ESP Camaro

[landstuhltaylor]

I was in the process of pulling the motor today and it got me rethinking the shell swap. The new shell has some solid rust going on the frame rails both front and rear, as well as a small hole in the drivers footwell. The right rear fender had some bondo on it and when I got to poking around I found another hole there. Aside from the one hole in the rear seat area of the old car, all the rust is on the surface only. All the major structural components are untouched and as a whole it's got much less rust. I think it might be better to just fix what I have and put a new quarter on it when I feel like it.

[landstuhltaylor]

[formula218]

sounds like it's time for a wide body with some huge tires front and back.

[landstuhltaylor]

I think I'm just going to keep an eye out for somebody to part out a car on here and just cut that corner off of it. Aside from that damage the shell is in really good shape and I think it would be hard to find one with less rust. This one came out of Virginia so aside from the one winter I put it through it never saw salt. I don't like the idea of throwing full race slicks on a shell with compromised frame rails.

[Curt_irocz]

I was in the process of pulling the motor today and it got me rethinking the shell swap. The new shell has some solid rust going on the frame rails both front and rear, as well as a small hole in the drivers footwell. The right rear fender had some bondo on it and when I got to poking around I found another hole there. Aside from the one hole in the rear seat area of the old car, all the rust is on the surface only. All the major structural components are untouched and as a whole it's got much less rust. I think it might be better to just fix what I have and put a new quarter on it when I feel like it.

well that stinks to hear. I didn't notice any holes in it.

[landstuhltaylor]

well that stinks to hear. I didn't notice any holes in it.

It's not a big deal. All of the holes were small and it took a while to find them. I think I should still be able to come out close to even on the whole thing. I'll be keeping one door, mirror, and the rear bumper. The drivers door and mirror, possibly the hatch, T-tops etc can all go though. There are also a few modules some wiring and a bunch of random bits to get rid of.

[landstuhltaylor]

I noticed today that the 1LE style bushings I had in my rear LCAs have failed already. They only had about 3 years and 10,000 miles of use on them, just confirms my thoughts that the stock arms are completely useless. Looks like instead of motor mounts and some other things I'll probably be picking up some aluminum rod-ended LCAs.

[landstuhltaylor]

Solid donor? Wouldn't pay more than $1000 but the hardtop is a plus.

http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/4544019476.html

[nooncha]

That looks good! Definitely can't beat the price. I bought my shell for about the same price shipped from Louisiana.

[landstuhltaylor]

So I've located a hardtop shell, officially making this the ESP Camaro thread. The seller sent me photos of two isolated areas that have rust but luckily that part is untouched on my car, so I'll just cut it out of mine and weld it in. My old shell was not legal for the class as it had a non-stock gear ratio and no rear seats. It wasn't worth the effort to me to spend money to make the car slower, especially with how hard it is finding the seats in the Northeast.

http://huntsville.craigslist.org/cto/4504329604.html

My car was already 50% of the way to being a full ESP car to begin with. Full exhaust, LS6 intake and everything else, dyno tune, Koni Yellows with Strano springs, Watts link, and a 21mm rear bar. I can get about 80% of the way there by adding a 35 or 36mm front bar and 315 Hoosiers all the way around. The rest would be Global West front upper arms, torque arm of some sort, a good differential in the 10 bolt and a 10" tall spoiler.

[landstuhltaylor]

The car is here and I got a chance to thoroughly check it out and I can say I couldn't be happier with the pick up.

Issues I've noticed:
-Two very small rust holes at the front of the floorpan on either side of the trans tunnel. The have only gone gone through the first layer of steel, the main layer doesn't even have surface rust on it yet. I'll coat it with POR15 for now, then cut it out and replace it next year.
-Brake master and clutch master were leaking onto the firewall and stripped the paint, leading to some rust. I'll replace both with the LS1 stuff and treat the area.
-Coolant reservoir was leaking and led to the beginning of rust, same as above.
-A few very small spots were the paint has worn off the underbody and it needs to be treated.

Other than that the car is completely spotless. I have the complete LT1 and accessories minus the power steering pump. The #8 cylinder had rod knock but otherwise it ran great, crank may be saveable. Everything from the engine is for sale including the MSD opti. I basically have a complete cars worth of parts that I want to get rid of between that and the other shells.

[landstuhltaylor]

I could use some help here from the LT1 guys, @JoeliusZ28 . I need to make a decision about what front clip I use, LT1 or LS1. Since I can't modify the hood or radiator support I can't use the lid intake with the LT1 clip. Has that been proven to make more power? Are there alternatives that are equivalent and obtainable using stock LT1 bodywork, radiator support, etc?

I'm leading towards the LS1 setup since I can also take advantage of the SSRA or FTRA kits (as long as they don't require cutting which I haven't confirmed yet.) I doubt there is any flow gains but it may help with intake temps.

[JoeliusZ28]

The lid can be made to work under the LT1 clip but it aint easy... id probably go with the LS1 setup. Or sell the LS1 clip and buy a cowl hood for the LT1 clip.

http://joelrdevriendt.com/?p=46

[landstuhltaylor]

Not allowed to modify the hood or radiator support and I have to use an OEM hood. I think I'll just use the LS1 clip.

[JoeliusZ28]

If thats the case thats your only choice. Or you' buy a formula/trans am with a Ram air hood.

Those types of rules are exactly why i dont bother trying to be competitive in SCCA and just run in the full-modded class. I'd get called out on something dumb like that when i could care less ... my car does more than just SCCA maybe i just like the look of a cowl hood!