem Seals FEL-SS72861 $29.69
E-Bay Master LT1 Engine Gasket Set $250
CS3Automotive 712-689-74-09-1046 ARP Hex High Performance Head Bolt Kit $63.99

And that's not everything - you still need fluids and all that too.

[c0ncEpT]

I'm not sure if LS1 and LT1 Sportlines are different but I would highly recommend against them. I had Sportlines on my LS1 car when I got it and while it did look sick it rode like complete shit. I sold them on LS1tech for $1250 bucks and bought some stockers...

[alone_and_insane]

I'm not sure if LS1 and LT1 Sportlines are different but I would highly recommend against them. I had Sportlines on my LS1 car when I got it and while it did look sick it rode like complete shit. I sold them on LS1tech for $1250 bucks and bought some stockers...

I've decided against Sportlines, they're just a bit too low for what I want. I'm picking up some used Summit 1-1.5" drop springs on Friday.

[mcalus]

Good call on the strut tower brace. Personally I like that style on the LT1's the best.