here's mine, no 707 but she's got an LT4 head and a hot cam, long tubes, 58mm, and a nitrous kit

 

This design is aging very well given current automotive trends. To me 3rd gens look quite cool too. Once I figured out how rare hardtop SS models were, especially painted body color, I knew I wanted this car.

 

Well when changing the battery to get the car started and out of storage I noticed the battery tray was broken. After getting it home I realized the battery tray is part of the coolant system with an integrated overflow tank. I ordered a used one from Hawks and installed it. After filling and burping the cooling system, I went for a hard test drive, and the temperature stayed perfectly in the middle of the gauge or less. The AC works reasonably well and the car has some power too! I did 3 moderate accelerations and all the ponies are there to boot. I got a scare when I got back in the driveway and popped the hood and heard the hiss of fluid hitting the exhaust. A quick search reveals this is likely AC condensate and it was awfully clear (no green or coolant smell). I will remove the radiator cap tomorrow and see if the system stayed filled. If so I really lucked out on this one.
The car needs a new dash panel, because I hate the carpet cover and the dash panel is in at least a dozen pieces. I still need to figure out why the steering is mushy. I already ordered a new shifter from Hawks too since the factory one is really vague and sloppy.
I may get this car to an autocross or HPDE event this year yet, which would be awesome.

I also have a set of performance grey C6 Z06 18x9.5s in route. I need to get tires for them, but I will probably just put the stock 17s in the attic for now.

 

As far as the battery tray, get one of these:
https://yearone.com/Product/1982-02-Camaro/BHFBLK/view

They are phenomenal for keeping the weight of the battery secure and held fast.

 

I do like that solid battery strap.

Today I fixed my very cracked dash. It was almost humorous removing the 51 pieces I counted. The TX sun and Bilstein suspension destroyed this dash. After reading about various repairs on this forum, I quickly realized a factory replacement was the easy button. Thank goodness there are still a few on eBay from GM dealers.

Enjoy the photos! New wheels and tires will be on it soon. I'm also going to service all fluids soon too. Then I will start driving it regularly and figure out what it needs.



Hidden under carpet cover.

Carpet hides much of the damage

Half the removed pieces.

Other half of the removed pieces

Looks better than the dash pad that came with the car or carpet.

Oh lookie there!

Wow that is so much better!

 

I don't know if GM started manufacturing the dash pads again, but they seem to be available once again through online GM parts sites, and some of them even charge reasonable shipping. This may only apply for the graphite pads, or whatever color they are called. I'm pretty sure for a time they were not available. I bought one for my car several years ago just to have one.

Was it difficult to replace?

 

I've replaced mine. If you have an alarm LED, you need to be careful not to damage it's housing or the wires. The entire dash pad is held down with gm "ball" type latching pads ...I have no idea what the real name is for them....

My pad had started cracking and when taking the old one off, it shattered into several pieces once I popped loose the first ball pad. The sun had made it extremely brittle. The new one went on by just pressing it in place and listening for the ball pads to snap.

 

Honestly, it was super easy to replace. My car is a slick top, so removing my side pillar panels is a bit different than all the videos of the t-top cars online. Once you have the side pillars out, just pull up on the old panel. Mine was brittle and broke into many pieces. The new one is much more flexible (it was a new graphite colored one from GM), and it had all the velcro pads already installed in place and the clips. It is really a matter of making sure all of the old velcro pads are removed (a few of mine stuck in place and didn't come out with the old pad), and pushing in the clips. I did have an LED, but instead of cutting a new hole, I just left the LED below the new dash pad. It's not even really a pad but is in fact just a huge plastic panel with foam padding, velcro and the clips underneath. The new GM part comes with all the padding and everything installed underneath. It is a very simple remove and replace. If you can change engine oil, you will find this task even easier.

ACE1252, I got a Masters from ODU while serving in the Navy a long time ago....

 

Awesome.

I went through their "teletechnet" program just before online classes became a thing. Took me 6 years to get the last 2 years of my engineering degree working 40+hrs a week taking a couple classes a semester. I was grateful that they offered that program. May have never got a 4 year degree without it.

 

Well I figured out why my car is so dang hard to get into reverse. The reverse lockout solenoid is unplugged. I can't seem to find the plug either. If some can take photos under their car of the wiring routing and colors for the T56, I'd be very appreciative. I did drain the trans fluid and replace it with synchromesh. I'm also replacing the tired shifter. The new shifter from Hawks feels much better shifting from gear to gear. Someone has had the console and shifter boot out though at some point because there are some missing screws holding down the rubber boot and the console bolt holes have cracks, etc. I'm a total sucker for fixing things right so it won't go back until I locate two more similar if not the exact same screws for the shift boot and probably reinforce the cracked plastic with fiberglass and epoxy. I also need a new console storage latch and hinge, but I think all 4th gen F cars can say that. That will get fixed too. I know nothing will ever be factory new, but I don't like things done sorta halfway either. I'm going to drop the engine oil and service it too.

Someone PM'd me a source for a good non-damaged airbox. I contacted the seller and got photos of a super nice looking one. I paid half up front and half on shipment..... Now I'm just hoping a legit SS airbox arrives as advertised. If I get stiffed, it'll hurt, but man these airboxes are super hard to find anymore. All the ones I see are busted up pretty bad.

 

IIRC the reverse lockout solenoid and the skip shift eliminator plugs are exactly the same and can be plugged into either solenoid. If there is a plug which is on the skip shift solenoid, try plugging that in the reverse lockout and see what happens.

 

Well I have the car up and have spent some time under the car. I have swapped the shifter and 1-6 feels much smoother now. I also changed from ATF to Synchromesh which may help too. I did the bronze shifter bushing and the original was a bit worn out so that was some of the issue. I found the reverse lockout plug attached to the skip shift solenoid and a resistor inside the skip shift plug. I hate CAGS, so I put the resistor back and tapped it all back up with fresh electrical tape. I have been changing all fluids too. Someone cross threaded the oil drain plug (oh boy). It went back in right and tightened up okay but I will need to keep any eye on it. I probably need a new oil pan and plug. I need the right size oil filter socket so I'm about to go get that. I do have lowering springs (I think) and I do have a heavy duty front sway bar, bushings and new end links. The car is super clean underneath with no corrosion (except minor on exhaust) and very little dirt. This car was likely garaged much of it's life and will be in the future.

And I have an ad in wanted for a factory airbox. I'm going to try and repair this one in the meantime. I got two hits via PM on airboxes. One was not factory but was an RK and the seller was super cool. The 2nd one was a very nice 97 OEM one by photo. I think it's a scam and I'm out a bit. I made a great offer so the seller wanted Zelle which does not have the security of Paypal. I offered even more for Paypal..... nope just Zelle. So I said I will pay half now and half when it ships. I got a fake tracking number. I guess I won't be sending the 2nd half. I'm sure the meth or whatever was a pretty big need, so I hope the scammer enjoys.

 

Sucks about the intake. 10 years ago when I had mine you could still find them and other misc. parts like 2OTL, mats, and the very rare 96 shifter **** on a few times a year on ebay. My guess is now it would take someone years to collect these parts. I would advise watching Hawks but other than that finding a wrecked but not ratted out 96 SS is going to be dam near impossible in order to strip parts off of.

I know for a while a few guys were holding spares of this stuff but even that has seemed to dwindle. It is certainly a hard platform to work with if one is into the "collectibles" of a 96 SS and trying to restore it. Believe me I fought that battle 10 years ago and it certainty was like a treasure hunt.

If you are interested in the emblems and mats shot me a text at 8145584876 and I can get you some pics. At this point they are not doing me any good other than taking up garage space.

I was actually looking for a WS6 after selling my 06 GTO because I missed that "raw" feeling of a solid axle 4th gen. Prices were higher than I liked for them. That is when I found the 1LE package on the 5th gen. Night and day difference between a standard SS. I loved my 96 SS but my 1LE would eat it alive on the track.

 

@bandit Those new 1LEs are amazing cars.

So I’m very unhappy about the wheel situation with this car right now. I’m contemplating grinding wheels or swapping axles and doing bearings too since the car has 183k.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...l#post20355196



Vette front on 96 SS front

 

Wonder if there's someone nearby that could put the axle in a lathe and shave down the hubs.

 

I had the same thought.

I see three ways out.

1). Grind inside of the wheels. Probably okay but not ideal.

2). Get new axles or have an axle hub lathed to correct 70.3 mm diameter. I’m finding replacement axles but none list the hub diameter.

3). Run longer studs and a 5mm spacer or so which will probably work too.

I just serviced the trans fluid and oil. I did get a new rear cover gasket and was ready to service the rear. If I do axles and bearings, now would be the time.

 

Well messed with the car some more yesterday. I put a lighter spring in the reverse lockout solenoid. And while under the car I found the cause of the CEL. I have a vapor canister CEL and the vapor line next to the two fuel lines has dry rotted right where it connects to the hard pipe going back to the tank. I'll cut some fuel hose of the right diameter and clamp it with the smooth crimp clamps. I have a lot of them from working on VWs and Audis and they are superior to hose clamps and don't cut the hose. I'm curious how long these fuel lines will hold up. On Fords and Porsches the hard plastic lines have a history of failing and leading to engine fires (SN 95 GTs and Porsche 944s). I don't want to lose a car to something preventable. My car has aftermarket sway bars front and rear with poly bushings and grease fittings. They looks similar to what Strano sells. It may have lowering springs too (I'd love to know how to ID Strano springs). Wheel spacers and longer studs arrive today. Honestly the factory studs are a bit short for these wheels so I may get new front studs for piece of mind too. If the wheel bearings are worn, it'll get new hubs too. Center caps and decals for the wheels should arrive soon too. I also need to do some repairs on the console so the plastic doesn't break any more. Then I need to fix the ubiquitous broken console door and latch. This car may yet see an autocross and maybe a track day this year. When I got it, I figured it might take way more than a few months to get it ready for events.



New and old rev lockout solenoid springs



Hawks shifter and solenoid back in place


Gnarly vapor line causing CEL

Also the brake light always stays on. I think the switch on the handbrake may be bad. I’m gonna go test it now.

 

Wheels are on and look good. The added 10mm offset looks almost perfect.

 

I am still enjoying this car far beyond what I paid for it. I haven't posted an update here in a long time, but a lot of little things are happening. I redid the rear suspension with new Koni's new bump stops and a Strano rear bar and removed the BMR rear bar. I also freshened up the rear brakes. I fixed my front fender pooch due to the bent mounting tab. I also found out the Detroit speed brackets will not fit our 93-97 cars due to the way the floor pans are shaped and the fuel lines run in the channel (really disappointed). I also had to install new battery cables since the old ones had very excessive voltage drop to the positive terminal that feeds the wiring harness. I'm going to put repro emblems (GM licensed) on it soon and do the front suspension. I also upgraded to an LS1 steering rack and steering shaft and it transformed the steering! If you go back to my first posts this was one of my big complaints about the car. With each upgrade / repair this car keeps getting better. I am moving this summer. I am looking for some LT1 aluminum OEM heads to send to Lloyd E too and planning on a mild engine rebuild / upgrade after the move. I may also do a 24X upgrade too. I also need to find a good factory head unit or have mine repaired. And of course the passenger power window is not functioning and I need to try and repair the headliner. Here are some photos of various things completed. I also installed an RK sport airbox since my factory airbox was all messed up. The clamps were busted and so were the mounting holes. The RK sport airbox took some work with holes needing drilled and heat gun persuasion to fit over the MAF but it's installed. When this thing is idling you can just hear all that airflow which is kinda cool.



fender bad

tab all jacked up

broken piece

fiberglass repair in progress

repair complete!

new rear susp

old junky rear suspension; check out those bump stops!

RK sport airbox

fixed!

 

Coming along nicely, nice work.