When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Not on the motor, it's heavy and it revs faster without it. Yes I get a lot of **** for that, but for a while this motor was just a track beater, and I didn't care. Now I'm going to put it back on since it sees street time, and the new motor will have one, but I haven't run anything but the under drive pulley for 12,000 miles.
I feel your pain! I put 250 miles on my car since buying it a few years ago. Got a new job in August, and she is suddenly my new DD.
Needless to say, she's not fond of being a DD. I'll be chasing down noises and leaks for the rest of the year at this rate. I've got a great ticking noise that comes and goes. Was thinking spark plug wire arcing, but running in a pitch black garage, I don't see anything. Hoping to get her on a lift soon and check the manifold for backing out or broken studs. Also have a really loud groan/whine at cold start that goes away pretty quickly. Possibly A/C compressor or air pump?
I feel your pain! I put 250 miles on my car since buying it a few years ago. Got a new job in August, and she is suddenly my new DD.
Needless to say, she's not fond of being a DD. I'll be chasing down noises and leaks for the rest of the year at this rate. I've got a great ticking noise that comes and goes. Was thinking spark plug wire arcing, but running in a pitch black garage, I don't see anything. Hoping to get her on a lift soon and check the manifold for backing out or broken studs. Also have a really loud groan/whine at cold start that goes away pretty quickly. Possibly A/C compressor or air pump?
Oh the joys of LT1 ownership!
My vote would be the AC compressor. The AC worked in my car when I first bought it.. Maybe the first 60ish miles.. And everytime I started no matter if it was hot or cold outside there was the whining... The belt got ate up some and come to find out the compressor was locking up.
Did a little oil leak investigation last night and it looks like my oil dipstick tube is what is the last big leak. When I swapped motors I bent the crap out of it and fucked with it so much it slides SO easily into place now, I might have even sanded it down a bit to fit it but it's so loose. Now with no hvac I can access and see it and remove it very quickly, but that means it has zero seal anymore. It's seen so little street time since I removed the hvac 5 years ago that I never went back and looked at the tube. Also had lost the 1/2-20 bolt that holds it so I had it zip tied to my breather so it didn't move around. Going to get a new bolt from the hardware store and put a dab of black rtv on it and hopefully I'll be leak free.
I know having hvac is a nice creature comfort, but my car is SO easy to work on now without it.
Sweet man, in in the process of beginning to take interest in my car again as well. You and I aren't incredibly far from one another, maybe we should meet up sometime. I'm in the Shenandoah valley, lil town called Elkton.
Its been 7 years since the car was driven more than 2 days in a row, and only put 1400 miles on it in the past 6. Been 2 years since it saw a track, and all it did last year was drive 60 miles to the new house then got buried under boxes in the garage. Started a new job last week that doesn't provide a company car, and my wife got tired of sharing fast. The 8 year old battery finally quit, but I threw in a new battery, inflated the tires, and it fired right up. Cleaned a couple mouse nests out of it, washed it, changed a couple bulbs, registered it, and drove it to work today.
Cleaned and in the driveway
Gages look good, gotta figure out how to get rid of the airbag light and abs light for inspection
Made it to work
This is the first time Ive driven it on backroads with the new suspension setup and it handles great. The BMR/bilstein combo and 32mm/22mm sway bars keep it glued on the 295/35/18s all around. The spohn non adjustable poly ended LCAs dont like to flex so I need to get ones with rod ends on one side, and the spohn short style torque arm I dont like on the street, I wish I hadnt gotten rid of the BMR long style and relocation mount. The wipers are rotted, I cant go over any speed bumps, only 2 out of the 3 speakers are working (4th wasnt installed), leaks oil from the timing cover, clutch chatters still after I smoked it driving home from the track with 10psi fuel pressure at 6000rpm, it runs a little rough at low rpms I think due to the old gas, and my neighbors are going to hate me starting it up at 5:30 every morning since the magnaflow 18" bullet hanging off the Y pipe is a touch loud.
But there is just a feeling that many people dont understand, the smile, the tingle, the heart racing that you feel as you sit down in the seat and turn the key and it comes to life. Feels so much better than being trapped for 40,000 miles a year in a 1.6 liter turbo escape, 5 cylinder colorado or astro van for the past 6 years. It will get split DD duty with the Vulcan 1600 for a couple weeks until I can get a few paychecks and buy a truck.
The oil leak and clutch will get taken care of when I install the new heads/cam motor in the garage, might put a real catback on it if it continues to see DD duty.
You BRILLIANT BASTARD! My God you're devious... and I LOVE IT!
You stepped up and got a commuter JOB:
TO REBUILDTHE Z!
And the discipline you demonstrated... in initially 'letting' the old lady 'give you a ride to work'... until SHE MADE YOU UNPACK THE GARAGE AND RELEASE THE KRACKEN!
I sold the Malibu yesterday, $1000 isnt bad for what POS it was. Its too cold for the bike and that means the Z got DD duty again. I semi fixed the oil leak from the dipstick tube with an O ring and a cross threaded bolt in the head to hold the dipstick in place, but today I took it to work again.
Sure enough, I get on 15 north, and 5 cars in front of me are doing 40 in a 55mph. Dropped it to 2nd, spun a little as I hammered down, and passed all 5 cars in a blink. Thats something that you cant put a price on. Need to find another DD for winter, and then the new motor is getting put together to be ready for spring.
Never too cold. Get heated gloves at the least. Has 15 been widened yet? I used to take that way home all the time, but REALLY got sick of the idiot a few cars in front always doing 10 less than the speed limit. You want some corners you can take the 15 exit, go on 55 until Blantyre. Good scenery and a nice curvy road to decompress.
Dropped it to 2nd, spun a little as I hammered down, and passed all 5 cars in a blink. Thats something that you cant put a price on. Need to find another DD for winter, and then the new motor is getting put together to be ready for spring.
I love passing cars on the highway like that... Rustle there feathers a bit with that Magnaflow whine I see your in VA, I was on clist yesterday, there's a 98 2 dr civic on there located in ariat VA. It's in really nice shape for 1300$ don't know if you'd be interested in it though. Looks solid for a daily, I'll see if I can find it and give you the link for it.
I sold the Malibu yesterday, $1000 isnt bad for what POS it was. Its too cold for the bike and that means the Z got DD duty again. I semi fixed the oil leak from the dipstick tube with an O ring and a cross threaded bolt in the head to hold the dipstick in place, but today I took it to work again.
Sure enough, I get on 15 north, and 5 cars in front of me are doing 40 in a 55mph. Dropped it to 2nd, spun a little as I hammered down, and passed all 5 cars in a blink. Thats something that you cant put a price on. Need to find another DD for winter, and then the new motor is getting put together to be ready for spring.
I love passing cars on the highway like that... Rustle there feathers a bit with that Magnaflow whine I see your in VA, I was on clist yesterday, there's a 98 2 dr civic on there located in ariat VA. It's in really nice shape for 1300$ don't know if you'd be interested in it though. Looks solid for a daily, I'll see if I can find it and give you the link for it.
Driving the Malibu was killing my soul, I can't do slow cars anymore that I have to be concerned about keeping alive. The good thing about having the escape, Colorado and Astro company cars was that, being company cars, I could beat the **** out of them and not my car! Speed bump? What speed bump? Speed HUMP? Let's see how much air I can get. Lined up next to a viper at a light? Give him the death stare with my "side of the road special" ladies sunglasses, rev it to the moon, traction control off, burnout light to light. Coworker in front of me? Bumper cars. You don't want to let me merge on the beltway? Hit me bitch, not my car. Dirt road short cut? Rally race time. I'm looking for another gmt400 Tahoe or silverado, I have flipped a few for ~$1500 profits and looking to do it again. Tons for sale for $1000-1500 that I'll pick up this week, bulletproof and fun to drive, and we need another big truck because my wife's cute ute isn't cutting it for road trips with a baby and a dog. Also if I get a truck, I can keep the argument that putting money into the Camaro SAVES us money because it's better on gas than the truck.
I love the WOT tone of my 18" magnaflow bullet. I hated the sound the tips on the magnaflow catback made, false sound. The bullet almost sounds like a corsa up top. It's blowing smoke though I noticed, not from the exhaust, I think from leaks at high rpms. It looks like when I had my valve over bolts not even finger tight at Cecil, and my valve cover gaskets are torn to shreds so I think that's the culprit again, on the to do list. You can hear my 4th gear miss.
I replaced the valve cover gaskets since 1 was completely torn and put RTV on the dipstick tube and secured it to the head with a 1/4 - 20 bolt so stopped those 2 leaks. Cleaned the valve covers and heads as best I could and then looked at the motor the next day and see that my grommet in the passenger valve cover that is the CCV fresh air intake is leaking, there is a little puddle of oil in the ridges of the valve cover and you can see the path of the leak down the head, over/under the header flange, down the block, onto the starter and bellhousing, and then onto the driveway. Going to grab a new grommet and order a new CCV tube to the TB and get rid of the breather. I had only put the breather on there temporarily 3 years ago when my old CCV tube was torn, and now Ill finally replace it and hopefully thats the last leak.
I had taken only 1 quick look at the oil level when I was doing this stuff, and didnt double dip the dipstick for a better reading, and sure enough, low oil light comes on 2 days later and I was 2 quarts low
Driving the Malibu was killing my soul, I can't do slow cars anymore that I have to be concerned about keeping alive. The good thing about having the escape, Colorado and Astro company cars was that, being company cars, I could beat the **** out of them and not my car! Speed bump? What speed bump? Speed HUMP? Let's see how much air I can get. Lined up next to a viper at a light? Give him the death stare with my "side of the road special" ladies sunglasses, rev it to the moon, traction control off, burnout light to light. Coworker in front of me? Bumper cars. You don't want to let me merge on the beltway? Hit me bitch, not my car. Dirt road short cut? Rally race time. I'm looking for another gmt400 Tahoe or silverado, I have flipped a few for ~$1500 profits and looking to do it again. Tons for sale for $1000-1500 that I'll pick up this week, bulletproof and fun to drive, and we need another big truck because my wife's cute ute isn't cutting it for road trips with a baby and a dog. Also if I get a truck, I can keep the argument that putting money into the Camaro SAVES us money because it's better on gas than the truck.
I love the WOT tone of my 18" magnaflow bullet. I hated the sound the tips on the magnaflow catback made, false sound. The bullet almost sounds like a corsa up top. It's blowing smoke though I noticed, not from the exhaust, I think from leaks at high rpms. It looks like when I had my valve over bolts not even finger tight at Cecil, and my valve cover gaskets are torn to shreds so I think that's the culprit again, on the to do list. You can hear my 4th gear miss. LTX shootout cars cecil county dragway nov 17,2012 - YouTube
Lucky you, my company car is MY car!! Lol... Couldn't agree with you more on the tips, I cut mine off, took some mandrel bent 90* bends got the angles right and tig welded them on... I don't even run tips. Don't like the look of a 4th gen with tips... I only had them when I first bought the car, I cut the stock muffler off, welded a 3" glass pack on, put a elbow bend on ran ONE chrome tip out the back, and it actually sounded really good! But nothing compared to it being built/cammed now
I replaced the valve cover gaskets since 1 was completely torn and put RTV on the dipstick tube and secured it to the head with a 1/4 - 20 bolt so stopped those 2 leaks. Cleaned the valve covers and heads as best I could and then looked at the motor the next day and see that my grommet in the passenger valve cover that is the CCV fresh air intake is leaking, there is a little puddle of oil in the ridges of the valve cover and you can see the path of the leak down the head, over/under the header flange, down the block, onto the starter and bellhousing, and then onto the driveway. Going to grab a new grommet and order a new CCV tube to the TB and get rid of the breather. I had only put the breather on there temporarily 3 years ago when my old CCV tube was torn, and now Ill finally replace it and hopefully thats the last leak.
I had taken only 1 quick look at the oil level when I was doing this stuff, and didnt double dip the dipstick for a better reading, and sure enough, low oil light comes on 2 days later and I was 2 quarts low
Those grommets are a biiiitch. Good to hear your knocking the leaks out one by one.
I installed the new valve cover grommet and the old one was super brittle and loose and hard. The new one fit tight and is soft for a good seal and holds the breather very tight, hopefully eliminating that oil leak. I still need to find the thing that goes in it for the ccv 90 degree fitting that I can put a hose back to the TB and get rid of the breather. The grommet was $2 on rockauto.
Also installed my 2000 Cummins oil drain plugs in my air fittings on my headers, the crimped and soldered tubes were leaking so that should fix that exhaust leak. Advance wanted $12 a plug and rock auto had them for $4. Still need to put the 3" band clamps on the header to Y pipe to fix that last rattle and swap the 23mm rear bar for the stock 19mm bar to get rid of the massive oversteer.
Luckily I bought a 2000 suburban LT for $1800 2 Friday's ago as on Saturday the Camaro rear tire was flat and has a puncture. I had gotten stuck in traffic and ******* Apple maps took me down this dirt road rally car style and I must have hit something.
The burb has its own issues but $1800 I couldn't pass it up. Fully loaded, 240k miles and some electrical issues that spooked the PO is why I got it cheap. Fixed a few ground issues but I still am troubleshooting something causing the ABS and BRAKE lights and a low oil level light that come sporadically. That and a bank 2 knock sensor low input and bank 2 catalyst code which I think are related to the bad knock sensor. The battery drained completely this weekend after 5 minutes of key on engine off while I was replacing a speaker, so I think something from the radio is straight shorting to ground causing all the problems.
Last edited by bufmatmuslepants; 11-10-2015 at 06:02 AM.
I sold the burb for $2000, bought a caddy deville for $200 and a bottle of scotch, enjoyed the novelty of floating for 2 months then that got old so I sold that for $1600. Then bought a 99 Cummins for $8000, drove that for 2 weeks, wife hated it, sold that for $11,000, bought granite for the kitchen with the profit. Then bought an 05 Tahoe for $6000, wife loved it and took it and stuck me with her 06 Tucson. Got bored with that randomly and sold it for $3000 without replacing it first, and now I'm back DDing the camaro. I tried riding the bike but froze my ***** off, so I put the stock good back on (new carbon fiber hood won't clear the LS1 lid) and she's good to go.
I finished the CCV a while back with a new hose from eBay for $30 and that fixed the low rpm studder. The band clamps on the exhaust fixed the exhaust leak but something still clanks when I hit big bumps, but there are no witness marks so I don't know where or what is hitting, could be the spohn torque arm. I had sold the C5 wheels for $275, bought C6 wheels for $200, popped one, sold them with 1 flat for $325, then bought OZ racing Monte Carlo wheels with 2004 perfect tread but kinda dry rotted Goodyear DS3 tires for $300. That and swapping in the stock rear sway bar instead of the 23mm bar put the car on rails like it's never been. Still dealing with some leaks, but it's got my appetite for making her a good DD back in gear. Biggest annoyance is the warped flywheel chatters badly from stops where I have to feather the clutch. And I think it's the front of the intake that is my last oil leak, but I keep a couple spare quarts of oil in the car and enjoy my oil purfume when I get to work.
This winters projects at a minimum:
Resurface flywheel
Replace intake gasket
Put on a real catback or something quieter
Some new intake to clear my craigslist score carbon fiber hood
New tires
New headlights, probably the ones from a gmt400 truck, and rewire the EWP from being on the fog light power so it doesn't shut off my EWP when I turn on the high beams
If time permits:
Finally put on the heads and cam that have been in my garage for 4 years
Ls1 front brakes
Pull the wiring harness and get rid of all the airbag and emissions wires that just hang everywhere
Last edited by bufmatmuslepants; 11-03-2016 at 06:12 AM.
09-25-2015 | 06:53 AM
I see your in VA, I was on clist yesterday, there's a 98 2 dr civic on there located in ariat VA. It's in really nice shape for 1300$ don't know if you'd be interested in it though. Looks solid for a daily, I'll see if I can find it and give you the link for it. 
