Bringing a garage queen out into the world... tips ?

[DB Cooper]

I just picked up my Camaro last Thursday at a consignment house. She's lived the life of a true garage queen; only 3500 miles on the clock when I picked her up. Immaculate condition, down to the assembly paint pen markings. Hardly even a spot of corrosion on the brake rotors, exposed bolt heads, and other unpainted surfaces.



It was immediately clear there's going to be a little rehab needed after sitting around so much. The oil was like new, but several years old, so I changed that right off the bat. Taking a look around, the exhaust tips are pretty carboned up, I pulled a few plugs and those are all covered in soot. So those are getting changed. Tires look good on the sidewalls, but I pulled one of the rears off, and noticed cracks running between the treads. TPMS comes and goes - I'm assuming the batteries are at the end of their life; so new tires and pressure senders are in the works.


I have no idea how old the 1/4 tank of gas in the tank was when I picked it up. But it was likely pretty bad - I drove the car home rather than trailer it; and it wasn't a real happy camper until I stopped and topped it off with fresh stuff. So I'm kind of wondering about the potential for the injectors and fuel filter to be varnished up. Judging by the state of the plugs and the carbon film in the exhaust tips, I'm guessing the intake is probably fouled pretty good too. I thought of running a can of seafoam through it (the kind you spray into the intake while running); that stuff worked wonders on my 1st gen CTS-V and my old C3 Vette. But I'm not too sure about spraying it through a supercharger though. Any input or ideas there ?



What do you guys think ? Should I drain and refill the (6 speed) trans ? Rear diff ? Coolant ? I'm guessing not, as those don't really get any exposure to vented air. But I figured I'd ask.



Anything else I missed ?

[BLU DUCE]

Originally Posted by DB Cooper

I just picked up my Camaro last Thursday at a consignment house. She's lived the life of a true garage queen; only 3500 miles on the clock when I picked her up. Immaculate condition, down to the assembly paint pen markings. Hardly even a spot of corrosion on the brake rotors, exposed bolt heads, and other unpainted surfaces.



It was immediately clear there's going to be a little rehab needed after sitting around so much. The oil was like new, but several years old, so I changed that right off the bat. Taking a look around, the exhaust tips are pretty carboned up, I pulled a few plugs and those are all covered in soot. So those are getting changed. Tires look good on the sidewalls, but I pulled one of the rears off, and noticed cracks running between the treads. TPMS comes and goes - I'm assuming the batteries are at the end of their life; so new tires and pressure senders are in the works.


I have no idea how old the 1/4 tank of gas in the tank was when I picked it up. But it was likely pretty bad - I drove the car home rather than trailer it; and it wasn't a real happy camper until I stopped and topped it off with fresh stuff. So I'm kind of wondering about the potential for the injectors and fuel filter to be varnished up. Judging by the state of the plugs and the carbon film in the exhaust tips, I'm guessing the intake is probably fouled pretty good too. I thought of running a can of seafoam through it (the kind you spray into the intake while running); that stuff worked wonders on my 1st gen CTS-V and my old C3 Vette. But I'm not too sure about spraying it through a supercharger though. Any input or ideas there ?



What do you guys think ? Should I drain and refill the (6 speed) trans ? Rear diff ? Coolant ? I'm guessing not, as those don't really get any exposure to vented air. But I figured I'd ask.



Anything else I missed ?

Vehicle 11 yrs. old low mileage. Myself I defnitely would change all the fluids.

[TheFlyingBananaSS]

Yup. Change everything. Including brake fluid. Check all rubber lines for cracking. Again, including brake lines. Vacuum lines, plug wires. Tip to toe. An ounce of prevention.......

[DB Cooper]

Makes sense. Easier to go over it with a fine tooth comb in the garage, than by the side of the road.

[TheFlyingBananaSS]

Don't forget lots of pics for us to drool over lol.

[DB Cooper]

I haven't gotten too camera happy just yet, but I did snap a few Friday at work while it was sunny.

[Bigdumogre]

Damn those Hennessy are badass. But I would change all the fluids, plugs and wires and drive it. Maybe top off it with 93 and get it to as close to E as possible before filling. Add a cab of sea foam to the tank too just in case and after the fresh 93 goes through for a some miles I would do a fuse pull.

[DB Cooper]

The round trip from the original owner in RI to Hennessey and back in an enclosed hauler was 3800 miles. It kinda cracks me up that this car has been towed more miles than it's been driven under its own power, lol.

[DB Cooper]

Originally Posted by Bigdumogre

Damn those Hennessy are badass. But I would change all the fluids, plugs and wires and drive it. Maybe top off it with 93 and get it to as close to E as possible before filling. Add a cab of sea foam to the tank too just in case and after the fresh 93 goes through for a some miles I would do a fuse pull.

I doubt I would be able to notice a difference from doing a fuse pull... at least not by flogging it to 60mph. As it is, she wants to smoke the tires in any and all of the first 3 gears if I'm not gentle on the go pedal, lol.

[Moto-Mojo]

Originally Posted by DB Cooper

The round trip from the original owner in RI to Hennessey and back in an enclosed hauler was 3800 miles. It kinda cracks me up that this car has been towed more miles than it's been driven under its own power, lol.

That is a sweet car. And dang, now that it’s 11 years on and so pampered, I might even have trouble driving it more too. I know that’s crazy for a production car - but it does have a high grade performance package that not many have.

I thought mine was a garage queen but that’s a poster child! Keep us up to date about its ‘break in!’

[DB Cooper]

Originally Posted by Moto-Mojo

That is a sweet car. And dang, now that it’s 11 years on and so pampered, I might even have trouble driving it more too. I know that’s crazy for a production car - but it does have a high grade performance package that not many have.

I thought mine was a garage queen but that’s a poster child! Keep us up to date about its ‘break in!’

Yeah, I'm not really capable of owning a fun piece of machinery and just looking at it. But it won't get a ton of miles - nice days in spring/summer/fall only, and I have a C3 vette that falls under the same rules.



I have an 07 Cadillac SRX I picked up as a project / winter beater (nice condition fundamentally, but lots of halfassed fixes and gremlins to troubleshoot, which meant I could pick it up dirt cheap).

[detamble13]

Don't let your 9 year old open the passenger door is my advice. Please don't ask how I know this is a bad idea.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Very very nice sir!!! Like mentioned above change ALL the fluids, check the lines, hoses and fittings and the brake lines especially, check her from stem to stern real good, also the suspension parts and bushings since she has been sitting so long, run her almost dry and put some good 93 in there and enjoy that beautiful beast!!

[redcoats1976]

Originally Posted by DB Cooper

The round trip from the original owner in RI to Hennessey and back in an enclosed hauler was 3800 miles. It kinda cracks me up that this car has been towed more miles than it's been driven under its own power, lol.

im thinking you should fix that.got over 65,000 on my 2015.