New 1LE Owner

Subscribe
Aug 13, 2018 | 11:39 AM
  #1  
Picked up a 1994 Camaro Z28 last week.

It is a '1LE' car that spent most of it's early life on tracks like Watkins Glen.

It has the original (and mechanically stock) LT1 engine and T56 Borg Warner 6 speed with 47K. It has a Hurst competition shifter, Koni Yellow DA shocks/struts, Global West adjustable torque tube, Hotchkis control arms, Hotchkis strut tower brace, Hotchkis panhard bar, Eibach lowering springs, Torsen T2 differential, 4.10 rear axle ratio, 4 point roll bar, drive shaft loop, cold air intake, Hypertech power tuner, rev limiter and exhaust cutout. It's fitted with 17x9 'SS' replica wheels but it came with the stock 16x8's as well. The car came with a ton of documentation including the original race decals, track times etc.

It's pretty clean for a track car, but not perfect.






Short term plans are to get it up to scratch mechanically and do something about the chrome wheels. Then have some fun with it at an autocross event or two. It does need a new cat and there is a PS fluid leak from somewhere. A tune up including plugs and wires is probably on the cards too, so I'll be asking questions in the tech areas for sure.
Reply
Aug 13, 2018 | 12:02 PM
  #2  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Welcome to the board, great looking 4th gen!
Reply
Aug 13, 2018 | 04:40 PM
  #3  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Welcome to CamaroZ28.com ! ! !

Always good to see another LT1 F-Body alive and well, particularly a low production car like the 1994 1LE.
Reply
Aug 14, 2018 | 08:31 AM
  #4  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Thanks for the welcome. First Camaro for me, and definitely first LT1 so big learning curve ahead of me. I've been in touch with the owner that raced and did all of the suspension work on the car. He's confirmed that the engine is stock - no cam or other internal mods. I plan to keep it that way, but there are some maintenance tasks that need done - new y pipe and cat, new plugs and wires and possibly a HP power steering hose. I'll be posting some questions on those items in the technical section once I've done a bit more reading through some old posts.

The car was originally stripped of all of it's rear panels for track duty so there are a few smaller trim items I need to locate - I tried the dealer but all of the stuff I'm looking for is NLA.

In case anyone is wondering about my handle - I've been a Pontiac fan for a while - this is the 1LE's stable mate;



I'm pretty sure the T/A and the Camaro are arguing with each other after I close the garage door at night.
Reply
Aug 14, 2018 | 09:23 AM
  #5  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Clean looking stuff! I have had a lot of luck finding parts from Hawks Motor Sports Hawks Motor Sports ? 1982-2002 Camaro and Firebird Specialists, Classic Industries https://www.classicindustries.com and Rock Auto https://www.rockauto.com/. Passed that, The junk yard will be your friend!

It doesn't seem like there is a lot to do for you; are you planning on the track?
Reply
Aug 14, 2018 | 10:04 AM
  #6  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Quote: It doesn't seem like there is a lot to do for you; are you planning on the track?
With the suspension mods and the 4:10 gears, I'm picturing it will make a pretty fun autocross car. That's definitely on the list - but probably not this season. I need to get it up to snuff mechanically and address the wheels/tires before I can even think about that. I'm reading through old posts and formulating a plan for the Y pipe and plugs/wires. Sounds like the plug/wire task is an easier one with the Y pipe removed so it probably makes sense to tackle both jobs at the same time versus doing them individually. I've discovered the OEM Y pipes are NLA but I'll post a question about all of that in the technical section in a couple of days.

Thanks for the links!

Reply
Aug 14, 2018 | 10:53 AM
  #7  
Re: New 1LE Owner
You're welcome and good luck! The plugs are definite challenge, but believe it or not the stock manifolds are not the hardest setup to change the plugs. I had shorty headers for a few years and had a way harder time with those than the manifolds. It has been so long since I had to work with the stock exhaust, but with the placement of the driver side cat can make the rear plugs a challenge.

If you change exhaust (in regard to headers), the main thing I would recommend you focus on is heat management. I have run into a ton of issues with heat on both short and long tube headers that have caused my project many road blocks.
Reply
Aug 14, 2018 | 12:28 PM
  #8  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Quote: If you change exhaust (in regard to headers), the main thing I would recommend you focus on is heat management. I have run into a ton of issues with heat on both short and long tube headers that have caused my project many road blocks.
Definitely planning on keeping the stock manifolds. I'm told the current system on the car uses the stock y pipe and cat, so I'm leaning towards simply replacing the Y pipe and (leaking) cat with the Walker replacement. From the cat back, the car has a system of unknown origin but it looks well put together and in good shape. There is a short section of pipe and a manual exhaust cutout mounted just inboard of the right rear wheel and ahead of the crossflow muffler. I've not popped that open yet to see just how loud it is, but I imagine it might come in handy if I ever get to disliking my neighbours.

Reply
Aug 14, 2018 | 01:08 PM
  #9  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Is the cat back stainless? Borla made an “adjustable” 3” catback with a pipe straight back from the intermediate pipe to the right exhaust tip, with various orifice plates to control how much flow bypasses the muffler and how much flows through the muffler to the left exhaust tip.

https://www.lmperformance.com/7017/1...stable-v8.html
Reply
Aug 14, 2018 | 01:45 PM
  #10  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Quote:
Is the cat back stainless? Borla made an “adjustable” 3” catback with a pipe straight back from the intermediate pipe to the right exhaust tip, with various orifice plates to control how much flow bypasses the muffler and how much flows through the muffler to the left exhaust tip.

https://www.lmperformance.com/7017/1...stable-v8.html
No it's definitely not stainless. It's possible the mid-pipe is even stock - but it looks to be a pretty healthy diameter if it is. The rear muffler is mounted in the traditional crossflow position with a single inlet on the RH side and two outlets on the LH side. The two tailpipes exit on the LH side. The original owner indicated the muffler was a Flowmaster. The 'cutout' branches off the over the axle pipe on the RH side (similar to the Borla you linked to) and ahead of the muffler. It's comprised of a short section of pipe welded to the main pipe that terminates in a hinged cutoff valve that can be slid open manually. That cutoff valve ends up just aft of the RH rear wheel below the spare tire area.

Hard to describe so I will try and post some pictures when I get home.
Reply
Aug 14, 2018 | 05:33 PM
  #11  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Picture of cutout;

Reply
Aug 15, 2018 | 10:08 AM
  #12  
Re: New 1LE Owner
That is way easier to get to than mine, I have them right behind the headers.
Reply
Aug 15, 2018 | 11:21 AM
  #13  
Re: New 1LE Owner



The stock intermediate pipe is crimp bent 2.75" diameter. You can get mandrel-bent replacements in 3", 3.5" and 4". The 4" version is a tight fit over the panhard rod brace. This is the Mufflex 4" catback, through a 4" Flowmaster race version crossflow style muffler, single in/single out.
Reply
Aug 21, 2018 | 02:31 PM
  #14  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Managed to track down a photo of the car on track circa 2008;

Reply
Oct 8, 2018 | 09:32 PM
  #15  
Re: New 1LE Owner
Beautiful car and judging from the photos it is in beautiful condition, especially the cloth upholstery. I have the cloth seats in my daily driver convertible and love them, they are comfortable and hold you in place around corners.

What class or run group did the original owner participate in?
Reply