48 Hour Camaro update

[bret]

Well, it's been a few months since I've posted anything significant on the 48 Hour Camaro. Lots of reasons for that...wintertime...busy building/shipping product...building a new 33 Ford project...
But one of the main reasons I've not posted anything since last fall is because...the car didn't need any work! Yes, we went through a little spat of transmission problems last summer...and an extremely untimely fuel pump failure in Nebraska, but after the Optima race after SEMA last year, there was no large punch list of items to redo or fix.

Having said that, Mike Copeland from Lingenfelter calls me on January 4. He says "me and Ken think you need more horsepower." I said "I was thinking that very same thing just now!" They want us to try out their new 417 cu.in LS package in the Camaro.
We had just had the discussion at the shop that the engine ran so well that there was absolutely no need to freshen it up. BUT, what hotrodder can ignore the lure of more horsepower? So we snatch the engine out of the car, send it to Lingenfelter, and have them turn it into a 417 package. One saving grace of changing the engine was that we found the clutch to be toast. Not sure why, but I don't think it would have lasted another 4-5 races.
I've been wanting to try out one of the new Centerforce Dyad clutches ever since I saw the first one being built last winter for Jimi Day's AMX. This thing is absolute artwork! The design, the machining, the lightening holes...looks like a million bucks.
We got the engine back from Lingenfelter around April 1. In it goes with the new Dyad clutch in front of the American Powertrain T56 Magnum [that we had changed over to late last summer].
It starts and runs like clockwork. The 417 is about 50 cu.in larger than the original one, but the Holley EFI did a nice job of accommodating the difference. After driving around town a little bit we drove down to Holley [about 2 hours] to put it on their chassis dyno for some power tuning.
The old engine made 469 hp and 451 torque. The new 417 makes 488 hp and 491 torque! AND...it's making 400 lb ft of torque as low as 3000 rpm. THAT is what the buttometer feels! This thing now pulls much stronger off the corners and makes downshifting much less necessary.
Oh, yes, the clutch...it works at least as well as it looks. Smooth, linear, quiet, and able to handle much more than the 580-600 hp it is currently managing. Its is at least as nice as the clutch in my CTS V, and much superior to the one in our 2010 Camaro. The end result of this increase in hp and torque, and the new Dyad clutch, is that the 48 Hour Camaro is about as good a package as I can imagine a Camaro to be. I was making a mental list of items to fix/change on my drive to Bowling Green. I was reduced to thinking of the following items:

* add a couple of Kicker midrange speakers - stereo is too "tinny"
* find a better holder for my iphone so I don't have to chase it all over the car
* somebody lost the cigarette lighter
* there is a little annoying squeak in the rearend - don't know if its the suspension or the cage, or something else
* The car is now so refined that the exhaust seems a little...loud. I may try some more/other mufflers
* The fixed back Recaros are fine for the track, but I've got to find something more appropriately sized for my butt.
* I need a drink holder on the console

That's it. I could not think of anything else to change. I would put my wife in that car and point her towards California in a heartbeat. [I would have to install seat heaters first. It is smooth, reasonably quiet, the ride quality is better than Sharons 750 BMW, and the power and handling is better than my Z06 Corvette.

Since we've basically run out of ideas to improve this Camaro...we are building a 69 Camaro just like it for Marc Meadors from Goodguys this summer. Look for the build thread to start on it in a couple of weeks!

[Ron in SoCal]

Always enjoy your well written updates Bret. What mufflers do you have now and what will you replace them with?

Edit: maybe you can do a little db check, before and after?

[Gandalf]

Great update Bret! You know the car has to be fairly well dialed when significant items on your to-do list include mid-range speakers, cig. lighter and holders for your iPhone and drink LOL!! Well done.

"I would put my wife in that car and point her towards California in a heartbeat"
Does she know about this??

Cheers,
G.

[coolwelder62]

[Flash68]

Most people chase the HP numbers, but that extra torque and wider curve will be what you feel and gets you around the track or autoX even faster while being great on the street.

Nice update. Curious to the exhaust change plans as well.

[Richio1]

"Since we've basically run out of ideas to improve this Camaro...we are building a 69 Camaro just like it for Marc Meadors from Goodguys this summer."

Great to see you are finally doing a 69... Going to be using shockwaves or coil overs?