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.