Caprice ... work in progress

General topics relative to the Caprice and associated vehicles. For items not fitting into other sub-sections in addition to general chat.
fuzzkill
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Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 4:19 pm

Caprice ... work in progress

Post by fuzzkill »

Bought my 2013 9C1 about a month and a half ago and figured it was time to make a thread to keep track of what I have done.

Found the car in TX, I live in FL. Price was right and the car was right so I made the flight and drove her home. Wasn't interested in getting one from auction and having to do a ton of reconditioning on the exterior. This car was a patrol car but it has already had all the holes in the body filled and painted - along with a set of Camaro wheels.

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The very next day after I drove it home (after getting it registered) I drove a few hours to pull apart a G8. Took the console, shifter, carpet, and the front and rear seats. Would have taken the front door panels too but they weren't in good shape.

Nothing like getting a new car and immediately tearing it apart!

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Everything went smooth on the interior swap. I spliced all the wires from the G8 seats into the Caprice connectors rather than cutting the body harness. Rear seats went in without a hitch. I had to order a few 9C3/Aus specific parts to complete the console swap, mainly the center trim support bracket, center radio trim, and the shifter trim. Got it all together and it looks like it should! Also unlocked the radio to restore BT and USB functionality to it.

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Rather than spend the money on the 9C3 parking brake cable, I welded an extension onto the equalizer bar on the G8 cable end. Needed to add 3" or 4" to it and it works just fine. Much easier than dismantling that console again and spending more money.

Next on the mod list were intake and brakes. I found a killer deal on 1st gen CTS-V calipers and pads. Ordered some SS rotors to go with it and made quick work of the swap! Very easy to do. Got a decent deal on the VCM OTR intake and jumped on it. Awesome intake and really nice quality.

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After 60k of police duty, I'm sure the struts had seen their best days awhile ago. I ordered new struts, mounts, and some SS springs to try and make the car drive like new again.
Everything was straightforward on this swap too, nothing any different from doing a regular strut service. Dropped the car about 1/2" all the way around, and fixed the slight lean the car had before. Maybe it will settle a little further, maybe it won't.

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I finished all that a few weeks ago and have been enjoying driving the car around since. However, I've been torn on what to do next.

I'm not a fan of the DOD and the failure prone lifters. I work in parts and have seen my fair share aside from what you read online.
Option 1) Do I spend $1k on a DOD delete and cam swap and still have a 6.0 with lower compression and only starting with 360hp?
Option 2) Do I drop some coin and get an LS3, start with 420hp+ and then drop a small cam in? Then make back some $ from selling the L77?
Option 3) Go insane and get an LS3/TR6060 dropout
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No Moa
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Location: Maine

Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by No Moa »

Nice work!
2014 Caprice PPV silver
2017 Ram 3500
2002 CETA trans am
1996 Impala ss (soon to be t56)
1995 9c1
1977 Trans am SE 4spd.
1978 trans am 400 4 spd.
Pursuit
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Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by Pursuit »

Nice job! I have those rims also, but haven't installed them yet. I like the way they look. have you given any thought to a differential swap to a lower gear?
Welcome to the group!

Regards,

Maurice
Maurice Sheil

mhsheil@gmail.com

2011 Caprice Phantom Black 9C3
2012 Impala 9C1
1995 9C1 Caprice
1996 GMC Sierra C1500
1996 Chevrolet K2500 Extended Cab, long box, 454, 91,000 rust free miles
1974 SJ Grand Prix 455 well optioned with factory moon roof
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kevink
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Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by kevink »

fuzzkill wrote: I'm not a fan of the DOD and the failure prone lifters. I work in parts and have seen my fair share aside from what you read online.
Option 1) Do I spend $1k on a DOD delete and cam swap and still have a 6.0 with lower compression and only starting with 360hp?
Option 2) Do I drop some coin and get an LS3, start with 420hp+ and then drop a small cam in? Then make back some $ from selling the L77?
Option 3) Go insane and get an LS3/TR6060 dropout
First determine a HP goal and overall driveability characteristics you want from the car. Once you have that, figure out the cheapest and easiest way to get there while maintaining your desired driveability characteristics. There are an infinite number of options, not just 3.
2011 9C3: 11.48 @118.
dirtyd
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2016 1:02 am
Location: Woodbury NJ

Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by dirtyd »

Did you put the G8 carpet in? Any issues?
fuzzkill
Posts: 152
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 4:19 pm

Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by fuzzkill »

kevink wrote:
fuzzkill wrote: I'm not a fan of the DOD and the failure prone lifters. I work in parts and have seen my fair share aside from what you read online.
Option 1) Do I spend $1k on a DOD delete and cam swap and still have a 6.0 with lower compression and only starting with 360hp?
Option 2) Do I drop some coin and get an LS3, start with 420hp+ and then drop a small cam in? Then make back some $ from selling the L77?
Option 3) Go insane and get an LS3/TR6060 dropout
First determine a HP goal and overall driveability characteristics you want from the car. Once you have that, figure out the cheapest and easiest way to get there while maintaining your desired driveability characteristics. There are an infinite number of options, not just 3.
My daily's for the past 8 years have all been manual and I've been missing it. Want stock driveability, not obnoxiously loud but a little more agressive sounding, manual, and ~400+ wheel hp. Basically I want an SS for Malibu money. Should be dead simple to achieve those goals with very minimal changes to the LS3.
dirtyd wrote:Did you put the G8 carpet in? Any issues?
Had to pull it 'stretch' it a little to fit under the rear seat. In doing so, it leaves a small corner by the door exposed. You can add on a small patch to cover the gap and then it would be close enough nobody would notice.
Silversled
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Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by Silversled »

fuzzkill wrote:
My daily's for the past 8 years have all been manual and I've been missing it. Want stock driveability, not obnoxiously loud but a little more agressive sounding, manual, and ~400+ wheel hp. Basically I want an SS for Malibu money. Should be dead simple to achieve those goals with very minimal changes to the LS3.
My daily is a 6-speed ATS-V so I know what you mean.

My PPV is not my DD but I want the same stock driveability like yourself. Our heads are essentially the LS3 rectangular port units already with slightly heavier valves from what I understand. Same stroke as the LS3 but just smaller bore. I'm about to do the DOD delete with the LS9 cam and Kooks LT headers. Why LS9 cam? Well it'll have stock idle and drivability with the stock stall converter and with moderate lift, will be easier on the valve train using the blue behive GM springs. ...and it'll be perfect for the LSA blower ;) The side benefit is a $400+ differential in cost when compared to an aftermarket cam and valve spring kit. This will be a configuration that my wife can get in and drive to the grocery store.
2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
9C1fanatic
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Location: Texas Hill Country

Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by 9C1fanatic »

Looking good. Do you need new B pillar trim? I see you have the holes from the prisoner cage?
Garner Ames



1975 Pontiac Grand Am L77 - 14.82 @ 92.89
1991 Chevrolet C1500 L31 Vortec/5 Speed
2002 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LM7
2014 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 L77 - 13.60 @ 105.87
2019 Chevrolet Express 3500 L96
fuzzkill
Posts: 152
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 4:19 pm

Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by fuzzkill »

9C1fanatic wrote:Looking good. Do you need new B pillar trim? I see you have the holes from the prisoner cage?
Got some from GMPD along with a new a-pillar trim. Was cheap enough. Funny the PO thought enough to plug all the outside holes but not anything on the interior.
fuzzkill
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Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 4:19 pm

Re: Caprice ... work in progress

Post by fuzzkill »

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