1972 Procharged 581 Camaro
 

I have been a member here for some time, usually just reading threads for my own knowledge and trying to help out with a little input where I can. A few people asked for a build thread of my project so I will start one today. The project has been slow going, but I am patient and determined to make it the way I want it. I have no sponsors, but I have been in contact and got great advice from some of who I think were the best people to help me on this project.
There will be a kind of evolution of the build as I have plans to do some racing in different events, it is however built as a street car. The cage is installed for my safety (and the passengers) to do the events that I want to do. Although for some a street car has different meanings, it will have all functional mandatory equipment and will be driven on the street. Its not meant to appear stock, its not meant to be stealth, its just meant to be what I want and drive like I want. :)
So, I will start where I started, with the motor.

581 cubic inch big block chevy.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/IMG_0018.jpg

One giant set of air flow research heads.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/IMG_0038.jpg

Edelbrock intake.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/IMG_0031.jpg

The F2 procharger.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...may2006008.jpg

Then when we were all done it went on the dyno. At the time, to be safe it ran on 80% pump gas and 20% 110... maybe 116 octane fuel. It was only run to 5500rpm because at the time I had no intercooler and the inlet temp was getting warm. We used the pullies I had at the time wich made 17lbs of boost. I will probably not spin it too high unless I need to, but the cam is suppose to make peak power at 7400 rpm. It, along with the carb and the procharger, were purchased through Steve morris who is the procharger Guru.
Here it is making a little noise. Its not a very good video but its all I had at the time.

[IMG]http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...th_dynovid.jpg[/IMG]

Next the car was stripped of its old cage and the new one was started. A perimeter frame was slid inside the rockers, and almost all but a small section of front frame was removed. Here are a few pics of the work while it was being done.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/PDRM0531.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...PDRM0569-1.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/PDRM0520.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/PDRM0568.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/PDRM0567.jpg

That is one serious looking cage system. Nice build!

I love the cage, but did not enjoy painting it in my garage. :P

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01015.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01018.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01053.jpg

:cheers: Very, very cool! Thank you for starting this thread.:cheers:

Lookin great! Some serious tubing going on there!

While it was still in the chassis shop I had them build me a set of 2 1/2" x 5" headers. The 5" collector is made flat to keep as much ground clearance as I can.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/PDRM0579.jpg

After I got it home I had them coated.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/PDRM0655.jpg

A couple shots of them in the car

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01174.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01236.jpg

Thanks for sharing, what procharger are you running and did you think about turbos?

That video of the engine on the dyno sounded great, can't wait to see more pics. I see you've set that motor back quite a bit, looking good.:thumbsup:



Randy(D&Z Customs LLC.)
[email protected]
1-262-347-9741

The procharger is a F2 and it makes fairly decent power. I did consider turbos as well, but decided to go with the blower. Both have there pros and cons, but for me the blower was the best all around choice at the time. The biggest draw back is the noise to some people for a street car and I had a 6/71 blower on my last engine with 3 1/2 inch straight through exhaust (mufflers but barely) and it doesn't bother me at all. If I ran turbos I would have had to run them up high to because of all the coolers I'll have in the front.

ive been a passenger in a procharged 540 bigblock car once, and he was running about 4000 stall, so at low rpm it was not making boost really a dog... not even impressive acceleration-wise.. 4wd volkswagens would get the jump on him.. and when he mashed the throttle, it would flash to 4000 rpm, make 12-14 psi boost and simply roast the tires, at almost any speed below 100 mph... the acceleration was equal to no boost, the volkswagen would continue to gain and i felt like i was having a near death experience.... im curious how yours will run, you do seem to have lots of tire.. but that has to be close a 900+ Hp engine, thats an awfull lot to put domn on the street...

This one will work a little different. It will not have a 4000 stall for one, and it probably makes a little more low end torque then the one you were in (maybe not).
I don't have a scanner but the dyno numbers were kinda like this...
3400rpm 795lb-ft 514hp
4000rpm 898lb-ft 684hp
4500rpm 1009lb-ft 864hp
5000rpm 1120lb-ft 1067hp
5500rpm 1178lb-ft 1234hp and the torque was still climbing at this point.
This is where we left it. The intention was to dyno it again to 6000 or 6500 with the intercooler on. I had a custom one from bell made but the engine hasn't been back on the dyno yet.

I had the intercooler mounts made at the chassis shop so when it came home it was in the car. After this pic was taken I had the intake shortened 2 inches to lower the over all height of the motor in the car. The carb hat was also changed from the one on the dyno to the extreme velocity one. It is said to make 25-30 more horsepower then the stock procharger hat.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/PDRM0600.jpg

holy crap.. that thing is going to be an absolute monster.. it looks to come on smooth judging by the numbers, and i totally agree on the choice of power adder, it will not surprise you in any way when boost comes on like a turbo car can.. im sure most of the problem with the car i was in down to poor suspension, bad tirechoice and that converter..

Dude--insane! I love it. What are your plans for the car then? Is this PT, drag, street---all three or what? Freaking awesome---

Doug

The first thing is to get it running so I can drive it on the street. Then some testing at the local drag track to get everything sorted out at speed. If all goes well, a trip to maxton and hopefully the silver state classic. I don't think it will do so hot in an autocross. lol
Thats all part of the progression I was talking about, but as I post more pics you'll see its built to go around corners and stop to. ;)

Great numbers on the motor. This should be a beast on the track once you get the suspension all sorted out.:cheers:

Very nice, love those headers!

The rear suspension was made to articulate to avoid binding but I may adjust it if needed when I get to the cornering part. There is a large center brace to keep it from shifting side to side.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01146.jpg

Pardon the surface rust, I haven't stripped and painted this portion yet.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01147.jpg

VERY, VERY NICE!!! Glad you started a thread for the build. Should be one heck of a beast with those numbers and the suspension/minitubs.
Keep us posted please!:thumbsup: :cheers:

I'm trying to post pics up to its present state with a bit of the build pics in while I have time but it takes time to load all this stuff. :rolleyes:
I'll post one more for now of the start of the front suspension. sorry about jumping all over the place. When i do get to the present day it will be easier to follow.

This is a pic with the SPC a-arms and c5/c6 style spindles. For the front suspension and brakes is where I got Mark from SC&C involved. I'm doing it from home but I bug him as often as i think I can get away with. :)
Thanks Mark!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC00850.jpg

and the brakes 14" Baer 6S extreme plus

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC00843.jpg

This is great, don't worry about the order. It is still easy to follow along. Thankks again for posting all of this.:thumbsup:

Steve,

After seeing those dyno numbers you posted, I think that 200mph is not out of the question............;) I saw that you were looking into the silver state challenge, are you also considering Bonneville? Any plans for a Nascar style splitter to keep the front end planted on the pavement? Glad you started this build thread !!!

Paul
:thumbsup:

Probably no bonneville. At leat for a while. I'll keep it on pavement for at least a couple years after its done. And yes I have considered a splitter among other aero mods to keep my baby on the ground. I have plans for a unique hood to, but that won't be for a while. That will probably come just before paint, and for me paint will be last.

Great looking project. Keep the updates coming.

Wow those are some big numbers, They are like a big turbo Diesel torque numbers. Sweet project.

I had a custom steering box made to slow down the steering for high speed driving. I think it was 17.5:1. Then some Howe adjustable tie rod ends etc. and some custom steering arms. First I had them made out of steel but they were too heavy so I had them made from 7075 aluminum. I still have a little work to do in this area but its almost sorted out.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01101.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01276.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...o/DSC01196.jpg

Very nice! The steering arm is a really nice piece too. Have you had a chance to drive with that steering box yet? That is a pretty slow ratio but I understand why you did it. Just wondering how it feels on the road.

No, I haven't driven with it yet. Its not much farther along then that last set of pics. I'm still missing all the electrical, fuel system, exhaust (other then the headers) and the transmission. So much money to be spent still and so little time. :(
I did answer a lot of questions when I bought it and the power steering pump. The pump was built to match the box and the box is valved to have the 'feel' I wanted.

Good to see a thread on this build! :thumbsup: I think I am going to have to start working on my 70 Z this year.. 2nd gen's are becoming popular :D Good thing I have 3 of them!!

I have a project where I need new fabricated lower control arms for front c5 spindles. I thought I saw some in your pics, anybody I can call?

Sick buildup. Nothing beats a BBC and a blower! :)

Those are an AFX spindles made to bolt on a camaro. The lower A-arms are SPC ones that I bought from Mark Savitske at SC&C. You can just click on his banner on the side of this page and see if he can help you.

I agree with the sick build remark.
BBC & ProCharged = BIG POWER!!!:wow: :thumbsup:

Thanks guys. :cheers:

Nice project. Smart move on the flattened collector for ground clearance plus I never cared for an exhaust system "exposed" when viewing from a short distance.
Question- Dia. and length of your headers (huge) Do you feel any velocity may be lost when its controlling the speed of the exhaust pulse. Now assuming the tube length is timing the pulse to match with the cams certain RPM range, is there any down play with the flattened collector to the pulses scavenging versus a full or more rounded collector. I dont think there is but for my own knowledge Im curious.

sick! I am so jealous of the perimeter frame. I'm seriously considering that for my 79 eventually. I'm finding rust I want to take care of and a perimeter frame can do so much more to stiffen the chassis than sub frame connectors and a cage. I wouldn't even need a serious one to be effective. Keep posting pictures. This thing is going to be wild.

This answer is of course only my opinion, but I did do a lot of research before I had them built. First the diameter of the primaries is 2 1/2" and the collector is equivelant to a 5" round pipe. The primary tube length is about 32". The length is just a fairly safe normal tube length. Steve Morris being the guru of procharged big blocks is the one who told me to use this size. There is probably not a single person who knows more about them (again in my opinion). He used to have a business by his own name but now works with someone else at New Era Racecraft. Anyhow, he has never tried the flat collector but couldn't see how it would hurt in a supercharged car. I then talked to my engine builder that assembled it got the same answer. I talked to procharger, the guy who built the collectors (Dan Lemons of Lemons Headers) and the guy who built the headers all with the same answer. The flat collector will hurt power on an N/A car because the header scavenging effect won't be as strong so if its not supercharged I would not go this route. The blower motor doesn't care so much as its being forced through from the other end. Also, a blower motor just likes to get rid of the exhaust as fast as possible, and probably would work fine with no collector at all. There are of course other factors sometimes but in my case I had to do something anyway because they would be dragging on the ground with 2 round 5" pipes under the car on the street. :lol:

Thanks for your reply. Like I said just curious on your selection. I haven't seen the flat collectors used alot outside of transverse mounted inline 4 bangers. I also should have asked as you mentioned if the procharger played a part in exiting. I guess in theory (2 sizes larger than primary) as you described in your sizing there probably is no hinder. However I did notice that they are a decent length, (collectors) will this help in pulling torque to midrange or does the procharger's benefits weigh that difference null. I guess if you had no attention brought up by the individuals you mentioned its not a big deal. I spent some time researching header design on a blown 34 ford I had with just frustrating results, mainly due to the fab guy I hired. Live and learn, and still learning!

Subscribed to your future results

Its hard to find good info on a blower type street exhaust. Its allways an experiment and a compromise. All we can do is guess wisely when you want something different. It would be very interesting to try it on the dyno with different headers from zoomies to short tube round collector, flat collector, etc. The nice thing with the blower is if your down on power, just add more boost. :lol: