For Sale: 1996 Camaro SS - 611rwhp 608ftlb

My original 1996 Camaro SS is finally up for sale. I no longer have the time to enjoy the car and drive it the way it should. This is a great car with no expense compromise to build a super strong but daily driven car. This car is built with a lot of help from LJ and is a little stronger than his car when he ran the 9.99 second. I have not taken this to the strip so don’t have any time except for the dyno.

This car has been well taken care of and has not been driven hard yet. The motor, rearend, and driveshaft is built to handle 1000hp so even at 611rwhp 608ftlb, I am not pushing the limit of the car. The idea was to overbuild everything so that it will provide good reliability.

This is a great street car (extremely mild and daily driven for two years straight!) and a great quarter mile and road race car.

Now it is available to a very lucky person!!



http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p149/tigerlam92/IMG_0054small.jpg

Engine:
Nu-tek 396 10K miles (fully forged, 9.2 compression ratio, JE pistons, Callies crank and 4 bolt main, high volume oil pump/shaft, and machined and assembled by Nu-tek), maxed Vortech S-Trim with aftercooler and mustang ice tank, 72 lb/hr Seimens Injectors, Acceleronics Impedance Box, Custom dyno tuning by LT1 Edit, AFPR, Walbro 340M FP, Modern Musclecar Voltblaster, AFR 190 Heads, Ferrea Valves 1.6”-ex 2.055”-int, Custom grind Comp cam (229:242-114), Gold Crane 1.5 Race Rocker Arms, Accel 1000cfm TB, NGK BPR8ES plugs at 0.035", MSD 8.5mm wires, new Optispark, Meziere heavy duty WP and 160'C Thermostat
Shortblock and head were put together by Nick at Nu-tek Racing who build racing motor for almost 20 years.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p149/tigerlam92/engine.jpg

Driveline:
KTRE 12-bolt rearend 3.42 gears all set by Craig at www.topofthehillpc.com with Tom's Differentials Best of Everything Eaton posi with heat treated ring 'n pinion
3.5” high strength light weight steel driveshaft by South Bay Driveline (for 1000hp)
Stage 4 Spec Clutch with the X-pad. (Drive like stock and no spring to break)

Exhaust:
Jet Hot Hooker Long Tubes, Custom 3” off-road Y-pipe, Custom 4” exhaust into a Magnaflow

Suspension and Brakes:
Hal adjustable Shocks, Eibach Pro Kit Springs, Hotchkis panhard rod-trailer arms-sway bars, KB Double Diamond SFC, Baer Racing Track Kit with Porterfield R4S pads, ET Street, DGM Ground effect with WW air dam

Sound System:
2000 watts sound system with Panasonic DF88 deck, two 800A2 amps, Boston Pro Components (front), Infinity Kappa (rear), two 10 inch Solar Baric with custom built box, all done by professional who built competition sound systems.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p149/tigerlam92/800A2andSolarBaric.jpg
Others:
One set of 1996 Silver ZR-1 17x9 rims with Victoracer Tires
One set of 2001 Chrome ZR-1 17x9.5 rims with bridgestone front and Nitto 555R rear
Corbeau A4 Racing seats
TurnOne racing Power Steering pump
A-Pillar with boost and fuel gauge
Autometer Shift light 5” tach on dash
Jim Moran’s PCM with LT1 Edit
Performance Friction PF1 racing pads
SLP Line Lock

Condition:
Paint, interior, exterior perfect. Garaged and No accident.

Pics - http://new.photos.yahoo.com/hughlam2004/album/576460762336215435

$16,500

All inquiries are welcome. Serious buyers only are welcome for test drive and you will be impressed! Located in East Bay Caifornia, Hayward Hills.

Thanks
--Hugh

hughlam03@yahoo.com
510-913-0284


http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p149/tigerlam92/side.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p149/tigerlam92/roof2.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p149/tigerlam92/mileage.jpg

how much boost are you running for that much horsepower? car looks superclean

how much boost are you running for that much horsepower? car looks superclean

Since it is a very strong motor with very good utilization of the boost due to the heads, cam, and headers, etc combination, I am only peaking at ~11.5 psi of boost on the dyno table which is the maximum that the Vortech S trim can push out.

The curent Vortech supercharger has new seals and bearings. If a T-trim is put in, I can push the power to a different higher level.

thanks
--Hugh

Does it get good gas mileage? ;)

Good luck on the sale. :thumb:

Does it get good gas mileage? ;)

Good luck on the sale. :thumb:


It's not bad at 18 mpg freeway and 14.5 mpg on the street.

thanks,
--Hugh

beautiful looking car, good luck with the sale bro

nice car.... good luck

Beautiful car, not a detail was spared, too bad you are selling it. Good luck with the sale.

Beautiful car, not a detail was spared, too bad you are selling it. Good luck with the sale.

Thanks guys!

--Hugh

you timed the dyno pull :P

Hahaha. LOL

Bad grammar here.

I meant except for the power data from the dyno pull no data from the time slip.

Cheers

--Hugh

Still for sale? consider a trade?

Still for sale? consider a trade?

I have some interest and one very interested, but it is still for sale currently.

Not really interested in a trade if it is another car. If it is a business, property, real estate, diamonds, paintings, etc then I'm always interested :)

Let me know.

Cheers
--Hugh

Man I just totaled my 91 Camaro and i'm looking for a new one. But its going to be a while i'm getting ready to ship out to Korea =/ Grr I would snatch this up in a heart beat if I wasn't leaving. Good luck and ttt for ya.

TTT for a beautiful looking SS...

I bought this car on March 23 for $16,000. I picked it up from the shipping company about a week later. On April 28 after putting about 200 miles on it, and taking it out about 10 times, never to the track, two pistons broke. I've spent over 70 hours working on it since it came apart, and I'll have another probably 80 hours of work before I have it all back together. This in addition to about $1000 I'll be spending on a new set of pistons, antifreeze, wires, gaskets, etc. But worst of all, the damned aggravation from it all. I got a car that I thought was already all built up so that I wouldn't have to do two hundred hours of work building it up. I get this thing, and it has massive engine failure after driving it 10 times.
I regretted buying it before the failure though. After I found out that the supercharger is spitting oil into the engine, the heater core is broken, the car surges after WOT, the wheel bearings ($130 each) were shot, the tie rods were shot, the brakes were shot, it was the transmission I heard whining, not the rear end, and the pushrods were so underlength the nuts were scratching the rockers.
I've called the former owner several times Wednesday, yesterday, and today to have a talk now that I've found out what the problem was after working on it almost every day and weekend for the last three weeks, but his phone goes right to his message. Maybe he's busy, I don't know.
He was very good to deal with when I was buying the car. And maybe he didn't know the car was about to break. But he did know that the exterior wasn't "perfect", and that the clutch didn't "drive like stock" like he said in the ad. The exterior is not too good at all. The front ps fender is cracked from when the hood was slammed on it because that fender is so far off from where it should be, some kind of fluid spilled on about half the hood that penetrated in and won't come out even with rubbing compound, the ground effect pieces are barely holding on there (there's such a big gap that gravel gets trapped between them and the car) , and it has its share of scratches and rock chips. The clutch is on/off, almost nothing in between. I can live with that, okay; but it is really damn far from "drives like stock."
I put 30 hours probably into arranging a loan to buy it, getting shipping set up, getting a plane ticket out there to drive it, etc. After that, nobody is going to not get the car because of a sub-par exterior, or a stiff clutch. I got the car; but I did assume the engine was good.
He also knew that the supercharger spit oil, the heater core was broken, and that every oil supply line to the supercharger leaked like crazy.

Be careful if you fly across the country to buy a built car. I knew that I was really buying the car before I went out there to drive it, unless there was something seriously wrong with it. I asked what I could think of to ask before I left, but I should have asked more. Like what timing chain was in it. I assumed that someone with a supercharged 396 would put a decent one in. Nope. Now I'm putting in a double roller in addition to all the other work I'm doing and have already done on it.

I am sorry to hear about the bad luck you have had with the car! I hope you get a return phone call!:shrug:

That's a $16K dollar hunk of $hit. But really, you seriously spent 16 grand on an 11 year old redneck Camaro? That's being pretty careless with your money. And how in the world did you get a loan for a 96? If you have to take out a loan to buy something this impractical then I'd hate to see your list of priorities.
As for the seller, I wouldn't expect to hear a word from him. This is just another lesson to always buy completely stock or close to it knowing that what's done is done to your satisfaction.
It's unfortunate but hopefully you've learned from your mistake.

Thanks Mission Man.

ss6ixspeed, you obviously don't know much about what kind of time and money is involved in building a 600 hp car. The engine will cost you 10 grand.

It would've also come with a warranty. Now that your lemon is broken, the hours and money spent repairing this clunker, you could've bought a low mile SS for $6-7000, dumped $10,000 into it, had a warranty on the engine AND had piece of mind knowing everything was done right.
You won't get any sympathy from us. You should've known you were buying into a risk.

It would've also come with a warranty. Now that your lemon is broken, the hours and money spent repairing this clunker, you could've bought a low mile SS for $6-7000, dumped $10,000 into it, had a warranty on the engine AND had piece of mind knowing everything was done right.
You won't get any sympathy from us. You should've known you were buying into a risk.

Speak for yourself. You're being a complete *******.

It would've also come with a warranty. Now that your lemon is broken, the hours and money spent repairing this clunker, you could've bought a low mile SS for $6-7000, dumped $10,000 into it, had a warranty on the engine AND had piece of mind knowing everything was done right.
You won't get any sympathy from us. You should've known you were buying into a risk.

1000hp ready race motor with a warranty huh

ok that ten grand takes care of the motor, what about the rest of the mods, blower, chassis,suspension, drivetrain, wheels, electronics, and dont forget all the little things that add up very quickly on a 600hp daily driver

although i would never buy a modded car i understand why you did

You're a real classy guy ss6ixspeed. Maybe I was foolish, yea, I should have expected a professionally built engine with 12k on it with top notch parts to come apart 200 miles after I got it. I just didn't see it until reading your posts.

That's a $16K dollar hunk of $hit. But really, you seriously spent 16 grand on an 11 year old redneck Camaro? That's being pretty careless with your money. And how in the world did you get a loan for a 96? If you have to take out a loan to buy something this impractical then I'd hate to see your list of priorities.

Yea, you're a real class act.

Below is the email I replied today to your shorter email. Please email me or call me when you wish. I have been busy but you must have called me when my phone was off during my meetings.

>>>>>>>>>
Hi David,

I am really sorry to hear about this and never imagine this could happen! I have my phone with me but didn't receive a call from you or any voice message.

Did you figure what caused the problem? The broken piston should be a result of something else. The motor and everything works really well when you were here and when we had our longer than 30 minutes test drive. You knew I was not hiding anything and this came to me as a big surprise, too. I was thinking all along that the motor is in good condition since it has never given me any problems and ran really strong for a number of years.

Were there excessive increase in mileage (>1miles) after the transport? I wonder if the transport company did drive it hard. Even with the rev limiter set at 3000rpm (by LT1 Edit), it is still a bad thing if they keep hitting it.

I hope with your long hours of hard work, the car will be back up running strong and give you all the pleasure of driving it. Let me know how it goes and if I can help in any ways.

Again I am really sorry to hear this and wish you the best.

Regards
--Hugh
>>>>>>>>>>>>

From reading my posts and people who have followed my car, they would know that everything I said is legitimate and I don't BS.

To more of your questions or concerns within this thread (please email me if you wish since I don’t come here as often as I used to):
1. I don’t think the supercharger is splitting oil. The seal was replaced. I would look into putting a catch can in-line with the modified PCV system. I have oil separators on both valve covers but did not put in a catch can. This will be a good idea if there is oil going into the intake from this way. I have not seen blowing of any white smoke from the back so did not do this. Further oil is not splitting out from the oil dipstick either. If you need/want to, you should open the supercharger and place a new gasket which is very easy to do.
2. The oil leak from the tube for the oil going into the supercharger was shown and disclose to you when you checked the car. I advise switching just the tube out.
3. I have no idea the heater core is out. I don’t think it is since it was working. I don’t use my vent often though so may have missed it. Remember that the car runs really cool and always around ~185F or so as you had seen. So with this temperature, the heater may not be all that warm. With the larger air dam, Meziere heavy duty water pump, 160 thermostat, and both fans set to turn on really early, the car runs really cool consistently. This car hardly ever approach the half mark and usually right below the quarter mark. I would first increase the temperature of when the fans come on. This will give you hotter air if that his what you want. If the heater core is truly bad, then I am sorry and didn’t know.
4. Not sure about the wheel bearings or tie rods. It seems fine when I had it. Would the wood blocks you put in the springs to raise the car cause this?
5. Didn’t know about the pushrod. This was and should have been checked by the engine builder. The car dyno really strong, feel smooth, and sounds good.
6. I did tell you the brake is pretty worn out. Since it has the Baer track kit, replacing them should be a snap.
7. The 12-bolt rearend whining was disclose to you and clearly noted to you. I bought this from LJ with the best of everything that he put in. I bought it not too long ago and only drove it for maybe 1000 or so street miles. I trust him completely and know that it should be in good condition. I have no problem with the whining and you clearly state that you can barely hear it and didn’t mind it either.
8. The clutch is a Spec Stage 4 with their special pads and springless setup. I clearly disclose this as well. We had more than 30 minutes of test drive and you had little problem with it driving through the city, driving through the canyon, and some straights. And you saw that I drive it like stock with no problem at all even though it is springless. If you give it some more miles, you will have no problem either. If you compare this to anything else out there that can handle this can of power the clutch would be a lot worse to drive.
9. I have not seen any fluid spilled on the hood. We did inspect the car thoroughly and I do believe we did not see anything like that even till we drop off the car to the transport together.
10. Beware with the panel alignment on this kind of car. Camaro is notorious for having some gaps and off line with the body.
11. Sorry about the GFX. I must have shown the looseness to you. This is due to being on it for many years. You just need to apply new double side tape and some screws.

Again David, I am really sorry to hear about this. This car is truly my baby. The motor is well built with all forged internal and the best of everything (at the time) was put in. So I am very surprise this happened. But like anything in life, things do happen, and we all try to do our best with what comes into our life. I am hoping that you do not misjudge me from this and I do understand that something happened and really make this experience for you absolutely unpleasant.

Hopefully, once you have it fixed and spent your time with the car, the car will come back to give you all the pleasure you were seeking and more.

Hugh, because of how respectable you were to deal with I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. But the circumstances of this certainly point the other way. For one thing, one of the two pistons that broke looked like it had been broken for a couple months, as my dad who's been a mechanic for 30 years said. It had carbon built up all over where the piece had cracked off and there was nothing left of the piston material that came off in the cylinder; the pieces and all the residue had plenty of time to work out through the head. The other had obviously just come apart, it was coated with aluminum dust, and the pieces were still in there. I buy the car, then after driving it ten times it has massive engine failure. These factors indicate that you knew about it.
Even with all this though I think that you probably were honest, because that's the feeling I get. Either way I wish you the best.
I won't reply about the rest of the things here since this forum is for people looking to buy cars and I don't want to clutter it any more with another matter. I posted here to put a conclusion on this old thread, and as a lesson to other people looking at buying a modified Z28. If I had it to do over again, I would still buy a highly modified Z28. It's easier than putting all the time, planning and money into it if you don't feel like doing it all yourself, and the car will probably be fine except for a few smaller problems.
If you get a forced induction car, take off the intake elbow and look for oil. Oil in the cylinders is probably what caused the detonation on mine that broke those pistons.

I'm sorry for your loss. But engine failure like that does not point to the previous owner "knowing" of it.

As a mechanic's son, you should have known better than to spend that kind of money on a build car you didn't do your homework on. A compression check and leak down test would have saved you a bundle, showing issues like this, and not cost much to have done. Most people selling cars like these have no problems with you getting a third opinion about the health of the motor. IF THEY DO, then run away.

So in conclusion, learn by this, fix up the issues, and enjoy driving it.

How does the fact that the engine came apart after I drove it ten times since I bought it, and that one of the pistons had obviously been broken for a lot longer than the other one indicate that he knew about it? Are you kidding me pal?