1995 Camaro

[MostMint]

The Camaro had developed a clunk in the left front. BP went through this with his so I checked the old thread and put him to memory test. Seems he replaced the ball joints and the control arm bushings. I reasoned the ball joint was the culprit so I bought some replacements and got to work on it this weekend. After buying those parts I looked at it and could see the rear lower control arm bushing was quite shot so I bought the lower control arm bushings also.

Starting disassembly, I managed to free up both ball joints without wrecking the boot. It took a little patience with a wire brush and penetrating oil but I was able to undo the stabilizer link. The front control arm bolt came free real easy but the rear did not. I messed with that thing - tried penetrating oil, air chisel, hammer, sledgehammer, c-clamp (tap, tighten, tap), cold chisel, none of it worked. I even tried heat but all that did was start a fire with the rubber. So I went to last resort - sawzall. The clamp moved it a smidge and gave enough room to fit the blade in. Those bolts are hard so it took a while but I did cut it through.

I took out the old bushing shell with the air chisel. The inners were so loose they practically fell out. Fred32v had a tool to press in the new bushing, though the bolts were too short. A quick check revealed I had none longer than those with the tool, so I improvised and used the vice to do the pressing. I thought about the front bushing but it was way too tight. I figured if I ruined the bushing I'd be stuck until a shop could do it, and I don't really want to drive the SS in the salt yet. So I let the sleeping dog lie and started putting it back together.

It went together a lot easier than it came apart. I still need to get the right bolt as the replacement was a little bit narrower than the original, but at least I'm back on the road. I'll try to get that bolt corrected soon. As it is now the toe in is off so it'll need to be fixed. Hate to do that with the wrong bolt - though I suppose I could get the lifetime alignment and have them do it twice.

Preliminary road test confirms it was the rear lower control arm bushing though I'll know for sure by the time I get to work tomorrow.

[MostMint]

Getting ready to take the car to Nelson Ledges for track day. Lately I noticed a pulse in the brakes and decided that would not do for track day. I had put Chinese rotors on and felt they were warping so I wanted some good rotors. I cursed that junk – seemed like it was not that long ago I redid the front brakes. After some fishing around I found some cross drilled rotors with ceramic pads from Powerstop for just under $98 shipped to the house. I could not find plain non-Chinese rotors in town for less than that.



Pulled the old parts off – had to work a little to get the right caliper off since it was rusted on. So were the rotors. To my surprise the pads were pretty well worn and so were the rotors. I put the micrometer to the rotors and they are at 1.25” and 1.20” is the min so they are turnable. A quick check of my log on the car shows these brakes had been on 41000 miles – they were installed in November of 2001. I guess it had been a little longer than I thought.



With a little never seize on the hub, I reassembled without incident.



Hopefully they work as good as they look.



Most fun I've had changing brakes. Don't know if I can go back to regular brakes.

[Fred32v]

Did you put the left rotor marked "L" on the left and the right on the right?
Hmmm!

[MostMint]

Actually they were marked driver and passenger side. Unless they were for right hand drive car I think I'm good to go.

[MostMint]

Today I put the summer tires on the car, and I did this:



After a couple attempts to find a new battery tray I decided the path of least resistance was to fabricate a bracket. For whatever reason GM put a threaded hole in core support in the perfect spot so with some 1/8" x 1" stock I made up a bracket. I painted it black - almost looks like it belongs there.

With this the car is ready to go road racing - at least I think it is.

[MostMint]

Wow no updates here for a while. The car has been out to Nelson Ledges twice - the first was in April when Dave and I were sharing the Saturn. It made it through that day without incident. Pretty sure my best time was 1:32.
Fast forward to July 22 and the car is back at the track. The first time I had zero experience and now I had two test sessions under my belt.

During the early part of the first session Fred32v clocked me at 1:32 again. That was the early part and he did not get the latter part of the session. I forget if it was the first or second session but the car suffered breakage - the power steering line let go. That 16 year old line was just not up to the pressure. Dave wasn't there yet and he stopped at the store and got me a new line. I had jack and stands and borrowed some open end wrenches and the line came off. I put it back together and got ready to go again after the lunch break.

The pump was still whining but I went out anyway to get my lap times. Well it only lasted about 5 laps then I got black flagged as I was dropping oil. This run finished off the pump itself - which I apparently damaged running it low on fluid. Maybe the melted dipstick for the power steering should have been a clue. What about my times? Well I failed our official timer I wanted those times so I did not get them.

So I nursed back to my Dad's place. Borrowed the truck to get back to the track and finish out the test session. Picked up a new pump in Wadsworth and put it in the car later that night. It was a late night thing as we were leaving for vacation in two days and I did not want to keep the truck for a whole week.

From blowing the power steering twice there was quite a bit of oil around. This apparently had a bad effect on the belt as it picked up a nasty screech. Luckily that's all it was as I put a new belt on and it stopped.

[MostMint]

Lately there has been a clunk in the back when the kids are riding back there. I figured the springs were just getting worn out. Well I put the Impala and Camaro side by side and when I looked under the back I noticed the sway bar hanging down. Both stabilizer links were broken. Luckily the old one on the driver side just came apart - the sleeve is a little bigger than the bolt and so they were not rusted together. The passenger side was missing. This was an $8 fix. Noticed the bump stops are missing in the back.

I had a Summit Racing discount from all the expensive stuff I bought last year and I used it a few weeks back to get replacement wiper blades. I could not find them anywhere at regular parts stores. Finally put them on the car. The original wiper blades (I have not changed them since I owned the car!) were not working very well. $38 worth of blades for $8.

There has been a screech starting under the hood. I have had problems with alternators in the past so I removed the belt and spinning the alternator sure enough it squeaks. Tried spinning the idler pulley and the water pump and neither of them squeaked. Looking at my records I replaced the alternator in 1999 and it has 70k on it. The bearing design is not that great so I got another. It went in fairly easily but the squeak persisted! This "fix" cost $107

Further inspection revealed the water pump has some free play. Before I went to changing it I decided to change the belt to an old spare. Lo and behold the squeak stopped. Looking at the belt I took off, it has spots along the outside edge where the rubber is gone and the nylon is rubbing on the pulleys. I can only guess this is the problem. I'll need to check receipts maybe I can get a new belt on warranty.

Also put in a quart of oil. Oil consumption is increasing though I don't have a good handle on the rate yet.

The car recently flipped 160k. It's getting old.

[MostMint]

Not only is it getting old but rust is starting to be a factor. Yesterday the main brake line to the rear failed - as I was slowing to pull into my driveway. The car stopped OK but the pedal jumped lower. Also over the last couple weeks I noticed the RF brakes appear to be working better than the LF under heavier braking. I am not 100% certain on this but when cars get the old the rubber lines can get blocked on the inside - assuming the LF line is the one that is partially blocked. So while I was buying the necessary adapters I also bought new brake hoses. If that does not work I'll need to do something with the caliper.

Luckily all the bleeders have come free so far. I will have to replace the rusty part of the front lines as well. That will be next. Also replacing 17 year old brake fluid is probably a good idea!

My children - now 5'8" and 5'9" and having to ride in the back - don't want me to sell this car. I think they may have to spend some time with me fixing it to see if it sways their opinion.

[MostMint]

While replacing the front brake hoses the rust weakened LF steel line broke. I replaced the rusted piece. Somehow the RF nut was not stuck to the line so I just replaced the hose over there. I gravity bled the lines and that got the pedal back but still spongy. With no handy volunteers I remembered I have a pressure bleeder. I hooked it on and it did a great job - there was still air in the line to the back. So the car is back on line. Hopefully tomorrow I can test the high speed braking to see if the hoses fixed it.

While under the car I noticed the ebrake cable on the passenger side appears loose - like maybe the cable is broken.

[GMJohnny]

The best way to test if your brakes are working is always under a high-speed
condition!! Good thinking!! Ha!!

GM

[MostMint]

The best way to test if your brakes are working is always under a high-speed
condition!! Good thinking!! Ha!!

GM

I guess it was implied I could test the brakes in the garage to make sure the pedal stayed up. The secondary problem was high speed braking and I am not sure how to test that other than at high speeds.

[MostMint]

So the Camaro did it's job at the end of last winter. I put the summer tires on it and only drove like 60 miles all summer. With the snow that was coming yesterday I put the snow tires back on it this past Monday night.

It had been leaking oil slightly from the rear since I got the car but the last few times I moved it out of the garage I noticed more oil on the floor. Well my drive yesterday exposed a significant leak out the back of the engine. I need to get under there and look but methinks the rear main is shot. That will probably be a project for the weekend.

The A/C does not work, there is a clunk in the LF, there is a slight exhaust leak up front, there is a nasty belt squeal and the rear main is leaking. This car is showing signs of its age.

[Basement Paul]

Remember the V6 Camaro I bought? The oil sending unit was leaking, from the back of the engine, significantly... You can't really see it without a mirror, but you can feel the oil back there, and see the oil back there. Grab your favorite telescopic mirror and take a look before you start putting rear mains in the car. You might get lucky.

-BP

[MostMint]

It is the oil pan that is leaking - it is rusted out about an inch up the side. I have a spare engine where I plan to get the replacement pan. I'll have to lower the exhaust, lift the engine up to get the pan out. Book says the starter has to come out - we'll see.

[Fred32v]

Replacing the pan is a little easier than doing a rear main. Boy are you luck.