69 camaro running in the 10s

Happy New Year to you too Kris. Hey, I took the liberty of crunching some numbers for you (and that’s all drag racing boils down to – plenty of numbers). With a 3850 pound Chevelle (a guesstimate with you in it, fuel and a iron rat motor…but a rag might be heavier I think), it will take approximately 585-590 horsepower to run 125 MPH and change in the quarter mile. If you can run a buck and a quarter, then I’m pretty sure you’ll get your magical ten-second time slip.

To move that Chevelle, you’ll need some gear. It’s a big car with a big frontal area and more than likely will carry a lot more weight than a 1969 Camaro. Torque will be your friend too. The combo I came up with goes something like this:

590 HP (at roughly 6,500 RPM) 502
Turbo 400 (stock 2.48; 1.48; 1.00:1 gears)
10-inch converter (3200 RPM or so stall speed)
3850 pounds ready to race
4.56:1 rear axle
10X28-inch tire (slick or drag radial)


This should give you something like a 10.90-something ET with a trap speed in the 126 MPH range, provided everything is dialed in, the weather cooperates, you use good fuel and the planets are aligned. Usually a shift point 10% or so over peak is what you’ll find necessary (I didn’t take the time to plot RPM drops….that’s really what determines it).

A stick can do the job, but I don’t know if I’d be too willing to play that game with a big car and big power. If you decide to go with a stick, keep in mind you’ll probably end up side-stepping the clutch at big RPM numbers to make it all work. That usually tears stuff up,uhm, rather quickly, especially when you’re in this territory.

I might catch some flak on this, but I’m no fan of aluminum blocks. If you look around, you’ll find that most of the top shelf big power stock based or style engines in North America still use good old fashioned iron blocks (NASCAR, NHRA Pro Stock, etc.). Its because aluminum doesn't make heat (heat makes power), some of them move around a lot (dimensionally), they tend to have smaller bore sizes than say something like a 502 (a big bore size unshrouds the valves a lot on a rat motor). And for the price of an aluminum block, you can buy a pretty fancy big bore iron rat motor block. And don’t confuse the use of aluminum blocks in Top Fuel and Funny Car (and maybe some mountain motor classes) with the above either. The big reason they use aluminum is because they can fix ‘em when they put a window in it (plus they can change sleeves at the track).

Bottom line here is, the cubes from the 502 will work a whole bunch better than a 427. I’d send the heads to someone competent, get hooked up with a good (and I mean Good) cam designer like Harold Brookshire, piece together a decent oiling system and in the words of my late (but esteemed and sorely missed) pal and mentor, Steve Collison, “let the big dog eat”!

Catch ya’ later man…


Wayne Scraba

Hey Kris...My bad...I should have re-read your question instead of rushing in.

If you go with the Camaro, you can probably get away with a bit less grunt and gear. Weigh the thing though <g>. You could be surprised. I've witnessed more than a few that proved a wee bit heavier stock than their owners anticipated. In any case, cubes and torque are your friends!

Wayne Scraba