Long Overdue Build Progress [Main Thread]

[BatmaroBeauty]

Not much progress has been made with the build since the NYIAS last year. I brought it to my good friend Cisco in June 2022 to address a few minor problems on my to-do list. He swapped out my catalytic converter pipe elbows from the American Racing Headers straight pipe to ARH High Flow Cats I got with hopes to clear the CEL of my sensors so I can pass NYS emissions. This attempt proved to be without any luck.




Since the fueling issue is something still needing attention, I wanted to install a panel door located by the rear passenger seat for easier access to the fuel pump in order to avoid having to drop the rear cradle anytime in the future. I purchased an 8x8 Aluminum Access Panel Kit from Jegs.









The Airlift trunk display I have makes it very inconvenient to access the battery in the spare compartment, so I also asked him if he was able to hard wire a 5AMP 12V battery tender with a traditional prong plug accessible that I got from Amazon so I can more easily store my vehicle long term.

I've had to shift my financial priorities to cost of living so this build project has been placed on hold. Eventually when I have spending money, I plan to get it transported down to Tracy Lewis Performance in FL with hopes to finally try and figure out the hiccups with performance once and for all.

[chevy pilot]

[DRC69]

Nice job on the fuel pump door.

To bad the factory didn't do it. Sure would have been nice.
Great job.

[GodsRambo]

Did you ever get your Shirokai Widebody? I was really hoping to see it installed . Was considering for my own car.

[Merc]

Originally Posted by BatmaroBeauty

Went with Bespoke Elite-X Series Diamond Edition Racing Seats and a 5 PT Harness Belt from Braum. Everyone does a bloody red interior so I wanted to be different and went with blue instead. My second reason for choosing this color was to reinforce my theme of the aggressive Batmaro exterior by incorporating the concept of the “Thin Blue Line” to the interior by doing all the stitching and subtle accents throughout. I didn’t want to go overboard with the Batman emblems or designs etc.; I believe less is more and I wanted to keep a clean appearance and minimalist aesthetic to let the idea work for itself.

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PSA: Before removing the stock seats and brackets! These seats come with their own brackets you need to install. They MUST be fabricated by cutting an access point in the identified area (see above photo) to create an opening to be able to insert the rear bolts to tighten down. IMO they should just come precut but I believe Braum is sourcing the brackets from another company called Planted Seat Bracket Technology (SKU: SB137DR and SB137PA).

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PSA2: I also purchased the harness bar from Braum which snapped (with my bare hands) at this joint while I was installing it. It made me question the quality of the material construction and if it would really be able to save my life in a risky scenario. I opted to sell the harness bar and get a custom 6 PT Roll Cage fabbed by the same person who did the cage weld work for my fathers racecar.

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Before VS After.
PSA3: As you are probably familiar with already, seeing over the dash in the Camaro’s is very difficult as is from the stock adjustable seats. Be aware, having fixed seats like these makes you sit a little lower without the ability to change height. I’ve seen people add spacers with the brackets while installing. I meant to do it and forgot, now I just don’t want to disassemble everything again to add them.

I very much hated the stock shifter and wanted a more old school look. I ordered P/N 24261473 a manual leather shift boot for a '13-15 SS/ZL1 off eBay. Reason I got this one in particular is because the knob base to shift boot adaptor plastic ring is circular for these years as shown below in the left photo, whereas it’s more squared off in the boots for the '10-12 manuals shown below in the right photo. Most people have just removed this plastic ring completely and attached the boot to the knob by zip tying them together from the underside and folding over.
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After that, I also ordered a custom perforated leather shift boot with blue diamond stitching from Redline Goods that matched my Braum seats. Then I just removed the leather boot that came with the one I ordered from eBay and replaced it with the custom one I had made. The shift plate is a direct swap once you remove the plastic PRNDM stock bezel piece. Some members have noted that they dislike the appearance of a small gap between the shift boot and center console created by doing this swap and discussed many different solutions to make it flush like using washers, sponge weather strips for material filler, or slightly modifying the mounting brackets with a dremel to adjust more forward. Check out this thorough DIY thread if this shift boot swap is something you’re also interested in doing.

I was having some issues with my ignition column not surrendering my key when shifted into park position and ignition switched to off. Of course every tech/mechanic that I brought this up to blamed the fact I changed out the shift knob as the reason, but it started happening when the shifter was still stock and after doing a little digging in the forums I see I’m not the only one! We changed out the shifter assembly with P/N 22894722 but that didn’t fix it. Going to try a new solenoid P/N 22891588 to see if that does the trick. If not, then last hope would be adjusting the linkage. Quite the annoyance to constantly restart the car and fuss with the shifter until it releases the key which can take multiple attempts and feels embarrassing at times.

The next set of photos were from Marc of MD Interiors who retrimmed my dash and door panel inserts to match the rest. Beautiful work, amazing quality, quick turnaround …couldn’t have been a happier customer.
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Before VS After

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^This is a Luxury Car Mar Set I also ordered from Diamond Car Mats. Super thick, good quality material, great fitment.

Just curious what Braum said in regards to the brace bar that failed? Harness bar from Braum is on my agenda for Pumpkin in 2024. Looks like it might be a welding issue.