'The back of your head is someone else's problem. It's not like you have to stare at it for hours on end or use it for critical gear changes. So you can leave its destiny up to the femme with the buzzin' clippers and call it good. Not so with the dashboard on the street machine. You're gonna stare that thing down on long road trips and need to consult it during gear changes and illicit top-speed testing. It better be right. It better be good.

The dashboard rebuild has come a long way since the standard plastic-polish rubbing and orange-nail-polish-on-the-speed-needle treatment. Steve Strope from Pure Vision Design in Simi Valley, California, has been rethinking the standard, and more recently, Redline Gauge Works in Santa Clarita, California, has come up with a way to swap out analog and geardriven cable systems for sleek new VDO innards. Each has developed a way to completely change the look and feel of the gauge face to any vibe you want; all you have to do is envision it. To that end, we have assembled some cool ideas from these two luminaries and even had Strope work some mojo in the CC/Rambler project dash.

Supplies
Devcon Plastic Welder
Dupli-Color Silver Metallic
Dupli-Color Instant Chrome
Dupli-Color High Performance Wheel Coating (clear)
Dupli-Color Adhesion Promoter
Krylon Semi-Flat Black
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Clear Plastic Cleaner
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Clear Plastic Polish
SEM Self Etching Primer
Auto Meter 2 1/16 fuel/water/oil/volt gauges
Auto Meter 3 3/8 in-dash speedometer

`There's a saying that goes, "Everything old is new again." When it comes to our hot rods, nothing could be closer to the truth, as more and more dudes and dudettes look to the past for inspiration in the present. One of the up-and-coming retro trends is the vintage Stock car look. With their slammed suspensions, monster superspeedway gumball tires, and loud race car graphics, there's nothing else like those big-block-powered high-banks screamers from the days before NASCAR went all disco on us and mandated restrictor plates and small-blocks.

So when Car Craft scored a clean '67 Comet 202 sports coupe to use as a project car in association with Timber Wolf smokeless tobacco (read all about it in last month's issue), we knew it was a perfect candidate for the retro Stocker vibe. Right about now some of you might be thinking we have our wires crossed. After all, weren't all those Ford and Mercury Stock cars based on the fullsize Galaxie and Marauder? Yes and no. While FE 427-powered fullsize Stock cars were the Blue Oval rule for the first half of the '60s, the fact is the Mopar Hemis made life real difficult for them. Not only did the 426 Hemi hold a breathing advantage over the wedgehead 427, but the Mopar B-Body race cars were technically midsize cars . . . with less frontal area than the fullsize luxo-barge-based Merc and Ford racers.

That is, until 1967. Finally caving in to pressure from Ford and Mercury race bosses, Nascar allowed the use of the smaller midsize Fairlane and Comet body in all competition events and even released a limited number of street-legal 427-powered Fairlanes and Comets in 1966 and 1967 to homologate the package for race duty-- both on the oval as well as on the dragstrip. So this gives us the green light to have some Stock car fun with the Comet's outward appearance.

But unlike the '60s, when everything was hand-lettered in paint and only the smallest sponsor logos were vinyl stick-ons, today we can turn to companies like JN Designs for vinyl decoration. Not only does this simplify the application process, it also makes removal possible if you wake up one day and want a change. Let's tune in as JN's Jim Naylor, with assistance from Gold Coast Customs' Russ Stevenson, adds retro Stock car vibes to the Comet. If you like what you see, you can call JN Design and Jim will work with you on a graphic treatment for your car.

If you've been drooling over the '67 Mercury we've been transforming into a Stock Car replica over the last few issues and want to see the completed car that will be given away, here it is. In this final installment of the Timber Wolf Comet project car story, we yanked the FE 390 for a look-see at what made it spew oil, while we hung out with Russ Stevenson at Gold Coast Customs for the addition of subtle Stock Car cues to go along with the retro graphics applied last month. It makes us weep a little to know this neat stick-shifted big-block cruiser won't be in our garage for much longer, but who knows, it might soon be in yours.

Originally built at the Lorain, Ohio, plant and shipped to the New York sales district as a white-with-blue-interior stripper with the base 200-cube six-popper (T-code) and C4 slush box (W-code), it is one of 14,251 Comet 202 two-door sedans built in 1967.

Surprisingly for the luxury-oriented Mercury brand, production records show that the 202's stubby, pillared body with angular lines was the highest-selling Comet model of 1967, outpacing all other two- and four-door and wagon Comet body styles. By contrast, the next closest two-door, the pillarless Comet Capri, shifted 11,671 units in 1967 while the sexpot Comet Cyclone hardtop accounted for only 6,101 sales. This is one instance where the cheapo body outpaced all others in the model line.

But thanks to the owner before us, a guy in New Mexico with Ford Blue blood coursing through his veins, the granny-spec drivetrain was axed in favor of a Cyclone-inspired 390, four-speed, 9-inch setup that elevates the car into the fun zone quite nicely. On the other side of the coin, while the 390 ran strong enough during Car Craft's post-purchase jaunt from New Mexico to L.A., it had some issues we needed to take care of before we could send it along to a lucky winner. Let's dig in and give it the treatment.

PARTS LIST
DESCRIPTION	PN	SOURCE	PRICE
Pro-Billet MSD Distributor	8595	msd Ignition	$400.29
Holman Moody valve covers	C2HM-6582HC	Holman Moody	Call for price

We know. It's hard to imagine spending $3,500 and still look cool, but it's possible. You just have to do it the Car Craft way by waiting and watching for a clean body to show up in the classifieds, then scrounging the wrecking yards and stripping useful parts off other models.

That's how it went down with the '67 Rambler American after we figured out that if you want to build a car for low bucks, you need to either buy a clean six-cylinder car and swap in the V-8 goodies, or try to find a complete V-8 version and hope there is no hidden body damage. After looking at a herd of rusted-out Javelins and AMX bodies, we were surfing the Internet and came across a clean-looking but faded American with a 232ci inline-six and a column-shifted automatic parked about 15 miles north of us. When we arrived, we found the car in original, untouched condition on four flat tires covered in a tent of dust. The owner told us that the brakes failed and his mother took a trip into the garage door before permanently parking it. We decided right there that hidden under the crust was a lightweight two-door post just waiting for the right combination of look-cool and go-fast parts from the aftermarket to be a way cool street/strip car.

So we were hooked. We called AAA to have the car towed home, then swapped in all the V-8 parts from other AMCs in the family with the addition of a couple of hot rodding mainstays. But this is only the beginning. Now that we have a running car with a clean look, we're going to build it a piece at a time using only the hard parts that make it go faster or stop better, with a heavy emphasis on the go-faster part.

We're also going to use this car to do the wrong thing, like installing a sheetmetal tunnel-ram or a really loose torque converter, just to give you the truth about living with these parts on the street. Since our favorite wrong thing to do is add too much power, we're also going to plug in the 370 we built in the Jan. '06 issue. With it, we are going to test the limits of the stock parts and find out if the AMC guys are right that they are bulletproof, or if the rest of the world is right and we are going to fling shrapnel at the guy in the water box with the garden hose in his hand.

But first, check out how we transformed this car into street-machine material with more wrenching and less cash.

Parts List
Description	PN	Source	Price
The Car
'67 Rambler American	NA	eBay	$2,000
Used Parts
Radiator and misc. parts	NA	'74 Matador	40.00
750 carb	3310	Loper's Performance junk pile	25.00
Disc brakes/gas pedal	NA	'83 AMC Concord	130.00
Drivetrain	NA	'72 AMC Gremlin	350.00
Electric fan	NA	Pontiac Fiero	29.99
Dog-dish hubcaps	NA	'67 four-door Rambler	10.00
New Parts
2-1/16-inch Auto Meter fuel	6114	Summitracing.com	109.95
2-1/16-inch Auto Meter water	6155	Prostreetonline.com	156.57
2-1/16-inch Auto Meter oil	6153	Summitracing.com	199.95
'68 Hemi Dart hoodscoop	NA	Kramer Automotive	195.00
ACDelco battery	NA	B&C Auto Parts	85.00
Autolite spark plugs	AUT 66	B&C Auto Parts	12.00
Autospecialties master cylinder	M-83011	B&C Auto Parts	35.00
Black paint	NA	B&C Auto Parts	4.95
Brake fluid	NA	B&C Auto Parts	3.95
Brake cleaner	NA	B&C Auto Parts	2.50
Condenser	DR60T	B&C Auto Parts	2.33
Distributor cap	DR429T	B&C Auto Parts	3.67
Edelbrock Torker intake	2930	Summitracing.com	225.95
Fan belt	GAT 7425	Gates	5.00
Hood	NA	'67 four-door American	40.00
Lower-control-arm bushings	10-3059	Galvin's Rambler Parts	33.70
Mr. Gasket cable bracket	6038	Service Center	16.00
MSD plug wires	31199	Summitracing.com	74.88
Radiator cap	AWA FH38	B&C Auto Parts	4.20
Rotor	DR311T	B&C Auto Parts	2.49
TCI Thunder Stick	618016	Summitracing.com	189.00
Standard points	DR2270PT	B&C Auto Parts	4.22
Brake fittings	11/42x20	B&C Auto Parts	4.95
Brake-light switch kit	8629	Total Performance	13.00
Labor
Exhaust system installation	NA	Speedway Muffler Service	80.00
Custom driveshaft	NA	Drive Shaft Masters	160.00
Subtotal			4,249.25
Sold
Running 232 six and trans			-300.00
Extra crossmember			-350.00
Total			$3,599.25

We stood in the faint outline of blue that surrounded the Rambler like an upside-down halo greeting the unusually high number of gawkers that came to see the art. "This paint on the decklid looks a little iffy" was the first comment to break the silence.

We understand that right after you paint a car, you are going to get attention. So we were prepared for everyone to look down the body and make mental notes of each warble of paint and each unworked paint chip just so they could point them out. Since the price of a good paint job has easily crested $5,000, the expectation of perfection has become absurd. But right after you tell people you did it yourself, for around $1,000, in the garage, they usually stop complaining and you get a little credit.

For the CC/Rambler, we chose a dual-stage metallic called Barbados Blue. Because it's a dual-stage, a flat base-color coat is applied followed by a clearcoat. There were some mistakes in the Rambler's basecoat we laid down in last month's issue, and since we hadn't applied the clear, it wasn't too late to fix them. We were also going to use the secret weapon often called the cut-and-buff that from the days before the advent of catalyzed and single- and dual-stage urethanes. Since old-school lacquer used to go down dull, shops would use a pasty compound to knock down high spots and remove imperfections. When that was covered with a huge coat of wax, the job looked great. That same technique can be used on the clearcoat on a two-stage urethane job for the same effect. Here's how to do it.

Product List
Description	PRICE
Craftsman 6-inch bench-top buffer	$99.00
Craftsman compound buffing set	5.99
Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish	7.14
Craftsman 6-inch buffing wheel	6.29
Craftsman 8-inch buffing wheel	14.99
Eagle Waterproof Abrasive Paper, superfine 1,200-grit 50-sheet pack	21.32
3M Super Duty rubbing compound, 1-quart bottle	15.19
3M Superbuff buffing pad 5701, 9-inch, two-sided	26.20
3M Superbuff polishing pad 5704, 9-inch, two-sided	28.31
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze swirl-free polish, 32-ounce bottle	15.49

'Oops! We have a new project car. We are going to get into real trouble for this one because we just hatched this idea, saw an opportunity, jumped online, and bought a car in Las Cruces, New Mexico, without looking at it or asking anyone if this was even a good idea. Then we flew out there and picked it up just to see if it would make it home.

Why? Musclecars are coming back big time, so sitting fat on a short horizon is yet another maelstrom of price overinflation. This has renewed interest in vintage drag cars and musclecars in general as the platinum-credit-card guy looks for ways to invest. It didn't take long for them to notice that some of the coolest cars ever were driving on the big ovals in the late '60s, so the dollars are now shifting toward vintage Stock Cars as well.

Fortunately, you figured this out first and are sending us more photos of big Galaxies, Comets, and Torinos dressed in genuine Stock Car duds. We've pushed the concept a little in the magazine to gauge response, then simply gave in to the jones to buy an old, base-model Ford and build it into a NASCAR replica, all the way down to the electrical-taped horn button.

Instead of disco-era Novas, wacko Oldsmobiles, and Ramblers, Car Craft is jumping on the bandwagon for a couple of months to build a Stock Car, then giving you a chance to win it. You'll tell us if we are geeking-out or if is this cool.

The Plan
Even though Ford had pulled out of NASCAR as an official factory team in early 1966, Stock Car racing was about to get good. To prevent Ford from staying out of Stock Car racing indefinitely, NASCAR began to ignore the factory-stock rulebook and let cars such as Bud Moore's Mercury Comet, with an intermediate body and a fullsize Galaxie front clip, enter the field. That opened the door wide to cars like the Holman Moody half-chassis cars, and ushered in the era of custom-built tube frames and wild aero tricks that would soon follow. During the '67 season, Mario Andretti won the Daytona 500 in a 427 Ford Fairlane fielded by Holman Moody ahead of LeeRoy Yarbrough's record-setting Charger and Smokey Yunick's pole-sitting Chevelle. Body changes in the Ford intermediates in 1968 introduced the Torino body style, marking the beginning of the superspeedway era and the aero-wars between Charger Daytonas and Torino Talladegas in 1969 at the new Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega.

Our original intention was to find a '69 Torino and clone a superspeedway car. We even found an original Torino Talladega online but were buffeted by the $50,000 price tag. Other fullsize supercars were similarly priced. Our solution (as it usually is) was to find a more mainstream '66 or '67 Fairlane or Comet base-model car that was a little more affordable and a little less collectible. We found a full plate of Fairlanes, including a couple of big-block GTAs, but each time, we could either see through the floor or had to scroll down to get to the end of the list of engine swaps and hacksaw modifications. Forget about a 390 GT Cyclone.

That's when we saw a '67 Mercury Comet 202 that looked brand-new. The 202 is the base-model version of the Mercury Capri, Caliente, and Cyclone hardtops. It has a long hood and a short deck, shorter than even the Fairlane and Capri's. Because of that, the Comet is lighter and cheaper than its siblings. Add that it's a sedan with a post, and you have prime material for some guiltless modifications.

We triple-clicked the Buy It Now button and scrambled for a Tuesday-morning flight to El Paso, Texas, to rent a weiner car for the short hop into New Mexico. Our original plan was to arrive in Las Cruces on Wednesday morning to pick up the car, but we couldn't wait and pestered the owner until he relented. We got it Tuesday at sunset in a small, upscale community on the outskirts of town. We were expecting to find the car covered in a blue plastic tarp on the side of the house but were happily surprised that it was in an extremely clean garage perched on its own lift. We whipped out the cashier's check (OK, cash would have been much cooler) and drove that sucker into the night.

The Car
On the freeway, we were startled to notice that the car had only 66,000 miles and it felt completely new. By that we mean new in 1967. The second owner had purchased it from somewhere in upstate New York and proceeded to ditch the factory six and Select Shift Merc-O-Matic transmission and replaced them with a 390 FE and a Top Loader four-speed. Thanks, whoever you are. The third owner had rubbed out the paint, fixed the trim, and finished the restoration so it could sit in his garage as a sculpture. Other than a drivetrain upgrade, the rest of the car was completely stock, so it was really nice to drive once we were at peace with the overassisted power steering.

We were already trying to find the top of the tach on the I-10 south on the way back to El Paso to drop off the rental and drop in on Todd Ryden and the guys from MSD Ignition. They had just enclosed their chassis dyno with some barn-tin and were as eager as we were to find the redline and the maximum power of the 390 so we could plan cam swaps and intake upgrades. They also showed us their brutal, blown Gen III Cadillac CTS-V and let us take it on some demonstration passes behind the shop.

From the factory, the '67 Mercury lineup was packed with optional big Ford powerplants. The base models came standard with either the 200ci six-cylinder engine that made an advertised 120 hp at 4,400 rpm or one of several versions of the 289 with 200-250 hp depending on the compression ratio. Our Comet 202 sedan was optioned with the six-popper, but you could step up to the Cyclone package with a 289 or the Cyclone GT with a 320hp 390ci engine. There was also a Cyclone Super package with a 427-inch FE engine and a standard four-speed transmission. With the exception of some of the 427ci engines, all of the FE engines were part of the Marauder series that included the 390 ci, the 410 ci, which was a 390 block with a 428 crank, and the Super Marauder 428. These engines were rated between 270-345 hp depending on displacement and compression ratio and were standard on the fullsize Park Lane, Brougham, and Marquis in 1967. The Super Marauder was standard equipment in the '67 S-55 if you are looking for one.

Knowing this, we were kind of disappointed when we saw the 200hp dyno figures. The donor engine was likely from a Ford truck, but the Comet still felt like a musclecar.

Where Are We?
Our road-trip plan was to avoid most of the main arteries between the cities in the hope of stumbling upon something interesting. Todd Ryden tipped us off that there was a dirt-oval racetrack down near the Mexico border that had been built but then abandoned years before. We had to leave Todd after he debated about going back to work or going with us; it was a tough call. We jumped off the interstate and entered Highway 9, which runs so close to Mexico that the lines on the map become one.

The smaller highways in the southwest desert are festooned with tiny border towns and vintage visitor centers that are normally stocked with information on every oddity within a 20-mile radius. Each time we crossed a state line, we'd drop in and collect the pamphlets about towns such as Truth or Consequences, so named for a '50s-era radio game show that wanted a town to change its name for a publicity stunt.

We crisscrossed the map using the interstates for only a few miles at a time to load up on beef jerky and gas, and navigated using the free cartoon maps provided by the local tourist traps. The car cruised at 70 mph with surprising comfort and zero road feel but we didn't care. Aside from a stolen credit card and a near miss with an SUV, the trip was all pecan logs and cheesy turquoise jewelry.

The trip totaled two days. It would have been longer courtesy of a side trip to Joshua Tree National Park, but a black cloud had formed over Los Angeles and the wipers hadn't been used in a decade. Still, we wanted to stay out there. The Comet is the ultimate '60s cruising vessel and it deported us to a better time when there was less traffic, $0.25 ethel lead, and nothing to watch on TV.

What's Next?
With the car safely back in the shop, our plan is to turn it into a Stock Car replica without cutting up anything. That means careful removal of the parts from the stock interior that don't fit the look and using vinyl decals instead of paint. Since the drivetrain isn't stock anyway, plan to see a cam and intake swap and to hear some thundering Stock Car exhaust. If you have some ideas, join us at CarCraft.com in the forum area and speak your mind. We'll listen.

Tech Notes
What: '67 Mercury Comet
Engine: 390-inch FE
Transmission: Four-speed Top Loader with a Hurst shifter
Carb: Edelbrock 600-cfm AFB
Rearend: Ford 9-inch with 3.25 gears
Body: Comet 202 with a factory Cyclone fiberglass hood
Wheels/Tires:
14x5.5 and 14x8
steel wheels with 195/75R-14 and 245/60R-14 tires
Interior: Stock

This is a story that many traditional small-block Chevy guys don't want to hear. They think the new Gen III and Gen IV small-block engines from GM are too expensive to build and don't make that much more power than the old engines. The truth is that while these new-generation engines are different and the parts are sometimes more expensive, there are ways to make affordable power-big power. The more progressive car crafters have already embraced this new technology and are enjoying the powerful fruits of their willingness to try new things. While there's always room for both small-blocks, if you are serious about the horsepower game, it's no longer prudent to ignore these late-model engines. They thump.

We've been watching the used Gen III engine market for the last couple of years, waiting for the right time to jump into the new-Gen world. While these engines are metric and look a little funny compared with the tried-and-true small-block Chevys, the reality is they are still just four-stroke, two-valve motors. And in many ways, they are far superior to the engines we grew up with.

Most of the media attention has been focused on the aluminum 5.7L LS1 or the latest 6.0L LS2 engine. The LS1 is becoming more affordable every day, while the LS2s are still too new to be considered budget material. While all-aluminum means less weight, we wanted more displacement. This led us to the iron 6.0L truck engines. These 364ci motors are really just 4.00-inch-bore versions of the LS1 with iron blocks. As you can see in the displacement chart, the entire Gen III family is similar to the old-school 283-327-350-400 small-block family tree.

The 6.0L's larger 4.00-inch bore is important because we wanted to test the horsepower potential of the latest L92 heads that just came on the market from GM and are being used on the new '07 L92 truck engines. Because of their larger valves, these heads cannot be used on a bore smaller than 4.00 inches. But you'll have to wait until next month for that part of the story.

Even with stock iron truck heads, we were able to crank out over 480 hp with a mild cam from the carbureted 6.0L engine for less than four grand. We were impressed knowing that with more cam and some speed stuff, 500 hp was well within reach

The Used Motor Game
Our search for an affordable, used 6.0L engine led us to LKQ, a nationwide chain of recycling yards that offers take-out engines from late-model vehicles. In an online search, we found a 6.0L engine out of a truck for $1,100 at the LKQ in Santa Fe Springs, California. We were able to obtain the engine without the A/C compressor, starter, power-steering pump, and alternator but still with all the brackets and pulleys.

Since this is a nationwide chain, often the engines will be located in different states, which will require shipping. Shipping costs vary depending on how far the engine has to travel, but according to Brian Sebring of LKQ, they average between $225 and $275.

Among the engines we searched, we saw several 5.7L and 5.3L engines that would also make great starting points (for a little less money) if a 6.0L isn't to your liking. According to Sebring, the 5.3L engines can be had for less than $1,000 depending upon their condition. LKQ pulls the engines, tests them on a stand, and then sets them up on a pallet for shipping. It doesn't get much easier than that.

Of course, LKQ is just one source for used engines, but the company has 65 yards throughout the country, so it makes it easier to find the engine you want.

Inside an LQ4
The engine we chose to work with is the all-iron 6.0L Gen III small-block that appears in many different larger pickups and SUVs. Despite the fact that this is a truck engine, it offers more power potential than a typical LS1 5.7L engine because of its greater displacement and larger, 4.00-inch bore. The iron blocks are otherwise identical to their aluminum counterparts, are notably stronger, and add only 65 pounds. The stock LQ4 engines also use a lower 9.4:1 compression ratio compared with the 10.2:1 compression ratios offered in the LS1 engines. More rare but also out there is the Escalade LQ9 with more compression and more power. Other major differences in this LQ4 engine are the use of the taller EFI intake manifold, a deeper-sump oil pan, truck exhaust manifolds, and the truck-specific accessory drive. Because our first few tests were intended to be used with a carburetor on the engine dyno, the EFI manifold was not included. Even though the truck oil pan will not fit a Camaro or Chevelle engine swap, we left it in place for the dyno testing. The truck accessory drive was also not a problem to retain, but we had access to an F-car-style (Camaro/Firebird) front accessory drive, so that's what we used instead of the LQ4 version. Finally, we added a set of Kooks Gen III headers instead of the stock exhaust manifolds because we were assuming that most enthusiasts would run this engine with headers in an older musclecar.

6.0L Setup
One of the nice things about this new generation of engines is that they are extremely easy to work on. If you are planning on reusing the EFI manifold, it does not require gaskets, as the intake employs a reusable rubber O-ring seal around each intake port. In our case, we intended to use a carburetor, so we lifted the EFI manifold and installed the GM Performance Parts aluminum carbureted intake manifold. This manifold requires the usual gaskets, which Fel-Pro offers. On top of the manifold, we used our battle-tested-tough, Holley mechanical-secondary, 750-cfm 0-4779 carburetor.

Because the LQ4 6.0L is part of the Gen III family, it also uses the GM coil-near-plug distributorless ignition system. The quickest and easiest way to get a carbureted engine running is with MSD's timing/rev control box. MSD has come up with a small electronic box that "talks" to the GM smart coils and triggers them with the appropriate spark timing. The MSD can be fine-tuned for initial timing, as well as both "mechanical" and "vacuum" advance curves by making changes to a couple of very easy-to-understand timing graphs on a laptop computer. That sounds complex, but even we managed to figure it out within about 20 minutes and soon had our initial timing and a full advance curve dialed in.

We configured the engine this way to avoid dealing with the perception that this conversion is overly complex and expensive. The negative side to this plan was that the GMPP intake and MSD electronic conversion box were not cheap, adding more than $850 to the cost of our 6.0L engine. If you chose to retain the factory intake manifold, you could modify the factory electronic fuel and spark curves by using aftermarket tuning software, such as HP Tuner or LS1 Edit to achieve similar power levels. You wouldn't even have to change intake manifolds, since our experience is that the factory truck intake is especially good at making torque while sacrificing only a reasonable amount of peak horsepower. We decided to stick with a carburetor for this series of testing owing to its simplicity.

Test Time
Right out of the used-engine cradle and onto our dyno test stand with the carburetor, MSD ignition conversion, and headers, this otherwise bone-stock 6.0L small-block maintained no less than 400 lb-ft of torque from 2,200 to 5,400 rpm and managed to crank out a peak torque of 439 at 4,400. On the horsepower side, the little 366 cranked out an impressive 425 hp. Generally, a 355ci Gen I small-block would need a healthy cam and some good heads to pull off power numbers like these. This power was encouraging but not really surprising. Because we knew the cam was tame, the next step was a GM Performance Parts Hot cam with specs that most enthusiasts would classify as mild at best.

The cam swap was also easy because we didn't have to remove the intake. All factory Gen III and Gen IV engines come with trick plastic sleeves that will capture the lifter in the up position so the cam can be removed without yanking the lifters out of their bores. While there is talk of the need for specialty tools to line up the front timing-chain cover to the oil pan, engine-dyno-swap specialist Ed Taylor merely eyeballs the parts and they work with nary a leak. We had the cam swapped and the valvetrain back in place while the block was still warm to the touch.

With the cam safely dialed in and the engine singing, our second dyno session went as smoothly as our first. The difference was the power. Even with the mild cam, the 6.0L responded with an average of 11 more lb-ft of torque, with the peak gaining the same amount, arriving at a slightly higher 5,000 rpm. The real surprise was the huge horsepower gain. At the 6,000-rpm peak-horsepower point, the 6.0L cranked out an additional 58 hp, peaking at 483. That's a mere 17 hp away from the magical 500hp level. Try as we might, we couldn't push the little 366 any higher, but that's still a plenty impressive achievement.

Now, before you get all excited about this first test, you'd best start saving your nickels and dimes in anticipation of what we're going to do next. We'll give you a hint: We made a bunch more power and didn't spend nearly what you'd expect. If that doesn't hook you, check your pulse

This chart lists the stock cam specs for the stock, iron 6.0L RPO LQ4 engines (there are two different cams used depending on the year of the engine) as well as the dimensions for the GM Performance Parts Hot cam. Note the wide LSA used on the OE cams. This greater angle reduces overlap and contributes to a very smooth idle. The power increase generated by the GMPP cam can be attributed to both the longer duration and the tighter lobe separation angle that increases overlap.

The Hot cam offers not only 25 more degrees of intake and 21 more degrees of exhaust duration at 0.050 but also adds 23 more degrees of overlap plus another 4 degrees with the tighter LSA for a total of 27 degrees. These numbers are generated at 0.050-inch tappet lift. This is a big factor in the power increase. And this is still a very mild cam at only 219/228 degrees at 0.050.

PARTS LIST
DESCRIPTION	PN	SOURCE	PRICE
LQ4, iron 6.0L, used	N/A	LKQ	$1,100.00
GMPP carb intake	88958675	Scoggin-Dickey	369.75
Fel-Pro intake gasket	1312-1	Summit Racing	22.69
Fel-Pro header gasket	1438	Summit Racing	26.36
GMPP Hot cam kit	12480033	Scoggin-Dickey	429.95
MSD ignition conversion	6010	Summit Racing	303.88
MSD extension harness	60101	Summit Racing	178.95
Carb, Holley 750	0-4779	0-4779C	415.95
Headers, Kooks, 131/44	65005	Kooks Headers	864.90
Pennzoil platinum oil	5W-30	Amazon	29.95
Fram oil filter	4967	Amazon	4.95
Total			$3,747.33
OPTIONAL PARTS
Hooker 131/44 LS1 swap	2288-1HKR	Summit Racing	$629.95

CAMSHAFT	DURATION @ 0.050	LIFT (INCHES)	LOBE SEPARATION ANGLE (LSA)
'99-'00 LQ4, Int.	191	0.457	114
PN 12560967, Exh.	190	0.466
'01-'06 LQ4, Int.	196	0.467	116
PN 12561721, Exh.	207	0.479
GMPP Hot Cam, Int.	219	0.525	112
PN 12480033, Exh.	228	0.525

Gen III Family Tree
The following is a genealogy of sorts, listing the bore and stroke combinations for the popular GM Gen III engines. Starting with the 5.3L engines, the stroke is consistent at 3.622 inches, with the larger bore being the difference in the displacement.

ENGINE	DISPLACEMENT (CUBIC INCHES)	BORE/STROKE	COMPRESSION	ROD LENGTH
4.8	293	3.78/3.268	9.5	6.276
5.3	325	3.78/3.622	9.5	6.098
5.7	346	3.898/3.622	9.5	6.098
5.7	346	3.898/3.622	10.1	6.098
6.0 (LQ4)	364	4.00/3.622	9.4	6.098
6.0 (LQ9)	364	4.00/3.622	10.0	6.098

Test 1 was with the stock, iron 6.0L short-block and production iron heads assisted with a GMPP single-plane intake manifold, a 750 Holley carburetor, and a set of 131/44-inch Kooks long-tube headers.

Test 2 kept all the original changes from Test 1 but added the GMPP hydraulic roller Hot cam and valvespring kit.

	TEST 1		TEST 2
RPM	TQ	HP	TQ	HP
2,200	406	170	399	168
2,400	403	184	392	179
2,600	403	199	393	194
2,800	406	216	401	214
3,000	411	235	414	237
3,200	418	255	427	260
4,300	424	275	435	281
3,600	429	294	438	299
3,800	433	313	437	315
4,000	436	332	434	331
4,200	437	350	434	347
4,400	439	368	436	366
4,600	439	384	441	387
4,800	437	399	447	408
5,000	432	411	450	428
5,200	424	420	450	444
5,400	412	424	444	456
5,600	398	425	436	466
5,800	383	424	430	475
6,000	367	419	423	483
Avg.	417	318	428	336
Power/ci	1.20	1.16	1.23	1.32
(peak)

'A straight-bodied, two-door sedan from 1967 for $2,000 that runs and drives? Sold. Our fantasy was to build a car and drive it solidly into the 10s because even factory cars are running 11s, and Car Craft hasn't had a really fast car since former Editor Matt King's Super Nova went deep into the 11s with a correction factor. We need to be faster.

With insurance cash in hand, we set out to buy the lightest, coolest car we could find. We apprehended a six-cylinder '67 Rambler American that we cobbled together in the May '06 issue and got running with gear from a V-8 Gremlin for a total of $3,500. It smoked its way down to San Diego for the Car Craft Anti Tour then lost oil pressure. We didn't care because we already had a plan.

Why 10s and not 9s? A quick glance at the NHRA rule book told us that 9s required a valid competition license and lots of expensive, SFI-approved goodies like a flexplate shield, a rollcage, and an unfashionable driving suit. We also found that if the car is full bodied and running anywhere between 10.00 and 10.99, you can get away with a rollbar instead of a 'cage. A 'cage requires a side bar on both the driver and the passenger sides of the car and a forward hoop that crosses between the roof line and the top of the front windshield. To us, the look of a 'cage draws the line between a street car and a race car. The 'cage is more complicated and expensive, and the rollbar is easier to hide and requires only one side bar that can be removable. According to the rules, a car with a rollbar cannot exceed 135 mph. So to give ourselves a little wiggle room, we settled on 130 mph as a top speed in the quarter-mile that should put us right around 10.50.

Gears, Mph, And Tire Height
After you've figured out how fast you want to go, you need to find the weight of the car and determine how much horsepower you'll need to accomplish your goal. The formula to estimate amount of horsepower for a terminal mph in the quarter-mile is: hp = (mph / 234)3 x weight. As an example, if your car weighs 3,000 pounds, you'll need about 500 hp to run 130 mph, and if your car weighs 4,000 pounds, you'll need about 685. This is simply a power-to-weight calculation, and experience has shown us it is a little conservative, much depends on the engines torque potential. There are a lot more factors involved in goin' fast, but this is a good place to start, and it shows why weighing less is better.

The next thing you need to do is find out where your engine will make peak horsepower and pick a rear gear that will put the engine at about 200 rpm above that number going through the traps in High gear. Here is the math: gear ratio = (rpm x tire diameter) / (mph x 336). This is closely tied to the size of the tire you are going to run, so before picking a rear gear ratio, find the largest tires that will fit under the rear. You should also note that an automatic transmission in High gear will exhibit about 5 percent slippage, so you will need to add that to equation.

The Reality
The Rambler weighs 2,771 pounds, so we ran the numbers and came up with 461 for an engine-horsepower number. Adding a 180-pound driver and and 10 gallons of fuel at 7 pounds per gallon, the race weight is more like 3,021, so the horsepower required is closer to 483. We plucked a 360 from a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and with some Edelbrock heads, a flat-tappet Lunati cam, and 10.5:1 compression, we made 480 hp at 6,000 rpm in the Jan. '06 issue, before we dropped it in the car. We solved the equation using 6,000 rpm for the ideal trap rpm knowing that with converter slippage the final rpm would be about 6,300. We plugged in the the 26-inch-tall tire, divided it by 130, and got a rear ratio of 3.57.

The Rambler's design restricted the tire size that will fit under the rear without either installing minitubs or relocating the springs. With the 15x7 rear rims, the tires are within 11/48 inch of the springs, and we had to trim the inner fender to get the tires to stop rubbing. The biggest tire we could get in there was a 235/60R15 that is only 26 inches tall. A larger tire, like a 275/60R15, has an overall diameter of 30 inches and would allow us to run a 4.10 ratio. Since gear ratios multiply torque, the higher numerical ratio would help the Rambler run a quicker 60-foot time. More tire allows more gear, both because the greater footprint would help traction and the increased height would still keep the trap rpm where we want it.

We have the weight and we have the horsepower, but for the first three runs, we used the stock 2.71 rear gear. The result was a baseline of 12.75 at 112 mph, which is exactly what Comp's Desktop Drag said it would be and about 2 seconds slower that the pure power-to-weight math wanted us to believe. The run pointed out that the small tire might be enough if we don't hit it too hard on the line, and we are definitely going to need a better gear ratio if we want to go fast. Knowing this, we are going to try a 3.55 gear with the small 235 tire before we return to the racetrack and see if we can go fast without cutting the car for minitubs.

PARTS LIST
DESCRIPTION	PN	PRICE
'67 Rambler American	N/A	$2,000.00
Engine total from Jan. '06	N/A	7,296.11
ADDITIONAL PARTS
TCI Torque Command 904	601100	1,009.00
TCI 10-inch StreetFighter	751600	432.88
Transmission dipstick	22160	74.02
Royal Purple transmission fluid, 5	N/A	8.95 / quart
Exhaust Labor	N/A	100.00
FlowMaster U-Fit dual kit	15936	183.39
Flex-a-fit radiator	52180R	899.95
Powermaster Ultratorque starter	9415	229.95
Stockton Wheels	15x5 and 15x7	440.16
M/T ET Street and VW front tires	235/60-15 and 165x15	411.90
PAINT AND BODY
Total from Dec. '06		645.40
TOTAL		$13,767.51*

*Low 12s on the motor in a reliable car that isn't a Chevy. Send rants to CarCraft@primedia.come.t.Corrected 12.36 at 115.36Uncorrected 12.75 at 112 mph

'It sounded like a great idea at the time. Take one gutted musclecar and a big pile of pieces, turn this cast-off '65 El Camino into a running car in one day, then take it on a road trip. It didn't work out exactly that way, but it wasn't from lack of trying or lack of sweat. It all started when we scored the Elco through our pal Jim Peterson for the righteous price of $1,800. The reason it was so cheap was because it was a stripper-we're talkin' not even so much as a steering column. This also meant it was without all those essential little parts that are the furthest from your mind when you're staring down the relatively straight quarter-panels of a virtually rust-free car.

That's when someone suggested we invite all our car buddies over for the Car Craft version of an old-fashioned barn raising. In rural America, when you want to build a new barn, you invite all your friends and neighbors over to swing hammers. Just to add a little pressure to the plan, we scheduled our Southern California build date for July 15 and planned to drive the thing to Iowa for a football scrimmage on August 7. The no-excuses part of this effort meant that, unlike those Hollywood TV shows, the car had to be 100 percent functional for its 1,900-mile shakedown.

There are probably thousands of dudes who could build a car completely by themselves in a couple of weeks. But we're social guys, and the barn-raising idea was appealing. We thought it would be great fun to invite some friends, feed them meat and soda, and ply them with promises of stardom in the pages of Car Craft. The Car Craft version of the barn raising would happen very quickly. It was the classic Tom Sawyer routine, and somehow it worked. And most of them still speak to us now that it's over.

If you haven't figured it out by now, we didn't really build this car in one day. It took closer to a hundred man-hours of prep work to get it ready for Build Day (B-Day) and then easily that effort again in post-build detailing. Then we hit the road and drove it almost exactly 1,900 miles from Los Angeles to the sleepy little hamlet of Jefferson, Iowa, where the El Camino now resides. The trip was a blast, marred with only the most minor of ego-scuffing faults. After a whole first day of constant nail-biting over what was going to fall off first, the trip became what it was supposed to be: fun. Yes, it was a ton of work to get this early A-body rolling, but it was more than worth the effort and is worthy of retelling for the next decade. In fact, now that our knuckles have healed and the effects of sleep deprivation have subsided, we're ready to do it again-as long as it's somebody else's car this time.

In The Beginning
Imagine stripping every last sheetmetal screw out of your car and tossing most of it out. That's how this orphan arrived at our doorstep. Despite our experience with Chevelles, this pile still pitched more curves than a Pamela Anderson foldout. The previous owner had 'glassed in the original gas-filler door and the firewall heater openings for that "custom" treatment that demanded dozens of hours to repair.

B-Day
We started promptly at 8 a.m., mainly because we knew we couldn't spare even a minute. After an injection of doughnuts and coffee, all took on their assigned assembly duties. Initially, my goal was to spend time under the car to detail the drivetrain and exhaust. Instead, I spent most of the morning searching for parts that had somehow grown legs and hidden in various corners of the shop. Lesson one: You can't be too organized. However, you can be easily frustrated. Over the course of the day, we managed to immobilize two otherwise running Chevelles/El Caminos to scavenge parts for this project. It wasn't pretty. What did work well was the Flowmaster mufflers and tailpipes hooked to a pair of Walker exhaust pipes. The key to our success was not only our friends' efforts but also their generosity in digging up parts. It may take until the year 2015 for us to repay all these altruistic favors.

B-Day Plus 10
OK, so we didn't get the car actually running in one day. We could have, but we chose sleep over wrenching. While we did drive the Camino on the second day, it was nowhere near finished. We had a ton of stuff to do, including installing the carpet, re-covered seat, and door panels; slipping in both the front and rear windows; and mounting the tailgate, grille, and both bumpers with brackets that Jim gave us from his secret stash. If you've ever restored a musclecar, you know the details will make you or break you. Here's where Year One really came through with dozens of little items like new keys and lock cylinders for the doors and the seemingly trivial things like correct-size sheetmetal screws for all the little interior parts. Our final test was to load the Camino onto a trailer and haul it to the local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to get a VIN verification. Luckily, past experience taught us how to avoid the DMV's land mines, and we escaped with new California plates in our hands. Now the fun could legally begin.

Road Trip!
Barely two weeks after resurrecting the Elco from its 15-year coma, Graham Smith slid behind the wheel at 5 a.m. and pointed the car dead east. A staggering number of things had not been completed, including the stereo (thank the lord for iPods) and speedometer to name just a couple. But the essential parts all worked, and we set off for points east. The first failure was minor when the windshield wipers wouldn't turn off thanks to a 40-year-old switch of indeterminate lineage.

After enduring the heat of the desert through Las Vegas and into Utah, the cooler temperatures of Colorado found us in Grand Junction by the end of the first day. After replacing the cut tire caused by an over-exuberant U-turn, we headed for our pal Scott Gillman's house for a half-day respite and a tour of Crested Butte at 9,000 feet. Leaving the next day, we cleared the peak of Monarch Pass on Highway 50 east of Gunnison with our little 350 wheezing through 11,300 feet but still running fine. We stayed overnight with family friends Gene and Crissy Christensen in Castle Rock, Colorado, before finding I-80. From there, we stopped overnight in Lincoln, Nebraska, where we shot an ex-Baldwin Motion and Car Craft All-Star Drag Racing Team Camaro before again laying down the miles for Iowa. By Saturday afternoon, Graham had parked the El Camino in his mom's driveway and had begun inviting all his friends over for a ride.

Our arrival also meant the end of the effort, and while it was rewarding that the car survived, it was also bit of an emotional letdown for us after the thrash of the previous two months. But this takes nothing away from what this small circle of friends and car crafters accomplished. While the build-it-in-a-week TV shows fire up the engine and call it complete, we built a bleached-bones roller from scratch in less than a week and then drove it 1,900 miles. And if you double-dog dared us-we'd do it again.

Parts List
The following is an abbreviated list of the major components Year One supplied. The entire list is available on CarCraft.com. We'd also like to thank Year One for its help with this story. We couldn't have pulled it off without the company's cooperation.

DESCRIPTION	PN	SOURCE	PRICE
Dashpad	SP064BLK	Year One	$182.00
Rear-light harness	LO7800	Year One	128.00
Dash harness	L05955	Year One	460.00
Engine harness	L05970	Year One	150.00
Forward-light harness	L18010	Year One	167.00
Door panels, black	IF065M10	Year One	150.00
Carpet, black	6467EBLK10	Year One	114.00
Headlight bezel	J6501	Year One	129.00
Headlight eyebrows	DL5239	Year One	87.00
Headlight molding	YD40	Year One	51.90
Parking-light assembly	XQ89LH	Year One	85.00
Parking-light assembly	XQ89RH	Year One	85.00
Fuel tank	U98	Year One	246.00
PERFORMANCE PARTS
Ingersoll-Rand impact	2507K	Jack Xchange	339.50
Grant steering wheel	769	Summit Racing	104.69
Installation kit, Grant	4181	Summit Racing	18.95
American Graffiti cover	64-67	American Graffiti	139.95
Optima battery	9004-003	Summit Racing	129.88
Auto Meter Sp. Comp tach	3991	Summit Racing	87.88
Auto Meter voltmeter	3592	Summit Racing	37.95
Auto Meter oil press.	3522	Summit Racing	49.88
Auto Meter water temp.	3531	Summit Racing	41.88
Auto Meter three-hole panel	3233	Summit Racing	13.95
Proform alternator	141657	Summit Racing	107.39
Proform alternator mount	66114	Summit Racing	8.88
Proform dress kit	141-900	Summit Racing	179.95
TD water-pump pulley	6050	Summit Racing	46.69
TD crank pulley	6052	Summit Racing	36.88
TD alternator pulley	6059	Summit Racing	36.69
TD timing tab	4960	Summit Racing	3.39
Randy's axles, 28-sp	G1255803 SH	Randy's Axles	162.57
Randy's axle bearings	AK1563	Randy's Axles	9.16
Cover, 8.2	YPC1GM8.5-R	Randy's Axles	23.61
Flowmaster mufflers, 2	9452553	Summit Racing	199.76
Flowmaster tailpipe	15802	Summit Racing	99.88
Radiator, four-core	10670	U.S. Radiator	422.00
Classic Tube trans lines	CET1001	Classic Tube	45.00
Wilwood prop valve	260-8419	Summit Racing	41.88

As I pulled the last box off the hood of the '69, all hopes that it wasn't actually as bad as I recalled were dashed. It looked like hell. I'd been toting this Camaro around for more than 15 years, ever since it had ceased to provide transportation while I was still in college, and being dragged about the country and stored in dusty, damp quarters hadn't helped a car that already looked haggard in 1985. Most people scrap cars when they're no longer useful, but this just wasn't the sort of car that got junked.

But once the car didn't run anymore, its condition worsened despite my efforts to maintain it. The spray-bomb primer continued to fade into an ever more blotchy, chalky mess; the interior steadily became more musty; and its arch nemesis, oxidation, quickened its pace. Adding insult to injury, thieves made off with some of the Camaro's best remaining bits in several separate incidents, leaving it up on blocks the last time after absconding with the rally wheels. I hadn't had the means to get the car running again, nor to store it securely, but once stuff started disappearing, I scraped and scrounged and screwed it back together with junk parts so it would move under its own power. Finally, it returned to the security of my parents' garage--the first of many storage spaces it would occupy in the coming years.

Through it all, I was determined to someday return the Camaro to a level of glory it had not seen since sometime prior to my ownership, though I wasn't thinking that I'd have to wait for nearly as many years as I'd then been alive to get it there. Probably a good thing; I didn't have that kind of patience at 19.

Back then I had developed typical teenage pie-in-the-sky visions for my pride and joy, seeing past its many faults to envision what the car could look like with "just a little work." The trouble was, I wanted perfection. So even after I'd finished school and started earning a little money, I kept the car stashed rather than combating its immediate problems and getting it back in action. In my mind, the car deserved nothing less than a full-on rebuild.

In retrospect, I was being stupid, waiting for the perfect combination of time, money, and suitable work space to come together for a total rebuild when I should have been chipping away at it so that it would be on the road and in some way useful, even if it fell way short of my ideal. It took until I was over 30 and living in California for the foolishness of my ways to hit me; I realized that sitting on the car was a waste, both of time and of a Camaro.

At that point my thinking finally shifted to the here and now, and I formulated a new plan to make something happen soon. The revised philosophy was based on the notion that even with a limited budget and timeframe, it should be possible to return a car to some sort of useful state--not necessarily daily-driver useful, but at least cruise-night useful. I took some inspiration from the retro-rodders who bolt cars together in their most Spartan form, with functionality the main motivator, just like they did after WWII. If done right, the patina of old parts and primer is brutally cool, so why not take a similar approach with a muscle-era ride? Spend the money where it's most needed, reuse the decent parts, fog it with some kind of uniform finish, then worry about making it better later . . . or don't.

The ball was set in motion by tackling the car's worst feature: the dented, rotted body. We covered the installation of Goodmark quarter-panels in the April '04 issue and soon after ordered more Goodmark sheetmetal for the front end. With that handled, the car began to garner more respect; it was now a solid foundation for a project. Shortly after, during a staff meeting, Freiburger suggested I take the '69 on Anti Tour, though it was implied that limping it there with its Sanford and Son vibe was not what he had in mind. The rest of the staff chimed in and the "intervention" was in full swing. So, with a mixture of peer pressure, a six-week deadline, and some extra hands for help, the Camaro was officially underway.

The accompanying photos tell the tale, though in the end, the car fell just short of making the Tour. I blame the California DMV. No biggie, as the Tour was merely the carrot that fueled this project and got the Camaro looking and running better than it ever has during my ownership. Now it's on the road for the first time in over 15 years and evoking a bit of lust from onlookers rather than contempt. Meanwhile, I feel like I've got a new toy, when actually I had it all along.

Let's face it, building a semirespectable street beater that has the right look, runs decently, and doesn't leave you stranded every other time you drive it is a big challenge. The easy way is to throw money at it and see what happens. But that's not the Car Craft way. Especially when Glad draws a $3,500 line in the sand and says, "I dare you to build that car!"

The Back Story
This Olds saga didn't start with me. It began with my buddy Tim Moore. Moore is the consummate bargain hound-a true car crafter. He discovered the '64 Olds F-85 in a neighborhood near his shop looking like it hadn't moved in 20 years. He offered to perform a driveway dust-off for $450, and the owners jumped at the chance. The drivetrain was forgettable with an obscure 255ci V-6, a two-speed Olds Jetaway trans, and an 8.2-inch 10-bolt with 3.31 gears. But it was a start. On the plus side, this was a two-door sedan with bucket seats and an acceptable amount of trunk-floor rust.

Moore then went on the hunt for a donor Olds, eventually finding a '72 Olds Delta 88 equipped with a 455 and a TH400 trans. He dragged this barge home, yanked the motor and trans, and sold the bench seat, tires, and eventually the rest of the car to the junkyard, recouping almost half his original investment. It's the American way of turning one man's junk into another man's treasure.

Big Motor Mastery
Moore is the master of the budget rebuild, and when the original cylinder walls were deemed good enough to handle new rings without adding new pistons, Moore scored all the major parts from PAW, including rings, bearings, and a new SSI cam and lifters for around $350. Using a simple bottle-brush cylinder hone and a little spray lube, Moore deglazed the cylinder walls, cleaned everything, and screwed the short-block back together with a new oil pump and gaskets. We've included the cam specs in a separate chart, but Moore stayed conservative with the duration, retaining the stock valvetrain.

The Olds heads are not bad, but with a 30-degree valve seat and valve sizes not much larger than a 2-bbl 350 Chevy, there was room for improvement. Moore resurfaced the valves and seats himself with a previously owned valve-grinding machine he bought at an auction for just such an opportunity. With 1.99/1.62-inch valves, the Olds is not renowned for big airflow numbers, with peak intake flow barely reaching the 200-cfm level.

To button it all up, Moore found an Edelbrock Performer dual-plane intake manifold at a swap meet to be used with the original Q-jet carburetor. The final piece was a set of Hedman long-tube headers for an A-body that required some minor hammering on a couple of tubes on the driver side to make them fit.

The maximum output available in an Olds 455 in 1972 was 300 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque with an 8.5:1 compression, so this big-block is probably making a little more than that with the headers and cam. That's not stunning power, but on a dollar-squeezing budget, it's not bad.

Drivetrain Details
Moore also saved the TH400 out of the Olds Delta 88, and his pal Steve Bunch resurrected it with new clutches, a TransGo shift kit, and a simple spring change to increase the line pressure at wide-open throttle (WOT). Trans guru John Kilgore also encouraged us to include the electric kick-down switch that supplies 12 volts to the trans at WOT, which increases line pressure to firm up the shifts. This is a common error on TH400 trans swaps that can eventually lead to burned high-gear drum clutches.

For the rearend, Moore decided to stick with the original 8.2-inch rear-axle assembly, and later, we popped for a new Auburn limited slip from Moser while retaining the stock 3.36 rear gears. Of course, as soon as the new Auburn arrived, Moore ran across a used posi at the swap meet for $100, so our timing was weak on that one. But the good news is we now have power to both rear tires.

Olds 8.2 axles are retained by a four-bolt flange instead of the more common C-clip used in other GM 10- and 12-bolt rearends. The information we gleaned from the 442.com Web site indicates the axle bearings are also suspect. Ours were in surprisingly good shape and did not need replacing. The big limitation on the Olds 8.2 10-bolt isn't really the gears as much as it is the 28-spline axles, which are not close to being strong enough if we ever hook all the 455's torque to the track with sticky tires. Eventually, we will need a 12-bolt to add durability. But for now, consider this a 10-bolt durability test.

Bigger Brakes
A common swap with these early A-bodies is to dump the rather puny 911/42-inch front drum brakes in favor of '68-'72 Chevelle disc brakes. While we considered searching for a set of used disc-brake spindles and then piecing together rebuilt calipers with used or new rotors, we made the swap much easier and went for a completely assembled disc-brake conversion kit from Original Parts Group. The kit comes with the spindles already loaded with packed bearings, new seals, new rotors, and new calipers with pads. The package also comes with new flexible brake hoses, spindle nuts, and dust caps. The only change was to swap on our Olds steering arms. This required us to drill the original 71/416-inch attaching bolt holes to the newer 11/42-inch disc-brake spindle size. This beats the hell out of chasing down those little parts all over town, and the price difference was minimal.

We also replaced the stock single-reservoir master cylinder with an orphan '70 Chevelle master we had in the garage. All we had left to do was to plumb the Wilwood adjustable-brake proportioning valve into the rear brake line and the brakes were complete. This is where we learned a valuable lesson. In an attempt to make the brake lines easier to make, we plumbed the rear brakes into the front master cylinder outlet. At the time, we didn't think this mattered, despite knowing all GM cars are designed to actuate the front brakes with the forward-most portion of the master cylinder-designated the primary piston. We immediately ran into a problem where the master would not make pressure. We tried all sorts of solutions until our pals at Stainless Steel Brakes told us to switch the master cylinder outlets so the rear reservoir actuated the rear brakes. As soon as we did this and bled the system, we had instant pressure and solid brakes. We'd rather not admit how much time we spent trying to figure it out.

Interior Digs
The Olds' exterior has the perfect street-racer/barn-find patina that is popular right now, and we don't plan to change it except to get rid of the surface rust and sand and primer/sealer the roof. But the interior was 40-year-old shabby and was in need of serious intervention. Tim had his buddy Jack Weimer install the OPG seat covers front and rear. We dug up a used carpet set from one of our old Chevelle projects, and with a little spitand polish, we had the interior looking decent. Tim rescued a pair of absolutely ancient Stewart-Warner gauges from his archives to clue us in on oil pressure and water temp.

Once we did all this, it became apparent the San Andreas Fault-sized dashpad cracks would have to go. Finding a used pad on eBay seemed like an exercise in frustration, so we yanked the whole dash apart and commissioned Just Dashes to rejuvenate the pad. It cost us five big ones because of the size of the job, which included recovering the glovebox door, but the result completely transformed the look of the interior into a real winner.

The Olds also came with a complete center console that was originally out of another car, and Tim found a steering column that got rid of the column shifter. We originally attempted to use the stock Olds console shifter, but the TH400 case is so close to the floorpan on these early A-bodies, the shifter wouldn't work. Our solution was a B&M QuickSilver cable shifter we bought at a swap meet. We really wanted to add a pair of repro door panels from OPG, but the budget was already reeling from cost overruns, so we erred on the side of fiscal responsibility. Damn....

Road and Track

In typical car-crafter fashion, the Olds had perhaps 50 miles on it when we drove it to the starting gate of the Anti-Tour this year. At first, all went well. But after two bouts of full electrical-system failure, Moore discovered a weak pin at the fuse-box connection at the firewall. Later that night at the RaceLegal (racelegal.com) drags at Qualcomm Stadium, the Olds spun the tires to a 9.69/76.53 mph in the eighth-mile, comparable to a 14.80 pass in the quarter.

A couple of weeks later, we wandered up to Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale, California, to get a true 1,320-foot evaluation. On its best pass with absolutely no tuning other than setting the timing at 16 degrees initial, the Olds ran an observed 14.40/94.17 that altitude-corrects to a sea level 13.94 at 97.35. This was with the rock-hard, used rear 255/60R15 tires. We tried a set of sticky Mickey Thompson ET Drag tires just for fun, but the car ran exactly the same, so clearly we have some work to do on enhancing the Olds' low-speed torque, which was exactly the opposite of what we thought we would face. This is all part of the fresh-off-the-jackstands work that any new buildup faces. Our latest theory is that it's either the carburetor or the stock converter is lame. We'll let you know what we find.

Buildsheet
Description	PN	Source	Price
'64 Olds F-85	Used		$450.00
Olds 88 w/455 and TH400	Used		200.00
Rebuild TH400 (friend)	N/A		200.00
Converter,six-cylinder	Used		50.00
Rings, bearings, gasket set		PAW	244.95
SSI cam	10334	PAW	49.95
Hydraulic lifter set	PAW-951	PAW	49.95
Performer intake	2151	Used	50.00
Hedman headers	58150	Summit Racing	75.00
Radiator	Used		25.00
Shifter, B&M	Used		25.00
Coating for headers			100.00
Disc brakes	CH24821	OPG	549.95
Wilwood prop valve	260-8419	Summit Racing	41.88
Dashpad		Just Dashes	500.00
Tires, ($30 frt., $70 rear)	Used		100.00
Wheels ($50 frt., $100 rear)	Used		150.00
Holley 750-cfm carb		eBay	53.01
Posi 8.2			455.00
Ratech install kit	309K	Summit Racing	85.99
Gear lube, 2 quarts 90W			5.00
Seat covers, OPG			384.99
Carpet set, used	used		20.00
Total			$3,865.67
Refund Checks
’73 Olds sold for scrap			$100.00
Tires from Olds			50.00
Front seat from Olds			50.00
Refund Subtotal			$200.00
Grand Total			$3,665.67

Camshaft Specs
Cam	Dur. Adv.	Dur. @ 0.050	Lift (inches)	Lobe Sep.
SSI, Int.	280	214	0.472	112
Exh.	290	224	0.496

We got caught up in a mad dash to ditch the farm-tractor inline-six the Rambler was delivered with in favor of a proper V-8 and decided to fog the engine compartment flat black. And while flat black is almost universally cool, there was really nothing wrong with the factory Barbados Blue we painted over. So while the Rambler awaits what will be its third engine, we decided to restore the engine compartment to its original hue.

Unlike a body-on-frame design, unibody cars announce their presence boldly, with tall, broad shock towers often accompanied by firewall bracing. The effect is a more intimate relationship between the engine itself and the car's chassis, the balance of which is struck by matching the engine compartment to the car's exterior color. Simply speaking, our shiny blue-and-aluminum 360 won't show as well in a flat black hole, so back to Barbados Blue we go. Enough with the aesthetic musings, here's how we got it done.

Things to ConsiderAlthough painting an engine compartment is not as big an undertaking as respraying an entire car, the planning and prep work involved are the same. You need to consider the following factors: How good do you want it to look, and how long do you want it to last? Since we are in it for the long haul with the Rambler, we decided to do the best job possible. We chose to spray 2K (or two-part) products in a two-stage process.

Two-stage means the color coat and clearcoat are applied in two separate steps. In a single-stage process, the color coat also serves as the topcoat, as it's designed to dry to a more glossy finish. These paints can give excellent results that will last a long time, but we prefer the extra layer of protection that a two-stage clearcoat provides.

A 2K product refers to a material that requires a catalyst, usually called an activator, which enables the paint to cure after application. As opposed to 1K products, usually spray-can products, lacquers, and materials that only require thinning before spraying, 2K products are moisture resistant and will protect your sheetmetal better.

The safest thing to paint over is factory paint. You can be fairly confident that it was applied properly, and therefore, you may only have to scuff it lightly and paint right over it-no primer needed. However, if you are unsure of the quality of the work you'll be painting over, we recommend using a sealer. Sealer does exactly what the name implies: It serves as a barrier between what was and what will be. It provides a clean, stable area to prime and paint over that will be unaffected by anything that lies below. Because of our dodgy flat-black assault, we decided to err on the side of caution and use a sealer. We also chose urethane products because they tend to be more durable than acrylic enamels. Once those decisions were made, our plan fell into place. Here are the steps we took: clean and degrease, sand, seal, prime, and paint.

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]]>http://www.carcraft.com/projectbuild/ccrp_0610_paint_your_engine_compartmenthttp://www.carcraft.com/projectbuild/ccrp_0610_paint_your_engine_compartmentThu, 27 Jul 2006 00:07:00 -07001991 Pontiac Firebird Formula - Dyno Diagnosis, TPI Style

'We thought we were onto something good back when we decided to turn this '91 Formula into a multipart series. It seemed like the thing to do, since we could hardly believe cars like this could be bought in good shape so cheaply ($1,500). A Tuned Port 350 F-body was a coveted car in its day, being among the first cars out of Detroit since the early '70s that seemed sort of worthy of the term musclecar. Plus, chicks were into F-bodies back then.

But today, Detroit has produced much faster cars, TPI speed parts are still as expensive as they were back in the '80s (only now they're being discontinued), and girls refuse to ride in this thing. Add to this the fact that simply keeping the 'Bird running has at times been a challenge and to this point, the speed returns have been modest at best, and our third-gen project starts to lose its luster. Yet in spite of our troubles, we've managed to maintain some optimism, largely because we know these things can really move if handled properly. We also know that it's easy to spend money and effort on stuff that doesn't help, and it's probably better for us to make the mistakes than you.

RecapFirst up was repairing what seemed to be minor glitches-we thought a new EGR valve and maybe an ignition tune-up for good measure would have the Firebird ready for baseline numbers, but as we outlined in the Aug. '05 issue, a series of failures made preparing for baseline runs a project in itself.

Persistence paid off, and we did get the Firebird sorted out, paving the way to move into the speed parts. That's where SLP stepped up, providing new high-flow intake runners, a cold-air kit, smog-legal shorty headers, a Y-pipe, and Cat-Back exhaust. The dual cats were also replaced with a single, 3-inch unit from Random Tech. With these alterations, the Firebird picked up more than three-tenths from our baseline of observed 15.0s at 91.23 mph to 14.66 at 92.82; that corrects to a 14.19 at 95.9 mph using the factor for LACR's altitude-strong for a stock L98 F-car, particularly one with 150K. If nothing else, our test-mule was healthy. It seemed that if we could get the 60-foot times under 2.00 seconds (from 2.20), we might just break the 13s.

To that end, the next move involved swapping the stock torque converter for one from B&M with 10 inches diameter and a 3,000-rpm stall speed. For our efforts, we received a 1.98 60-foot time and a 14.12 at 92.43 mph (corrected). The short time was better, though it still needed work, and while e.t. picked up appropriately, the trap speed slipped back a lot. This is where things started to get weird.

The converter was followed up with a set of 3.73:1 gears to replace the stock 3.23s, a standard upgrade that should have helped get it all down the track a bit faster. Instead, we gained more 60-foot (1.88) only to see e.t. stay almost exactly the same. Glad's seat-of-the-pants feedback was that the car leaped hard off the line but was laboring to reach the traps by half track. During this time, we'd also added a ported upper plenum from corvetteplenum.com as well as an Edelbrock manifold base, yet the gains in naturally aspirated form just weren't showing up. We specify naturally aspirated because Glad had also begun experimenting with a Nitrous Works plate system by that time. It pushed the Firebird into the 12s (corrected), but in a sense, only added to the overall confusion of our combination. Where had we gone wrong?

To the Dyno
We needed to answer some questions about the car's setup before moving on, and while further track testing might have gotten us there, a trip to the dyno would involve less trial and error. With a 150,000-mile engine running hypereutectic pistons and nitrous, guessing might not be the best plan. To this point, we didn't know how the engine's air/fuel mix was holding out under full-throttle, and we wondered how much additional ignition
lead was helping under naturally aspirated runs.

The first runs on Westech's Superflow chassis dyno revealed some oddities. Most notable, the horsepower curve seemed to go flat once the engine hit 4,300 rpm-it didn't drop off, but hung right around 224 hp, wavering up and down slightly all the way to about 5,200 rpm before declining. The air/fuel was only slightly lean, and we used the new BBK adjustable fuel-pressure regulator to sort that out. Using an Actron fuel-pressure test-gauge, we dialed the regulator to increase fuel pressure with the vacuum line off from 43 psi to 48 psi, taking the wide-open throttle (WOT) air/fuel readings to 12.1:1 from 13.3:1. Despite this, we saw no change in power.

Charting the ignition advance curve during a power pull also revealed that with the stock setting of 6 degrees initial, total timing came in right around 34 degrees, which is what we'd found these engines to favor in past testing. It did, however, point out that we'd need to run about 4 degrees less if we opted to spray nitrous again.

So, with what seemed to be proper fuel delivery and ignition advance, we still couldn't get our power curve to take on a proper bell shape. After some discussion, it was decided that the valvesprings should probably be changed. The hydraulic roller lifters in this 350 are notoriously heavy, and with 157,000 miles, it was easy to believe we were on the verge of valve float as a result. With that mileage, even if the valvesprings didn't cure the problem, changing them would still be a good idea.

We went back to the shop and ordered a set of Comp Cams' new beehive springs as an upgrade. The conical shape of the springs combined with the ovate wire they are made from allow the springs to compress further before experiencing coil-bind; the smaller diameter of the top coils and the retainer also make them lighter. All of this adds up to a drop-in spring that will add lift capacity and improve valve control without placing undue stress on our stock hydraulic lifters. While we were at it, we installed a set of Comp's Pro Magnum roller rockers with 1.6:1 ratio for a little extra valve lift. These rockers are self-guided, like the stockers for '88 and later Chevy small-blocks, and after a little trimming, they fit under the stock valve covers.

Converter in Question
Back at Westech with our new springs and rockers, we were bummed to see that the output had only increased by 3 hp. We were now making 228 hp at 4,800, but at least the power curve was indeed a curve, not a flat line. Were we on the verge of valve float before? Not known, but obviously the real problem remained. Tom Habrzyk was doing the driving on the dyno, and after a couple of pulls, he wanted to try a different test. To him, the converter felt unusually loose, particularly for a 3,000-rpm stall rating behind a fairly tame engine. He started to accelerate very slowly, holding the trans in Second gear while he programmed the Superflow to maintain 30-mph wheel speed. Next, he proceeded to roll into the throttle gradually while watching the rpm on the dyno's readout. Confirming his suspicions, the engine reached just shy of 4,000 rpm before it started to bog due to the limited wheel speed-our converter was amiss.

If our torque converter isn't stalling until 4,000 rpm, which is well past our torque peak and very close to the horsepower peak, it's no wonder the car wasn't improving its quarter-mile performance. The off-the-line hit of the high stall was working to improve 60-foot times, but excessive slippage was shaving off the gains before the big end.

That leaves us to move to the next level of diagnosis: The B&M torque converter dyno. We'll pull it back out and have it tested to see what went wrong, then correct the situation and retest. Maybe we're already in the 13s. Stay tuned.

On The Rollers
Test One is the best of our naturally aspirated runs with the original valvesprings, all of which were similar. This one had the best air/fuel mix after tuning fuel pressure and 34 degrees total timing (6 initial). Test Two is the best with new valvesprings and 1.6:1 roller rockers. These pulls begin at higher rpm.

PAINT AND PRICES
Description	Price
DuPont 2840S primer-sealer, 1 gal.	$113.00
DuPont 2805S activator, 1 qt.	34.02
DuPont V-4904S 2K UltraProductive primer-filler, 1 gal.	123.00
DuPont V-4975S activator, 1 qt.	61.00
Nason basecoat, 1¼2 gal.	40.00
Nason activator, 1 qt.	28.40
DuPont HC2300S clear, 1 gal.	151.79
DuPont HC2305S activator, 1 qt.	47.69
3M 320-grit wet or dry sandpaper, 100 ct.	35.29
Sharpe air regulator	27.00
Inline air filter	47.00
Total	$708.19
All materials purchased at Annex Automotive and Industrial Finishes in Los Angeles; 323/934-3177.

TEST 1			TEST 2
RPM	TQ	HP	TQ	HP
3600	217	148
3700	246	169
3800	270	195
3900	283	210
4000	287	219
4100	282	220
4200	277	222	260	207
4300	266	218	262	216
4400	260	219	262	219
4500	257	220	260	223
4600	253	222	257	226
4700	250	224	253	227
4800	245	225	250	228
4900	240	224	241	226
5000	233	222	233	222
5100			223	217

TRACK ACTION
TUNE	TIME (corrected)	60-foot	TRAP (mph-corrected)
Bone-stock	14.51	2.20	94.3
SLP runners, headers, Cat-Back, cold-air	14.19	2.15	95.90
10-inch 3,000-stall converter	14.12	1.98	92.43
3.73:1 gears in place of 3.23:1	14.13	1.88	93.20
Nitrous plate, 150hp shot	12.95	1.79	105.01

STICKER SHOCK
DESCRIPTION	PN	SOURCE	PRICE
Adjustable fuel-pressure regulator	1714	BBK	$59.95
Beehive valvespring kit	982	Comp Cams	$126.39
Valvespring compressor	GP4930	Powerhouse	$133.39
Roller rockers, 1.6:1 ratio	1318-16	Comp Cams	$324.95
Valve seals	N/A	B&C Auto	$21.95
Sub total			$666.63
Previous total			$7,275.12
Just-as-slow total			$7,941.75

Webster's defines an obsession as "an irrational motive for performing repetitive actions against your will." Nothing seems to describe my affinity for Camaros better than that. I guess you could call it Obsessive Camaro Disorder (OCD). I became afflicted with this disease well before I could drive, influenced by my father, Nicholas Trush, and his stacks of car magazines from the '50s and '60s. Those early experiences helped shape my interest in automobiles of all types, but I've always had a soft spot for the Camaro.

Ever since I was 16 and learned to drive, I have always owned an F-body in some shape or form. The first was a '78 Camaro that my parents bought new when I was 7 and that was passed down to my brother who beat it into the ground until he bought a new car. I ended up with it when I was 16. That car served me well for 18 months until it started to fall apart. The second round came in the form of a '78 Z28 with a healthy small-block, a four-speed, and a NOS Powershot system. It was quite a well-known car on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit. I never had the nerve to use the nitrous, as I was afraid of blowing the engine apart. I was only 17 and in high school, and the job I had scooping ice cream would hardly cover the cost of replacing the engine. My third bout with OCD came in the form of a '67 RS/SS with a 396. This was the first true restoration I accomplished, and it was a nice driver, but I still considered it merely a placeholder-I always had my heart set on a '69 four-speed convertible. Little did I know, the object of my desire was about to be dragged into a friend's garage.

I still remember that day in 1990 when my best friend Jeff Hanson called me to come over and see what his father had brought home. I was 19 and working two jobs at the time. Mr. Hanson told me he found a real deal on a '69 Camaro convertible and figured he would finish bolting on the sheetmetal, get it running, and sell it off to make some money. The moment I saw the car, I had to have it. Actually, "had" is an understatement-it became a moral imperative to own this car. The way I saw it, I was meant to have it. I immediately put "For Sale" signs on my '67 and every time I saw him, I begged Mr. Hanson to sell me the Camaro. I am sure if you were to ask him today what the definition of persistence is, he would think of me.

There was a problem with my grand plan though. Not many people were interested in buying my '67, which was the only way I could hope to afford the convertible. I was watching my dream of topless motoring quickly dissipate with every potential buyer who came to see the '69.

Once again, my father stepped in at just the right moment. He decided he might enjoy having an old car again-specifically, my '67 Camaro. I never asked him if he really wanted that car, or whether he just couldn't stand listening to me groaning day after day about how I was going to lose out on my dream car. Days after he took possession of my '67, I bought the '69 convertible. That was over 14 years ago.

This is where the story gets interesting. The convertible was a nice driver. When I went away to college, I drove the hell out of it every summer, working on it when necessary, and always dreading putting it away for the long Michigan winters when I returned to Central Michigan University. It remained a nice stock driver for 9 years. Throughout the years (as anyone who has owned a car for this long can tell you) many experiences, good and bad, help foster your love affair with these vehicles. While most people have great memories, such as meeting their soul mate in their car, or driving cross-country in their '32 roadster, most of my memories are scarier than the latest M. Night Shyamalan movie.

One of the worst was the time I took my car to the St. Ignace car show in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I had just arrived for the weekend festivities, and after driving for 5 hours with the top down and sun beating down on me, I decided that a nice cool dip in the pool was in order. I parked the car, and 20 minutes later I was on my way to the pool when I heard people screaming "Stop! Stop!" I turned around just in time to see a gentlemen in a Model T-this one must have had 11/44-inch-thick steel fenders-careen right into my Camaro. Apparently, the guy was backing out his brother's Model T but didn't know where the brake was. I ended up with a smashed quarter-panel; the T's fender sustained a small chip in the paint.

Needless to say, my weekend was ruined. The whole incident only took a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I will give credit to the driver though. He was flailing about so frantically trying to figure out how to stop, that at first I thought he had some kind of medical condition. Happily, the owner of the Model T made everything right-note to readers: If someone hits you, it's better if he's a millionaire with his own restoration shop. Sorry Allstate, you lose.

Yes, I have many more warm and fuzzy memories, like when the threads pulled out of the nut on the lower ball joint just as I pulled into my driveway. The car did a Back to the Future II Delorean impersonation-you know, where the tire goes horizontal before take-off? My Camaro dropped on the frame and skidded about 2 feet. The car was hanging halfway in my driveway and halfway in the street with a crunched fender. Ironically, that was the day after I returned from the St. Ignace car show, just 2 years later.

Still, the worst of all incidents resulted in the damage shown in the accompanying photos. To make a long story short, picture a 15-year-old girl with a permit, Grandma in the passenger seat, and my Camaro with a smashed door and another wrinkled quarter-panel. When my wife arrived on the scene, she thought someone had been killed, as I was sobbing uncontrollably on the car. (She still reminds me about that to illustrate how ridiculous I am about this car. Is that the definition of OCD?)

Still distraught, I towed the car to a friend, Jim Bielecki, of JimTech Inc., in Clinton Township. Michigan. We talked over the repairs, and he said, "If I paint that one area, the rest of the car will look really bad." So I decided to go ahead and have the entire car repainted. The lacquer that was on the car was deteriorating and really showing its age. I disassembled the entire car and sent it to Ace Stripping for media-blasting,

I will never forget Jim's phone call to me when the car returned to his shop. It was like a scene from the television crime drama C.S.I. "Jeff, you'd better come down here..." To my horror, my 10 years of driving added to the miles put on by previous owners had taken its toll on the structure of the car. It needed new quarters, floorboards, toe boards, and trunk fillers and extensions. The area under the rear seat had to be completely fabricated, as it had almost entirely rotted away, and replacement panels were not available. The car had to have the rockers repaired as well.

Here's the best part. Apparently Liquid Nails can be an effective rust-hole plug if applied with sufficient sarcasm. We had to remove about a gallon of stuff plugging holes in the shock towers. Worse yet, the rear framerails were barely hanging on. There was also some pretty impressive backyard welding done within the wheelwells using some scrap metal and what looked like an old license plate.

Everyone in the world thinks they have a solid car, but let me tell you from experience, nothing is solid when it meets the dreaded media blaster. That tool really separates solid from rusty. I distinctly remember thinking back to all the times I said, "Oh yeah, it's a solid body" with "perfect floors." I couldn't have been more wrong.

Once JimTech had repaired all the sheetmetal (which took months), the car was placed on a rotisserie for paint. I was originally going to restore the car back to stock specs with an aftermarket cross-ram intake and some other nice pieces. But after a visit to Kyle Tucker's Detroit Speed and Engineering shop, I was hooked. I was bitten by the Pro Touring bug and I decided to take the car in a different direction. This was during the winter of 2000. I wanted the paint to still resemble the original Dover White and Hugger Orange, but I wanted it to pop when the sun hit it. I suggested the Orange Pearl, and Jim added the PPG Candy Orange stripes. It turned out better than I expected, as the car really transforms when the sun hits it. The car is actually pearled top and bottom with shaved wipers for a cleaner look.

When it came to the suspension, being a Project Engineer for GM Powertrain and working at the Proving Grounds in Milford, I have become accustomed to the handling and performance of newer sports cars. I wanted that same type of all-around performance wrapped in the classic style of my '69. I opted to install a complete Hotchkis Performance suspension, including dropped springs, de-arched leafs, hollow 111/48-inch front and 71/48-inch rear sway bars, tubular upper control arms, and solid tie-rod adjusters from Detroit Speed and Engineering. I also added a 12.7:1 quick-ratio steering box from AGR Industries. The car absolutely corners now like it's on rails. The original 15-inch Rally wheels were not going to cut it anymore, so I installed 18x8 and 18x9 Center Line Lazer wheels mounted with Toyo Proxes T1-S tires, 235/40-18 and P245/45-18, respectively. Amazingly, the wheels and tires required one of the longest and most laborious decisions of the entire build.

My Camaro cruised like a new car, but I wanted it to stop like one too. I opted for Baer Track brakes with two-piece Eradispeed 13.5-inch rotors up front and 12-inchers in the rear. I also installed a Hydroboost system from Paul Clark at Hydratech Braking Systems to supply the braking pressure I wanted, which was more than the limited engine vacuum could provide. You'd better have your seatbelt on now, or stomping on the brakes will send you through the windshield.

With the brakes and chassis sorted out, I turned to Tyler Crockett Marine Engines to build a powerful and capable small-block for the car. Tyler delivered a 352ci small-block that puts out 470 hp and 430 lb-ft on his engine dyno-plenty of power to push this Camaro around. I wanted the car to have a unique look to the engine compartment, so I called on Kyle Tucker at Detroit Speed to hammer out a new airbox based on my design and using parts from a used Winston Cup airbox I bought from Muscle Motorsports. Kyle delivered big time, punching out the firewall to allow cool air to come through the cowl vent and into the carb. I also tried to keep the engine compartment as clean as possible, hiding all of the wiring, and relocating all of the ignition components under the dash. Another area that almost everyone comments about is the brushed exterior trim that gives a more modern high-tech look.

The interior also yielded to more modern styling cues. I installed a custom Covans Dash filled with carbon-fiber Auto Meter gauges. I acquired a set of Viper GTS seats, and, believe it or not, had new covers made by Kay in mid-Michigan. The work she does is outstanding. I delivered two stock Viper seats and two rolls of material, and two weeks later Kay calls me up and says "they're done"-all for a whopping $100 total. I gave her $200. (She is my little secret, so don't call me looking for her number.) The seats still retain the original look with the houndstooth material but are bolstered for those open-track days and are comfortable enough to drive cross-country.

In order to drive cross-country, a mere four-speed wasn't going to cut it. I needed overdrive, or better yet, two overdrives. I called on Tyler Beauregard at American Touring Specialties in Las Vegas for a T56 installation kit. The transmission is an LT1-style Borg-Warner T56 six-speed that bolted right in. I chose a Centerforce flywheel and a McLeod clutch with a custom shifter from Detroit Speed topped off with a carbon-fiber shift knob from a European Escort race car. There is nothing quite like blasting down the left lane on a freeway in a 30-year-old car at 75 mph turning 2,000 rpm. It is truly a religious experience.

The 13-inch steering wheel is from Grant. I also relocated the e-brake between the seats, much like a modern car would have, using Lokar E-Brake and cables. When it came time for the top, I called on Jerry at All American Auto Upholstery in Romulus, Michigan, who installed the new top perfectly.

It is hard to believe that what started out as a quickie fix snowballed into a 3-year nut-and-bolt restification completed with equity loans and creative refinancing. OCD indeed. Obviously, I have been to hell and back with this vehicle, and I plan on enjoying it now more than ever. I have touched, modified, painted or replaced literally every part on this car and could not be prouder of the way it turned out. I have realized my goal of having modern acceleration, handling, and braking wrapped in the classic style and attitude of a '69 RS/SS Camaro. I espec