68 Pro touring Camaro.
Discussion
Well where to start,I had seen my camaro a few times over the years in a truck MOT station local to where I work,the owner of the station had imported it in 2007 from the states.I had asked him several times to sell it but he said no so many times untill about 18 months ago i asked and he said ok you can buy it.
I was over the moon as the car was the spec i wanted for trackdays.I picked the car up an on first driveing it i knew i,d made a bad move buying it,it drove terrible,i stopped at a garage to fill up with petrol an after putting £25 in the tank petrol was pouring out under the car,i quickly looked underneath to find the tank was leaking at the fuel pipe where the weld had cracked.I drove home at a steady rate thinking what can go wrong next.
On getting home i looked under the car an where new coilovers had been fitted they were on the softest setting so i adjusted them to a harder setting,the tyre pressure,s where all over 50 psi.I got the tank repaired which took a few days then took the car out and it drove much better.I adjusted a few more things an the car was great for about 200 miles then the oil pressure failed an it which ment a new oil pump and engine out.
I tried all the engine builder,s but they all said we dont take engines out, you need to just bring us the engine.Well at a last resort i went back to the guy i bought it from and he agreed his mechanic would do all the work but i had to pay for parts and labour which was,nt cheap.On collecting the car after the work which included new ends,mains,oil pump etc,the starter had a problem.On getting the car home it would,nt re start an when i got the starter off the mechanic had jammed the wrong thread bolt into the alloy block and split the side of the block and damaged the starter.
On phoneing the the mechanic i was called a liar an they said i was the one that split the block.At this stage i was ready to give up on the car sell it at a loss an forget about it.After laying in the garage for weeks i could,nt fit a new starter because only 1 bolt could be fitted to it,then by chance i met an old mate that had worked on race car,s all his life an he said he could make a block to fit on the starter so it could be fitted to the bell houseing.After a week the starter was fitted an the car was fine again.Then a few weeks later i took the car to margate on a car run,on the M2 coming home bang the engine makes a terrible noice an i shut it off an coast to a stop.
Transported the car home an thought this time i can,t go through taking it all out again but then it,s no good as it is.I took the engine an box out with the help of a freind an took it to a reputable builder.On stripping the engine the rod bolts had,nt been torqued down an the mains had,nt been either.The builder did a fantastic job getting the block all repaired includeing where the starter bolt had been broken,all new piston,s,cam,lifters,heads stripped new valves,springs,roller rockers in fact i bought everything new so this would be right this time.I fitted the engine back in 2 weeks ago an now after all this time i can use the car knowing everything is good.
After all this ive been through with the car im just so annoyed that that previous owner would,nt believe i had nothing to do with the starter problem and his mechanic was to blame but i guess thats life.Even buying off of a garage or private don,t let your heart rule your head when you see a car that looks fantastic have a drive in it first don,t take it for granted that it drives as good as it look,s.
I was over the moon as the car was the spec i wanted for trackdays.I picked the car up an on first driveing it i knew i,d made a bad move buying it,it drove terrible,i stopped at a garage to fill up with petrol an after putting £25 in the tank petrol was pouring out under the car,i quickly looked underneath to find the tank was leaking at the fuel pipe where the weld had cracked.I drove home at a steady rate thinking what can go wrong next.
On getting home i looked under the car an where new coilovers had been fitted they were on the softest setting so i adjusted them to a harder setting,the tyre pressure,s where all over 50 psi.I got the tank repaired which took a few days then took the car out and it drove much better.I adjusted a few more things an the car was great for about 200 miles then the oil pressure failed an it which ment a new oil pump and engine out.
I tried all the engine builder,s but they all said we dont take engines out, you need to just bring us the engine.Well at a last resort i went back to the guy i bought it from and he agreed his mechanic would do all the work but i had to pay for parts and labour which was,nt cheap.On collecting the car after the work which included new ends,mains,oil pump etc,the starter had a problem.On getting the car home it would,nt re start an when i got the starter off the mechanic had jammed the wrong thread bolt into the alloy block and split the side of the block and damaged the starter.
On phoneing the the mechanic i was called a liar an they said i was the one that split the block.At this stage i was ready to give up on the car sell it at a loss an forget about it.After laying in the garage for weeks i could,nt fit a new starter because only 1 bolt could be fitted to it,then by chance i met an old mate that had worked on race car,s all his life an he said he could make a block to fit on the starter so it could be fitted to the bell houseing.After a week the starter was fitted an the car was fine again.Then a few weeks later i took the car to margate on a car run,on the M2 coming home bang the engine makes a terrible noice an i shut it off an coast to a stop.
Transported the car home an thought this time i can,t go through taking it all out again but then it,s no good as it is.I took the engine an box out with the help of a freind an took it to a reputable builder.On stripping the engine the rod bolts had,nt been torqued down an the mains had,nt been either.The builder did a fantastic job getting the block all repaired includeing where the starter bolt had been broken,all new piston,s,cam,lifters,heads stripped new valves,springs,roller rockers in fact i bought everything new so this would be right this time.I fitted the engine back in 2 weeks ago an now after all this time i can use the car knowing everything is good.
After all this ive been through with the car im just so annoyed that that previous owner would,nt believe i had nothing to do with the starter problem and his mechanic was to blame but i guess thats life.Even buying off of a garage or private don,t let your heart rule your head when you see a car that looks fantastic have a drive in it first don,t take it for granted that it drives as good as it look,s.
Edited by boyzee on Wednesday 2nd November 14:36
Edited by boyzee on Wednesday 2nd November 14:38
Edited by boyzee on Wednesday 2nd November 17:16
[URL=http://s249.photobucket.com/user/Boyzee_photo/media/DSC03290_zpsxhx84ndb.jpg.html]
[/URLEngine 427 cu in all alloy small block by world pro.Motown ally heads.
Gearbox Richmond 5 speed c/ratio with twin plate carbon clutch.
rear axle 12 bolt posi with Main line shafts
brakes Willwood 6 pot with 13 inch rotors front 4 pot willwood rear.
Coilover f/r chassis connectors,completly poly bushed with large anti roll bars an 4 link rear
f/rear wings have been widened an had 2" taken off.
Iva Barchetta said:
"Being painted all black"
I like the white with black stripes.
Are you going to refit stripes, in a different colour obviously ?
As others said the best shape.
Yes the car is being painted all black no stripes,the wheels have had the spokes painted satin black,i have 2 sets of the same wheels thats on the car,one set will be left all polished.I just think the car looked to blingy as it was and i just wanted to be differant from when the previous owner had it.I like the white with black stripes.
Are you going to refit stripes, in a different colour obviously ?
As others said the best shape.
Cupramax said:
Out of interest what makes it a "pro touring" Camaro? is it an actual model or just a fanboy name for a modded one?
As google said,it,s a style that is sort of circuit race looks with the handleing of a race car an lots of power,most cars classed as pro touring are semi tubbed at the rear so you can fit wide wheels and still retain the rear seats unlike pro street which means tubbing the rear with massive wheels and wheel tubs where the seats went.The guy that built my car in the states wanted an early camaro that could get round a circuit an handle as good as a Z06 corvette.The car had 85k dollars spent acheiveing this.When the car came to england in 2007 it was a pure circuit car then a full interior was fitted an made more streetable.
fesuvious said:
That car was on ebay a few weeks/couple months ago.
Was it you selling it?
Hi fesuvious,no the car has never been on ebay,i did put it on pistonheads just after buying it for a lot less money than i paid for it.I then got help from a friend to sort it all out so decided to keep it.I bought the car off of the origenal guy that imported it an it has never been for sale over here.Was it you selling it?
fesuvious said:
You might want to think about where those photo's are published.
I can guarantee that those exact photos were in use on ebay only a few weeks ago. The car was up for @£40k.
ETA I gave serious consideration to making contact!
Thanks for the heads up on this,there is a camaro on ebay the same colour of mine but it sit,s very differant an has differant wheels.Thanks again.I can guarantee that those exact photos were in use on ebay only a few weeks ago. The car was up for @£40k.
ETA I gave serious consideration to making contact!
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