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What a Difference a Year
Makes “Project Muscle” Camaro is now a Rolling Reality By Brian Wood Photos by Brian Wood and Roger Richards For a complete look at the “Project Muscle” build-up in photos, please visit the "Project Muscle" Photo Gallery
As
I was driving down the road to the recent Dragstock event in Jackson,
South Carolina, I’m sure that anyone who happened to see me couldn’t
help but notice the unmistakable look of pure joy on my face. The
combination of the wind whistling by the open driver’s side window and
the throaty rumble of a sweetly-running American V-8 were pure music to my
ears, and for every inch of that 125-mile jaunt I know I had a huge grin
plastered on my mug.
With
copious amounts of torque and horsepower instantly available, just knowing
the potential of the beautiful blue hot rod I was now wheeling towards the
coast was mind altering, a feeling a hadn’t experienced since I owned a
hot and heavily modified ’65 Mustang back in the late 60s. There have
been others, of course, including a nice 283-powered ’58 Chevy, an ’85
Mustang 5.0 and a big-block-equipped ’80 Trans Am, but this was
something special. As much as I hated to admit it, I felt like I was 17
again, and it was great. a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Click to visit our sponsor's website How I came to
be strapped into what was just a vague idea 12 months ago is a very
interesting story, one that most readers of Competition Plus have been
following all these long weeks and months. Just to bring everyone up to
speed, here’s how “Project Muscle” went from the drawing board to
the boulevard. In the October
2003 issue of Competition Plus, we ran a story which very basically
outlined an idea we had which was to demonstrate how modern bolt-on
performance components could transform the average American street car
into a thumping, no-nonsense street and strip cruiser.
Admittedly, as
mentioned, it was much more of an exercise in fantasy than anything else
in the beginning, but as we began to talk the concept up with the various
performance companies that support us, it became apparent that this was
something that many of them were anxious to be involved in, and “Project
Muscle” slowly began to pick up a head of steam. The basis for
the makeover was a solid but anemic 1979 Camaro that was purchased in
South Carolina from a guy who just had to have a new Harley. Fortunately
for us, his wife laid down the law, and one toy had to be sold to make
room for another, so the Camaro went on the block. Just to tie
this whole story together, following are some excerpts from the original
October 2003 piece: …Over the
upcoming winter, CompetitionPlus.com will be doing a series of articles
documenting a number of performance and cosmetic upgrades to a rather
generic second-generation Camaro. While the car has the look of a classic
F-body muscle car from the late, great past, its performance lags way
behind that once found in hot rods delivered directly from the factory to
dealer showrooms. a
d v e r t i s e m e n t Long range
plans call for this “plain vanilla” car to reclaim some of its
glorious heritage by becoming a competitive “street and strip”
machine, capable of being driven reliably and comfortably on the road
while laying down some impressive numbers in organized “foot brake”
competition on the weekend.
The car, which
is solid and free of rust except for a few minor, easily touched-up spots,
is currently powered by a slightly modified 350, which replaced the
original 305 a number of years ago. An Edelbrock aluminum intake and carb
now sit atop the engine, and there’s a mild aftermarket cam of unknown
configuration spinning away inside. Otherwise, everything in the engine
compartment is basically stock Chevrolet… …Our aim is
to target the large number of car owners and racers out there who have
similar cars and are looking to upgrade their performance with a minimum
of hassle and expense. We want to show how easy it is to “hop-up” a
meek daily driver through the use of high-quality “off the shelf”
components… …Preliminary
plans call for a crate motor transplant, an upgraded transmission, new
converter, headers, carburetor, ignition components, gaskets, rear-end,
axles, posi unit, tach, gauges, plug wires, oil pan, radiator,
transmission cooler, auxiliary fan, rear springs, Hugger Orange paint and
“tasty” graphics. In the
meantime, we can tell you that all mechanical work on the car will be
performed by famed Chevy Pro Street and Pro Mod racer Annette Summer and
her husband Vernon at their United Automotive and Diesel Performance
Center in Aiken, South Carolina… …In all
cases we will endeavor to use and install the very best components
available on the market today, with an emphasis on cost, availability,
ease of installation and maintenance, durability and reliability. If all
goes well and on schedule, the re-born Camaro will be debuted at the CompetitionPlus.com Spring Open at Virginia
Motorsports Park the weekend of March
11-14, 2004…
Well, quite a few things changed over the
course of the build-up, the most obvious being the overly-optimistic
completion date! Little did we know just how much time and work would
actually be required to get our rejuvenated F-body back out on the
streets. The car never received any orange paint either, but that will be
discussed later. The
first step we took towards making the dream a reality was to install a new
shifter between the buckets, a V-matic 2 unit provided by Hurst and the
Mr. Gasket Company. 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. After our very successful trip to the
PRI show in Indy in December things really began to roll. We received a
number of commitments and support for the project, and by the first of the
year we had already begun to accumulate a sizeable pile of components. a d v e r t i s e m e n t Click to visit our sponsor's website The star of our parts table was the generous contribution from GM Performance Parts, who kicked in an awesome 425-horsepower ZZ383 small block crate engine. With aluminum “Fast Burn” cylinder heads and 383 cubic inches, the ZZ383 produces its 425-horsepower at an incredibly low 5400 RPM, with 460 ft-lb of torque at 4500 RPM.
With a 4340 nitrided and induction-hardened crank and unique forged PM
rods, this is one tough hombre, and on top of that the “Fast Burn”
heads feature lightweight stainless steel valves and retainers for
reliable performance at extended RPM. The engine also features a stout
.509/.528 lift steel roller camshaft with 222/230 duration at .050 lift.
Hydraulic roller lifters and 1.5 to 1 roller rocker arms round out the
valve train. The 9.7 to 1 compression ratio also lets us run on 92-octane
pump gas. We topped our engine with a GM aluminum Eliminator Vortec
high-rise intake and trick Pro-Series XE 830-CFM carburetor from the
“World’s Fastest Carburetor Shop,” Pro-Systems, of Spring Lake,
Michigan. After discussing the project with 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. The
engine required a lot more to finally bring it to life, of course, and it
was here where Moroso Performance Products stepped up to the plate. Among
many other things, they provided a competition oil pan, fabricated valve
covers, distributor, fan, high-tech plug wires, aluminum water pump, air
filter assembly and chrome dress-up goodies.
To
get the hot gas to the back of the car, Hedman Hedders sent us a pair of
heavy-duty performance headers, which we then sent to Performance
Coatings, Inc., who treated the pipes to one of their great chrome-like
ceramic coating jobs. To complete the package, Flowmaster generously sent
us one of their complete 2-1/2’ dual American Thunder exhaust systems.
To
build a solid drive line for the car, we took delivery of a super-tough
performance TH350 transmission from J.W. Performance Transmissions of
Rockledge, Florida, with a manual valve body and forward shift pattern. To
link everything together, J.W. also provided one of their tough 10”
torque converters with steel stator and a 3,500-rpm stall. Since
we’re using such a high stall torque converter and the car will be
mainly street driven, there was a concern over the transmission
overheating. Fortunately, another of CompetitionPlus.com’s generous
advertisers came to the rescue. After a quick call to TCI Automotive, of
Ashland, Mississippi, a transmission cooler and auxiliary electric fan for
the radiator soon showed up at the United Automotive shop door. a
d v e r t i s e m e n t To
get all our new horsepower to the pavement, the great people at Moser
Engineering, of Portland, Indiana, weighed into the project. They shipped
us 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. To
fine-tune the suspension, we called on Moroso once again, this time
through their Competition Engineering division. We wanted to utilize many
of the components from their Stage One chassis package, which is designed
for “street performance and mild bracket cars.” We ended up receiving
adjustable drag shocks, frame stiffeners, front springs and solid engine
and transmission mounts. In addition, we were very excited to be able to
install 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.”
On
the inside, in addition to the new Hurst shifter, a Sport-Comp Playback
tachometer and Ultra-Lite oil pressure, fuel and temperature gauges from
Auto Meter were installed to help monitor all critical operations. For
show and go, we mounted Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pro tires on bright Weld
Racing aluminum Pro Star Wheels. The 8” Welds on the rear support a pair
of 28x10.5-15s, while the 6” fronts are wrapped in 26x7.5-15s. Thanks to
both of these great companies for their help with the project. The wheels
look awesome, and the rubber from M/T gives us super ground-grabbing bite. Once
all the mechanical work was completed, we bolted on a choice all-steel
cowl-induction hood from Goodmark Industries, the manufacturer of some of
the finest restoration parts in the business. In addition to its good
looks, the increased clearance was necessary in order to clear the
high-rise intake, Pro-Systems
carb and 4” Accel “Kool Blue” air filter. All during the spring and into
the summer of 2004, I made countless 250-mile round trips down to United
Automotive in Aiken, to bring yet more parts to the hard-working couple,
or just to take photos and notes for the monthly updates we published in
the magazine. Annette and Vernon run a very busy operation, and that, in
addition to their work preparing several race cars of their own, limited
the time they were able to work on the car. To their credit, however, they
put in lots of after-hours and weekend time to get our Camaro on the road.
As
with any project of this scope, there were some setbacks, delays and
problems, and going in we expected nothing less, but as we got
tantalizingly close to having most everything done, we found out that
getting over the last seemingly small obstacles turned out to be tougher
than planned. Putting a belt drive system together, for example, proved to
be quite a chore, as we had to come up with the correct brackets and
pulleys for the alternator, power steering pump and so on. After a
considerable amount of experimenting without much success, a call to CV
Products in Thomasville, North Carolina proved to be the right move to
make. They cut us a real good deal on a custom belt drive system, complete
with alternator and power steering pump, all necessary pulleys, belts and
brackets. It worked like a charm, and really put the finishing touches on
the engine.
Finally,
on May 18, the ZZ383 roared to life at the first turn of the key, and as
Annette held her phone close to the car, the throaty response emanating
through the Hedman headers and the Flowmaster exhaust system made the hair
stand up on the back of my neck, even over the telephone! After nearly six
months of hard work and anticipation, the sound of that 425-horsepower
powerhouse actually living and breathing on its own meant that we were
getting closer to the day that we could actually take to the streets with
a true re-embodiment of the classic V8 muscle car. In
late June, the car was at last picked up and driven the 120 miles to my
home (through a torrential rain storm, by the way) in Greenville, SC.
After just a few days, however, the re-born ’79 Camaro was stricken with
a case of “new car blues” when an electrical gremlin reared its head.
Something was causing the battery to drain from a full charge overnight,
and since the new alternator we had was set to charge only after the
engine put out 3,000 rpm, we had a real problem on our hands. Considering
how much work had gone into the wiring of the car’s new components,
there was always a chance that a dead short or a bare wire somewhere could
cause a problem. And since the printed circuit on the old instrument gauge
cluster was in pretty bad shape, Vernon suspected this was the culprit.
Just to be sure, while I searched EBay for a replacement, the folks at CV
Products custom-machined a new pulley for the alternator that would reduce
the rpm requirements to something just above an idle. The
first attempt to get the car back to Annette and Vernon’s was a major
fiasco, with the car dying in rush-hour traffic and Roger Richards having
to throw his body into the line of fire to push the heavy Chevy with its
even heaver driver through a major intersection as impatient motorists
voiced their displeasure. Anyway, after another all-night session with the
battery charger, we set out again, with Roger following in the Competition
Plus travel van.
As
fate would have it, halfway into the trip we ran smack into the big
brother of the storm I had weathered on the way home the week before.
Since the car no longer has a heater, the box being removed to provide
clearance for the headers, the inside of the windshield quickly fogged
over in the wet, humid conditions. Rolling down the window provided some
cooling air flow, but it also provided the driver with a thoroughly good
soaking in the process. Determined to sacrifice comfort for the joy of
driving a true hot rod, I grimly motored on, until the battery started to
die again! To
make a long story short, I drove the remaining 40 miles or so to Aiken in
second gear to keep the revs up, and once the rain quit I drove as fast as
I could to get to the shop before she died altogether. When I was a few
miles out, I phoned Vernon on my cell and told him to open the doors,
because I was coming in for a flaps-up landing. There’s
a real happy ending to this pitiful tale, however. I just told you all of
that to underscore the difficulties often associated with melding a bunch
of components from a number of manufacturers and making it all work
imperfect harmony. Considering just how extensive our build-up was, I
think we hit it as close to perfect as we could. After all, one measly bad
wire, no matter how aggravating, is really a minor deal in the grand
scheme of things. Today,
all of that is behind us, and recently we went back down to Aiken and
picked our mean machine up for the second time, and this time she’s 100%
ready to rumble, and rumble she does!
With
just a week to spare between the time we picked the car up and the time
when I wanted to drive it the 175 miles to Illusions Custom Paint and
Great Art by Mark Brown in Bristol, Tennessee, I lost no time in putting
as many miles as I could on the wicked little beast. I
can tell you in no uncertain terms that this is one bad ass machine! The
power the ZZ383/425 crate motor from GM Performance Parts puts out is
unreal. It plants you back into the seat cushions with very little effort,
and just keeps on making power. When GM said this engine provided big
block power in a small block, they knew just what they were talking about!
Of
course, all the other great components we utilized have meshed beautifully
to make our goal of recreating the power and performance of the great
muscle cars of the past a reality. In fact, thanks to Annette’s
insistence that the car have just the right stance when it left her shop,
our ’79 Camaro now has a great nose-down posture that is very
reminiscent of the great Pro Stock cars of the same era. I did a little
research, and found a number of photos of the Camaros driven by the likes
of Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, Warren Johnson and Lee Shepherd, among
others, and except for the snorkel hood scoop, our project car bears a
striking resemblance to these classics. In fact, with “Pro Touring”
and “Pro Street” being popular looks for custom street cars these
days, we may have just hit on an exciting new trend – “Retro Pro
Stock.” Then again, we may not have started anything at all, but I
really love the look. Thanks again, Annette! a
d v e r t i s e m e n t As
I said, I spent every free moment I had cruising around my local area,
making noise, getting lots of admiring looks and just having a ball in
general. The most fun I had was one night as I sat at a red light and
noticed a gathering of Mustangs at the local Sonic drive-in. I’d like to
say that I was strong enough to resist the temptation to flaunt my new
Bowtie power in front of the hot pony crowd, but to tell the truth I felt
no urge to restrain myself at all. A quick look around confirmed that no
members of the local constabulary were lurking about, and when the light
went green I brought the revs up and dropped the hammer, pounding through
all three gears in a flash and making a clean, if extremely boisterous,
getaway. With a look of total innocence plastered on my face, I backed her
off and cruised up to the next light as memories of my youth came folding
back. This is what it’s all about, as far as I’m concerned.
After
a short time at home, I jumped in the car and drove it the three hours up
through the Blue Ridge Mountains to Bristol, with my friend Marvin Noel
following in his ’75 Dodge. We made it up there with no drama, and left
the car in the very capable hands of Allen and Mark Adkins and the
talented staff at illusions Custom Paint. They, along with airbrush master
Mark Brown, would by applying the finishing touches to our year-long
project. These guys have painted some of the best-looking hot rods and
motorcycles ever seen, including a number of IHRA and NHRA Pro Stock, Top
Sportsman, Pro Mod and Pro Stock Bike entries, so we were very pleased
that they wanted to be a part of our project. A
week or so later, Marvin and I were on our way to an NSCA event in Ohio,
and we stopped in to see what progress had been made, and to my surprise
the car was just going into the paint booth for its first coat of color.
The original plan to use Hugger Orange had long since been abandoned, as
had the short-lived idea for a glossy black finish, and now the guys at
Illusions were preparing to lay down an undercoat of House of Kolor
“Shimrin” metallic Orion Silver, which would then be topped by another
House of Kolor classic, Tru Blue Pearl. Once
we got the call that the car was ready to go, Roger, Marvin and I
anxiously made yet another road trip to Bristol, and as soon as we pulled
into the drive at Illusions, I knew we had made a perfect choice on the
color. The beautiful liquid blue literally jumped out at us, and I was
quite honestly left breathless. To top off the effect, Mark Brown applied
three small skulls with glowing eyes on the nose just to let everyone know
that the old guy behind the wheel still had a pretty radical attitude when
the situation called for it. So
this all brings us back to my trip down to Carolina Dragway for the
Dragstock event a few weeks ago, where I was graciously invited to put the
car on display in the Flowmaster area, a great honor for Competition Plus,
and a real tribute to the hard work everyone concerned put in. The car was
a big hit with the fans down in Jackson, and it was a proud moment for all
of us, including Annette and Vernon, who were there racing Annette’s
turbocharged Corvette that weekend as well. From
a dream and some wishful thinking more than a year ago, the “Project
Muscle” Camaro project was finally and truly complete, at least as far
as we plan to take it at this point. Of course, there are always things to
be changed or added, but right now she’s a done deal. Thanks to the
generosity, hard work and support of a number of outstanding individuals
and companies, we made it all happen, and I think we achieved our goal of
showing how the average performance enthusiast can buy and install the
kind of tough, top quality components that were only available to those
willing to tackle the building on their own in years gone by. Now we have a
hot rod worthy of cruising big city boulevards or taking to the drag
strip, and hopefully we’ve shown many others that it’s possible to
return those faded classics reposing in garages or backyards to their
former glory, and get them back out on the pavement where they belong. Now that we
have everything done, our next trip will be down to Atlanta, where Brad
Brand at Atlanta Chassis Dyno will put our Camaro car through its paces,
tuning our ZZ33 for optimum performance and seeing just how much
“grunt” we have at the rear wheels. We’ll naturally bring you this
information in a future issue. In the
meantime, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the people who made this
all possible: Bobby Bennett,
who suggested the project in the very beginning and encouraged me to
pursue it. Roger Richards and Marvin Noel, who spent countless hours
ferrying me to and from Aiken, Greenville and Bristol. Johnny Kelley and
Bill Boomhower, who arranged for the first work on the car to be done at
their Super Tire Service shop. Alan Pittman and the crew at AP Race Cars,
Allen Cook, Roderick Burke, William and Kelly Brown of J&W Nova Parts,
Scotty Cannon, Gary Penn and Rick Moroso. Last but not least a special
thanks to Annette and Vernon Summer, who tirelessly gave days, weeks and
months of their precious time and experience to pull this entire project
together. Naturally, it
would have been impossible to do anything at all without the generosity
and support of our sponsors and other performance industry friends, so
please visit their web sites below, and throw your business their way –
they’re the best in the business, and you won’t be sorry you did!
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