K9Kev

iTrader: (28)

Hello all. Just wanted to introduce myself and say hello to everyone on the board. I LOVE this place. I've never seen a more active and knowledgable bunch of folks ever!! My name is Kevin O. and I am a police officer in the DFW metroplex. Our department recently (3 weeks ago) obtained a very low mile 1998 Z28 and is putting it into service as a police K9 unit. I'm extremely lucky...our Chief is a hardcore drag racer himself and has gotten totally pumped up about H/P mods to our unit. He's authorized me to do "whatever" mods I wish to the car. We have 59 sq. miles of city with the majority being interstate and other highways. Our Crown Sic's were getting stompped on the roads so we got this Z car as a test. I'm allowed to do the mods but...big but...I have to pay for them myself. I have been lucky in that the administration of the city has approved the unit to be used as a test/demo car as well. That means that we can test and put our PD stamp of approval on aftermarket parts. Lord knows, if a high Perf. companies parts can live in a police unit...they will definately perform in a customer car. We got the car approx. 3 weeks ago and so far, we've a couple of awesome companies donate their wares to the project. To date: Wolfe weld in roll bar; Wolfe weld in SFC's; Dynomouth 3 1/2 by Kinney's (WICKED sounding) Granatelli air box lid and LS1 edits by AMS. Major thanks to the folks at SLP as they have donated a bunch of goodies; SS wheels, STB, and more. There is such a mass of feedback and amount of mods that can be done to these cars that it's staggering. I was directed to LS1 tech for reference and feedback about the car and have found it to be amazing. I must read this board at least 5 times a day. Anyone who has suggestions on how we can rocketize this car...please drop me a line. I would really appreciate your input. Hope to talk to ya'll....
K9Kev & partner P.S.D. Brando

JTM

You have definately started off in the right direction as far as mods, just how far do you want to go with them is the ? With the mods you have now, I don't think anyone will be able to outrun you in a pursuit. Congrats.

TWS

iTrader: (63)

Kevin,

welcome to the board! I personally know of several police officers who take an interest in building fast cars. Always tested in a safe and legal environment, of course.

This is a great forum for exchanging knowledge and I don't know of a single board that could be better for you on your particular project.
Now, giving you advice on how to make your PD vehicle faster could be viewed as "aiding and abetting the enemy" but I know how fun it is to do a mod or two and then take it to the track or dyno to see the result. Have fun and enjoy your lucky position of having a "free" Camaro to tinker with.

K9Kev

iTrader: (28)

JTM,
Seriously interested in a cam swap as we regularily run up into the 140 MPH range and high RPM's while working. Also, were really interested in slowing the car down after those charges....so, getting some rotors that are not going to warp and self destruct on a regular basis is a prime concern. This car's gonna be driven 8 hours a day so durability is a major concern. Heck, I figure I was crazy enough to find a way to stuff a 80 lbs. police dog in a caged Z28...there has got to be aftermarket manufacturers that have stuff that can make this car run and last. Let me know if you have ideas.
Kev

K9Kev

iTrader: (28)

TWS...I ain't the enemy...lol Check my post on the TX members board on advice for folks. I'm more likely the copper that will be asking guys, "Dang man, what you have done to this little ride?' 'I'm looking for more mods myself'

Sheomet

Get some longtube headers, and since it is a 98 get the LS6 intake. Might also want to consider a lowering kit to make it handle better. Maybe some nitrous to catch up quickly to the big boys?

PendragonZ

Welcome to the board! Always glad to welcome new
people. You're right, this board is THE place to
go to learn what you can do with your ride.

If you wanna see what your mods will look like, take
a trip of to the MultiMedia section, I'll give you
a photo"chop" of anything you need.

do0dfromcali

Dood I envy you K9kev.

Thats what i want when I become a police officer, a fbody and a k9 to go inside of it

But I still want to be a k-9 officer no matter what. Any advice on how I should go about it, or is it just luck of the draw. I still have 2 years in college

02PHOENIX

Welcome to the board! Just joined a few days ago myself! You're in the right forum for tech info! You're lucky for the car, but paying for your own mod's .....Are they gonna let you have first pick when it's up for retirement?? I like your sig, but "Fast as Fast can be....You'll NEVER catch me!" :p

skytower31

iTrader: (4)

Don't know if you guys would know about this or not, but I was running with the NBM Z28 one day and he had a "Police Interceptor" (sp?) on the back. Now I know that there are many Z28 police cars out in Denver, but this was in Los Angeles and he had no lights and no other police badging...just the interceptor on the back. Did he jack it from a police car or what?

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

Kev,

For your useage, I'd like to suggest a "reworking" of the suspension (I'd hate to see you get in "trouble" in a nasty corner along the way). For a reasonable price, you can do an Eibach Pro kit and some Bilstien HD shocks. If you don't want to lower the vehicle, I'd just do the shocks. The change in the handling dynamics of the vehicle will be quite noticeable. However, since handling and control are of paramount importance in your line of work, I'd stay far away from the lower control arms that use poly bushings. Either use 1LE control arms or heim joint style and a matching panhard rod. As a matter of fact, I'd do a panhard rod and strut tower brace next (then subframe connectors if needed, but with a cage, it may not be a big deal). As for brakes, look to LG motorsports for a conversion kit for the front brakes to use the Corvette 13" rotors. As for rotors, I'm abusing the brembo OEM (stock replacement, not drilled or slotted) rotors with race pads (www.carbotecheng.com, talk to larry and tell him what you do....he'll help you get what you need). the pads will make a huge improvement.

If I can help out, drop me a pm.

Thanks,

Kevin

BYOFICR

dude, if I saw a cop purging waiting for someone to fly by, i would **** myself

DIALBOZ28

i can vouch for law enforcement loving cars because i too am a deputy jailer for richmound co. georgia where i live and am in the process of payin of my gand prix and buying a ls1 z28 a4 about a 99 if i cal in the next 4 to 5 months.

01Z0H6

iTrader: (63)

1st of all welcome to the board. 2ndly, A4 or M6?
If it is an A4 you will definately want a Tq. Conv. By far one of the best mod's you can do to an A4. Which gears do you have? 273's would be good for your high speed pursuit's. However, if you want the low end go with the 373's.
Guess with the M6 you could go with the cag's & short throw shifter & a bullet proof clutch.
Anyway, good luck with your project & stay safe.
BTW, what part of dallas are you in "mostly"?
Hmmm, K9. i would guess South Dallas & along the State/Interstate hwys.......

K9Kev

iTrader: (28)

WoW...this is great...so many folks with great info. Let's see here. First: I'm concerned about the long tubes due to ground clearance issues, cause I'm gonna have to be median diving occasionally (not that I wanna drive my pretty new car in the weeds, but may have to be done.) I have had a local guy tell me the Mac shorties are the way to go(Opinions please**) Same goes for any kind of lowering. Wolfe has some pretty trick parts as far as LCA's and pan bars, and SLP sent us a STB as part of their goodie pakg. (those guys are the bomb!) As for the Torque C. I have been told that it's not likely gonna be a plan for cruising the interstate at 65 mph (again...your feedback would be apprec.) Ok...next..as for the police interceptor emblem, you can buy those from any ford (yuk!) dealer or on eBay for 10.00 Personally, I ain't puttin 1 on my cool lookin Z (persoanl opinion..It's a Chevy and I love it...don't want nothing to do with any darn ford again) And last, I work on IH35 North of Ft.Worth....look for me...I'll be the guy in the Black Z with the twinky lights and the BIG SMILE ...lol

NightHawk

iTrader: (1)

Damn, Kev, you are one lucky SOB!! I work at the fleet service yard at my county Sheriff's office installing/maintaing all the radio equipment, electronics, lights, etc. They wouldn't even let me mod the PCV systems on our B4C Camaros to help with their oil consumption problems And you get free reign over any mods to the car so cool!

And a Camaro K-9 car! That's awesome! The only thing we have as K-9 other than Tahoes is a new intrepid. How the hell do you fit a kennel in a Camaro?

onebadz

Hey K9Kev the Tq converter will not do anything to your daily driving after it locks up, at 65 mph you would see the same RPMs as when you had the stock verter. You can see up to .6 of a second with a verter. Also I would love to see a cop purging I would totally ****.

SooperSix

Well, sounds like the horse power is on its way to the top. Personally if i still had my 00' WS6 one of the first things i would do would be to get some better brakes. Mine started shaking after the first brake from 100mph. I really had to be careful after that because they didnt want to stop, way to hot...felt like they were red hot and worping as i pushed the brakes; NOT good. If i was you id give a couple of the supercharger companies(may work for other things as well, just an idea)a call and see if they wouldnt cut you a deal (or maybe even donate a supercharger). That would help them in advertising in a way....i can hear it now..."hey man did you hear about that police Z28 with the SUPERCHARGER on it....no ****."
By the way my dad was in SC Highway Patrol; part of the ACE team... Mark H. Coates
anyway just what i would do...The dog would love it.

SooperSix

I didt have a supercharger but my nieghbor has one on his 95' Mustang GT 5.0 and it didnt really affect his gas mileage under normal driving conditions, unless he moved into higher RPMs. But he didnt increase his injector size or fuel pump. Dont know if you were worried about gas mileage or not.

4thGENRETARD

I thought high speed chases were out of fashion?
Something about public safety?/
And you of course are going to keep it all within the parameters of the law right None of that illegal modding!!
You got to practice what you preach to gain and keep any respect.
Welcome to the board.