Last few weeks have been busy more than I imagined. saving up and piecing together all I wanted to upgrade to over the past 8-12 months...now finally all installed. I can legit say I really only have about 3 more things to do to the car and I'm good. some things were a need as in strut and shock replacement (after 50K miles) and I figured since its time to replace worn shocks and struts, might as well upgrade to the 1LE V6 stuff.
Cultrag Performance, specifically Patrick Trageser, has pretty much taken all the calls and did all the research and look up of parts and vin numbers to help me accomplish getting all I needed. also a few on the forums such as Chez, and a few others have posted numbers, which I took screen caps of and saved till it was time to order.
So in summary, the Cradle Lockout from BMR was among the first to get installed. a local friend and in the Camaro group named Stephen was a life saver by far in helping me, and honestly, TEACHING me about car safety, limits, and working on jackstands. we had a guy at work, who was crushed by a car at home doing sidework. since then, if I had to get under the car, it went to a shop. Getting some of the confidence back working with Stephen has helped...now need to upgrade the 2 ton jack stands I have to some 4 ton ones
2 weeks later it was the toe rods, and Diff Lockout from BMR. the toe rods are ridiculously easy to install. the diff lockout is also easy, but on jack stands just a bit more tedious. it can be done, and even with my size and the help from Stephen, its not a "never doing that again" type job.
And then at the start of this week, I went ahead and swapped out all the V6 FE2 stuff for the V6 1LE setup. and then got the alignment done yesterday. The rear shocks I did about 2-3 weeks ago when the cradle lockout went in. so only the fronts and the link went in at the start of this week. the Moreno Motorsports camber plates are also atop of the setup and offer leaps of adjustability. I was able to get 1.5 degrees of negative camber just with the stock setup. no cutting or drilling. I haven't even touched the camber plate adjustment.
Overall, I can say this time around the suspension journey was fruitful. you cant order a 1LE with an auto, and honest, I am far past all the debate of auto vs manual. I think I was over that one around 2 or 2.5 decades ago really. so since then, I've always strived to build EXACTLY the car I wanted. not the car OTHERS wanted. there's no point in modding a car and not getting what you want out of it, or mod it JUST to take steps backwards to where you have to add more and more down the road to get it where it should be from the start.
So now, the next few goals are the Overkill Ported Intake Manifold and 80mm TB, a dedicated set of Apex Track Only wheels and Tires (Falken 615's, Bridgestone Re71r's, or something comparable. Then finally install the 1LE 6 piston setup, which has now collected dust sitting right behind me. Another collection of pieces that I've pieced together over the 8-12 month period for quite a bit less listed online as a full kit.
With this set of mod, I can say the driving dynamic and the handling has improved hand over fist. everything is stiff, but not to the point of being a cheap feeling of stiff like old cheap eBay coilovers from the late 90's. but more in control and FAR less of a floating feeling. For those that may not understand the floating feeling. a few hard AutoX events or some SERIOUS hard driving in the heat, and you will understand the limits of the FE2 bushings. this is why the V6 1LE comes stock with upgraded cradle bushings from the FE3 package, toe rods, front link, and shocks and springs. those alone will give you a completely different driving car than a regular LT (1 or 2) off the lot. the RS package is merely wheels and lights more or less and some trim. the 1LE package is the beginning of "Okay, we came here to play" as far as performance goes in my view.
with the diff lockout and the cradle bushings you get more of a push feeling during accelerating and more of a go kart feeling when turning the wheel. I still have the sway bars at medium up from and soft in the rear. by default this is a more understeer setup, and it was ok for the winter and the softer bushings. However, now you can def feel the understeer more so, and there will be a change pretty soon.
among the MANY to thank, Stephen a local friend and auto enthusiast for reinstalling the passion for working on cars after working with em all day at work, Patrick of Cultrag Performance for almost anything and everything I've gotten OEM, JDP Motorsports, Phastek's Ricardo, BMR, Steve at RDP for the cradle lockout. Theres a few more projects I've done in the meanwhile of doing all of this and people like Jason JacFab Andrest, Kenny Camaro, Tracy Lewis, Will Rishworth, any many more have helped get the car in order for this year. Def appreciate the guidance and advice given