More updates! Sorry for the lack of posts but I've been using every minute I have to work on the car and get it ready for the UMI autocross at the end of the month.
The fix for my coolant leak seems to be holding up so that's good news. I've had the car running and up to temperature a couple of times and no sings of a leak yet. On to the next thing!
Next I started working on my exhaust system. My thought process for the exhaust was to re-use my old system, which was Hooker shorty headers, a y-pipe under the engine and then a single pipe back to a muffler with 2 tips. As I went to mock up the system, I ran into a big issue though.... the Summit road racing oil pan I had installed did not leave enough room between the front of the pan and the crossmember for my y-pipe.
This was completely my fault, as I didn't think of this when I bought the pan. Lessons you learn when going through your first big car project.
So I figured I had 2 options... I could scrap the y-pipe and have a custom dual exhaust fabbed up for me OR I could install a new oil pan that would allow my y-pipe to fit. I took a look at doing the true dual exhaust and thought it would be very tricky with the transmission crossmember I have (Spohn I believe). Not an impossible job, but I could see it leading down a long road of custom fabrication, new trans crossmember and whatever else. So I decided to swap out my oil pan. In the end, I'm happy with this decision as it let me keep a nice clean exhaust system with good grand clearance and what should be plenty of flow for my little 350.
If you've ever swapped an oil pan on a third gen however, it's a big job! I dropped my k-member and pretty much had the whole car apart for what seems like the 10th time!
To replace my Summit pan, I went with the Canton road racing pan made specifically for third gen Camaros. It's a really nice piece, with trap doors to keep the oil in the sump and kick outs on the side to get more capacity as opposed to the kick out on the front on the Summit. I needed to grab a new oil pump and pickup to go with the pan as well. It came in a zinc finish, so of course I had to paint it black to match the rest of the parts on the car!
After I got the car back together I tied up a few more loose ends and it was off for an exhaust system and an alignment:
