Who's Swapping Parts?
- Thread starter GT Fanatic
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taniwha said:
55 and a 51 inner. Campag 11-19 8 speed in the back. Most of the courses I liked , even at full gas, required a 17 and 19 and staying in the outer ring made for a naff chain line and besides 55x19 would have been a little much. A 48 was sometimes used on the inner.
GT Fanatic said:Very nice Camaro. I'm very pleased to see you haven't followed the lame "street machine" trend by mucking it up with big, shiny, chrome wheels and a paintjob using everything PPG has to offer. I commend you on that. Look no further than "Camaro Performers" magazine to see what I'm referring to. Being a purist, though, I'd love to hang you for parting out an original 396 SS car, as you should have held on to the engine, but it's your car...
Am I making 500 hp at 1900 rpm? Nope. I wanted more top-end than LT1s normally make. LT1s suck on the top-end. I went with a high-lift cam for more mid-range/top-end power. I don't drag race a whole lot, but I do like to go out on the street and really wind'er out.
Making a Z28 look like a V6. My car is a B4C model (police package), which is 1 of 668 made in 1994. During the lifespan of the B4C (1991-2002), there were less than around 7000 made. My car is a Z28 in V6 trim; the monochromatic paint on the roof gives it away, but nobody knows that.
I'm getting ready to tear down the engine (again) and re-do it, because I want to go with a larger cam, and it just hasn't been running up to par. I have an oil drip coming from somewhere, which I've been having a Hell of a time tracking (try tracking ANYTHING on a 4th Gen Camaro...), and I think I have a sticking lifter. No biggie, because I also want to bore out to a 383ci and swap over to a turbo setup in place of my Procharger. A turbo's just going to be way more efficient, and the engine won't be under stress all the time.
The next step will be ditching the stock 7.5 inch GM 10-bolt rear, which has miraculously held up, but it's on its way out very quickly. The posi unit has pretty much bitten the dust. I haven't decided whether I'm going to go with a Dana S60 or GM 12-bolt, but it's going to be one or the other.
On another front, I've thought about just selling the car and starting from scratch on something. My wife whet my appetite about doing a Factory 5 Racing car after I received some info from them in the mail; I must have gotten on a mailing list. I looked over the info and doing their "GTM Supercar" or "'65 Daytona" is appealing to me. The only problem is where I would store all of this stuff; a chassis, frame, pallets of parts, etc. I have a 3 car garage stuffed with 3 cars. Even if I got rid of the Camaro, half the parts would still be sitting in the driveway. Then, there's a matter of tracking down some of the other parts needed to build; some of which are very expensive, depending on which model I wanted to build (GTM or Daytona).
Basically, with a Factory 5 car, since they're so light (2000-2400 lbs), I could probably drop in a stock LS1 or LS3 and run deep into the 11 second range, all the while stealing 30+ mpg. I wouldn't even have to modify anything for the thing to be fast. That certainly has an appeal to it, because it would be dead-reliable.
I wouldn't go gung-ho about swapping to a turbo. Sure they are more efficient but not that much more efficient than a certrifugal supercharger, especially if you already have a big intercooler in there.
The factory 5's are nice but you'll spend lots of time repositioning the steering rack to solve caster and bump steer issues if used on the road, especially bumpy ones. On the track they're great... but if I was racing on a track I'd buy a real race car or go race karts. If you want something small, light, has a great suspension and has an LS3 in it take a trip to flyinmiata.com. The LS3 fits under a Miata hood and weighs less than the turbo engine in the Mazdaspeed Miata. 500hp in a 2300car with one of the best chassis and suspension out there. If you run Toyo RA1 tires you'll get more grip and lower laptimes than you would with the FF cars too.
I wanted a Factory Five 65 Coupe until I rode in one. I'd drive one in winter but that's it. With no A/C its like an oven in there. With good A/C you'll sweat profusely but not to the point where you'll soak your shirt within the hour. Handling is like the Roadster - not the best on the road. I'd rather have a C5 Z06 Vette.
A real easy way to spot leaks on any engine is clean it spotless, let it idle for about 20 minutes, drive it around block a few times at under 10 mph and the get it up on jackstands and pop some cardboard under it. If you drive more than 10mph the fluids will tend to blow all over the place and make it hard to find where the leak really is.
... and the 396 that was in it wasn't the original.
Even a 55 x19 makes my eyes water. That block on the back, you missed the 18? I raced a 19-11 8 speed with no 12 and it was horrid. With the course and the racing I thought it was a great idea at the time, but afterwards I realised it was just stupid. I'd be in the 13 all going well, then think "A little bit more", the 11 would get an outing and the wheels would fall off. Too big a jump. And I was only a 53 on the front.swampy1970 said:
