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Full Speed Ahead
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Camaro project picks up momentum as more companies get involved - Part 3
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Story and Photos by Brian Wood |
Since the last issue of Competition Plus went online, our “Muscle on a Budget” Camaro project has gathered quite a head of steam, thanks to a number of top performance industry companies. Our very successful trip to the PRI show in Indy a few weeks back yielded a number of commitments for parts and support for the project, and we're happy to bring you this update on our progress. First things first - take a look at the lead photo – that's none other than Pro Mod and Funny Car legend Scotty Cannon, posing with the project Camaro outside of his Lyman, South Carolina shop. Scotty is the now the official “Godfather” of the project, and we're glad to welcome him on board!
As we announced in the November issue, GM Performance Parts is supplying one of their newest crate engines, the awesome 425-horsepower ZZ383 small block. We now have more technical information on this powerful factory “stroker” engine, thanks to GMPP. “With GM's legendary Fast Burn cylinder heads and 383 cubic inches, the ZZ383/425 delivers incredible torque with smooth, linear delivery. If you're looking for a small block package that delivers big block power, then this is the one. The ZZ383's 425-horsepower at an incredibly low 5400 RPM and 460 ft-lb of torque at 4500 RPM make this the ideal hot street engine. ”The excellent air handling and combustion characteristics of the Fast Burn cylinder heads, combined with the ZZ383/425's 3.800" stroke, make this engine the benchmark against which all other 383-inch small blocks should be measured. And it's tough, too - the 4340 nitrided and induction-hardened crank and unique forged PM rods see to that. And, of course, it has the Fast Burn head's lightweight stainless steel valves and retainers for reliable performance at extended RPM.
“The ZZ383/425 gets a stout .509/.528 lift steel roller camshaft with 222/230 duration at .050 lift. Hydraulic roller lifters and GM's time-tested 1.5 to 1 roller rocker arms round out the valve train. The 9.7 to 1 compression ratio ensures that the ZZ383/425 is 92-octane pump-gas friendly.”
We will be topping our engine with a GM single plane intake and a trick carburetor from the “World's Fastest Carburetor Shop,” Pro-Systems, of Spring Lake, Michigan. Now, as we all know, an engine program like this will require a 4150-style carburetor. However, after talking to Patrick James at Pro-Systems, he determined we could get all the power of a Dominator out of a 4150 series carburetor by building a unit with their Dominator boosters and metering system. Patrick says the great thing about mixing these two carburetor concepts is simple: The 4150 now thinks it's a Dominator at wide open throttle, yet it retains the nice drivability of a 4150 carburetor. It's the best of both worlds, and we are sure looking forward to bolting this beauty on!
In addition, engine scavenging will be provided by headers from Hedman through a new performance exhaust system. Moroso Performance Products, of Guilford, Connecticut, along with the Mr. Gasket Company, will be providing most of the other associated engine components required, including performance plug wires, fabricated valve covers, water pump, starter, billet pulleys and much, much more. We are also currently negotiating with Griffin Thermal Products, of Piedmont, South Carolina, for the addition of one of their aluminum radiators to the project. More good news came from the great people at Moser Engineering, of Portland, Indiana. They will be providing us with one of their complete 12-bolt housings, with M/E custom alloy axles, wheel bearings, wheel studs, retainer plates, 30-spline Eaton Posi, 3:73 Pro Street gears, 1350 series pinion yoke, chrome cover and assembly. Racers and builders who have used these bolt-in units in the past are very enthusiastic about their ease of installation, not to mention their toughness and durability, so this will be a great addition to our street and strip brawler. And there's more good news! J.W. Performance Transmissions, of Rockledge, Florida, have agreed to provide us with one of their super-tough TH 350 transmissions. From nose to tail we now have some of the finest “go-fast” pieces on the planet going into our formerly mild second-generation Camaro. Further technical details on this tranny will be brought to you in the January issue.
In the suspension department, we'll be calling on Moroso once again, this time through their Competition Engineering division. We hope to utilize many of the components from their Stage One chassis package, which is designed for “street performance and mild bracket cars.” Plans call for the use of their adjustable drag shocks, frame stiffeners, and engine and tranny mounts. In addition, we will be installing a pair of their revolutionary new Slide-A-Link traction devices. These bolt-on units offer the adjustability of a 4-link system and are a vast improvement over traditional “slapper bars.” In the cockpit, a tachometer and gauge package from Auto Meter will monitor all critical operations. Also, already installed between the buckets, thanks to Hurst and the Mr. Gasket Company, is a V-matic 2 shifter. This super-tough unit offers two modes of operation – in-line for daily driving and ratchet action for trips down the ‘strip. The trigger-operated reverse lock-out is approved for competition by both the NHRA and IHRA. It features the look of a manual shifter with its black rubber boot and great hand-filling brushed aluminum t-handle. To top everything off, the crew at Illusions Custom Paint and Airbrush, in Bristol, Tennessee, has agreed to shoot the new paint on the car, which is an exciting prospect all on its own, based on the outstanding work that Allen and Mark Adkins, along with artist Mark brown, have turned out over the years. They have painted some of the best-looking hot rods and motorcycles ever seen, including a number of IHRA and NHRA Pro Stock, Pro Mod and Pro Stock Bike entries.
Over the course of the next few months, Annette and Vernon Summer will be working to bring our dream car to reality. Annette, a Pro Street World Champion and Pro Modified competitor, and Vernon, a former Pro Stock driver and crew chief for the legendary “Dyno” Don Nicholson, will be transforming our plain vanilla F-body at their United Automotive and Performance Center operation in Aiken, South Carolina. From a dream and some wishful thinking a few months back, the “Muscle on a Budget” project has really taken off, thanks to the generosity and support of a number of outstanding individuals and companies. We will be working to have the engine and other major components delivered to the United Automotive and Performance Center the first part of January, and plans call for most of the mechanical work to be completed by the end of the month. After that, the painting and other cosmetic work will be completed, in plenty of time to debut the new and improved Camaro at the CompetitionPlus Spring Open at Virginia Motorsports Park on March 11-14, 2004. We will document every step of the project over the next several months, so follow along as we bring this classic hot rod back to the performance status it truly deserves, as a born-again muscle car worthy of the name and the heritage of the great factory cars of the 1960s.
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