Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

[Rettax3]

Very interesting! I had almost forgotten about the aluminum-block truck engines, they just weren't that common. Last month I strongly considered buying a wrecked SS Camaro with a good ̶L̶S̶2̶̶ [EDIT:] LS3/6-speed setup, priced low enough to make it worth-while just for the drive-train. I decided I had enough projects to work on for the time being though, and nothing else I have is "LS" territory, though it would be nice in one of my Third-Gen F-Body cars.

Very cool that you are able to keep this cable-throttled, instead of fly-by-wire 'requested' accelerator crap. Also nice that at this point you should know your build is strong enough to handle the 4.8, so the 5.3 upgrade is unlikely to impair reliability or flat-out break stuff. Looking forward to the updates, as always.

[woody90gtz]

What year Camaro? The name plate was dead during the LS2's reign. 98-02 were LS1 and the 2010 started with the LS3. The LS2 was only in GTO and Corvette unless it was swapped. If it was from a 98-02 car the whole drivetrain is damn near a bolt-in for 3rd gen.

I hate the DBW. It just feels disconnected, especially with a manual like my truck or my wife's Cruze was. The DBC 2156 operating system I'm using for my Beretta is basically perfect too. You can segment swap factory calibration stuff back & forth from 4.8/5.3/5.7/6.0 and 60e/80e/manual. One of the last great universal GM electronics...where I'm running a Camaro 5.7/6spd tune with all the factory engine calibration info from a 4.8/5spd truck and trans T56 lockout stuff using a truck harness. So I can just segment swap the 5.3 engine data in there and copy over my T56 Camaro spark tables.

[Rettax3]

What year Camaro? The name plate was dead during the LS2's reign. 98-02 were LS1 and the 2010 started with the LS3. The LS2 was only in GTO and Corvette unless it was swapped. If it was from a 98-02 car the whole drivetrain is damn near a bolt-in for 3rd gen.

I hate the DBW. It just feels disconnected, especially with a manual like my truck or my wife's Cruze was. The DBC 2156 operating system I'm using for my Beretta is basically perfect too. You can segment swap factory calibration stuff back & forth from 4.8/5.3/5.7/6.0 and 60e/80e/manual. One of the last great universal GM electronics...where I'm running a Camaro 5.7/6spd tune with all the factory engine calibration info from a 4.8/5spd truck and trans T56 lockout stuff using a truck harness. So I can just segment swap the 5.3 engine data in there and copy over my T56 Camaro spark tables.

Sorry -I swear I hit the "3' for LS3... 2014 car IIRC -just a few weeks ago, but it was a short, sweet blip on my want-o-meter. I looked up the specs, blue-book values, even ball-parked the value of the rest of the parts if I pulled it apart. It would have been a good deal, probably even fixable as-was, not sure if the title was branded or not though as I never contacted the owner over it. I wouldn't care personally, but I don't want that era Camaro either, just interested in the drivetrain.

I know I am an anti-unnecessary-tech Ludite throw-back [and proud of it, thanks]. I'll take supercharged technology over superfluous technology any day... But I can't even stand the CONCEPT of drive-by-wire, 'requesting' acceleration from the computer. Much prefer the 'here is a crap-ton of WOT airflow, match the fuel or risk detonation, you fuel-injected SOB!' or in many cases, the simple application of mechanically-applied physics as air rushes past a set of venturis because my foot told the machine to increase airflow, and the universe insists the fuel WILL follow. Yoda might be proud of my connection with the universe right there.

[woody90gtz]

Daily driving the car for a month or so last year made some needs for winter upgrades clear. And drag racing launches required new adjustable shocks so I picked up some Vikings. One of my brake master cylinders was leaking and I needed to adjust the bias bar, so I took out the dash and wired up a 2-step and elec defroster while I was in there. I fixed the friggin POS custom axles from Moser Engineering, and I also still had a little leak in the gas tank, so I took care of that too. This car is ready to daily drive now, and next month I'll be racing my old man's Challenger for bragging rights.

https://youtu.be/q6Xw8XXYN5I?si=1FsZLEe6bY_SMw1y

[woody90gtz]

I bought custom Moser axles to fit my 5x100 drag wheels directly without an adapter and give me more fender well room for the slicks. I ordered them with Explorer brake pilot and Beretta wheel pilot and dual 5x100 and 5x115 pattern, so I could eventually fit 5x115 DIY beadlock drag wheels. $600 was a lot for axles on this budget-conscious car considering the entire 8.8 rear was $200, but it would allow me to do what I want.

Imagine my disappointment when I put them in and they vibrated by 45mph, when the junkyard stuff was fine at 80. The brake pilot was cut too small, so the rotor didn't center on the axle. I contacted Moser and they told me they couldn't fix them and they were custom so they couldn't be returned. I came up with my own gameplan to fix them (with minimal rework by Moser) and they still refused. So I fixed them myself on the lathe at work by turning the pilot down and making my own hubcentric ring pressed onto the axle. And I made my own GEARHEAD center cap...cause F Moser. The first test drive at 75mph was smooth sailing. That was more labor than it should have been, but at least the axles aren't $600 scrap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg5nFFoP9cY






And here's the video I made on DIY beadlock wheels for my Blazer SAS project. I'm going to be doing the same kind of thing with my Lumina APV minivan wheels for the Beretta. I think the sawblade beadlock ring looks freakin awesome.

https://youtu.be/RLeUMv4NltU

[Rettax3]

Cool fix. One of my Camaros (the 'Vert) has a set of Beemer rims waiting for it, once I wear out (or rot-off) the tires on the stock wheels, and going hub-centric will be easy now that I am turning my own parts too. Thanks also for the heads-up on moser -I can't say they were likely to get my business before, but I can say for sure they won't get any now. And I have A LOT of custom rides, with A LOT of custom parts on them. No excuse for that bad of customer service.

Nice bead-lock rings, very cool match-up. I do wish GM had gone the Left/Right directional wheels with these, as they did for the GTU/Indy wheels though. The saw-blades are a very stylish wheel.

[woody90gtz]

Lots of daily driving. It's running/looking great and I made some more upgrades. Set the sloppy mechanics group on fire with my cut & welded control arms...but they work awesome. Gained me the steering clearance I needed, and added 2* of caster and about a degree of camber. Handles AWESOME now. I also got my rear sway bar frame brackets done and changed my torque arm bushing from a rubber trailer bushing to poly and a bracket. Braced the engine mounts to cut down on flex and I have an appt to get some door locks. haha Can it get much better? Yeah, I've got more plans...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsiNczcJOmY

[woody90gtz]

Wow, this place is dead! But I did get my free 2step figured out right in the GM PCM. Video coming soon. Also some drag racing at Skyview to figure out my 60's shock settings.

[woody90gtz]

I figured out a way to set up a 2-step rev limiter, controlled by the stock PCM with no wiring needed. It reacts super quick and it should work great for drag racing.I originally tried wiring in a clutch switch to pin 32 of the PCM to trigger the P/N tables, but that didn't work at all. So I changed my strategy and repurposed the "closed throttle base spark" table. That's actually a better solution for a few reasons:
1 - Spark advance changes recover faster that fuel injector cut...
2 - It reacts quicker in the pedal swing without needing to trip a switch at the rest position. The clutch is already fully engaged when the pedal closes the CPP switch. But the wheel speed hits 1mph as soon as the clutch starts to engage
3 - No wiring...at all. Adding the Clutch Pedal Position switch requires running a wire to pin 32 to the P01 harness and grounding the other.

https://youtu.be/YIAJ1_a2eXM

[woody90gtz]

Crashed it. Details coming soon...

[woody90gtz]

Crash video is up. Looks like the bumper did its job just as it was supposed to.

https://youtu.be/OtlDf_zmRFM?si=ybETTIso99k4sIPS



Was hot as hell all weekend with heat index over 100. Turnout was still good considering. We brought pop-up tents and a little splash pad for the kids. Jay tried out his first autox and got about a half dozen runs in. They all did the UMI ride-a-long with the fast autox cars too, that's always impressive. Got their first whiffs of nitromethane too from 70s funny cars. Seemed to have a good time at their first Carlisle.

So...the crash. Prob a few factors involved...pick the excuse you like best. haha. Prob the biggest one being that left-foot braking messes with my brain - haven't mastered that yet. Started raining just as the contest started. I checked the tires when I got home and they're 13 years old. Prob another reason they didn't grip as much as I expected. I have the Cleetus contest in two weeks, so I'm hoping that goes better! Who knows, accidents happen when you party.


Quad4 race car was interesting. Best of 13.0

Amish Airbnb was nice

I think Jack had the most fun of anyone

[woody90gtz]

The Cleetus burnout contest went perfectly! This time I smashed the front and broke the brake pedal. Oof.

https://youtu.be/DIqnEv-fjg8?si=N28Vg0dzJHs8TwDi

https://youtu.be/lycbKTk3XOE?si=qyeYkC0DfBu0IqNq





Maybe I could use some seat time. I was worried about putting it into the concrete barriers and that's exactly what happened. Now's prob the time to take it in for another alignment too...it always goes left.
To be rules legal for Cleetus I got some steelies and wired in an external kill switch, and for fun I took the hood and exhaust off and pointed an extra pair of headers straight up.
Everything considered the damage could have been a lot worse. Definitely gotta learn how to drive though...cause that's 0/2 this year.

[woody90gtz]

Good as new! Basically. I grabbed another bumper from a buddy, The cover was pretty rough but the steel part got me back in business. The urethane straightened out pretty well with a heat gun.
Brakes weren't too tough to fix...the master cylinder pushrod was all that broke. Sucks to pull the dash again, but no new fabrication needed.
I also bought another car! Blown head gasket and rotten rockers, but it's same year and color as mine so I grabbed it. Driving a trailer through NYC is never fun, but it was only about 9 hours of driving total. And there are a couple fun things I can do with it.
https://youtu.be/xeJWCxk_H5s?si=x1R0zLNa9Z2AMik7

[Rettax3]

Been a while since I checked in -yes this site is parked on the shoulder with the hazard-lights dimming, waiting for the tow-truck, but it is still the best ride on the web! Sorry to see the crash, but glad you are getting it straightened out. I'm definitely missing something though -how did the brake master cylinder get damaged from that?
Anyway, glad you came out of it okay.

[woody90gtz]

I'm definitely missing something though -how did the brake master cylinder get damaged from that?

My "line lock" setup is nonconventional. In my Camaro, I have a traditional elec solenoid plumbed into the front brakes. Pump & hold brakes, click line lock, let go of pedal...fluid pressure stays in front brakes and releases rear brakes. Dump clutch, do your burnout...then unclick line lock to release front brakes.
Someone on nastyz28 put their line lock in the rear lines, and I went that route for the Beretta, but with a ball valve instead of elec solenoid (for hydraulic parking brake). For burnouts, you close off the rear brakes while there's no pressure in the lines. So then you can modulate the front brakes without any brake pressure going to the rear. But in a panic stop when hammering the brakes the rear master cylinder is hydraulically locked, so the pushrod was the weak link.