1999 Camaro SS Build.
 

After being prompted by a few to make a build thread here goes! :)

Last summer I picked up a 1 owner 1999 Camaro SS it was a single day shy of the original owner having it 19 years. The car was special ordered by him with specific options. To say I have a stack of papers on this car is an understatement. From his original order form and down payment to every single oil change and the K&N filter (only modifications from stock) he put in it. Aside from a few minor scrapes and a couple little dings the car is in beautiful shape. The interior is great with only the driver seat showing signs of wear. He did use a harsh cleaner and left some strange marks on the seats by it doesn't bother me and most don't notice it.

The car is Navy blue metallic with the neutral interior, t-tops, 6 speed with a handful of SLP options and just under 55k miles. After having it for a few weeks the suspension was a little softly sprung so I addressed that with some BMR units.

BMR Level 3 Koni Handling Performance Package
BMR Adjustable Panhard Bar (on the fence with this unit)
BMR Chrome Moly Strut Tower Brace
BMR Subframe Connectors

The car handled great after this but does rise a smidge on the harsh side. That's ok though because it's soooo much more fun now!

After thinking it was too quiet I figured why not a new exhaust? I didn't go super expensive but I may swap it out down the line, who knows at this point. I am leaving the stock SLP Dual Dual in place as I can bypass it for more sound/power or mellow things out with it as it's quite quiet in comparison to everything else on the market.

Texas Speed 1-7/8" headers
3" Off Road Y-Pipe
QTP 3" Electric Cutout with remote controllers

The car also is going to make more power than stock so figured why not do the rear end?

Strange Dana S60 (black powder coated), 3.73 gears 25 spline axles
Strange Chrome Moly yoke upgrade
PST 3.5" 1,200 HP aluminum drive shaft with Strange Chrome Moly slip yoke
On-Car Adjustable Lower Control Arms
Energy Suspension polyurethane bump stops

So the time has come to figure out engine and tranny. After a lot of thought and looking at pinching pennies I said screw it. Going cheap would save a few grand AT most and would surely leave some power on the table. Tony Mamo and I hooked up on a package we think should fit the needs. Lots of usable power and long engine life with good driveability. I don't want the car to be a pain to drive. So we settled on the following.

New sleeved 5.3 aluminum block, 4.185" bore and 4" stroke
Callies crank
Callies Rods
Wiseco pistons
MMS 265 LS7 heads with upgraded valves
MMS 1.8 ultralight rockers
Ported MSD intake
102 mm TB (cable driven)
Johnson Short travel lifters
Custom Cam
Manton custom pushrods
ATI custom lightweight damper

Whew! That's a lot for my brain to digest but this should make killer power and make this car a rocket ship! It will rev higher but I'm not going to turn more than 7k RPM's. There just won't be a need in most cases.

On to the transmission because that stock T56 won't handle what this motor has to offer and with it being 20 years old let's be honest, new parts are better. So here we go!

RPM Level IV T56 Magnum (2.66 first gear)
Monster LT1-S Clutch
New Slave Cylinder
21 lb flywheel
Speed Bleeder
MGW Shifter

I went with the 2.66 and the 3.73 gears because this thing will make a boat load of torque and going with more rear gear or a steeper first gear will absolutely ridiculous to try and hook up. If it seems too difficult to hook I may just go to a custom gearing and see if I can get to 60 in first gear. lol

So there is the build before I get to the rest of the suspension, brakes, wheels/tires and interior. Who knows, probably end up having it painted as well. GM doesn't offer the car I want so I am going to build it. :) I plan to drive this car a lot so building the drivetrain to take more abuse than the engine can dish out was key. I have built cars engine first and that was a mistake. Never again.

If anyone is curious I expect the total all-inclusive (including the car) to put the build around $45k. Not chump change by any means but I shall fear no stock Z06, ZR1, Gen V Viper, or about anything else that I encounter on the freeway. :)

Pictures to follow.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...11469fc939.jpg
Bone stock, for now. :)
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...9c1996b796.jpg
That wheel gap!
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...efaf8403c3.jpg
Sorry for the orientation. As you can see, the pretty girls are followed by the chubby ones. Actually I like that Challenger a lot. RT with the Shaker Package. What a great car!
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...89636b6aa6.jpg
Lowered and washed! Don't mind those cracks. Some fool (me) sprayed them with a weed killer that stained the driveway. I pressure washed after and now I have two shades of concrete, yay!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...bc57fac1c9.jpg
And this is the most special cargo that car has ever transported. She is 4 and knows the name of only one car. CAMARO :). She has a "Corvette Girl" shirt she wears sometimes. She called her grandfathers Challenger a Cameo one day. Haha! She likes to ride in it and hear the noise.

Duplicate post.

Nice example of an SS love it!
Keep it looking factory-ish, that will be a wolf in sheeps clothing!
2.66 and 3.73 is not too low...its a tall gear with lots of power that is a pain, takes longer to "catch up". When you have a motor that likes to revs higher you wont feel the lower gear one bit.

I run a T56, 4.11 26 in tire and dont feel like its too low at all just operates a lil higher than it would with a smaller cam. Mamo will steer you right!
Would love to do the same to my 5.3 but Ca smog.....

My only concern with the gearing is the amount of power this thing will make trying to hook up. lol

Agreed on keeping it looking stock. Might change wheels but that's as far as it will go.

gear it for the cam, if you get some M/T youll love it even more!
ALmost bought one exactly like that they were only 5k back then...wound up wiht a C4 instead lol
That is an awesome color not many in that condition hang on to it!!

Does your trans have the Z06 gearing? How much was it?
Have a built LT1 T56 in my Abody but dont like the OD gear.

Looks like GM coulda delivered it that way you got a wolf in sheeps clothing.

Pics of your A-body?

The F-Body stock gearing is the 2.66 first and .5 OD. For some reason the two Magnum T56s come with either the 2.66 first gear set through 4th and then steeper 5th and 6th. The other version is the Z06 version 1st to ,4th and then longer 5th and 6th with the .50 6th gear.

Tranny is around $4,300 but with new clutch and other today bits it's arund $6,500 all in.

Thanks, should be pretty fun when completed. However, I said I would stop at under the car and now I am wondering "Do 6th gen ZL1 seats fit, or do CTS-V seats fit?" lol. I'm starting to think a project will never be finished.

I have been looking at wheels. The stockers, or even aftermarket to run 315+ in the rears of the same style look good but not sure if I want to go a different route route. Some matte gold wheels would look at home on it. Who knows....

Whatever I choose this thing will try and get out on Sebring and have some fun!

Have you done all this already or is it just the plan?

I would have gone LS3 stroker if I were going to remove the 5.7. I was pushing 450+rwhp on a mustang dyno with a TR224 cam and some mamo ported/milled AFR205's, ported fast intake in my 2000 SS stock ls1 block.

Headers, I would do Kooks, Texas speed don't fit as well and hang lower on the car.

Great looking car. I really miss mine.

Hey Dave, great questions.

Suspension, exhaust, and Dana S60 and new driveshaft are complete and installed. The drive shaft will be shortened with the new tranny.

I have the cam, heads and intake and other top end bits are being delivered this week. Got my confirmation from Tony this AM. The short block will.most likely be completed next week and delivered. Transmission and other bits will be ordered by end of the week.

Reason I didn't go with the LS3 is from guidance from others on the 5.3 block being stronger than the LS3 and the LS3 block with a stroker can't deliver the same cubic inches without having a longer stroke than the size of the bore which puts a lot of strain on the piston and rods. Of course you can sleeve the LS3 as well but I decided to go with a brand new block.

This build is shooting to be a 725+ crank hp mill. Goal was 600 at the tires but with the F-Body exhaust and turning a Dana S60 with 3.73's it may not get there.

Sub'd

Have you been able to run it with the new exhaust before you took everything else apart? I am thinking of getting exhaust on mine but I want to avoid the drone that some systems have.

I got 18" wheels from OEWheels and I'm really happy with them.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...4a90553146.jpg

Man! Brings back memories. Never should have gotten rid of my '02. Such a fun car to work on and drive. Compare that to the C6 with parts that cost 4X as much. ugh!
Keep us posted on the build please.

Wow! Sharp car. Those wheels do look good on there. I was thinking maybe some CCW's but not sold on them.

Yes, I have driven the car the way it is and with the cutout open it's loud but not bad. However that's with the stock engine so it's pretty tame sounding. With the exhaust cutout closed it sounds good through the SLP Dual Dual system with no drone. It's not as loud as the other aftermarket units though but I am ok with that

Will do. I modded my last C6 with a blower so I feel your pain on the Corvette tax. My entire exhaust was cheaper on this than just the headers on my 2013 C6. That being said I will have more $$ invested into the drive train in this than a decently low mile C6 Z06 goes for. lol I guess I'm not too bright.

I "think" directly from Strange. I will have to check though. Ordered it through a local shop.

Thanks, please let me know if I am forgetting anything in the build I should address.

Take lots of pics and keep us posted.

I miss my 00 SS, and am pushing a few ideas around.

Low mile stock 01/02 SS and build it
Try to by mine back (probably cheapest option)
Berger or ZL1 Phase II car at least.

I wouldn't think an SS would be a sheep in stock form either.

It's funny, when I got the rear guys at the shop said "Why not a 12 bolt?" and after talking goals they agreed it wouldn't be good for a 6 speed car at this power level. Then they said "9" is cheaper, why not that?" My response was two sided. I didn't want a Ford part under the car. I know I know, not exactly a Ford and the Dana ain't exactly a GM exclusive bit either. The other was that I wanted overkill. The S60 will take a hell of a lot more than I plan to put through it and the $250 more for the S60 is a drop in the bucket, all things considered. If $250 is a determination In the world of speed you probably shouldn't be playing. I was there before and it makes doing what you want tough, but I get it if people are scrimping on things to get stuff done.

It's one of those cars that as I get older I appreciate more because it's fun to drive. It's far from the latest and greatest machine but they are a hoot to drive. It's sort of like a girl that you know is trouble but so fun to mess around with.

Awesome ride.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...0880488d35.jpg


Heads and intake have arrived!!!!!

I would post some more pics of the intake and heads but with being sick 2 days last week and getting behind I just don't have the time.

What I can say is that everything looks great. I can't wait to get the rest in so that this thing can start to come together. I'm getting itchy waiting. lol