What I've been up to lately.. Engine Bay Content
12-10-2014, 11:18 PM
#1
What I've been up to lately.. Engine Bay Content After the trans am was stolen I decided to begin the build of this 1978 Z28, originally ordered brand new by my mom. Hasn't been driven in 20 years, and hasn't always lived in the best conditions over the course of those 20 years, so this was a pretty big overhaul. Completely gutted the car and went over everything... LOTS of cleaning/prepping/painting. lots of new parts. Still working on the full build thread, but figured I'd go ahead and post this for now. more info on the car will be posted there.. The interior is still a work in progress, with lots of decisions to be made and lots of work to do. The exterior is staying as is, with the exception of new wheels... got some saving up to do for those!
The Build: 2000 Camaro Z28 LS1/4L60E, radiator/fans, fuel pump, pcm/bcm/fuse boxes/100% 4th gen wiring, headlight to taillight. LS6 intake. Hooker/Holley swap kit (mounts, Xmember, 1 7/8" long tubes). Pypes dual exhaust with X-pipe. All new bushings and suspension. All new brakes: C5 rotors up front with 4th gen calipers, 4th gen setup in the rear, new drilled/slotted rotors from Brakemotive, 100% hand bent lines, '81 trans am booster and MC, Wilwood proportioning valve. IROC steering box. Craigslist special $200 American racing wheels with bridgstone tires, 17x8.5 245/40 and 17x9 275/40 (temporary)
Appearance:
-smoothed uneven areas and filled holes in the firewall and inner fenders
-mostly new bolts/hardware from Ace Hardware
-ALL paint was rattlecanned
-fenders, firewall, radiator core support, etc: Ace Hardare Rust Stop, satin black.
-LS6 intake and fender braces: rustoleum hammertone grey
-fuel rail covers: smoothed, painted black, then wrapped with 3M 1080 Carbon Fiber
-Stainless battery cover from Emblempros, carbon fiber wrapped with custom decals matching the fonts cars stripe kit and emblems.
-carbon fiber wrapped the top of the power steering reservoir
-shortened trans oil dipstick tube (now hidden back behind fuel rail cover)
-shortened engine oil dipstick tube (used to sit about 5" higher
-aluminum engine oil cap
-Wire tuck, as well as heater hoses. All hidden between the fender and inner fender. I had to lengthen the harness of wires that runs from the fuse box to the bulkhead on the drivers side firewall.. 54 wires lengthened 31".. took forever to solder/ heat-shrink tube all of those connections!
-new fuse box decals from Hawks Third Gen. the fuse box bucket and tops were repainted black.
-AC components removed from motor since the 78 never had it.
Plans:
-GTO fuel rail covers
-different air intake setup
-Ceramic coating for the headers, in a polished look
-extend the wires in the loom visible on the passenger side inner fender, so that I can hide them.
-catch can
on to the pics...
Sitting in storage back in 2009, before doing anything with it. It sat outside in a field and under trees from 2003-5
October 12, 2013. A tad bit cleaner, This was taken just before pulling the motor to get started on the project.
Today
One of the car
The Build: 2000 Camaro Z28 LS1/4L60E, radiator/fans, fuel pump, pcm/bcm/fuse boxes/100% 4th gen wiring, headlight to taillight. LS6 intake. Hooker/Holley swap kit (mounts, Xmember, 1 7/8" long tubes). Pypes dual exhaust with X-pipe. All new bushings and suspension. All new brakes: C5 rotors up front with 4th gen calipers, 4th gen setup in the rear, new drilled/slotted rotors from Brakemotive, 100% hand bent lines, '81 trans am booster and MC, Wilwood proportioning valve. IROC steering box. Craigslist special $200 American racing wheels with bridgstone tires, 17x8.5 245/40 and 17x9 275/40 (temporary)
Appearance:
-smoothed uneven areas and filled holes in the firewall and inner fenders
-mostly new bolts/hardware from Ace Hardware
-ALL paint was rattlecanned
-fenders, firewall, radiator core support, etc: Ace Hardare Rust Stop, satin black.
-LS6 intake and fender braces: rustoleum hammertone grey
-fuel rail covers: smoothed, painted black, then wrapped with 3M 1080 Carbon Fiber
-Stainless battery cover from Emblempros, carbon fiber wrapped with custom decals matching the fonts cars stripe kit and emblems.
-carbon fiber wrapped the top of the power steering reservoir
-shortened trans oil dipstick tube (now hidden back behind fuel rail cover)
-shortened engine oil dipstick tube (used to sit about 5" higher
-aluminum engine oil cap
-Wire tuck, as well as heater hoses. All hidden between the fender and inner fender. I had to lengthen the harness of wires that runs from the fuse box to the bulkhead on the drivers side firewall.. 54 wires lengthened 31".. took forever to solder/ heat-shrink tube all of those connections!
-new fuse box decals from Hawks Third Gen. the fuse box bucket and tops were repainted black.
-AC components removed from motor since the 78 never had it.
Plans:
-GTO fuel rail covers
-different air intake setup
-Ceramic coating for the headers, in a polished look
-extend the wires in the loom visible on the passenger side inner fender, so that I can hide them.
-catch can
on to the pics...
Sitting in storage back in 2009, before doing anything with it. It sat outside in a field and under trees from 2003-5
October 12, 2013. A tad bit cleaner, This was taken just before pulling the motor to get started on the project.
Today
One of the car
Last edited by crimson_bird; 12-11-2014 at 10:45 AM.
The following 5 users liked this post by crimson_bird:
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12-10-2014, 11:55 PM
#2
Nice job man, and cool build. The engine looks like it came with the car from the factory. I think its really cool you transfered all the 4th gen wiring. Been down that road and its an amazing amout of tedius work, buts its so worth it. Cheap or not, I like the wheels that are on it. Theyre making think some satin black ccw classics and a matte metallic red paint job would look badass on this car.
12-11-2014, 12:08 AM
#4
^appreciate it! I feel the same about the wheels
seriously.. that is the EXACT plan! minus the red stripe! I'm wanting to do 18x9 265/35 and 18x11 305/30. Either satin black centers with gloss black lip, or all satin black. While the current wheels aren't the worst, they just don't do much for me. At a show last weekend I was talking to a friend and he tossed out the idea of doing classics and that sounded perfect, so that's the goal now
seriously.. that is the EXACT plan! minus the red stripe! I'm wanting to do 18x9 265/35 and 18x11 305/30. Either satin black centers with gloss black lip, or all satin black. While the current wheels aren't the worst, they just don't do much for me. At a show last weekend I was talking to a friend and he tossed out the idea of doing classics and that sounded perfect, so that's the goal now
12-11-2014, 12:40 AM
#6
TECH Apprentice
Really nice job on that engine bay. I wish I had that kind of patience. PHR magazine featured this late 2nd gen Camaro years ago that I really liked and now you've put together a pretty sweet looking 2nd gen. I wouldn't mind having one myself since you don't see them anymore.
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12-11-2014, 03:21 PM
#14
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Good job! The engine bay looks awesome. I'm very interested to see what you do to this car. If any one can make a late 2nd gen (one of the ugliest Camaros GM ever made) look good - it's you.
12-11-2014, 05:58 PM
#15
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Awesome man! I've been waiting for a thread from you with a new project! Beautiful engine bay and nice stance. I love the idea of the satin black wheels with gloss lip, I almost went that route with a concave center. Makes me wish I could start on my wife's 68 Camaro rs that her mom gave us. Keep up the good work man it's awesome so far!
12-12-2014, 12:10 AM
#19
Really nice job on that engine bay. I wish I had that kind of patience. PHR magazine featured this late 2nd gen Camaro years ago that I really liked and now you've put together a pretty sweet looking 2nd gen. I wouldn't mind having one myself since you don't see them anymore.
big thing right now is getting all of the 4th gen wiring cleaned up and rerouted in a clean fashion. Then I'll be laying sound deadener throughout, followed by some new carpet and floor mats. The original dash will go back in, but i'm going to be using the 98+ center console which will need quite a bit of custom work to get to my liking.. some reshaping, some fiberglass work, painting.. As for seats, I'm keeping the original back seats, but still undecided if I will use the original front seats or 4th gen seats. Whatever I decide, they'll all be getting new covers from Lethal Interiors in a simple black look.