Turbo V6 Camaro

[fast86gn]

That would be a very loud 5hr drive. LoL

I may make it to the Nats this year but without a car.

 

[Jon Early]

It's unfortunate because I would have plenty time to get all the things done to make it livable and reliable if I had space. The GN really gets in the way of space consuming projects since it's a garage queen and I only have two spaces. With that said, I'd rather spend the rest of the nice summer/fall days getting GN parts out for ceramic/powder coating before Nats and storage. I'll have all winter to blow the Camaro apart again.

 

[fast86gn]

I'm kind of in the same boat garage wise with only space for two the GN and the Sky it doesn't leave much room. And then the silver Regal LS, the White GS and the Lacrosse all in the driveway then the Rainier in the street, it's musical cars when I need to work on one.

 

[Jon Early]

Yesterday I gave the tech inspectors one less reason to kick me off the track. It wasn't the highest on the list of priorities, but it's one less thing to worry about nonetheless.

 

[Jon Early]

Well that doesn't look right, does it? I guess the reason my clutch wouldn't disengage is a bit simpler than I thought. I can finally bang gears! This is after saying "screw it" though. Other odd damage includes both return springs for the clutch and brake pedals being out of place. The hydraulic pressure still pushes both pedals back, but in the event of a blow out I will only get one good push out of the pedal which is especially scary for the brakes. Luckily with it being a manual I can still engine brake in that situation. I will fix this over the winter when I pull the dash out.

 

[fast86gn]

It has the custom bend lol

 

[Jon Early]

With the help of my girlfriend, I opened up the bumper for some more air flow to my intercooler. I'm hoping this will reduce the chance of KR, but I'll have to fill it in with some sort of mesh. The gaping hole looks really bad from any other angle!

 

[fast86gn]

Any chance your gonna make BG?

 

[Jon Early]

Any chance your gonna make BG?

I will for sure be there, but more than likely in my GN with a for sale sign in the window. I have a couple "excuses" lol 1.) The Camaro needs a better tune before I start beating on it at the racetrack. I'm putting that off until after I get the cankcase pressure under control and the rear main seal replaced. 2.) I sold my truck, and I don't want to beat on car that has to get me home from another state! Fingers crossed that I'll get the Camaro down there next year.

 

[fast86gn]

Cool. Look me up I'll be racing the silver Regal Friday and Saturday.

 

[Jon Early]

Cool. Look me up I'll be racing the silver Regal Friday and Saturday.

I'll stop by your pit and say hello!

 

[fast86gn]

We will be flying Texas flags.

 

[Jon Early]

Troubling times have plagued the garage again. The Camaro starting running like crap, and then it wouldn't run at all anymore once I got it home.

The no running at all was fixed by starting it with my spare key, so I've chalked that up to be a VATS issue. I'll plug in a resistor permanently and be done with that. However, it still runs very poorly.

The AFR gauge is maxed lean at idle, and the fuel pressure gauge drops to zero as soon as I shut the key off. I think the ethanol has ate its way through the rubber diaphragm in my regulator. Time for an ethanol compatible adjustable regulator and fuel lines!

 

[Jon Early]

The car runs smoothly again, after fixing two issues.

It was running lean due to spark plugs rattling themselves lose again. I know for a fact that I have torqued them every time they have been removed, but I have thought every time that spec (12lb/ft for previously torqued plugs 22lb//ft for new ones) was weak. My torque wrench only goes down to 15 anyway so I always went with that. They're tapered plugs so I'll just run them in tighter from now on.

Retoquing the plugs obviously made it run better, but still not very well. I also had another bad coil causing dead misfires on 2 and 5, so just replaced all of them with new Delco professional units. Hopefully, these will last longer, but I'm going to keep a spare coil with me in the car from now on just in case.

Now that that is all figured out, I am trying to make my newly hacked up bumper look a little more presentable while also protecting my intercooler from road debris. I'll post some pictures later tonight!

 

[Jon Early]

Oops double post

 

[Jon Early]

You'll have to cut me a little slack on the execution here. Keep in mind, this is a project with less than $3000 of total investment. This isn't a $30k GN!

Nonetheless, I think the grille turned out pretty good. After paint you can barely tell its there which is what I wanted. Here's before and during paint.

And after...

 

[Jon Early]

I'd like to make some little air dams behind the original holes to not only direct some air to the radiator, but cover up those ugly rust spots! Overall, I'm proud though. Usually my custom aesthetic body work projects don't turn out this nice.

 

[fast86gn]

I think it's looks damn good. Nice job Jon.

 

[Jon Early]

Thanks man! As long as I don't anymore silly issues like coil packs and VATS I should be at a good stopping point until winter. Once the GN is put away again, I'm going to pull the dash, install a firewall plate, finally finish the floors 100%, and install a catch can. That's the plan anyway. The only thing that worries me at this point is that my dipstick sometimes pops out of the tube even with the valve cover breather on. If my blow by is that strong then I think it might be time for a new bottom end.

 

[Jon Early]

Have I mentioned that I need a catch can?