Deal on a 94 V6

[TraceZ]

you did a great job with the Camaro Trace, I have to do the same with the the formula, i didnt have a chance to even vacuum clean the interior , where do you recomend me to start? and what did you use to clean the engine?

you will need:
Carpet shampoo
Oxy Clean
Tire Wet (TW)
Simple Green (SG)
plastic polish
tooth brush
scrub brush
toothpicks
pesticide sprayer
wet vac

To clean the interior...

remove both seats and the center console
take the seats apart and toss the covers in the washing machine.
Use SG to clean up all the plastic and metal parts of the seats and finish by wiping the plasic parts down with TW for a like new finish.
take the center console apart and clean all the parts with SG, finish by wiping down with TW and reassemble. Use plastic polish on the gear indicator window.
While the seats and console are out, clean the carpets.

In the pesticide sprayer add lots of scalding hot water. Add some carpet shampoo and 1/8 cup of Oxy-Clean. Spray the entire carpet down very well with this mixture. Be generous, do not be afraid to let it pool up in low spots.
Now use a scrub brush to work it around. Focus on heavily soiled areas and stains. Use your hands to push the liquid around and work it in to problem areas. Once you are done, use a wet-vac to suck all the liquid out and repeat if necessary in the heavily soiled areas. spray the pedals while you are down there and scrub them with the scrub brush. When you are done, unplug the seatbelt warning connector at the base of the drivers side seatbelt and blow it out with compressed air. (this is from experience as my stupid seatbelt light stayed on even if I had the belt on, but drying it out fixed that) Next stop... the trunk. Shampoo the carpeted areas and vacuume the rest. Wipe the plastic down with a mixture of SG and water.

Now, reinstall the center console and seats. Detail the dash. I recommend mixing up SG and some warm water and wiping it all down. I do not recommend using TW on the dash, because it is too shiny. Use the plastic polish on the radio face and the gauge cluster. done!

For the engine bay, I took it to a pressure washer and sprayed an entire can of Gunk foaming engine brite on everything (if you have a LT1, avoid the opti!). Allow it to sit 10 minutes and power wash it off. Allow it to dry and finish by spraying TW on the entire engine bay. Use a towel to remove the residue and it looks like new. To detail under the hood, I started by removing various fasteners that had corroded and I cleaned them up on my wire wheel. I have a wire wheel that fits in a hand drill as well as a larger one mounted in a grinder on my workbench. Wire wheel anything metal to make it look new. I've wire wheeled my alternator, throttle body, MAF ends, etc.. This is best accomplished with the parts removed and disassembled. The engine bay in my Z28 looks brand new.

[Joe 1320]

Hey Joe, Tracy s got the f body 'fever' , from now on he will keep buying f bodies and get them to their original glory!! Do you think he will let this one go once hes finished the 'ressurection' ? I d say 50/50 since its a v6

Well I know I couldnt let the any of mine go, and everytime I see an f body and the price is right, the little voice in my head says 'buy it buy it' and then 'modify it'

My 94 V6 is really growing on me. The stick is pretty fun ( and a pain ) sometimes, the exhaust from the borla sounds sports car like and I got 34 mpg on this latest tankful (all highway driving). The real joy is this car's handling. The v6 weight distribution combined with the mods, this thing handles fantastic. It just begs for a turbo.

Will he keep it? Don't know with an automatic. If it was a stick, my bet is that he would keep it.

[Trans Am]

[QUOTE=Joe 1320] It just begs for a turbo. QUOTE]

[TraceZ]

I'm not going to keep it.

If it was rust free, had t-tops and a 5-speed, it would be a different story. My brother and I worked on it some more last night.

Rattle in the exhaust:
after carefully tapping around on the exhaust with a rubber mallet, we determined the rattle was coming from inside the cat. We removed the cat and found its insides were all loose and broken, blocking the exit. So, we gutted the stupid thing. Problem solved. We broke the bolts getting it off, so we'll see tonight if it has any more power after we put it all back together with new bolts.

Rust spot under the hood behind the relay box:
I tapped the rust spot with a hammer and the hammer went strait through. Oops! so, I rounded the edges over a bit and covered it over with bondo. It just needs to be sanded smooth and painted now.

[Trash man]

trace i kno u wanna keep cost down but i would cut, weld a new peice in and then use por 15, or atleast use some fiberglass resin to keep it together, bondo isnt really gonna stay of couse, if its just the size of a medium ball penn nvm what i just said

[TraceZ]

trace i kno u wanna keep cost down but i would cut, weld a new peice in and then use por 15, or atleast use some fiberglass resin to keep it together, bondo isnt really gonna stay of couse, if its just the size of a medium ball penn nvm what i just said

The hole was about .5" wide by 2.5" long. I stuffed some paper towel behind it and a piece of cardboard and then I plowed it over with Bondo. I let it harden up a bit, used a grater to smooth it out and applied a final layer. It looks pretty good! Once I sand it and hit it with some color match paint it will blend right in. This is strictly a cosmetic repair to make the underhood look new. It should last a few years if nobody bangs on it. If there was a way to get access to the backside of the patch I could fiberglass it up for added strength, but there is no way.

[TraceZ]

The hollowed out cat makes the car sound like a garbage truck. It is really terrible.

I ordered a new Catco cat online last night for it. there goes another $100!

Also, new rims are paid for and hopefully soon on the way. That will really clean up the exterior. Last night I replaced the glass in the drivers door. The old glass was scratched up badly and I just so happenned to have a spare one lying around that is pretty much perfect. The new one makes the entire side of the car look better.

Once we get the new cat and rims installed all that is left is a small rust hole to fix on the drivers quarter panel and it will look like brand new from 5 feet away.

[TraceZ]

I installed the new Catco Cat tonight, and it is as good as new now. I cant believe how nice this car runs, sounds and drives now, it could be fresh off the showroom floor. Everything works perfectly.

I found out that my buddy that sold me the car has used Duralube in the engine and transmission since the first oil change when it was brand new. That explains it! This thing will run forever! The tranny fluid looks like it is fresh out of the bottle and has no burnt odors to it. It shifts nice and firm. If I showed you this car and told you it had 50,000 miles on it you would not hesitate to believe me. Not bad for a car with just over 185,000 miles! This thing should go 300,000 miles easily now.

Next step: install the new rims. Then fix the 1 rust spot, have that spot blended and buff the entire car out. It will look showroom new from 5 feet!!
All the mechanical work is now completed. Whew!

[Dave M]

TraceZ, when you sell it, what are you going to ask for it considering it's condition, miles, what you paid for it and parts and the sweat you put into it? Just curious. It's certainly worth more than the average 94 V6, but people may shy away from paying more than $2,500 or so for a V6 with that many miles on it, no matter what the condition. It would make a great first car for the aspiring 16 year old f-body lover!

[TraceZ]

TraceZ, when you sell it, what are you going to ask for it considering it's condition, miles, what you paid for it and parts and the sweat you put into it? Just curious. It's certainly worth more than the average 94 V6, but people may shy away from paying more than $2,500 or so for a V6 with that many miles on it, no matter what the condition. It would make a great first car for the aspiring 16 year old f-body lover!

When all is said and done, I'll have a grand total $1500 in it.

I figure I'll be very happy to get $2,800 for it. It's uncommon to see an early 4th gen around here in this condition. I'd much rather have this car with 185,000 Duralube miles on it that some other ratty 90,000 mile V6 car like I've seen around here commonly. It will look, sound and drive like brand new, I think the car will sell itself. Kelly Blue Book puts it at $2945 in excellent condition, which it will be after I replace the rims and fix that one rust spot.

[TraceZ]

Last night I put on my bodyman hat. I removed the tail lights, tail panel, rear bumper cover and fuel door trim ring. My bro used a wire wheel in a die grinder to get all the rust off the rear fender lip. We then sprayed it down in POR15 rust nutralizer and watched it foam up nice. After a wipe down the metal looked shiny and new. We filled the two small rust holes with bondo and used a cheese grater to level it out when it was still soft. Today I sanded it flat and applied a second thinner layer over top to make it perfect.

This weekend I will begin the sand - prime - sand - prime - sand - prime steps that will make it ready for paint at the body shop.

Maaco quoted $200 to paint that panel. that is a base coat blend, and then clearcoat over the entire panel. I've already done all the hard work, all they'll need to do is roll it in the booth and squirt it.

The $200 price reflects the fact they are only shooting it. I can't wait to see it done. The car will be completely rust free, visably anyways.

[Gary94Formula]

TraceZ - Do the paint yourself. It's not that bad. Just take the car to the paint store and have them take a picture of it to color match the paint.
Then go here and click on Bodywork and Paint..
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/guides.htm
Good Luck..

[TraceZ]

TraceZ - Do the paint yourself. It's not that bad. Just take the car to the paint store and have them take a picture of it to color match the paint.
Then go here and click on Bodywork and Paint..
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/guides.htm
Good Luck..

I wish I had that level of confidence with paint. I'll see how I feel about it after I shoot the primer and do some sanding. I'm most nervous about the blend matching and getting the color right.

[Joe 1320]

I wish I had that level of confidence with paint. I'll see how I feel about it after I shoot the primer and do some sanding. I'm most nervous about the bland matching and getting the color right.

Seems to me this is a good leaning experience for ya. The worst that can happen is that you have a competant shop reshoot the color and clear if you mess it up that badly. I think once you try it, you'll find that doing small panels yourself is easy and keeps yours costs waaayyy down. You can even do several attempts due to how inexpensive the paint really is in comparison to the labor. It's real easy to spend a couple hundred here, couple hundred there....... you sell the car in the end for a decent amount, then you really think about how much dough you put into it and in the end the profit doesn't look all that great.

One tip to make it blend well is to blend the clearcoat, not the paint. Once you paint the particular panel, remove the masking and blend the clear into the existing untouched panels. That will help make any single panel repair less noticeable.

[Gary94Formula]

Just like Joe said... Get the paint custom mixed that's usally most of the problems. After that, spray a small area and blend the clear coat like Joe suad and you'll be fine..

Good Luck.