Running on the Dyno with my LS6 on Friday

[Chevy454]

I was admittedly one of the ones who said "no way" when Brewer was dropping low-mid 12s on people. Heck, I ran Phil in my first Pure Stock event ever and he dropped a 12.5 on me. I immediately said "no way", as I was running a 427 Camaro and was only running low 13s...of course, I didn't know jack squat about tuning a car, but I figured since I had a 427 and he had a 396 that I should be able to take him. O'contrare mon frere! Granted, he had his engine set back and was admittedly "stock appearing", but my eyes have since been opened, if only a wee bit.

So, we built an engine the way Tonowanda would have back in '69, with the specs way off of what was advertised, just to see what would happen. Well, I've since gone 12.7s@108 with it...if I could hook it, it's got .6s in it, no doubt in my mind. And mind you, this is with 10.2:1 compression, the stock cam put in as original (not retarded), and a heavy automatic Camaro (3700 with me in the seat). That particular engine put up 425+ on the dyno through the manifolds, and I feel better about the timing/jetting I have now than when it spun up the dyno. We basically did it to see if it was possible, and it is, and then some. Pete tried to tell us, but we're Missourians, so you gotta "Show-Me" it can happen.

A lot of what works on your typical "race engine" won't work for what we (Pure Stock guys) do. We're running stock manifolds and 2.5" pipes, so big flow numbers only hurt us because we can't get rid of it. And since we're running the stock cam, heavy duty springs only hurt the cam and add unneeded friction. That's why cam timing and distributor timing are so crucial...we try to sacrifice the bottom end just so we can get rolling and bring it back in on the big end. It's definitely a different mind set, and most engine builders can't comprehend it...I know mine sure has a hard time!

Pete has gone 12.0s in his Pure Stock ZL-1 Camaro, and I watched him put that thing back together at the Certified Stock tech, and you'd be amazed at how tame that engine is. And like John said, Terry's car is a freakin' animal!