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I wanted to make a thread to track the progress on getting this old girl back on the road. To start, I sold my s2000 (great car, just no bawls in a straight line) and picked up a Mercedes CLA to drive to and from work / carry camaro parts. And then I started searching. My requirements: Red, LS1, 6-speed. As it turns out finding a 6-speed in SoCal is a little tougher than I thought. So I Overpaid by a little to get this guy:
The body is great, and the interior is pretty darn good. The dashpad is in perfect shape and all of the seats but the driver's are mint. Problems right off the bat:
-Trans grinds in 1st, 2nd and 3rd
-Rear end howls like an angry wolf and the clutches in the posi are non-existent
-Needed a water pump and trans mount PS pump as well as a ton of other odds and ends
The end goal for this car: Able to be fun at Auto-x and racelegal on Friday nights here in SD. Power Goals: Smog legal and reliable 500rwhp.
This is the car parked in the parking garage where I keep her:
The first couple of months I hammered out new window motors, hatch struts, shorty antenna, window switches buffed the headlights out and junk.
Then I dropped it off at my local shop of choice because if I get a jackstand within 10 feet of my car my HOA pounces like a puma. They did, water pump, brake calipers pads and rotors, poly trans mount, all fluids and we figured out what all is a priority.
Post shop visit #1 I swapped out the heavy discount tire wheels for a set of older forgelines from a member and swapped the alternator bracket to fix a squeaky belt (turns out a I need an alternator too) oh and pulled off the black plastic grill that was flapping all about:
Last edited by blackandgold; 03-01-2015 at 01:48 PM.
February! The 2 things I wanted to get resolved first were the trans and the rear end. The rear end howls and doesn't offer much traction but whatever. With all the grinding in the trans the car was pretty undriveable, so that was first. Back to the shop!
I ordered a slew of parts including all new tick hydraulics, monster clutch, bearings, level 2 rebuild kit, MGW shifter, blah blah tracking down parts was an interesting situation so if anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer.
I already bought 1st 2nd and 3rd, but 4th was a little worn out too, so I ordered a new input shaft. The old one:
Then I got a picture of the bearing surface for 1st on the mainshaft, so back to the web to find a new one, here is what it looked like:
Still waiting on the mainshaft to be delivered, but hopefully the transmission will be done by the end of this week. And I have just paid MWC for a FAB9 with watt's link and LCA's!!
Welcome!
Make sure you search around before you start buying parts, there are a lot of parts that will really hurt your handling (and they won't say so).
Also auto-xing with 500rwhp is going to be a handful, you better be running 315's r-compound tires on all four corners and really go light on the throttle.
Look into Koni shocks or higher end (KW, race bilstien, Penski) and stay away from drag shocks like QA1, afco, strange and Viking - some vendors will try and get a quick sell with drag shocks like these by telling you they are good for handling which is false, they are non-gas charged shocks valved for weight transfer and the amount of "adjustment" they have is irrelevant when they are not valved right in the first place. (just because they can be made "stiff" doesn't mean they will actually handle well and be able to dampen properly.) Balanced swaybars (35mm front, 22mm rear), and springs that are not too low (you NEED suspension travel for handling) and not too stiff (stiffer is not automatically better, you need balance).
Blank brake rotors (drilled rotors will crack) and a nice set of pads will do wonders as well for braking.
Everything else wont make near a difference for handling, get the major stuff done like above and don't worry about the little stuff until later (if at all) as it will have little effect on handling.
Im just trying to save you grief and money as Ive seen this many times where someone throws a bunch of parts at their fbody that all miss match(even when a vendor recommends the said parts) and are discouraged when their handling is sloppy, and Fbodies with Konis on otherwise stock suspension are running by them.
Welcome!
Make sure you search around before you start buying parts, there are a lot of parts that will really hurt your handling (and they won't say so).
Also auto-xing with 500rwhp is going to be a handful, you better be running 315's r-compound tires on all four corners and really go light on the throttle.
Look into Koni shocks or higher end (KW, race bilstien, Penski) and stay away from drag shocks like QA1, afco, strange and Viking - some vendors will try and get a quick sell with drag shocks like these by telling you they are good for handling which is false, they are non-gas charged shocks valved for weight transfer and the amount of "adjustment" they have is irrelevant when they are not valved right in the first place. (just because they can be made "stiff" doesn't mean they will actually handle well and be able to dampen properly.) Balanced swaybars (35mm front, 22mm rear), and springs that are not too low (you NEED suspension travel for handling) and not too stiff (stiffer is not automatically better, you need balance).
Blank brake rotors (drilled rotors will crack) and a nice set of pads will do wonders as well for braking.
Everything else wont make near a difference for handling, get the major stuff done like above and don't worry about the little stuff until later (if at all) as it will have little effect on handling.
Im just trying to save you grief and money as Ive seen this many times where someone throws a bunch of parts at their fbody that all miss match(even when a vendor recommends the said parts) and are discouraged when their handling is sloppy, and Fbodies with Konis on otherwise stock suspension are running by them.
No grief taken! This is my 3rd f-body, albeit my first LS1. I auto-x'd my s2000 (with an Ohlins setup) for a little while, I won't say I'm a competitive driver but I am competent. As far as handling parts go:
-Koni on car adjustable
-Strano springs
-Strano sways
-MWC watts link on the FAB9
The only part that may not work best with my situation are the heim joint rear LCAs I ordered with my MWC rear, if the end up binding I'll have to go to the roto joints or something else. I'm not 100% convinced I won't go KW coilovers, but I don't have to make that choice for a month or so. And I'll probably be calling strano just to verify everything.
I'm thinking that will keep the car pretty fun. As far as tires go, I'm not sure if I'll commit to r-compounds yet, I couldn't ever convince myself to do it on the s2k but with the additional power I may not have a choice. I know a solid axle car isn't going to handle as well as something with IRS, but that should be common knowledge. I just missed f-bodies and don't want to give up mowing down cones.
The power goal is something I'm just not sure about yet. I WANT 500rwhp and I'm building the drive train around that idea (monster stage 2, level 2 trans and a FAB 9). To do it and remain smog legal I'll have to go FI with a procharger. I've got time to think since I plan on running my stock LS1 until all supporting mods are done. Either way it should be a super fun car on the street and everywhere else
Big stuff that was replaced:
-1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear
-Mainshaft
-Thegearbox.org Level 2 kit
-All new Tick hydraulics
-Monster stage 2 w/ 18lb flywheel
-MGW goodness
After the first drive it seems a little notchy, but I'm guessing that is due to the new MGW shifter. The clutch pedal feel is a billion times better, can't wait to start getting miles on everything.
This weekend: re-did the rats nest of wiring that was my headlights, my projectors didn't show up yet, but should have those on monday. Also picked up a black billet grille and blacked out the area behind it. I think the car is coming along nicely.
I also washed it and snapped some pictures outside, because well...it's not snowing in San Diego
Last edited by blackandgold; 03-29-2015 at 11:34 AM.
Looks good. It will be nice seeing an f body killing it at the "Q".
I assume you mean killing cones? I'll be out as soon as I get the suspension and maintenance stuff sorted. I sort of miss how my s2k just worked, the last event I was at was back in October I think. Tempted to take the Camaro out with its 140k worn out decarbons to see what happens
I assume you mean killing cones? I'll be out as soon as I get the suspension and maintenance stuff sorted. I sort of miss how my s2k just worked, the last event I was at was back in October I think. Tempted to take the Camaro out with its 140k worn out decarbons to see what happens
Yup autocross is what I meant. I would hold off until you change those stock shocks, those things will hold you back a lot and will make people think that our cars really do suck at handling turns.
Yup autocross is what I meant. I would hold off until you change those stock shocks, those things will hold you back a lot and will make people think that our cars really do suck at handling turns.
Turns? I thought we were supposed to knock over as many cones as we can
Sarcasm aside, I agree with you, it feels sloppy on the street as is, I'd like to ditch the school bus steering wheel as well. When I bought the car in October I figured it would be a year or so before it sees the stadium's parking lot. I still work Sundays so no champ events for me anyways, but not much beats hooning around for a few laps on a Saturday afternoon.
when do you plan on doing the MWC Watts?
in for results of how it holds up to some hard turns
Sooner rather than later I hope. I ordered back in February and it is supposed to ship out at the end of this week. Hopefully have it installed around the 20th of the month. Then 500 miles of break-in haha. I expect that it will hold up just fine, they use pretty high quality bearings and rod ends. Not to mention that their welds are already proven to be really good (some very powerful cars running these rears).
Are you planning on ordering a full rear or just the watts?
going with a s60 or their 9 not sure yet
i remember strano saying something on the lines of he would rather run a frays2 one cuz it looks stronger. he wasnt bashing MWC just stating observations
i was thinking about running one of MWCs for the weight but wasnt sure how it would hold up in turns since MWC makes straight line cars.
i figured its strong enough but wasnt sure
going with a s60 or their 9 not sure yet
i remember strano saying something on the lines of he would rather run a frays2 one cuz it looks stronger. he wasnt bashing MWC just stating observations
i was thinking about running one of MWCs for the weight but wasnt sure how it would hold up in turns since MWC makes straight line cars.
i figured its strong enough but wasnt sure
I'm not sure a fays2 will fit on an s60, not to mention the extra 60lbs of unsprung weight... I like that MWC's integrates into the housing, so no axle tube clamps. I'm definitely going to have a full suspension review once I get it all sorted out this year. But give MWC call I know they do have some road race cars out there in the wild.
03-01-2015, 01:14 PM
BlackandGold's project RECALLD Bought not Built 
