Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

THIS IS A MULTI-CAR BUILD THREAD. IT ORIGINALLY STARTED OFF FOR JUST MY 99 SS BUT NOW SEVERAL PROJECTS ARE POSTED IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES AND THERE BUILDS AND INFO.

I purchased this car in 2008. I worked with the previous owner in 2004 and remember when he bought the car off the original owner. It was purchased here in my small town at the local chevrolet dealership and the original owner sold it to the guy I worked with with very little miles on it and he drove it for years. In 2005 or 2006 I tried to purchase the car and was unable too as I drove a Chevelle everyday back and forth to school and gas costed me because my high school was pretty far.

To speed things up a bit I left the company we both worked for and so did he and ended up just seeing each other around town here and there. By 2008 I had owned several Camaros and many other older muscle cars and I still had a hard on for this car. I had to have it. When he purchased the car it still had a warranty on it as it only had 12,000 miles when he purchased it. At 33,000 miles the transmission went out. Factory case was warped and caused a issue with lubrication. Reason I know that is because years later I worked at 2 local transmission companys and spoke to the gentleman who did the work on the car at the Chevrolet dealership. Other than that it never had another issue.

In 2005-2006 it had long tube headers installed, K&N filter and electronic cut out. Other than that the car was bone stock. I was told it had more work done to it than what it really did. I believed the guy and really didnt have much of a choice because he would walk all over my 98 Z28 pretty bad and another SS a friend owned that had more work done to it. The car has had some interesting stories some ive witnessed some I did not. I did however find out the car ran and drove just fine without 02 sensors for quite some time. I was a witness to him being told it would not run without o2's well it did and ran excellent lol.

Years later me and the 2nd owner stayed in touch and I always asked about the car. He began working out of the state quite a bit and he would call me to swing by and check on it and drive it from time to time. So I did I began driving the car around 63,000 I maintained it for him and garaged it at my house here and there. Took care of it like it was my own. 2008 I was told I was gona be a father. Guess what I was told I needed to buy a family car. My daughter was born halloween of 2008 and I purchased the car within a week of her being born. I bought it around that time because as much as I loved the car I wanted it to be something my daughter had memories in as well. Something she went to prom in or drove for the first time or whatever. If she doesnt want anything to do with it then that's ok by at least we will have memories in it. She loves my 67 Camaro RS but she knows she will never be allowed to touch it lol.

Since I purchased the car in Nov,2008 I didnt do much to the car other than maintain, clean , drive daily. Only thing that ever gave me problems was the passenger rear shock did go out on me and the A/C leaked over time. Replaced the shock. The shocks in the car are F4E (if I remember correctly) the heavier duty shocks. Out of all my 4th gens the suspension in this car is much stiffer. Just this past May I switched companies and was working as a tow truck driver. I went to pick up my new tow truck, long story short the oil pan was broken due to me not paying attention. I broke it with my winch. In the 3 years I was a tow truck driver I never had a screw up, accident with a car, or scratched a car....but i'll be damned if I didnt break my own oil pan.

After breaking my oil pan and covering my new tow truck in Mobil ones finest I unloaded the car at my house and bitched about it for days. Pretty upsetting considering it happened a week after I paid it off. I decided it was time to do what I always wanted to do. BUILD THE ENGINE.

Im not going crazy Im just doing what I can for now. I got a good bit of new performance parts for it that will start me off pretty well. I did replace the Charcoal Gray Leather seats with the Tan leather seats. The factory drivers seat was tearing bad and i put the tan leather in there for temporary. I dont think it looks bad with the NBM exterior. I did use a hypertech programmer for a while just to play with the car. Dash has been replaced by me. I used a 01 SS Camaro upper dash to replace it. Factory one was cracked because of the florida sun.

Only mods I did performance wise previous to my oil pan breaking was the Ram Air mod and coolant bypass mod. SLP Air Lid was added in 2010.

I will list everything but here are some pictures.











RAM_AIR MOD


BROKEN OIL PAN




DISASSEMBLED












Ill post the part list break down soon

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

I want to give a special thanks to Lonnie with Texas Speed and Performance as he was very helpful and has excellent customer service. I have touched base with him since on different things and it's always a pleasure to speak with him. He also is building a sweet Trans Am himself so don't be afraid to ask for an opinion from him.

Part List and Performance Mods and Whatever else....

Ill just start wherever.

Transmission-

Shift Kit-My Old Job
Stronger Valvebody Springs all around-Random
Tourque Converter Clutch Solenoid- TranStar
Chrome Pan w/ Drain Plug-My Old Job
Boosted Pressures-Quarter Turn on the EPC
Corvette Servo-Im sure I did it I just dont remember. LOL
3500 Stall 10" Converter w/ Lock-up Dual Bolt Patter-Florida Torque

Again I worked doing transmissions for a while so pretty much everything above I did not pay for. Torque Converter I did but I paid cost. As for what it costs usually i dont know.

Engine-

346 Cubic Inch LS1

Holley/Weiand Intake (lingenfelter)-Purchase from Friend
Zex Nitrous Kit-Not Installing for a while
K&N Air Filter-Auto Zone
Coolant Bypass Kit-Texas Speed
SLP Air Lid- Friend
Ram Air Mod
LS2 Timing Chain & Gears-Ballistic
Hi-Vol/Hi-Pressure Oil Pump-Ballistic
MS3 Cam with 111 LSA 237/242 and .603/.609-Texas Speed and Performance
7.40 Chromemoly Pushrods-Texas Speed and Performance
.650" Dual Spring Kit PRC- Texas Speed and Performance
PRC Titanium Retainer-Texas Speed and Performance
PRC Valve Seals and Spring Seats-Texas Speed and Performance
Cam Gasket and Bolt Package-Texas Speed and Performance
Harmonic Balancer Bolt GM- Texas Speed and Performance
Cometic Timing Cover & Water Pump Gasket-Texas Speed & Perf
GM Front and Rear Coolant Plugs- Texas Speed and Performance
Holley/Weiand Intake Manifold Gasket Set-Texas Speed and Performance
Federal Mogul LS1 Cam Bearing Set- Texas Speed & Performance
LS7 Lifters-Texas Speed and Performance
Head Gaskets and Head Bolts GM- Texas Speed and Performance

All currently being installed except nitrous

Suspension

F4E Suspension. Unsure what Im doing with that yet

More to come.........

jsteele90

iTrader: (13)

why are you replacing the cam bearings only? are you going to do a rebuild while you have the engine apart? Why may i ask are you going with a MS3?

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

Im not. Im replacing a lot more than cam bearings. As for the MS3 cam i went with it for a lot of reasons. I could get a 111 LSA, its large but i dont have to fly cut, its not a bad cam for streetability, ya there are better ones but the results that are out there on the ms3cam are strong, i wont be driving the car all the time i have a work vehicle and others. As for a rebuild im doing nothing to the bottom end and just about everything to the top end so if i didnt answer your question completely let me know.

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

Great thread! Love the MBM.

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

Thanks man. Ive always liked this color a lot. I like the SOM as well but there few and far between.

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

After it was all done except for tune....

01TARAWS6

Nice SS and good read.

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

Thank you my friend

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

Just and update for ole #1146 not that it has sparked much interest but i purchased some new things.

In the pics you will notice i have halo headlights, plan on finally ditching them and cleaning up to resale. Just never really liked them like i do the OEM's

Also purchased from a fellow forum member some SLP Camaro SS floormats finally. My car originally did include them but were misplaced by the original owner when he put a cheaper set in that he didnt mind getting dirty.

Got the EGR/ A.I.R. Delete kit coming as well. Just one of those things i kept saying i was gonna do and just now finally getting around to it. Ill be posting more pics as well. I dont really think people read alot of this stuff.

Imma do my own headlight cleaning and try some things with a write up and install so ill post more.

Planning on doing some suspension stuff soon but i have the factory FE4 suspension which my understanding is an upgrade so idk......just some thoughts

hutchman

I like build threads like this one.......plan to do my own one of these days.

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

I would like to see it when you do....part of the bug reason im doing a build thread is just to keep track of everything I do and the progress. Kinda like a weight loss deal. Hahaha

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

Here is some more shots of when we were doing everything.....pics i kind of forgot about.

The block




The block



Heartless



Like a chicken with its



This was pretty much the earlier process

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

This was a shot the day i took it to get tuned.....to make a long story short, the seal on the pickup tube to the oil pump was never installed so my dyno day and tune went from being bery exciting to an absolute heart break. Two and a half hour drive and a good chunk of $ pretty much waisted. Started loosing oil pressure and started getting unwantes noises, we originally thought maybe the pushrods were not correct length but after changing the pushrods and getting the same results i went right for that seal location......im not the one who made the kistake so please dont bash.

This is me and my pops......u can crack on me all you want but not on my dad. He was more excited for me than i was, thats the kind of dad he is.



My buddy Chris giving me a hand doing pushrods on a weekend afternoon



Valve covers off, at this point the car had been down for close to 9 months

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

And on to the next fun project.....

I purchased the LSX EGR/A.I.R. Pump delete kit. Never did one before and i fealt like it was actually way easier than how people had described. Most everyone said it was really easy but i mean damn, took nothing and hardly any effort.

What took the most time for me was the LsX plate that came in my kit did not want to work properly with my Weiand Lingenfelter Intake....but since the intake manifold is aluminum i slowly filed her down.....took about an hour to do it and i even got a little impatient towards the end scuffed a small spot above where i was filing but it will eventually be powder coated so im not crying.

LSX Plate at the intake, notice how it doesnt line up.



Slowly tried to see how well it would file down



And then when things really got rollin



File this lol.....this was basically for the picture thats why the tape isnt in this shot



It was kind of a biotch to first get it to pop down with the rubber seal but we did get it.....the hole for the plate did have to be olongated to line up properly with the threads on the intake....but here it is after all that



My headers came on it when i bought it so dont hate

Drivers side



Passenger side



I forgot to snap some pics while i was removing the AiR Pump and tubes but it was simple. Removed the inner plastic fender well after removing my wheel on the drivers side, and there she was. My AIR Tube was zip tied to my hood cable to i cut it loose then unbolted the whole AIR pump bracket and dropped it out, disconnected my wires and sealed it all back up.

I know it does not add anymore performance by removing, other than a little weight loss or dieting whatever you wanna call it but the car did seem to run a little smoother after removing it.

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

And last but not least of the recent stuff....

The previous owner and I had installed new headlights, they were the Halo type.....long story short they never did sit right, there dying fad, they have really started to look like crap and so i decided to go back to OEM cause i think that looks good.

Bought a set from a GM Salvage company. They sent them to me and one of them needed cleaning up a bit. I didnt realize that one of them had been opened up before abd painted black on the inside until the day of install. Meedless to say i wasnt going to use one black internal head light and one oem style chrome. So i contacted the company and we are getting it all worked out.

The lens on the one im not using had some roughness and discoloration to it so i was going to test my skills at some wet sanding, buffing, polishing and cleaning it up.....long story short i did it all by hand it it did come out oretty good but ill def use a buffer next time with something that is capable of a hi-speed ***** jones deal.

Wet sanding 220/600/1000



Alot of crap



Somewhere along the way in the process





This was either the 2nd or 3rd stage of polishing




Ill have to upload a pic of the finished product but it cane out really well.....

Get ready to laugh, these are the halo's I installed with the previous owner in Aug of 2008





Im probably going to clean them up and sell them.


Now im stuck on the fence of what 2nd color i should use under the hood....any opinions other than red. The car is Navy Blue Metallic obviously.

Thinking of going bright Silver on the LS Head Plate with Black letters, silver on the strut tower brace with black slp logo and silver on the intake with the LSX Plate previously pictured staying black. Any opinions??????? Dark Metallic Gun Metal Grey would be nice but its hard to match everytime i want to do something new under the hood.

97_ek

iTrader: (5)

Silver usually looks good on blue cars, just don't go overboard with it.

It's amazing what a good headlight restoration will do for the look of a car. You made a great choice by going back OEM for the headlights as well. I never have cared much for the projectors in these cars. Also, IMO you should do the whistler mod to the stock headlights (paint the insides black). Looks much better

Everett#2390

Good story and if it wasn't for bad luck, there would be no luck.
So far, it reads you're enjoying the journey, as it should be.
Keep enjoying her.

I have a '02 SS and when I picked Rita up in April '14, she had 9900 miles.
Elvira, the '00 SS black one, I gave to my daughter, with 46K miles

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

Thanks man. Im a fan of the OEM headlights myself too. I think they look way better than anything out there aftermarket. I received one headlight out of the 2 that i bought that had the whistler mod.....just doesnt grab onto me with this car like it probably would a Arctic White or Red Fbody would.

Docrocket1967

iTrader: (1)

That is true about the luck....building a more modern car is new to me because all i have ever built was older cars like the ones in my signature, which by all means to me is alot easier lol but you are right though, i might get frustrated, but I am enjoying it.

Love the names of your cars lol i call mine Veronica. Im saving your picture of yours on my phone because i love our cars in black but arctic white is great. I had an arctic white z28 when i bought this SS and i never realized how much more Arctic white was appealing to me till i sold it. Your daughter is a lucky girl. My daughter will be 6 on halloween so shes a little young to fully appreciate but one day.

Here is a pic of my white z28- my buddys B4C South Carolina Police Car and my SS





And another shot i took the other day