As some project stories begin, I was looking around on Craigslist... lol... anyway, I found a good deal on a 1998 Z28 6spd (LS1) with 140K miles. The car also happened to be a Bright Green Metallic, which sealed the deal for me. Anyway, the guy I bought the car from had a complete 2nd LS1 motor he was gonna drop in, because the original had a spun rod bearing, but he didn't have time to complete it, or more importantly, a Lift.

My goal was to rebuild the car on a budget and stay under book value. The car was bought and paid for on 3/21/09.

Begin:

You can see the other LS1 wrapped up sitting in back of truck.



2nd LS1 tear down (following weekend):
I was able to strike a deal with a good friend who also happens to be a GM-Mech, to help me rebuild the LS1 and swap it in.





2 weeks go by:
I get everything back from Machine Shop, and we found a bit of a problem:


Seems one cylinder bore had a bad depression, that did not come out with a .002 hone, meaning, I would have to bore it and go to a bigger piston, which I did not want to do. We are pretty sure it was caused by a slow leak from the head-gasket.
So, we decided we would pull the other LS1 out, and use it along with what was already completed, heads, crankshaft, etc, because everything else turned out great.


These turned out nice, especially with a set of Patriot Gold Extreme Dual springs in them. **Thanks a million ThunderRacing, aka: Angie**


The next weekend, we dropped the other LS1 out and tore down to the block, and sent it to the Machine shop:




Not good (new rotors, pads, and pass caliper put on):


This block was very nice:


The machine shop finished the block in 1 week, and the following weekend we rebuilt the entire motor and swapped it back in. Needless to say, I was tired. Big Thanks to my friends who helped in this madness.

Basic List for Rebuild:
* Complete Rebuild Gasket kit from ThunderRacing.
* ThunderRacing CheatR CAM package (.601/.578 grind), Patriot Gold Extr Dual springs, 7.4 TR Pushrods. =
* LS7 Lifters, LS6 Rod Bolts, LS2 lifter trays, new piston rings
* New timing chain, new Melling HP oil pump, and pulleys
* Used RAM HD clutch/flywheel bought from here (Thanks brads01ws6)
* New front brake rotors and pads (also had to replace one Caliper)
* I reused the manifolds and cats/y-pipe from old 1999 Z28 (they only had 50K on them).
* Lots of other odds and ends. (NGK TR55, sway-bar bushings, pinion seal, fuel filter, new flange gaskets, etc)
* Came with car already: New MSD plug wires and a B&M shifter.

Continued:

 

Completion:











She started on the first try! Here is a quick idle vid I took later that night, new ls1 only had .8 miles on it:


All cleaned up:
My friend let me borrow his winter wheels (I hate snowflake wheels).








The car was officially completed this past weekend. I have already done the 1st oil change at 80miles, and only found the normal machine shop dust. It was a lot of work, but very satisfying when completed. Good Times and I learned a ton!

 

Awesome job on the build! I'm glad we could help and that everything worked out in the end. It looks like all of your goals were met and you ended up with one clean ride.

Thanks,
Shane

 

How much was it on craigs list?

Looks great.

 

Thanks!

Well, lets just say I stopped everything I was doing and called him. I was able to get him down too from that price, which I thought was good for a complete car and 2nd ls1.

-----------------------

Thanks Shane, everyone at ThunderRacing was helpful and made this build much easier, especially since I could call you guys and ask questions and get sound advice.

 

Car is running good and still strong, holding awesome Oil Pres. I have done 4 oil changes using Valvoline Prem, non synthetic. My next oil change in 1500 miles will be Mobil 1, I'm sure by then the rings will have been set good.

I now have AC, as the old compressor was bad. Got a rebuilt job off ebay for $150, and we did the work ourselves. Good set of AC pres hoses and borrowed a sniffer. I now have ice cold AC, just in time for summer.

I also did AIR block-offs and smog pump delete. I think the valves were going bad, as the car seems to run even better now, no more back-popping when reving the engine.

some more pics, including my SS Cobalt and my friends Formula (who helped me with build, his is next):








This pic, I still hadn't got my block off plates for the air, but it looks much cleaner with them gone.


Now I am looking for a set of better wheels/tires... I was wanting to put a set of WS6 wheels on, polished, so if you got some, hit me up.

 

Wow, Looks Very Clean. Congrats on the build... Good Luck with whatever else you do to it... I love the color too. Always has been one of my favorite colors for a Z28. Besides Hugger Orange And Sunset Orange Metallic!

See Ya.
James

 

Thanks! The car was built to be a sleeper and keep the miles off my SS. After it is broken in good, I might throw a 100shot on there, as the CheatR cam likes nitrous.

 

Yeah it's definentely gonna be a sleeper. Especially with the spray on there...
Good Luck Man

 

Diggin' the color

 

Thanks! You can always pick our cars out at a Fbody meet.... nice having a rare color. Your sig makes me want your wheels something fierce!

 

I wasn't crazy about the color until I saw it in person. Hard to make pictures do it justice. Get'chu some bling on that things, man. I got my Z0es for cheap.

 

Where did you pick them up?


Update: Went on a 400 mile work trip and I avg 24mpg on the Interstate, doing 80mph with AC on.

 

A local fellow had too many sets of wheels, so I picked them up.


My gears and AC delete killed my highway mileage. The windows down might as well be a damn parachute.

 

Congrats on a job well done. Looks like you were able to put together a nice car with rare paint color on a budget.

Mild heads and cam and you don't even have an aftermarket airlid. That's sleeper!

 

Thanks!!! Yeah, I knew it was not a normal color, but didn't realize there was only 300 something made that year until after buying the car.

Yeah, I was out a couple of weekends ago and had 2 run ins, one with a Turbo 350z (I won by a car from a 2nd gear roll), and then later, some guys showed up in an older Mustang claiming they was pushing 450hp. We was was having a Fbody meet sort of, and they first walked over to my buddy's FireHawk (Domestic Disturbance, and his car is for sale on here btw) and saw all the work and was like no thanks. So then one of the guys said, you can run that bone stock Z28 sitting there, and they was more interested... after hearing it run (stock idle and exhaust, quiet) they was like yeah, we will run him.... no race happened right then, but later on, they caught me cruising and we did a quick hit, and needless to say I was able to pull a couple of feet from the go, then we stayed even with each other through 2 gears. They looked rather discouraged... lol...

 

Ha ha. Good story. Tell them that "stock" LS1 Camaros normally pull modded Mustangs. Hurt their morale even further.

 

Sweet deal man !

 

now change ur intake manfold

 

Yeah, that is something that will def. help, but now, I am wanting to buy a house, and I might have to sell my Z... never fails, just turned over 3K on motor and its running like a champ, and real life takes back over.... lol...