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'01 Z28 donor - LS1 RWD HHR Panel

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Old 03-07-2016, 01:09 AM
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Hey theodore here from missouri, my wife is gonna upgrade vehicles soon, she has one and I also want to do a swap....
Did you have to cut the rear end down to fit? Or was the width difference small enough to work the wheel spacing to fit???
Did you go 4 link or ladder bars?
Old 03-22-2016, 11:34 PM
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Originally Posted by ozarkoutlaw777
Did you have to cut the rear end down to fit? Or was the width difference small enough to work the wheel spacing to fit???
Did you go 4 link or ladder bars?
The Camaro rear axle was narrowed 12". Moser axles were custom made. I'm using a modified ladder bar setup and Airlift bags in the rear, air struts in the front.
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Last edited by lasater; 03-25-2017 at 08:31 PM.
Old 04-26-2016, 05:48 PM
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Default Dragg'in It Around Town

I don't know about you guys, but I can't build this entire car by myself. I'm bringing it home from my buddies' shop after he built the exhaust system for it. I dropped the pipes off for ceramic coating this morning. Should take a week or so.

Some guy came up to me at the gas station and looked up under the car and saw the rear axle and asked "Is this what I think it is?"
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Last edited by lasater; 03-24-2017 at 07:39 PM.
Old 04-26-2016, 06:46 PM
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Default Fiberglass Rockers Ready for Paint

I'm turning the exhaust tips out just before the rear tires so I needed to make taller rockers to have the tips penetrate. I took the stock plastic rockers and glued hunks of poly foam to them to make the shape I needed. Once this was done I put a layer of fiberglass over it so it had a little bit of strength.


After a ton of bondo, they were somewhat straight. Then a 2-part fiberglass mold was pulled from the bucks and new rockers were made.

And here they are mounted on the car prior to cutting the exhaust tip holes and painting


Last edited by lasater; 04-26-2016 at 07:02 PM.
Old 04-27-2016, 05:15 PM
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Looks great with the rockers.
Old 04-27-2016, 06:29 PM
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this is sweet i cant wait to see more of it .
Old 06-01-2016, 02:36 PM
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You have any pics of the front suspension and steering mods? Nice work and great build.
Old 08-08-2016, 09:06 PM
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Default Front suspension / Steering

Originally Posted by ctsdeuce
You have any pics of the front suspension and steering mods? Nice work and great build.

Sorry for the late reply, I haven't been back to check my post in quite a while. The front suspension idea was originally done by Unique and YearOne for the 2006 SEMA build. I modified the HHR engine cradle exactly like YearOne did theirs, using an '01 Camaro steering rack and the stock Ls1 pump. This pump also feeds the HydroBoost brakes. The HHR has electric assist steering so the motor and drive gear were cut off. I adapted the Camaro steering linkage to the HHR linkage and fabricated 2 linkage supports to allow the steering shaft to clear the engine and headers. The tie rods are Camaro, turned upside down and adapted to the swapped left-for-right and right-for-left HHR spindles. I'm using AirLift air struts and I adapted Corvette C5 calipers to C4 rotors.


Camaro ball joint with press-in adapter to reverse 7 degree taper.




Steering shaft support that bolts to the left motor mount bracket.


Camaro tie rods mounted upside down to allow for lower front end



Under view of cradle assembly with steering complete.


Powder coated and ready to install.




Corvette C5 brakes


This is where I cut the HHR steering motor off the colum

Last edited by lasater; 08-09-2016 at 11:57 AM.
Old 02-12-2017, 11:14 PM
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Any updates on this lasater?
Old 03-05-2017, 11:19 PM
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Originally Posted by loweredd
Any updates on this lasater?
Lots going on with the HHR Ls build. I got nervous about the Camaro rear axle so I had a Currie 9" built for it. While I was doing the axle I also had a custom aluminum fuel tank built for the car. This tank gives be an extra 2" clearance between it and the axle.
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Last edited by lasater; 03-24-2017 at 09:03 PM.
Old 03-24-2017, 06:16 PM
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Default Nitrous Added

Last week the Nitrous Express kit came in. I got the hardline kit with a 15lb bottle. I'm going to start out with the small 75 hp nozzles at first just to test the system out.
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Fortunately the HHR panel has a perfect location just behind the seats to mount the bottle.
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Last edited by lasater; 03-24-2017 at 06:27 PM.
Old 08-21-2018, 08:59 PM
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Added a blower to the build. Almost done!!!
Old 08-21-2018, 09:41 PM
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Well, I'd say that's the one thing this build was missing!
Old 11-11-2018, 10:25 PM
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Default Coming Together

I’ve reached the point where i have to take the car to different places for the final items to get it to run.

​​​​​
Old 11-13-2018, 08:27 AM
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That is so cool. Please keep us updated!
Old 12-02-2018, 09:01 PM
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Things are coming together. The nitrous system is completely plumbed. The 4” cold air intake system was quite a challenge. Stainless brake lines needed to be moved and the supply line from the blower circulation pump was re-routed. A section of the lower front chassis had to be notched. I’m using a Spectre MAF adapter with an Ls3 blade style MAF. I’m also using a honeycomb airflow straightener. I mounted the MAF at the end of a 12” straight section of 4” tubing. To get fresh air into the K&N filter I’m turning the fake plastic intakes that hold fog lights into functional plastic grills. One side will be cold air intake and the other will be for a trans cooler. It takes a ton of work to cut the center out of a fake grill and turn it into a working grill. I still have tons to do finishing these grills, bondo, sanding, more bondo, more sanding.

Last edited by lasater; 12-02-2018 at 09:07 PM.
Old 12-10-2018, 07:32 PM
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Old 12-10-2018, 07:34 PM
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This is a true “cold air” system. I hope it works.
Old 12-11-2018, 08:34 AM
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Definitely can't wait to see this thing running and driving!
Old 12-12-2018, 07:32 AM
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The quality of this build is impressive, I think this is also the first HHR I actually like.


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