[Tonys10SS]

Well, figure this would be a good time to start the official build thread for my new to me 2017 Hyper Blue ZL1! I have had the car now for approximately 3 weeks and have loved ever second of owning this beast of a car so far. If you read my introduction thread then you know that I have owned a few muscle cars and high performance cars in the past. Starting with my most recent car prior to the ZL1, a 1972 Chevelle SS numbers matching big block car with a Mark Jones 467 big block putting out about 650 horsepower with a TH400 trans and 12 bolt posi... that car was just raw power and a ton of fun! I have had a 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS and then a 2018 Challenger T/A 392 as well as some diesel trucks. My first car was another 1972 Chevelle that had a built 383 stroker, 700R4 trans, 12 bolt posi that I built in highschool and then sold what seems like forever ago... I am definitely accustomed to high performance and muscle cars.

The ZL1 has been a dream car of mine for a long time and I had to go with the top dog as it were for the 6th Gen Camaro! I searched and searched and the car, the color, the miles and the options as well as price do not intersect at the same point very often so I had to jump on it and boy am I glad I did! Had approximately 13,700 miles when I purchased the car and comes with the carbon fiber hood insert, Anderson Composite carbon 1LE wing, PDR, A10 and no sun roof. I am excited to see what this thing can do and what kind of trouble I can get in to with spending money and building a platform I have yet to touch, the LT4! Here is the car the day I got her (by the way still thinking of some names for her). This car stock is by far one of the most balanced cars I have driven and the thing just performs beautifully right out of the box!

I had a nice 4 hour drive home from Atlanta to Tallahassee to get used to it and feel comfortable and even after getting home I wanted to just keep driving! It felt like I could drive all night! Naturally I had to stop on the way and get a Rotofab intake for it and do my first modification. Not much improvement but I am sure it breaths better and you do get more whine from the supercharger slightly, but not much. Next up I think will be a Katech oil pump and plan on building the motor. I am also thinking of having the supercharger ported by Kong. I would like to build in stages so normal people not spending thousands at one time can see what to do. Also, this does help me produce kits for my own business to put together, again for people wanting to go in stages with their build as well. Again, I am so excited to see where this car and platform can go so hopefully you all will enjoy the ride I go on as well.

[Tonys10SS]

Update. While the paint on the car is very good considering it is 7 years old and a few other owners the car had what I would call "love marks" and some deeper random scratches. I have detailed and polished a few other 6th Gen Camaros in particular a black ZLE which was pretty bad from the factory, but overall they correct pretty easily. I will have some more photos after the car is finished but for now the tools and the process I use which works for about 95% of the vehicles I deal with. Obviously things change depending on the car, paint, condition, and expectations but for those interested here we go.

After performance, detailing really gets me pumped and to make the paint as good as it can be and perfecting it is something I fell out of love with but this car is bringing it back! I use Rupes machines and would prefer my LHR15II 5" DA polisher for this but since that was in for service I used the Rupes LK900E gear driven polisher. Now, I was not really a fan of this machine on a few other cars I used it on... I found that while the correcting power is very good, the polisher tends to walk a bit and is a bit harder to control depending on which panel you are working and which pads you use but decided to give it a go again since I would be forced to not use my LHR15II. So far it is working very well to correct and finish which is a good thing! Again, technique has a lot to do with it and adjusting speeds and pads as well as the polish or compound you use, but it is working quite well on this project. I am using it with a microfiber cutting pad from Lake Country and a yellow Rupes foam pad for finishing. We move on to the 3" DA machine. Basic. Does what it needs to and again microfiber cutting pad and yellow foam pads to finish. I will also use the Rupes ibrid nano long neck 1" with the rotary function with the same pads for cutting and finishing tight hard to reach areas. These machines are not for everyone and I do not recommend them to just buy if you are doing one car every couple of years. I did this professionally prior to moving to Florida. The Ibrid Nano kit is about $600 for a glorified toothbrush of a polisher, but the machine is fantastic. If you have ever used one you know what I mean!

Next compounds and polishes. Again, 95% of the jobs I do I get away with using Jescar correcting compound and Sonax Perfect Finish. I have had great success in adjusting pad combinations with those two but this car is taking well to the standard Jescar with a microfiber pad and the Perfect Finish with the yellow foam pad.

I will get photos overall of the car and project as well as some of the deeper issues with the paint as well as the tools and materials but here is a good representation of just how deep Hyper Blue is in good light!

[Joshinator99]

Looking good, Tony!