The CAM-Z: autocrossing a Z28

Ive seen all the common replica wheels used on the 4th gens, also on the 3rd gens. I think they require a spacer/adapter all around or switching to the 4th gen rear end in the back, which is a good cheap way to get rear disc anyways.

I think the camaros looks good on the c4 zr1 reps, if you want a mesh wheel, the c6 zr1 reps may work.

If your worried about weight the gm wheels are normally lighter.

My pick would be either 4 front 17 or 4 rear 18 oem c5 magnesium wheels. They are light, good looking, not super common and cheap.

How did your last project Nissan turn in to a Pontiac?

In reply to crankwalk:

It got a job and became an adult.

Sigh.

I don't get to win.

Went to turn her over today and the battery is flat. Battery is less than a week old. Guess i've got a short somewhere... I've got no idea how to figure this out, this is going to be interesting.

In reply to AClockworkGarage:

Electrics are at least as easy as the mechanicals(if not more so) on a car of that era.

P.O. did some creative wiring in the car, so it'll be a nightmare.

I figure I'll start by throwing an ammeter on the battery to measure the drain. then start puling fuses until i can isolate the circuit.

I know you are working on stuff in order but hook a jump box to it and fire it off. Do a burnout then park it again. That'll get you back in the mood to mess with it.

In reply to crankwalk:

It's not really burnout capable right now. A cracked wheel left me scrambling to find a replacement. It's sitting on a 4x4 s10 wheel right now which is very much the wrong offset and rubs the rear end. but it holds air and keeps the apartment complex off my back. Wheels and tires are my next priority, but other little crap keeps getting in the way.

Not much to report, putting in some long hours at work and trying to figure out a workable wheel & tire combo. It's looking more and more likely that I'll be just another 3rd gen on corvette wheels. I still loathe the idea of using wheel spacers.

Snatched the battery out of the car and cleaned the K&N, spent some more time under the hood trying to figure out exactly what happened to this car. in it's past life.

It has an electric fan that is probably not stock wired up through a toggle switch in the dash. I've ordered a thermostatic controlled fan harness ans sensor from Jegs with a 180 T-stat to match. There is a $40 aluminum water pump on Rock auto that may just find it's way in here as well.

This is the front or the aluminum radiator. at the base there is a home made piece of aluminum flashing that i guess is supposed to direct more air into the radiator, but it mainly just bottoms out on every bump, it'll probably go. here's another terrible shot of it.

that just screams quality. It'll probably go soon.

Got a big package from rock auto today. The first step in white trash removal, a pair of heavy duty hatch struts, so I don't have to hold it up with a broken shovel handle anymore. By the time I'm done I'll even get the pull down motor working again...

till then I'll be working all the OT I can get... stay tuned. or don't. either way.

Aluminum air dam looks at an attempt to recreate the stock plastic one, that also bottoms out on everything. Might want to just grab one of those.

Without the lower air dam, these cars are known to over heat at speed.

sigh. Pretty cold today but it's my only day off this week. figured I'd try and get something done. PO carved up the positive battery cable pretty good when they installed whatever stereo this car used to have. I had a new one but it needed new terminals on it. Soldered them on and swapped the cable.

I got the battery recharged the other day so I dropped it in and threw an ammeter on it. I've got a 9mA drain somewhere. but I don't really have a way to isolate it right now, so it'll have to wait.

Took crankwalk's advice and cranked her up. Just listening to her run would be motivation to keep going. At first she didn't want to fire. It is cold out. When she did fire she idled a little rough really fell on her face if I revved it up at all.

Great, another thing I have to figure out...

shut her off and took the key out.

She's still running... Fark.

hopped out, pulled the air cleaner and started to smother the carb with my jacket, she just wouldn't die. The air cleaner stud was creating just enough of a gap that it would keep running. quickly unscrewed that and threw the jacket on again and she choked out... Somewhere during this process I managed to cut my hand pretty bad. I'm done with this for a while.

I specifically needed a running project car because I don't have the space or resources to keep tracking down little problems like this, but I keep finding new problems and I don't know that I can do anything with this car in time to race it next season. grumble

thinking about it an hour later, It probably didn't want to rev because the 2 step was on.

Another week has gone by where I haven't touched the car. It gets dark so early up here... if the weather is happy I will poke around under the hood some tomorrow. If the weather isn't happy I will stay inside and play Skyrim.

Jegs got a big pile of my paycheck this week, but I've ordered all the weatherstripping for the doors, hatch cowl and T-tops. I still need to get the moisture barriers for the door panels and new rubber window sweeps, but after I've done all that she should be sealed up nice and tight and i can get started on replacing the interior.

Met up with a buddy and tried to isolate the drain. Seems like ever circuit would reduce some of the drain, but nothing killed it entirely. This coupled with the fact that the car doesn't want to shut off leads me to believe that the ignition switch is bad.

the switch is like $8 on rock auto so I put one of those on order, along with a new ignition cylinder. should have plenty of projects for my upcoming staycation.

I also scored a heat only blower box on ebay so I should be able to get rid of the last remnants of the AC system, and that should go a long way towards cleaning up the underhood area.

Fingers crossed the new ignition switch solves the battery drain.

Is there anything connected directly do the battery (ie stereo memory) that you could also disconnect to further reduce the draw?

Yes. I've disconnected the radio's memory wire...

In reply to Blitzed306:

Correct - they may overheat. Motor already runs hot with the high temp tstat from the factory to help meet smog, with the front end design doesn't let much air in. These types of "air dams" were used to help lower temps.

Watching, this is relevant to my interests

AClockworkGarage wrote: Sigh. I don't get to win. Went to turn her over today and the battery is flat. Battery is less than a week old. Guess i've got a short somewhere... I've got no idea how to figure this out, this is going to be interesting.

How to track down a parasitic battery drain: http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/1952/Basic-Electrical-Troubleshooting.aspx

Get yourself a digital multimeter. You can do this.

Since the interior was stripped down, I'd check to see if any extra interior lights connected to the dome light switch are on (such as in the kick panel area).

Building an F-Body for autocross? Sam Strano is your new best friend.

Well, today is day 1 of my 2 week vacation and the weather is beautiful. like 30 degrees and sunny. I've been gathering projects for the past few weeks to keep myself busy.

Today I started at the back.

Like every camaro on earth, the massive glass hatch is held up by a sawn pf shovel handle. I had to do something about that.

A couple of new lift struts and weatherstripping should revamp that trunk.

it was a pretty straightforward installation. 2 torx bolts, 2 10mms and 1 risk off a 900lb glass guillotine encounter later and bam!

the struts are so strong they will raise the hatch the whole way all by themselves, just by popping the key.

Then I stripped the lousy old seal off and threw it away and replaced it with a new one.

while I was back there i replaced all the random trunk panels to make it look like a car again.

Not a ton of work, but it's nice to see some progress. I'll leave you with a game of what the heck is this?

What the heck is this?

In reply to AClockworkGarage:

It looks like the bottom(or maybe side?) of a battery compartment.

Second. Battery box heat shield.