It's DCM, but it's not a long roof

Picked up another B-body in need of rehab this weekend, it's a mess but it's the year and color I've been looking for.  It's a 96 DCM SS, 211k, one owner (technically) and is need of an engine.  I say technically because I the guy I got it from bought it from the first owner but never titled it, so I do have the original title from 97.  
The car had been sitting, I've determined between the receipts the seller gave me, autocheck, and what he told me about the guy he got it from it's been off the road since somewhere around 2004 to 2006 and had unfortunatly rotted in someone yard since then.  The underside is crusty, quarters have some bubbling, and the paint is dull, but it has potential.  It runs and drives (drove it almost 30 miles to get it home) but has a knock in the engine.  The glitter on the dipstick means it's time for a new engine.  
The interior is in good shape for the age/miles but mice made their home somewhere in the car and you can smell it.  The plan for now is to see if can get the smell out of the car and swap the engine out with a spare LT1 I have taking up space in my garage.  I'd love to LS it, but one swap is enough for now.

Best color and best year! SWEET! Will enjoy watching you bring this one back to life!

do a youtube series! love your videos. interior looks nice!

Congrats!!

Good luck with the newest project!

Silly Dave,...

Video

Doesn't look like any space has been freed up in the driveway.

Tom

You're correct Tom. I have interest in the 1a2, gotta get pics.

I need to get back to making youtube videos of my cars. Its been a few years.

There are times I miss my 96 DCM. Congrats on another save! You can free up some driveway space, just drop off the Fleetwood while you're down here.

DBeaSSt wrote:

There are times I miss my 96 DCM.  

You know..that was the first SS I had ever been in...and still to this day the only DCM one.

How do you keep them all running!!! Nice car BTW!!

It's been a long time since I made an update on this car, and I have made some progress.
I haven't even touched the motor yet, I've been de-mousing the interior.  St this point, a shorter list would be where I didn't find mouse crap.  I found that and nest material (insulation) in the A, B, and C pillars, the rails in the roof, the trunk lid, and the list goes on.  There must have been a hell of a nest under the center console, everything is rusty there and the floor shift cable grommet has been chewed completely off.
I opted to completely throw out the HVAC assembly, it was beyond nasty.  I cleaned and replaced that with a cleaner one I had from a parts wagon I had years ago.  The interior had to be completely gutted and scrubbed down with enzyme based cleaner to kill the smell.  I tried to clean the carpet but ended up throwing it out.
The more I tore into the car I found out someone had been this deep before, the insulation under the carpet was some store bought thin stuff, the headliner was duct taped together, and every bit of padding that could be thrown out was missing.
Between swap meets and trips to the junkyard I replaced the headliner, carpet, rear deck carpet, most of the interior plastic and the dash.  I had to clean the seats as SS seats are worth their weight in gold, but did manage to buy a used driver's cover to replace the torn one that also had a nest in the rear pocket.

At any rate, it smells 100x better and I can tolerate sitting in it.  Now it JUST needs the engine replaced  
Pics of the progress:

Rements of a nest and mountain of crap under the passenger air bag


Look at that chewed up foam in the center



The last time I had a B-body this stripped it was headed off to the crusher



Nasty old HVAC box


Hard to see, but there's rust on the roof from a nest that was above the headliner


Finally had a chance to wash it today, cleans up pretty nice

Looks good Dave and it smells good from here.

Videos needed!

Tom

Nice work. Watched the vid too. Very good starting point, and awesome to start with a non-modded/molested car.

The interior, despite the driver's seat rips, looks fantastic to me. Down here the SS interiors all seem to be shot now, except on the garage-queens. The leather seems to both dry and shrink in the heat here, so yours looks outstanding compared to the local cars, and the rust on that one seems pretty minor too, good deal.

Keep the posts coming, and glad the de-mousing went well. I had ZERO fun doing that on the Camaro.

-Mike

The interior looked very clean when I got it, but was hiding odors that could not be removed. It killed me to throw out perfectly good looking parts but that's what it takes to make it smell clean.
Luckily the seats cleaned up, those are what I was worried about the most.

Good progress I hate mice have battled them in two cars....

Subscribed.

I've noticed something else odd about the interior of this car. All of the "hard plastic" parts have yellowed pretty badly, and it's only certain parts. Those include the lower door panels, A pillars, lower B-pillars, dome light, courtesy lights, parts of the lower dash, and a few other misc parts. The more flexible parts like the upper B-pilars, C-pillars and alike plastics are fine. I've seen a lot off parts cars and parts in general from these cars but never seen anything like this.

That does sound unusual, could it be related to the mice? Urine maybe?

I did some research and only came up with one possibility. A machine called an Ozone generator is often used to remove odors from automotive interiors. If used for too long it can discolor certain plastics, based on the level of cleaning someone did on this car already I wouldn't be surprised if they tried one of those to get rid of the smell.

This is the one I started with in my day to day business. http://www.amazon.com/Sylvan-Ozone-Generator-3500mg-Output/dp/B001J2GNW2/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1414719045&sr=1-5&keywords=ozone+generator

I now work with a self made one that moves more air. They work great.

Superior Finish wrote:

This is the one I started with in my day to day business. http://www.amazon.com/Sylvan-Ozone-Generator-3500mg-Output/dp/B001J2GNW2/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1414719045&sr=1-5&keywords=ozone+generator

I now work with a self made one that moves more air. They work great.

Is what I found true of those machines?

Yes, although I have not seen the discoloration personally, but have been warned against it.. Ozone is destructive and bad for you in high concentration. Cars are small so 15-20 min max should do what you need. Used car dealers with "in house" detailers over do it and leave the machine in the vehicles for hours.

My understanding was the hard plastics were predominately ABS.

If so, then ozone will have little to no effect.

It is more likely that gaseous ammonia produced from the decomposition of the mouse urine is the culprit, as ABS has no resistance to it.

- J

well pee on the plastic is bad,..

good to know,..

Time for a much overdue update.
Finally pulled the car out of "storage" (the back yard) a few weeks ago and got right to tearing the knocking engine out.  It's a damn shame this thing has a bad bearing, it's one of the best running LT1s I've ever owned and pulls real good.

The motor swapped in is an LT1 from a 94 RMW I bought years ago.  I took it apart and replaced the rod, main and cam bearings as they looked well worn and threw new rings and gaskets in there.  Being extremely cheap I cleaned all the parts at my work and did the "machine work" myself with some emery cloth and a drill powered hone.  Everything came out nice and within factory specs For the valved I cleaned everything up once again at work and lapped the valves.  Nothing fancy here, just a standard 150k LT1 that's bone stock.  The only mods done are put a vette servo in the trans with the .500 boost valve and an S10 torque converter (stall is around 2k RPM instead of the stock 1200rpm).  I would have liked to go with a 6.0L LS, but cash is tight, maybe down the road it will happen.

Had a week off between jobs so I got to pulling the drivetrain out.  I also swapped out the rusty PS fender well and the rad support with some clean NJ parts sourced from the Englishtown swap meet a few weeks prior.  I believe this thing had a battery leak which rusted out everything near by.

Finally got the car back together and much to my relief that motor started with no odd noises besides some clanking rockers.  I had to readjust them with the engine running and all is good.  This thing pulls hard and shifts great, really pleased with the turn out

Photo time:

Waking up from it's long winters nap:


worn bearings:


Cleaned parts:


My work bench is a bit of a dump:


Freshened up:


Helper cat slowing down progress:


Front end torn off:


Knocker coming out:





Gutted engine bay:




New motor in:



Ready to roll:

Impressive progress, looking good!

You don't mess around once you get going on a project do you?Awesome, "economy" rebuilds done right will last you for a long time and always give you a feeling of satisfaction everytime you turn the key!

Nice work! Still my favorite color for these. Glad you gave that one a new lease on life!

-Mike

Thanks guys.  New tires are on, had to sell my Riviera to buy these
Went with the Nitto NT555s.  Real sticky and they handle great!  Night and day difference from the dry rotted flat spotted BFGs that were on it

Those nittos are awesome,had a set on my wagon but they had too much sidewall cracking for my liking.Dont know if it was the age but mine were worthless when it rained even with my gutless 305.
Very good handling in the dry though.

What are you planning on doing next to it?