Car information

The car

Info

More info is being added as time goes on.

  • 2000 Convertible Chevrolet Camaro SS #4083 in light pewter metallic with black top and ebony cloth seats
  • 4 speed automatic transmission
  • LS1 engine - 5.7L V8 320HP 345TQ
  • Ordered from Bill Heard Chevrolet, Nashville, TN on 10/20/99.
  • Picked up the car from the dealer on 2/10/00, so that took almost 4 months to build
  • GM options:
    • ASR
    • CD Player
  • The following SLP options were added:
    • 17"x9" ZR1 styled chrome-plated wheels with 275/40/ZR17 Goodyear Eagle F1 tires
    • SS front floor mats
    • Castrol Syntec Lubricant package

Journal

Things happened to my car since the day I brought home.

  • I eventually decided to get the dash plaque and key fobs from SLP
  • I've changed oil and filter from Castrol to Mobil 1 5w30 since the first oil change at 500 miles.
  • Got my new license plate on 4/25/00. The plate says ROADHZD (supposed to read Road Hazard for those who don't get)
  • The car is always kept clean and Zaino'ed.
  • Unfortunately, this car has been thru a few accidents.
  • More of my mishap, the car was broken into! Its top was cut thru; amps and radio were stolen.
  • Differential fluid used is Red Line 75w90. The TA girdle was installed at the time of the first rearend fluid change.
  • For some reason, the rear end started to make a lot of noise. SO I brought the car to first service on 10/10/01. This turned out to be a nightmare.
  • After a full year of SES-free operation, my SES light finally went off like everybody else's. This happened a while after the headers install. I live with the SES light for more than a year.
  • I don't know when this started to happen. When I hit a bump or a dip on the road, the ASR light and ABS inop came up. Then I lost ASR and ABS. The lights disappeared once the car was turned of and turned back on. But it still came back from time to time.
  • 3/12/02 during a roadtrip to eastern TN, the right rear tire made a lot of noise. It turned out that there was a nail in it. I also discovered that there was a goose egg on the tire if anyone knows what that is. :D I just fixed the nail hole but left the goose egg for the dealer since the tire was still under warranty.
  • 4/10/02 some ass hole hit me in the rear in a Kroger's parking lot. I wasn't there at the time so I didn't know who did it. Anyway, the right tail light was damaged. I replaced it with a used part bought from a member on LS1.com.
  • Once again, the rear end made noise. There were too many things wrong with the car right now so I took the car in for service again. I hoped they would cover it under the repair warranty as they fixed this thing last time. Nope, it was not. But luckily I discovered that they were mistaken on the part number and the car got back into warranty on the rear end.
  • 6/16/02 I finally couldn't stand the Y-pipe banging anymore so I took the Y-pipe down and smashed it down where it hit the floor board. This method worked quite well and got rid of 100% of all the banging.
  • One day I found some material in the exhaust tips. It turned out to be the material from inside one of the cats.
  • More fix on the exhaust: After more than a year long of SES light, I finally installed O2 sims to take care of the light. Finally my car is SES free once again.
  • After the Nittos, I decided to go back to use regular tires. I decided to go with Fuzion ZRi. Overall, they are good tires for the price.
  • The rear differential kept giving me some problem. After the dealer fixed it last time, I decided not to go with them anymore. I asked a friend's neighbor to fix it for me. I was so unfortunate the next day I took it for a ride, one of the carrier bearings exploded! I took the car back to him and he replaced them one more time. Now the rear end made really loud grinding noise. I guessed some pieces from the exploded bearing were stuck in the differential so I decided to changed the diff. However, the guy killed himself after he changed out my diff. Poor guy. The new diff didn't cure the noise so I decided to change the gears. I had to learn how to do it myself. This time, the noise is gone.
  • There was some loud banging in the back we couldn't figure out what it was. I spent so many months looking for the origin of the banging. First I thought it would be the spare tire and jack stand. It turned out to be a broken PHR. I bought a new one and now the noise is gone.

Dyno

  • First Dyno on 1/20/01
    • w/ MTI lid, K&N, GMAF, and B&B cat-back
    • 296.3 rwhp, 314.4 rwtq, SAE corrected.

Updated 9/12/06

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