Duggan's 96 Camaro build and stuff

[dugganzx3]

Well I've been planning on doing this for a little while, but keep forgetting to or never get the time. Just to get started I'll give you guys some background info. I'm 19 and this my third car, I'm a poor college kid but I have a job, work hard and pay for everything that relates to cars. I'm proud of myself for this and my parents couldn't be happier.

My first car was a gorgeous black 02 Focus ZX3, I wrecked it and learned a lesson I'll never forget. The second car I had was an 01 Impala LS, the goal with it was to drive it for a year, and sell it to buy something faster with a stick. Had the car for about 14 months, decided to keep it and found out how nasty the 3.8L could be. I have never seen a nicer Impala of that generation, and my insurance adjuster told me it was ashame it got wrecked, it was one of the nicest cars hes ever seen(it was fully loaded, low miles, and looked brand new), and then on the way home from school an Asian girl in a big SUV rearended me doing 45, I was completley stopped at a traffic light. The cops thought she was on her cell phone... She did over 8k in damages. I walked out without a scratch.

And then, I got the check from the insurance company, my Dad said I can pick whatever I want as long is it was a low miles, good condition vehicle.(we know how to buy cars, I have yet to lose money on a car, and gained about 2k on what I payed for the Impala the year before, and I put 10k on it too.) Well I was determined to buy an Import, and I wanted a wrx, I had just enough to cover an 80 to 90k 02 wrx, but couldn't find one. Then I found a Saturn Ion Redline, guy wouldn't drop 100 dollars for the 2 shot front tires, we walked, he had the car for 6 more months until it finally sold lol. And then, on the day before I was to buy a 99 Impreza Outback Sport Wagon, I saw my Camaro, and now we are here. I, like the former 2 cars settled on something I fell in love with, but looking back, I wish I could've been more patient, because I have yet to buy exactly what I want, however, I love this car and am pretty set on keeping it for the next forever, unless I find an amazing deal on a pre-2000 saab 9-3 convertible with a 5-speed.


Heres the focus after I wrecked it:


Here is the Impala LS, some before and after shots:





And now on to the current car, which this build thread will be about. This is a 1996 Camaro RS y87. I am the second owner, it is in great shape, and looks better than most Camaro's I've seen, and is one of the better looking pre-98 4th gens around. It currently has 75k, and all maintenence has been done. It has 3:42 gears, a posi rear, Z28 steering ratio, z28 hood, t-tops, leather seats, power everything, a bose sound system, and the 3.8L v6 with a 5-speed manual transmission. The RS body kit has been removed, along with the 3-piece lip kit on the wing, I think it looks ugly anyway and would've done the same myself, but I would like to get a front lip for the car eventually.

I have a Flowtech glasspack on the car, and it sounds amazing, I've never heard a v6 sound this good, and as just a car goes it really sounds better than a lot of things out there. It currently has a short ram intake on it, 8.5k fogs which are about as useless as the stock ones, and grand sport style fender stripes. It also is custom tuned to 91 Octane.(there is a reason for this) I have a set of black winter wheels which will get snows and be on the car in the next few weeks, yes it is a daily driver and will be driven. I also have a kit to paint my brake calipers and have a shorty antenna which still needs to be installed. It also has a "Camaro" insert decal that is red.

My future plans are to buy pacesetter headers, a stage 1 or 2 clutch, 1.5 inch drop springs with new shocks, roller rockers, and a stage 1 cam with lsx springs and retainers. I would love to find a set of FFF turbo headers and just turbo it instead of the cam/headers/roller rockers, but they're impossible to find and the company won't email me back, I'm assuming they stopped making them. I also plan on doing some more visual mods, also maybe painting the stock wheels with plastidip. I also plan on having the 2 front seats and headliner redone in a custom material/pattern I have figured out. I also may be considering a 3rd set of rims to replace the stockers for summer duty, and use the stockers to hold some slicks. May also look into a 50 or 75 dry shot of nitrous oxide, but it's kinda cheating.

on with the pics:
Before any work was done:










And so my overall goals are to make this car my own, have it in as good as new condition inside and out, and to overhaul everything that can use it or need it. I want to run 13.00 in the 1/4, I'm at an estimated 14.5, stock it ran 15.00, be able to stand my own in a track or AutoX situation, and still average 23 MPG, I currently average 25 MPG. Mod progress will be a little slow, because all the extra money I had left over, I gave to my parents for college/etc. So besides the insurance money to buy the car, everything you see here is due to my hard work, blood, sweet, tears, and a lot of cursing lol, because nothing involving cars is ever easy.

[dugganzx3]

Forgot to mention, I will have some pics of how it currently sits and of the work done up by tonight or tomorrow. Also please don't hate, and don't tell me it's just a v6, it doesn't detract from the car itself nor do I need to "know" what engine is in my car, It's one of the first things I check before I even go to look at a car, never mind own one.

[dudewheresmycar]

this is the same motor from the grand prix/impala/regal?

are you keeping the 3.42 gears?

[dugganzx3]

Yes, basically. As for the 3:42's I think so, they're a good gear especially with the posi, at 55 I'm in 5th doing 2k, so I don't think I'd go higher than 3:73's with a LSD, I'd consider a trade for 3:73's I guess though but financially a slight increase in gears doesn't make sense at this point.

[JimH]

Originally Posted by dudewheresmycar

this is the same motor from the grand prix/impala/regal?

are you keeping the 3.42 gears?

Series II 3800 equivalent to the Buicks and Pontiacs. Mainly just the longblock short of the accessories which are a little different to fit in a RWD setup.

The 3800 in my Park Avenue was great. Especially S/C'ed. But they are very reliable motors and have pretty good power for being a V6.

I always liked the look of the Camaro and your looks to be in very good condition. Have fun with it.

[dugganzx3]

Although earlier than expected, heres the pics of the car currently, and it not enjoying the October snow...I feel like this is gonna be a rough winter haha.
Here is some of the car:






Here is the new exhaust, the old one was a really restrictive, 1 inlet into 2 outlet, exhaust. When I do the headers, I'm going to upgrade to 2.5 inch piping, into the cat, into the muffler and exited out passenger side in front of the rear wheel. It will have a dual 3 inch tip, for now It's 2.25 all around into a 2.5in inlet and outlet Flowtech Glasspack, there's a lot of backpressure but it has good torque down low and has some nasty let off and backfires haha.



Here is my buddy haha, won out of the crane machine at work, best 2 bucks ever spent. It's a minion from despicable me and girls love it haha.



Here is the Short Ram Intake, it's a cheap "ebay" CAI from Amazon, modified into a short ram for 3 reasons. They are (1) because I didn't feel like taking off half of the bumper to get the filter and 5 inch downpipe where it needs to go, (2) in one of the pics(first one) you can see an intake pipe that sucks colder air from somewhere near the fog light which was part of the original snorkel style intake, we left this there and it adds cooler air and sorta rams it into the filter, and (3) the car is low, and will be lower soon, don't want to hydrolock. Thanks to my buddy Matt for the help installing it, his S/N is MTPompey on here.




And here was my first mod, the red "Camaro" decal.



I also am planning to have a jvc headunit installed and get the windows tinted maybe 20%, or a little darker. I have two MTX subs that I'm probably not gonna use, so if anyone wants them I'm taking offers, wouldn't mind a newer Ipod Touch.

[dugganzx3]

Originally Posted by JimH

Series II 3800 equivalent to the Buicks and Pontiacs. Mainly just the longblock short of the accessories which are a little different to fit in a RWD setup.

The 3800 in my Park Avenue was great. Especially S/C'ed. But they are very reliable motors and have pretty good power for being a V6.

I always liked the look of the Camaro and your looks to be in very good condition. Have fun with it.

Thanks a lot man, I enjoy every minute of it and can't help but peek out the window here and there and just smile at it

It's a shame that they can't be S/C'd, but they still hit 60 in the 7.X range, and after owning two 3800's, I must say they are just amazing motors, after college I want a Chevy Sonic, and 2004 Impala SS.

[ghostRS]

Thats really clean. If i was looking for a 4th gen that would be the kind id want. The engine looks MUCH easier to work on than my buddies '97 Forumla. Good lord do they cram the LT1 in there. Hows this for space? I wouldnt mind a V6 one for a daily driver honestly.

[dugganzx3]

Originally Posted by ghostRS

Thats really clean. If i was looking for a 4th gen that would be the kind id want. The engine looks MUCH easier to work on than my buddies '97 Forumla. Good lord do they cram the LT1 in there. Hows this for space? I wouldnt mind a V6 one for a daily driver honestly.

Thanks man, and it's not bad to work on but it is still set back reasonably far.Ya the v6 is a lot roomier under the hood than the LT1's/LS1's, it actually is possible to remove this motor from the top(have to drop the v8 from the bottom), and can also do internal work like cams/rockers/etc all without much hassle.

As far as dd ability, its about as high as a sports car comes, I've had 4 people of average size in the car, I can fit into the back, and I fit comfortably in the driver seat. I'm a bigger dude to, like 6 foot 250 atm, so most guys should fit no problem, I can just about fully extend my leg on the dead pedal too. The passenger side has a foot bump that's raised in the floor like 2 inches higher where the cat is located and the door sills are 5 inches wide at least, and the seats are like 2 inches off the floor. It's a blast, the t-top car has a very limited trunk, but it is just as practical as my focus and just as comfortable imo.

[95naSTA]

Originally Posted by dugganzx3

To answer your first question, basically, the normally opposed motors like this are L36's, the older motors like the turbo regal are L26's, and the newer fwd horizontally opposed motors are the L67's, they can be supercharged. The L36, can but it's not worth it due to space and intake plenum issues. Only main issues are coil pack location and throttle body design. Also some of the newer like 2000 and above cars are drive by wire, this isn't. I've heard a gnx turbo swap is possible, but I don't have tons of money lol.

The Old GN engines are LC2s.

The Series II n/a and s/c engines are the L36 and L67. (95-05ish)
The Series III n/a and s/c engines are the L26 and L32. (03ish-08)

All of these were available in fwd format but only the L36 was available in rwd format. (The Aussies got a L67 rwd Commodore though)

If you want 13s, I'd just turbo it. There's plenty of room making it easy routing wise.

[fitftw]

The Chevy Sonic hatchback with 1.4L turbo is a pretty awesome ride. I would rather see Mazda come out with a turbo Mazda 2 though.

[JERRYM1997]

Looks good dude. I got my Firebird when I was 15 and im 18 now and just sold it in june. It was def. a fun car but the lack of an aftermarket got me really mad sometimes. I had the Trans Am exhaust with a high spun cat and it actually sounded pretty deep and popped alot. I miss mine a little so im definatly gonna follow this build.

This was my plan.
http://www.force-fed-fabrications.com/index2.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f91GDmRr0y0

[dugganzx3]

Originally Posted by 95naSTA

The Old GN engines are LC2s.

The Series II n/a and s/c engines are the L36 and L67. (95-05ish)
The Series III n/a and s/c engines are the L26 and L32. (03ish-08)

All of these were available in fwd format but only the L36 was available in rwd format. (The Aussies got a L67 rwd Commodore though)

If you want 13s, I'd just turbo it. There's plenty of room making it easy routing wise.

Thanks man, I have trouble keeping up with the 3.8L history. As for the turbo I can source everything but headers cheaply, idk who could/would custom fab them, but they need to be forward facing to front mount the turbo. I'm also guessing I'd need a stand alone? My total investment NA for what I need to hit 13's is only gonna be about 1000, can a turbo be done, tuned, and running for less with mainly used cheap parts? Also NA I know I will not hurt the reliable nature/daily ability of the car.

[dugganzx3]

Originally Posted by JERRYM1997

Looks good dude. I got my Firebird when I was 15 and im 18 now and just sold it in june. It was def. a fun car but the lack of an aftermarket got me really mad sometimes. I had the Trans Am exhaust with a high spun cat and it actually sounded pretty deep and popped alot. I miss mine a little so im definatly gonna follow this build.

This was my plan.
http://www.force-fed-fabrications.com/index2.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f91GDmRr0y0

I emailed FFF about just purchasing their turbo headers, and they never answered me back. That is one nasty V6 bird also. And it really is sad that everyone just ignores the capability of the 3.8l in the maro/bird, most of the company's who promised aftermarket have dropped or never started production of anything.

[dugganzx3]

Originally Posted by fitftw

The Chevy Sonic hatchback with 1.4L turbo is a pretty awesome ride. I would rather see Mazda come out with a turbo Mazda 2 though.

Depending on my job after college, I plan on living at home for the first few years or at an apartment with a few of my bros. I figure I'll pick up a sonic turbo hatch with a 6 speed manual loaded up for cheap to daily, (should be like 5k for a decent used example in 3 or 4 years), park this, and eventually start on my VIP Impala SS project I want to have. When that's done, I'll look for a house, and then once I'm settled after a few years, finally build my dream Supra Mk4 and an 04 STI.

[LightningTeg]

My advice is wait until you can save up to by an LS1 car and things will get alot easier. Your gonna put alot of money into this and be disappointed I think. The most fun you can have is autocross, so if anything Id make that the focus instead of straight line stuff.

Good luck

[dugganzx3]

So about 2 weeks ago I'm under the hood working on my car, my Dad comes out(was a mechanic for a few years and knows a lot about cars) and I ask him, doesn't that accessory belt seem to be wearing poorly. (its hanging slightly off the top pulley on the top) My dad goes, nah its definitely been like that since you got the car, sometimes they just run weird. Well the belt was in really good shape, but it wasn't like that 6 months ago when I bought it. Well on the way home tonight, I hear the pulley getting loud, I check the gauges, almost no volts, lights go dim, check gauges light comes on, no power steering. I jump out, pop the hood...belt snapped, I'm 5 mins away from my friends house, but I have no water pump. Well I jump in, and make the decision, with everything off besides the headlights, I limp the car to my friends us, its 2 miles, and the car was at 220 as soon as I shut her down, thank God I have a 180* Thermostat and it was cold out.(car was running cool at 170 when the belt snapped) So I have school and work tomorrow and Tuesday, so Wednesday I'll go get a Goodyear Gatorback belt and change the oil and coolant, and then we'll go from there.

[dugganzx3]

Originally Posted by LightningTeg

My advice is wait until you can save up to by an LS1 car and things will get alot easier. Your gonna put alot of money into this and be disappointed I think. The most fun you can have is autocross, so if anything Id make that the focus instead of straight line stuff.

Good luck

Thanks, but insurance difference is about 1000 a year more for a 98+ V8 Camaro, factor in that for 3 years, plus the cost of another 1k to 2k on top of selling my car and I've paid to basically fully build this motor and turbo it. This isn't counting the cost of using more gas either.

[95naSTA]

I'm not sure but you may just be able to swap/flip the manifolds forward.

Mustang guys do it all the time.

[dugganzx3]

Originally Posted by 95naSTA

I'm not sure but you may just be able to swap/flip the manifolds forward.

Mustang guys do it all the time.

I never considered that, I'm assuming you mean using the stock exhaust manifolds? I'll toss it up on Camaroforums, although no one is really helpful there unless its about restoring a first gen

Future handling mods:
Shock tower brace
bolt on subframe connectors
big front/rear sway bars
1-1.5 inch lowering springs/shocks (christmas present )
summer tires