Hi all, long time forum reader, first time poster.
Bought this car back in 2023 from Public Surplus. It was a retired patrol car for King George VA, and it was resting in the back of their municipal lot. The car was covered in this light moss/mold from sitting under all the trees against the back of the lot. I don't think it had moved much before I bought it, since the last oil recorded service was 2 years prior and there were only a few miles put on it since. Threw a new battery in it and it came back to life!
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Since then I've been fixing the little things on it (door locks, window controls, speed sensors, headliner, etc) as well as some modifications. I haven't done the DOD delete yet, but I have disabled it from unplugging it from the back of the brake booster (this is foreshadowing). I've swapped on 5th Gen Camaro SS brembos, Pedders Coilovers as far as handling mods go. I plan on doing a DOD delete with a BTR Red Hot, Long tube headers, and some kind of valved exhaust, it's kind of gangster how quiet these cars are imo, so I would like to retain some of that.
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I've had very few issues with this car, and it's yet to leave me stranded somewhere. I'm a believer that if I take of it, it will take care of me and that's held true so far. I
did have one trip about 150 miles away when I parked the car and lifter 7 got stuck, I had my head in my hands that DOD had failed right in front of me after a 2hr trip at ~70mph. I figured it was already hosed so I drove it the 150 miles home on 7 cylinders. All of this for me to find out it was bc I plugged that pesky DOD plug back in to diagnose a temperature sensor... I fired it up the next morning and lifter 7 decided it wanted to come back from vacation!
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This is the first year that I've dedicated to (somewhat) regularly taking a car to my local track, Summit Point Motorsports Park. I've done a weekend at the Shenandoah course and another at the Main Course. This car handles great, it's super stable, super fast and a lot of fun to have out on the track. It's always a trip to pull up to the tech line and someone rolls their eyes and go "great someone brought an impala" only to open the hood and see the 6.0 staring back at them!! If it's any indication, this thing pulls some serious Gs! Future mods besides the DOD delete include an Improve Racing Oil Pan Baffle that should keep the oiling system happy under sustained high speed corners.
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Huge shoutout to all of navylifer's knowledge and posts on here, idk where this car would be without the brake and suspension insight that he's shared with all of us, as well as my friends since they took the plunge and now we all have PPVs
