69 camaro running in the 10s

I agree with Mark. Just to give you a better idea of what it takes to make a Stocker work (and at least be competitive), here’s a tiny bit insight into my B/Stick Firehawk….ten years or so ago:

When it came to the rear end, I used a custom cast 12 bolt center section from KTRE. I had it narrowed as much as I thought could get away with (so that I could use wheels with the smallest backspace, since they’re the lightest. The axle tubes were 4130 (lighter than mild steel). I had Mark Williams rifle drill the axles as much as he dared, then he heavily (and I mean Heavily) scalloped the flanges. The spool was similarly scalloped. Williams back cut the ring gear to save weight. The wheels were the lightest Monocoque could build.

The Firebird body was stripped to the bone. It was, uhm, “detailed” with a die grinder, a cut off wheel and a holesaw where it wasn’t visible. MPR sectioned (yes, sectioned) the control arms to narrow the track width. In those days, stock brakes were mandatory. Soooo…out back, I used aluminum drums with no parking brake bits whatsoever inside. On the nose, I machined the rotors to minimum and like everyone else at the time, cut the pads to half thickness which, along with “tweaked” stock calipers (that took four trips to the machine shop to lighten) was necessary to fit everything inside a 15X3.5-inch Monocoque front wheel. Alf Weibe fit a Pinto rack and pinion to the front. Some of my racing pals teased me about the “Pontiac Volare” master cylinder I used too (one of Roger Lamb’s $450 modified Mopar jobs). NHRA declared my round tube rod end equipped trailing arms illegal, so I had Alf make up a set that had looked more stock, but had spherical bearings hidden in the respective ends. Alf also revised the front a-arms to accept spherical bearings where bushings went. The front ride height was totally adjustable (it was actually possible to drop the car so low that the front k-member hit the ground). I also had a set of triple adjustable Penske shocks made up for the car, but they were never installed.

The LT1 heads went to Dave Layer for, uhm, a valve job. The pistons were custom legal jobs from Lunati. Lunati “indexed” the crank (stroked it +.013-inch). I sent a stock oil pan to Ollie Volpe (who was at Moroso at the time). He fit it with a custom scraper/windage screen, but left the outside looking stock. I could go on, but let’s just say the work inside the engine was extensive.

To make a long story short, Tim Bishop set the B/Stick record with that car. It’s “legal” and today, I’ll bet maybe even a bit outdated. These cars are so sophisticated; they can easily compete in Super Stock. And they consume copious quantities of cash. To make ‘em run really hard (as in setting a record or racing another identically classed car heads up), you have to put them on “kill”. That eats parts like mad (big block guys have to have a rocker arm concession). I can go on forever on this topic, but stock isn’t stock. Most racers will tell you that’s why they put spaces between the lines in the NHRA Rulebook.

And to answer part of the original question, to go fast, just plug in the biggest possible engine. Then figure out how to make it hook. David Reher (Reher-Morrison) gave me that tiny piece of advice years (decades) ago and it still makes sense today.

Best of luck…

Wayne Scraba

[Xplantdad]

GREAT info Wayne and Mark!

One thing I forgot was this itsy-bitsy piece of trivia. When I worked for National DRAGSTER, I was off to Indy for the US Nats. I spent a lot of time in the sportsman pits (hey – these guys read my column…I doubt any of the Top Fuel or flopper folks cared….<g&gt. One of the Super Stock guys I knew was really in deep trouble with his car. It wouldn’t build oil pressure. Guess why not? At the time (late nineties), it was the in thing to remove every second tooth off the oil pump in an effort to reduce internal friction. Apparently, it worked reasonably well if you were careful with oil choice. But this racer also used the latest and greatest 0-wt oil (yes, it does exist….it resembles water in consistency). Coupled together, the small block just couldn’t build PSI. Now, to be fair it was afterall, INDY!. The car was running in class eliminations. The racer needed everything he could throw at it. The problem eventually was resolved by switching to a “heavy oil” (likely 10W or something in that range). It just goes to show how over the top little guy racing has become.

Cheers!

Wayne Scraba

[Xplantdad]

Wow...these sound like some of the stories that Ken has told me. I love all of the cool stories. Keep it up!

[mfchassisworks]

Hey Wayne, Thanks for all the great articles of the years! I learned alot from you. Loved the 69 Camaro!

and Kris, here is our 69 Camaro making a few runs. It was a pump gas 468 with 3.73s and 28 x12.50 ET Streets and no traction bars (thanks again Wayne!) PM me if you have any questions.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...0173449938518#


Andrew

[kwhizz]

Wayne..........


Ken

[markjohnson]

I'm pretty sure it's Redline Oil that's been making that O-WT oil that's become popular in Pro Stock. Now, you figure that class has been essentially the same since they initiated the 500 CID/2350 LBS rules in 1982. I really don't even keep track anymore, but what's the current P/S record these days.......6.50-6.60? That means just a little over ONE FULL SECOND reduction in ET over a period of 28 YEARS. That's pretty incredible! They've used the dual Dominator configuration since the beginning, so you figure they really had to beat the bushes to find that one second! Hey Wayne, remember back in the Seventies of hearing the short-lived fad of running Lencos totally dry?!

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Wayne, Thanks for all the great articles of the years! I learned alot from you. Loved the 69 Camaro!

and Kris, here is our 69 Camaro making a few runs. It was a pump gas 468 with 3.73s and 28 x12.50 ET Streets and no traction bars (thanks again Wayne!) PM me if you have any questions.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...0173449938518#


Andrew



[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the comps man. You sure do have a bad boy '69! And wow, I suspect you're hardly spinning it over given the back gear (soo.....when are you really gonna cut it loose <g>?)

Take care bud!

Wayne Scraba

[markjohnson]

Hearin' ya loud and clear, Wayne. I recently purchased a book about managing personal finances and how to make wise investments, but for the life of me........I just can't find the chapter on Drag Racing.