The Bald Eagle Machine Chronicles
 

Hello Camaro5 Forum. I recently stepped into the 5th gen Camaro in December of 2020. It has been a hell of a ride so far. I am coming from my first real car, a 1987 Trans am GTA that I bought when I turned 21. I had that car for almost 10 years, went from a 305 TPI 5 speed to a 5.3 Swapped Iron block with a Tremec T56 Magnum trans. I was tired of constantly tinkering and having tuning issues, and strange noises that always needed to be addressed (Not to mention the lack of creature comforts, no AC in Florida). I also had a 2002 Chevy Avalanche that i used as my trade in and got a fair trade in value on it, eventually. :bow:

Enough Gibber gabber about my old GTA... I bought the Camaro right as Covid19 was starting to spike the prices of used cars, luckily I am a tough negotiator. It also helps that in South Florida 99% of people do not want to drive a manual car, because of all the busy highways. I paid roughly $23,000 for a 2011 2SSRS with only 33k miles on the clock. It was freshly traded in and they didn't even detail it yet. Still had Cigarette ashes all over the seats and floor (another reason why I got such a good deal on it). They tried to force me into paying for the maintenance that they did to the car which totaled an additional $1500. Which included an oil change and 2 new front rotors. I refused to pay for what I consider "road worthy" maintenance and "The manager" eventually agreed to it. I traded in my 2002 Chevy Avalanche that was lifted and actually super clean, they tried to lowball me at $1000 trade in. I eventually got blue book trade in value after threatening to leave multiple times. Blue book was roughly $5,000 for that. The car is Summit White with Orange hugger rally stripes, and the Inferno interior package. The previous owner already installed a Cold air inductions Cold air intake as well as a Borla axle back which was a nice little bonus!

While test driving the car on the local city streets, I couldn't help but think the car was absolutely perfect. I later discovered a few gremlins here and there. Such as; badly grooved rear rotors, shaking steering wheel at highway speeds, and worn out suspension. I've done alot of work to the car already, and I will post all the stuff that I have done to the car, and eventually end where the car sits today. All of this content is also up on my instagram @the_bald_eagle_machine.

Here are pictures from when I picked her up from the dealership with the Wife.

Time for the Brakes!
 

As soon as i got home from buying the Camaro, I immediately jumped on the internet and looked at brakes, my first mod! I had a noticeable grind coming from the rear and that just wasn't acceptable for my new baby! R1Concepts was having a 30% off sale and I picked up a full set of their GeoMet coated drilled and slotted rotors and high performance semi metallic pads. I love the added braking power, but for coated rotors, the rotor surface does rust quite a bit when I wash the car, or when it rains outside. You can't beat the value for what you get though. Compared to OEM prices these are a steal! I love the way they look.

Great looking car! Looking forward to your posts.

New wheels and tires!
 

Next up, the stock wheels just weren't wide enough for me and the stance was just kinda lacking. I decided to go with the American Racing Crossfire wheels. 10.5" wide rim in the rear with a 40mm offset, 315-35-20 tire and a 9" wide rim in the front with a 20mm offset, 275/45/20 tire. I choose Toyo Proxes sport A/S because I was on a bit of a budget. They are very loud, and have been a nightmare trying to get them balanced. A word of advice... don't cheap out on tires! I have regretted it, and will be getting Michelins in the future.

Overall I stuck with stock size tire diameter because I didn't want to deal with any calibration issues with the speedometer being off. I shaved off approximately 16 lbs with this setup. Which was a nice bonus considering how much I sized up the width of the tires. The old rims and tires were 61lbs each in the front and 64lbs each in the rear and the new rims and tires are 57lbs each in the front and 61lbs each in the rear.

Welcome. I look forward to your continued posts and mods. Best of luck.

Pictures with the rims installed!
 

Here are a few pictures of the rims after they were installed. No spacers, and in these pictures the car is riding at stock height on factory suspension.

Time for more upgrades, catch can!
 

After doing some research I decided to go with a Mishimoto Catch can, because I liked the baffled design as well as the fitment. Getting the factory hose off of the intake proved to be quite difficult. Those clips are a total PITA! So far I love it, it does it's job. Its also very easy to access to drain of the fluids.

Time for a new look, so I added a front lip!
 

Next, I couldn't help but feel like the front end was missing something. So I went ahead and ordered an SLP performance front lip. I choose SLP because as a third gen and fourth gen guy, I know they make quality products. The lip fit PERFECT. It was definitely well designed and made out of a high quality ABS plastic. Install can be a pain, especially with the bolts in the very middle (Get ready to bang and scrape all of the skin off of your knuckles).

Added some more HP to the butt dyno!
 

Next I did a bunch of research and decided that I wanted to do the famous JRE Intake scoop, since it pairs really well with the Cold air inductions cold air intake. Install was a breeze, Just remove the wheel, the wheel liner, and remove and replace! Getting the position just right on the windshield washer fluid was probably the most difficult part. I also cut the plastic in the bumper with a really sharp boxcutter blade, so you don't really need any special tools to do this job. On the but dyno the car feels more responsive, especially on the highway when the air is really flowing in the scoop. I haven't really noticed my filter being any more dirty then usual. So overall I think this is a great mod that everyone should do. I left mine unpainted because I think it adds some aggression to the front end.

MGW Flat stick shifter.
 

Next upgrade that I thought was due was a shifter mod. The Hurst shifter ball was too bulky and was loose. No matter what I tried I could not get the ball to stop spinning. I hated the way it felt in my hands and how sloppy the gearbox felt with the stock shifter. So I ordered an MGW Flat stick shifter with the white 6 speed ball. It was a bit on the pricey side, but It has been one of my favorite mods so far. Drastically changed how the shifter feels. It is very firm and when you shift into the next gear, you know that you shifted into the next gear. I don't have pictures here but I also installed a skip shift eliminator while I was down there. Nothing like pulling into traffic and shifting from 1st to 4th!

Removed all of the Plastidip from the emblems next.
 

Simple mod here. The Previous owner plasti-dipped the emblems in black. I personally don't hate Plasti-dip but... this was old and peeling and it was time to come off. Just some Goof off and a toothbrush made short work of it.

My old Trans am build
 

Here are some pictures from my old Trans am build. Junkyard 5.3 motor, torn completely down. I took the heads and the rotating assembly out, pressure washed the engine and rebuilt everything. All new mains, bearings, stock rod and pistons, with upgraded Howards Cam, Aftermarket heads, and full valetrain. I assume that it probably made about 400hp to the wheels, which if you take into account how much $$$ i spent on everything was pretty lousy. However I never fully tuned the car or had it on a dyno. I loved the car, but the build was a little out of my wheel house at the time. The trans setup was a short ratio Tremec T56 Magnum and the rear was out of a 4th gen Moser 9 inch with 33 spline axles and 4:10 gears. I think part of why the car felt so lousy was because the gearing didn't match up well but I bought the rear end off of facebook and I didn't know how to rebuild it so i just slapped it in. I'll post some pictures of the engine build next.

Trans Am engine build
 

Here are the pictures that I have from rebuilding the engine. I spent alot of money on what I call "Insurance" meaning high quality hardware, GM gaskets, And most of all "Made in the good ol' USA".

BMR subframe connectors
 

Yes, I know this is overkill. But in my experience a car that handles well and is moderately fast is faster than a REALLY fast car that handles poorly. In stock form I feel like the Camaro needs a few upgrades chassis and suspension wise and this was one of my first picks. I remember when I installed subframe connectors on my thirdgen and it was night and day, so I figured the 5th gen is also a unibody chassis. It couldn't hurt to add some more rigidity. I love the black hammertone finish as well because it is very stealthy.