I'm a newbie
I'm a newbie
Hey everyone! My name is Josh, hereon known to you as Metalvayne, and I have a 2002 Camaro V6. Here comes story time, so grab the popcorn!
I bought my Camaro as my first car on March 2, 2014. I never was much of a "car guy" growing up, but that changed quickly after that day. I thought I had a really badass car that ran and performed well for a good price. I bought it for $3,000 from a friend of the family who owns his own automotive business. Since I didn't know much about cars and trusted him fully, I felt good when we said that it was mechanically sound and only needed a balance and rotation due to the car sitting for some time. He claimed that they rebuilt the motor when they got the car, and it had been sitting since.
We test drove it and everything seemed fine, from an uneducated perspective. On to the point, I've since flushed the entire coolant system and the block, replaced the radiator, replaced the harmonic balancer, and several other things. The oil and coolant were mixing due to the corroded radiator (the top literally broke as we were pulling it out!) and there were fine metal shavings in the oil. Many things were in bad shape and the car was in no way safe to drive. I also, of course, got the balance and rotation I was told I needed; wrong! I needed new wheel bearings too, and there was water (not fix-a-flat, just water) inside of one of my tires. I have the wheel bearings, but haven't had them installed yet. The rear ends has a steady shake to it, not really a vibration, but like a wheel on a toy car with a bent axle. I just replaced an ignition coil the other day as well, turns out it's been slowly dying since I got the car, causing misfires at high speeds.
The pictures I have attached look nice, in my opinion... They're not showing the cracked right front fender, the torn bottoms of the seats (I hate those seat covers), all the chips and dings, or anything like that.
I genuinely love my car and it's currently running better than I've ever had it run. I wish I had the money to finish making the needed repairs, but I'm 18, still finishing high school since I have a late birthday, and can't find a job to save my life.
A list of my current repairs and improvement plans, in no order:
I bought my Camaro as my first car on March 2, 2014. I never was much of a "car guy" growing up, but that changed quickly after that day. I thought I had a really badass car that ran and performed well for a good price. I bought it for $3,000 from a friend of the family who owns his own automotive business. Since I didn't know much about cars and trusted him fully, I felt good when we said that it was mechanically sound and only needed a balance and rotation due to the car sitting for some time. He claimed that they rebuilt the motor when they got the car, and it had been sitting since.
We test drove it and everything seemed fine, from an uneducated perspective. On to the point, I've since flushed the entire coolant system and the block, replaced the radiator, replaced the harmonic balancer, and several other things. The oil and coolant were mixing due to the corroded radiator (the top literally broke as we were pulling it out!) and there were fine metal shavings in the oil. Many things were in bad shape and the car was in no way safe to drive. I also, of course, got the balance and rotation I was told I needed; wrong! I needed new wheel bearings too, and there was water (not fix-a-flat, just water) inside of one of my tires. I have the wheel bearings, but haven't had them installed yet. The rear ends has a steady shake to it, not really a vibration, but like a wheel on a toy car with a bent axle. I just replaced an ignition coil the other day as well, turns out it's been slowly dying since I got the car, causing misfires at high speeds.
The pictures I have attached look nice, in my opinion... They're not showing the cracked right front fender, the torn bottoms of the seats (I hate those seat covers), all the chips and dings, or anything like that.
I genuinely love my car and it's currently running better than I've ever had it run. I wish I had the money to finish making the needed repairs, but I'm 18, still finishing high school since I have a late birthday, and can't find a job to save my life.
A list of my current repairs and improvement plans, in no order:
- Rear wheel bearing replacement
- Fender replacement
- New headlights
- Fix broken lever (brights don't work)
- Paint (black or blue)
- Exhaust replacement
- Interior re-upholstery (just the seats, or maybe whole car)
- Windshield replacement
- ... and much, much more!
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