Camaro SS budget “dragcar” build
11-04-2017, 07:28 PM
#1
Figured I’d start up a build thread , the car is a 2000 Camaro SS I bought on Craigslist in Indiana for $4500 was bone stock down to the factory intake ,plug wires ,exhaust everything. The trans had supposedly been “rebuilt” with a stall and shift kit ,well it went out maybe 2,000 miles after owning the car . The car had 150,000 miles when I bought it . The plan is to keep the car looking good on the outside with as much weight reduction as possible while keeping heat and radio and achieving the fastest 1/4 mile times I can on a budget !
The car when I bought it
Removed blown trans which had a everdrive sticker on top
Bought a used rebuilt trans with shift kit ,vig 2800(i was told it was re stalled to 3600) stall from a dude in Michigan for $500 bucks (I believe is a member)
Did valve cover gaskets and deleted all air/egr while i was at it, did free mods (tb bypass,cut air box) put on a slp lid,85mm tb,smooth bellow and a Zex wet nitrous kit I had laying around on (haven’t sprayed it yet) and cleaned up the engine bay a little bit
My pcv was all dryrotted and didn’t fell like spending $100+ on a gm one ... so homemade
Bought a set of oem c5 wheels and put some tires on them (17x8.5 with 275/40/17 and 18x9.5 with 295/35/18 bfgs and some 1.5 in. Wheel spacers )for street and 16x8 rears with Toyo drag radials for track/Mexico painted them ,did Berger panel , bought some eBay black corner/bumper lights which are complete trash and some SS emblems
Hit the track and ran a depressing 13.4
Cleaned up threw some Eibach prokit springs in the rear and some 5% tint and hit a few car shows and meets and that was about it for the year
The car when I bought it
Removed blown trans which had a everdrive sticker on top
Bought a used rebuilt trans with shift kit ,vig 2800(i was told it was re stalled to 3600) stall from a dude in Michigan for $500 bucks (I believe is a member)
Did valve cover gaskets and deleted all air/egr while i was at it, did free mods (tb bypass,cut air box) put on a slp lid,85mm tb,smooth bellow and a Zex wet nitrous kit I had laying around on (haven’t sprayed it yet) and cleaned up the engine bay a little bit
My pcv was all dryrotted and didn’t fell like spending $100+ on a gm one ... so homemade
Bought a set of oem c5 wheels and put some tires on them (17x8.5 with 275/40/17 and 18x9.5 with 295/35/18 bfgs and some 1.5 in. Wheel spacers )for street and 16x8 rears with Toyo drag radials for track/Mexico painted them ,did Berger panel , bought some eBay black corner/bumper lights which are complete trash and some SS emblems
Hit the track and ran a depressing 13.4
Cleaned up threw some Eibach prokit springs in the rear and some 5% tint and hit a few car shows and meets and that was about it for the year
Last edited by Kcutty85; 06-19-2019 at 05:19 PM.
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Dragonsys (03-11-2020)
11-05-2017, 11:16 AM
#2
Phase two Started weight reduction
Complete ac delete ..a good 40-50lbs
Also removed everything behind the front bumper ..bumper support,foam,plastics,washer reservoir etc.. and threw on a Hayden trans cooler
Got some new plug wires .. these are my favorite so far work with oem and longtubes .. way better than oem or msd imo
Grabbed a new tensioner just a autozone special.. a lot more room in the engine bay with all that deleted
Grabbed up a used set of TSP 1 7/8 longtubes,eBay ypipe,vette o2s,oem gaskets,band clamps ... also got a new oreillys rack and pinion
Installed , these are really nice headers , I had none of the problems I’ve read about with these , cleared kmember , look good ,fit nice and don’t sit super low under the car
Bought a used K&n intake for $50 , didn’t like it seemed noticeably slower compared to the lid setup .. sold it
I needed a new radiator asap went to autozone picked up a
Spectra Premium radiator p/n CU1485 .. worked perfect nice radiator for under a $100 bucks
Bumper was already trashed so tried some “speed holes” didn’t turn out how I planned ..plan on ordering a new one soon
Complete ac delete ..a good 40-50lbs
Also removed everything behind the front bumper ..bumper support,foam,plastics,washer reservoir etc.. and threw on a Hayden trans cooler
Got some new plug wires .. these are my favorite so far work with oem and longtubes .. way better than oem or msd imo
Grabbed a new tensioner just a autozone special.. a lot more room in the engine bay with all that deleted
Grabbed up a used set of TSP 1 7/8 longtubes,eBay ypipe,vette o2s,oem gaskets,band clamps ... also got a new oreillys rack and pinion
Installed , these are really nice headers , I had none of the problems I’ve read about with these , cleared kmember , look good ,fit nice and don’t sit super low under the car
Bought a used K&n intake for $50 , didn’t like it seemed noticeably slower compared to the lid setup .. sold it
I needed a new radiator asap went to autozone picked up a
Spectra Premium radiator p/n CU1485 .. worked perfect nice radiator for under a $100 bucks
Bumper was already trashed so tried some “speed holes” didn’t turn out how I planned ..plan on ordering a new one soon
Last edited by Kcutty85; 11-05-2017 at 11:53 AM.
11-05-2017, 06:41 PM
#5
Tear down Removed LS1 Intake and sold for $150 to put towards a ls6 intake
Painted vht burnt copper
Replacing opsu,valley cover gasket and knock sensors
Some budget drag shocks under $100 bucks
Installed a ssra and scored some low mileage 243s with pac 650s installed for $250 .. won’t be going on anytime soon though
Painted vht burnt copper
Replacing opsu,valley cover gasket and knock sensors
Some budget drag shocks under $100 bucks
Installed a ssra and scored some low mileage 243s with pac 650s installed for $250 .. won’t be going on anytime soon though
Last edited by Kcutty85; 11-05-2017 at 07:00 PM.
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11-07-2017, 06:34 PM
#8
TECH Apprentice
Nice build and in for results. I too had the "just rebuilt the trans" thing from the previous owner and then blew it less than 2,000 miles. That 13.4 and mph was not unreasonable for your set up, if the converter is a 2800. Mine ran a little slower in Summer air with lid, catback and 2800 converter before weigh reduction. Yours should have run quicker with a 3600 converter, especially the 60'. Not a dig, just internet trouble shooting your converter. What does it flash to and how much do the rpms drop after a shift?
Did you have any tire spin?
Did you have any tire spin?
11-07-2017, 06:41 PM
#9
Yea the converter really threw me off bc from the get go he said it was a 2800 vig re stalled to a 3600 by a shop in Michigan , I ran the numbers on it and it came back the 2800 , also the converter is black .. all the vigs are purple .. so I’m not to sure lol .
. I wish I would have just went with a yank 4000 .
. I wish I would have just went with a yank 4000 .
Last edited by Kcutty85; 11-07-2017 at 06:50 PM.
11-11-2017, 12:01 PM
#13
Gutted interior Started the process on the inside ..
Removed all the dynamat with a hand torch and plastic scraper..what a pain , full bucket stuff weighs more than you’d think
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Removed all the dynamat with a hand torch and plastic scraper..what a pain , full bucket stuff weighs more than you’d think
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rob_mcarthur (04-09-2020)