Tech Notes
What: '93 Chevrolet Camaro
Owner: Dan Gray
Hometown: Mission Viejo, California. Tune into Mission Viejo Television 24 hours a day on Cox cable-channel 30
Hardware: Bob McKray Performance of Mission Viejo handled the engine build, and Justin Shears did the assembly work. The stock LT1 was bored 0.030-inch over and stroked to 383 ci. The Eagle 4340 crank was cryo-dipped and fitted with Eagle forged H-beam connecting rods and Teflon-coated custom JE pistons. The compression ratio is a pump-gas-tolerable 11:1. Ported Brodix Race-Rite heads top off the short-block, and the valvetrain consists of a custom-ground Comp Cams camshaft and Pro Magnum roller rocker arms. The combustion chambers, valve faces, and piston tops are all treated with a ceramic coating. Cold air enters via a 58mm Edelbrock throttle body and a high-flowing LT4 intake manifold. Thirty-six lb/hr ACCEL fuel injectors supply copious amounts of premium unleaded as required by Dan's right foot.
Software: The factory ECM soldiered on until the list of modifications became long enough to leave it dazed and confused. A FAST 7X1 engine-management computer took over things from there. The engine was dialed in on a chassis dynamometer at Harv's Dyno & Auto Tune in Whittier, California, yielding the impressive 570hp and 713 lb-ft numbers at the wheels.
Nitrous: Yes, please. Big power numbers and low elapsed times are made possible by the 130 shot with a big Nitrous Oxide Systems bottle stashed in the trunk.
Ignition: Dan was brand-loyal in choosing his ignition components. An MSD 6AL box triggers the MSD coil that sends current through an MSD Optispark distributor, and out through MSD 8mm wires and into NGK plugs.
Transmission: Torque-transfer duties are handled by an Art Carr-built 700-R4 equipped with a 4,000-rpm stall Yank torque converter and a Corvette valvebody. The shifter is a B&M Hammer
Rearend: Power comes in through a carbon-fiber driveshaft and out through a Strange 12-bolt with a 4.11 limited-slip final drive and custom 33-spline axles.
Exhaust: Ceramic-coated ASM short-tube headers route the exhaust into a single-outlet system custom bent by J.P Performance in Santa Ana, California. Dan has a not-so-legal test pipe that he uses at the track.
Chassis: The undercarriage of Dan's Camaro looks like a catalog for tube-steel suspension components. Up front, you'll find QA1 adjustable coilovers and BMR tubular upper and lower control arms bolted to a BMK tubular K-member finished off with a Hotchkis sway bar. In back, Dan went with Hotchkis stuff all around: torque arm, control arms, Panhard bar, and sway bar. Eibach springs set the ride height and are damped by QA1 shocks. BMR subframe connectors reinforce the car from underneath while a six-point rollcage by Orange County Performance in Mission Viejo puts the kibosh on chassis flex from the inside.
Wheels/Tires: Again, Torq-Thrusts prove that they look cool on any car. The wheels are 17-inch up front, but 16-inch in back that spin the 28x16x11.5 Hoosier Quicktime Pros. The rear wheelhouses were mini-tubbed to accommodate these slightly wider-than-normal slicks.
Brakes: Dan filled the insides of his Torq-Thrusts with a Baer 1311/42-inch rotor and four-piston caliper kit up front and 11-inch rotors in the back
Interior: Aside from the rollcage, the interior looks stock at first glance. Look closer and you may notice the custom leather upholstery in place of the factory cloth seats. Leather wasn't available in '93. A big Auto Meter Pro-Comp tachometer is mounted in Dan's line of sight to help monitor engine speed, while a set of auxiliary gauges are tastefully mounted down low, keeping with the low-profile look of the rest of the interior.
Best time: As of January, Dan's best run was 10.425 at 128.19 mph. He's looking to break into the 9s very soon.