Major milestone for my Camaro.

[A_Harman]

Owned it since it was new.
21 Michigan winters on it.
200 track hours.
Crashed once at MidOhio.
Trans rebuilt because reverse got hard to find, and clutch replaced at 193k miles (clutch was P/M, still had half its lining.)
4 sets of rear axles due to outboard bearing failure.
8 sets of front wheel bearings
5 broken suspension springs
2 alternator replacements
1 power window motor replacement
1 broken front sway bar
1 broken (aftermarket) Panhard bar, put original back on.
in-tank fuel pump changed at 293,000 miles
Estimate >50 brake jobs (rotor & pad changes)
Still the original LS1 engine. Most significant repair was replacement of two broken exhaust manifold bolts and milling the manifold gasket surface flat.
Engine had the infamous LS piston slap when new. Still sounds the same 21 years later.
Burns oil now, and is retired from track use, but still runs good enough for daily commuting.

 

[Cujet]

That's impressive!

 

[KCJeep]

Very cool!

 

[TCL]

50 brake jobs?

 

[harbor]

WOW! Well done.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Did I miss something? 78.5 MPH? Get a downhill run or tailwind and hit 79MPH next time.

ok ok, 300k is beyond awesome in a disposable society. Maintenance seems pretty consistent so the next 300k should be easy, since you should keep those stressed replacement parts on the shelf. 21 years down, 21 year more to go!

 

[CharlieJ]

Were all the suspension and brake replacement parts due to track use? Would love to see more pics!

 

[Pablo]

Impressive use of camera at near 80mph

 

[Ausfahrt]

How about a picture of the exterior?

 

[2010Civic]

How many more payments before it's paid off?!? Haha

 

[fantastic]

Temperature seems inline but the oil pressure is a bit low. For 300k it's to be expected. I doubt you'll get another 300k out of it but that doesn't mean it's ready to give up yet. What are your plans with this beast? Keep driving it until rebuild is needed? What does your Oil, Filter, & OCI look like over this time period?

 

[Kira]

What kind of oil did you use?

 

[A_Harman]

50 brake jobs?

Yes. Brakes only go for about 4 track days. And I had a "summer" set of brakes for the track, then the stock brakes for the winter.

 

[A_Harman]

Were all the suspension and brake replacement parts due to track use? Would love to see more pics!

Yes. I ran with soft compound tires which allowed higher cornering G's and killed the wheel bearings.

 

[A_Harman]

How many more payments before it's paid off?!? Haha

Only 87 more payments, and she's ALL MINE!

 

[A_Harman]

Temperature seems inline but the oil pressure is a bit low. For 300k it's to be expected. I doubt you'll get another 300k out of it but that doesn't mean it's ready to give up yet. What are your plans with this beast? Keep driving it until rebuild is needed? What does your Oil, Filter, & OCI look like over this time period?

It's still a driver but will not see the track again. Underbody rust is too bad for me to chance stressing the chassis like that anymore.
I just made a post in the Oil Change thread. I changed oil by the OLM from the time it was new, and ran M1 in it until I fell in with the BITOG crowd.
Then I ran different oils like Redline, Pennzoil Ultra, and German Castrol looking for the "best" oil for the track.
There are a decent number of analyses in the UOA section
After 240,000 miles oil consumption trended up and I decided to stop running expensive oil in it. I had a stash of PU and ran it out. Since then I have been running Walmart Supertech High Mileage Synthetic 5w30, probably since 270k.

 

[ls1mike]

Good job. I know a lot of them out there with 300,000 miles or more. Most of the stuff I have broken on mine in the past 18 years has been due to the 500 1/4 miles passes it has on it. Now it only comes out on nice days. I am on my third clutch, and it has a Ford 9 inch because the 1/4 mile and 1.8 60 foots are rough on a car. I have done one alternator, one power steering pump, one failed injector and various suspension component upgrades/replacements. I am just at 80,000 miles. I think the reason these cars get more alternators than on average is their location at the bottom of the engine. Stuff can drip on them and they get hit with road debris/water. I think I am on my 4th set of brakes. The track eats them up. If I didn't have piston slap on my LS cars I would be worried. Mine is also a heads, cam, intake, full exhaust car and SBE.

No rust on mine. I can say a lot about the Pacific Northwest, but having no rust is nice.

Last time my I had a clutch done reverse was hard to get into. I guess on the T56 it is common for the reverse ring gear (or so I am told) to back off and make it hard to get in reverse. My transmission guy fixed so it would not happen again. Hes been good for a long time now.

F-bodies get a bad rap, but I would like to see some of the "reliable" cars on here take the beating a LS1/T56 takes with the minimal complaining the drivetrain does.

No fuel pump or window motor yet...but I am sure those will happen someday.

I didn't know you had an LTG in your fleet as well. I like that little mill.

 

[IndyIan]

Good job. I know a lot of them out there with 300,000 miles or more. Most of the stuff I have broken on mine in the past 18 years has been due to the 500 1/4 miles passes it has on it. Now it only comes out on nice days. I am on my third clutch, and it has a Ford 9 inch because the 1/4 mile and 1.8 60 foots are rough on a car. I have done one alternator, one power steering pump, one failed injector and various suspension component upgrades/replacements. I am just at 80,000 miles. I think the reason these cars get more alternators than on average is their location at the bottom of the engine. Stuff can drip on them and they get hit with road debris/water. I think I am on my 4th set of brakes. The track eats them up. If I didn't have piston slap on my LS cars I would be worried. Mine is also a heads, cam, intake, full exhaust car and SBE.

No rust on mine. I can say a lot about the Pacific Northwest, but having no rust is nice.

Last time my I had a clutch done reverse was hard to get into. I guess on the T56 it is common for the reverse ring gear (or so I am told) to back off and make it hard to get in reverse. My transmission guy fixed so it would not happen again. Hes been good for a long time now.

F-bodies get a bad rap, but I would like to see some of the "reliable" cars on here take the beating a LS1/T56 takes with the minimal complaining the drivetrain does.

No fuel pump or window motor yet...but I am sure those will happen someday.

I didn't know you had an LTG in your fleet as well. I like that little mill.

They are great cars for the performance to maintenance ratio, especially for the engine. I'm sure a 5spd Corolla of a similar vintage probably would survive similar road track duty if you were reasonable with the shifts, but of course no one bothers to run a Corolla that hard...
For cars of similar performance though, its hard to beat a Camaro.

 

[fantastic]

It's still a driver but will not see the track again. Underbody rust is too bad for me to chance stressing the chassis like that anymore.
I just made a post in the Oil Change thread. I changed oil by the OLM from the time it was new, and ran M1 in it until I fell in with the BITOG crowd.
Then I ran different oils like Redline, Pennzoil Ultra, and German Castrol looking for the "best" oil for the track.
There are a decent number of analyses in the UOA section
After 240,000 miles oil consumption trended up and I decided to stop running expensive oil in it. I had a stash of PU and ran it out. Since then I have been running Walmart Supertech High Mileage Synthetic 5w30, probably since 270k.

Thanks! What you've done here has worked well & getting a 300k mile run out of any car is a great accomplishment. And to say you didn't need to buy a Toyota to do it is great news. Keeping a car going that far can get fustrating at times but you stuck it out even in the northern rust belt.

 

[FZ1]

View attachment 149482

Owned it since it was new.
21 Michigan winters on it.
200 track hours.
Crashed once at MidOhio.
Trans rebuilt because reverse got hard to find, and clutch replaced at 193k miles (clutch was P/M, still had half its lining.)
4 sets of rear axles due to outboard bearing failure.
8 sets of front wheel bearings
5 broken suspension springs
2 alternator replacements
1 power window motor replacement
1 broken front sway bar
1 broken (aftermarket) Panhard bar, put original back on.
in-tank fuel pump changed at 293,000 miles
Estimate >50 brake jobs (rotor & pad changes)
Still the original LS1 engine. Most significant repair was replacement of two broken exhaust manifold bolts and milling the manifold gasket surface flat.
Engine had the infamous LS piston slap when new. Still sounds the same 21 years later.
Burns oil now, and is retired from track use, but still runs good enough for daily commuting.

What a man!!!