Well, Ken S's words were taken into consideration. What exactly should I do? I am definately going to be getting some new rotors and brake pads...brand names anyone? Looking for cross drilled and/or slotted. Something cheap but reliable and performance...not the top of the line tho (unfortunately). What else? Ken said to check suspension joints, bushings, end links and an auburn, but IDK what that is so... Anyway, any info would help to bring my 98 feeling newer!

 

I remember seeing that thread somewhere, but don't remember exactly what he replied.

Anyway... Here are my 2 cents on the things you mentioned here.

As preventive maintenance, I would change all fluids (engine oil, tranny, rear end, cooling, brake fluid etc.). That's what I always do when I buy a new to me vehicle. That way I know for sure what's in there.

Rotors? Unless you do some serious racing on the track or Auto-X, I wouldn't bother with any cross-drilled or slotted rotors. Regular rotors are plenty enough in just everyday driving and the occasional races at the drag strip.

Pads? Same thing. I've used AutoZone's Performance Friction Carbon Metallic pads in all my F-bodies and haven't had any problems whatsoever. Sure, they dust a little, but I was my car once a week, so no time for any build-up. And can't beat the lifetime warranty, either.

As far as the other stuff you mention, I guess what he meant is to raise your car and check your suspension thoroughly for any worn items and replace, if needed.

SS's (or at least some) came with the Auburn posi traction rear end, so if you change the fluids in there, check and what it looks like.

Hope this helps...

TS

 

Three rules I live by are:

1). change oil every 3000 miles

2) change tranny fluid every 15,000 miles

3) use premium gas.

To me those three things can vastly extend the life of your motor, your tranny and your sanity.

 

3000 isn't a bad idea, but you can easily go as far as 4500 miles before changing the oil. I would recommend switching to a full synthetic oil (if you arent already using synthetic) and going 4500 miles between oil changes. Definitely use premium gas, but if you choose to use regular gas, use an additive in addition to that. You can buy prestone octain booster, and it will clean your fuel injectors and give you premium or above levels of octain.

 

so just fluids and maybe some nice affordable pads? Maybe lift it up and check the suspension? Anyone else have any ideas? I know when I was looking at VR-4s and Stealths there were like thirty three hundred things that could go wrong. Confident the camaro isnt like that.

 

I agree in changing all fluids, check your ball joints and tie rods, replace shocks, then check/replace the spark plugs and plug wires. Also since you have a z28, check to make sure that there is not any metal from the stock differential, after my extended warranty is done on my car, the Torsen Differential is coming out and I will be putting an Eaton LSD in there. I used to recommend the Auburn POSI but when I talked to my rear end guy a few weeks ago, he told me that since I plan on keeping my car and truck, Eaton is the way to go. As for Brake rotors and brake pads, you can use any aftermarket rotors and what I recommend is Carquest's Gold Series Ceramic Pads (which I run on my truck and will run on my Z) since they have a lifetime replacement. If you want Slotted/Drilled rotors, check out http://www.jegs.com for their powerstop rotors which are $ 99.95 each.

Charlie

 

If you race, change oil 3000 miles or before.

Trans fluid, install a drain plug change fluid every 7500 miles and fluid & filter every 15000 miles, Also get a trans cooler.

Fuel filter every 7000 or so.

Rear-end fluid every 7500 miles.

I change pluge every 6 months.

 

Please stop spreading false hoods about octane booster. Do a search on my explaination about why this isn't true.... I forget if i did it here or at LS1.com..

 

What does premium fuel have to do with engine longevity? Unless you are detonating or getting dirty fuel it shouldn't matter.

 

Premium fuel burms cleaner, and will leave less carbon deposits in the cylinder than regular 87 octane gas. Less carbon buildup = better running eninge = longer engine life.

 

Exactly!

 

do you make a bed under the car thats an awful lot of maitenence in a 6 month period lol though you run nitrous so the plugs, oil and tranny i understand...rear fluid id tend to do every 20-30k miles same with the fuel filter but thats me and im sure i race much less then you.

lata
Bill

 

Well, about your rotor upgrade questions, I grabbed this great opinion/info from another post.


Mark,
Not to nitpick, but i would like to throw in my two cents here.
I work at TRW automotive in their Livonia facility, which is their Braking systems research and development facility.

First off, I would like to say I am a co -op student there and not a full time engineer till i get out of school (assuming we both want me to work there at that time). WIth that said, most of this information is second hand and comes fom the senior engineers. Most of it actually come from my former supervisor who was a big autocross guy and former F-body owner.

Slots and cross drills are not for cooling and provide a very minimal amount of cooling. the majority of the cooling comes from the vents and the size of the rotor and its thickness.
The vents can create some pretty nice air flow inside and around the rotor.

The slots and holes do not have a significant amound or air flow around them. Althought this can be debated since real world air flow in that region is a stab in the dark on a good day. It is pretty well agreed upon that those slots and hole do very little for cooling though. The air in there is almost stationary when compared to the vents and the air along side the rotor (particularly outboard braking plate). The air is flowing from left to right (when looking at the rotor head on- looking at the wheel stud holes). Very little air is flowing from the inboard to ourboard rotor plates or vice versa. The air inside the vent holes is pretty stagnant in there compared to the air along the outboard rotor and air in the vents. The vents can work because they utilize the air flowing from left to right, not "into" the rotor. They are like little fans.

Plus the amount of surface area has probobly trippled or quadrroopled with these vents. here is now two more surfaces in the middle (effectivly doubling surface area right there) and the additional surface area of the 4 surfaces of the vent.

If i had to guess, I bet that there is VERY little air flow inside the wheel well t begin with- and particualry under our cars relative to most other cars. The low stance and air dam really should do a good job of making sure air doesn't go crazy under there.

As far as breaking power goes, they will reduce your breaking power since a good percentage of your friction is lost. i'd guess around 10% of your pad is no longer creating any friction.

These slots and holes are for releasing gasses that build up under high heat and pressure of panic stops (or aggresive driving). With the pads used in todays vehicles, there are EXTREMLY little gasses prodeced, if any at all. If there is any, its prety much negligable.

As far as drilling your own (did i read that somewhere?), I am pretty sure.

a. slotted/cross drilled rotors are thicker/stronger than OEM

b. it has to be PEFRECTLY balanced or life will be ****ty

c. It is extremely hard to drill evenely, effectively and safely.
You have to drill correctly (dont crack the rotor!), symetrically (dont throw it off balance) and you CANT HIT ANY OF THE VENTS!. doing the last two tegether will prove to be a challenge since most rotors have a prime number (hence odd) number of vents. This is done purposely do make as FEW LINES of symetry as possible. Less lines of symetry = less noise for a mutitude of reasons over my head, I didn't really get it when my boss explained it to me. So drilling symeticrially and not hitting nonsymetrical vents might prove to be a mathematical nightmare!

In this long winded responce, i kind hoped to get at this. Slotted and cross drilled are realy only good for appearance mods. If anything they will probobly warp and/or crack faster with all things being equal (which they are not for obvious reasons)

Personally, I am going to try some stuff out and see what happens. Although it probobly wont be as cost effective as the LS1 or C5 brake upgrade- I am drawn to doing it. I guess my natural curriousity is doing it to me. I am going to attempt to make two ducts (one for each front rotor) to cool the inboard rotor. Kind of like "ram air" to the rotors if you will. I will do some measurements to see how well it stops- although i cant really guarntee accuraccy. I am also going to swap in the most exensive/best brake fluid i can find and see what that does- maybe even find some crazy way of cooling it Then i'll probobly just do the LS1 brake upgrade and get some Hawk Pads. Thats probobly the best bang for the buck (well, the majority of you guys already have the "LS1 brake upgrade."

With the above said, a set of high quality "solid" vented (99% are now a days) rotors would probobly suit you best for your application. Who makes them or what they cost is beyond me. I was just doing some late night LS1 reading tonight and stumbled across this. I would't worry too much though about the car, warped rotors are pretty common on LS1's. Hell a drive through a puddle/car wash after a long drive can do it.

Mark please dont (and I hope you didn't) take this as an attack on you or your buisness, merchandise or expertise. I was really hesitant to type all of this seeing how you are a new supporter of this website. I am really all for supporters of this site and encourage/suggest to member to buy from here whenever possible.

here is another thread about rotors that I wrote a few days ago, cant remember if its relavent or not... i think its mainly just production methods.

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...r&pagenumber=2

Anyway, its amost midnight, i'm tired and its raining so I think I am going for a jog. I've been staring at rotor blueprints and talking about them too much. I think its bordering unhealthy at this point
please pardon my terrible spelling and -i'm sure- numerious typos. [/B][/QUOTE]

 

Skip the rotors and brakes upgrades, the stock one's are fine (as mentioned in other reply here). Don't waste your money on that unless you're building a monster motor right now.

If you're uncertain about what to look for on the "preventive maintenance" side of the suspension, take it to a suspension shop, get it up on a lift and get under there with a professional and have him/her show you the bushings, etc that bear the brunt of the everyday wear-and-tear. Polyurethane bushings last longer, but are not forgiving and therefore make for a very stiff ride. Keep that under consideration as you make decisions on suspension components now and any suspension mod's you think you might consider down the road. I would suggest you stick with rubber; I had MAJOR buyer's remorse when I switched to poly bushings in a F&F car I used to own and ended up paying to have stock bushings put back in. The car was so stiff, I was embarrassed when someone else was riding in it. But that's my preference based solely on my own (bad) experience with poly bushings, etc.

Big kudo's to the person who suggested spending some of your $4-500 on checking suspension at this point in your Camaro's life though.... smart man.

Have fun... stay safe !

Daryl

 

No it doesn't. In fact running a higher octane than your engine needs will cause higher emissions which means more build up. You get more carbon build up with a rich air/fuel ratio. Octane has nothing to do with that. I ran a 70 Camaro SS for years, one configuration required 93 octane, another I built would run 87 no probs. There was no more carbon build up from running the 87 as compared to the 93. Again, the quality of the fuel matters more than the octane. More octane doesn't mean more power either.