Page 1&2: General overview of car
Page 3: Engine components and wish list
Page 4: Video Extras

Page 5: Ethanol Tips

"All underlined bold text are links"

This is my modified 1978 Z28 camaro that I built mostly from stuff I had lying around or could get for little of nothing, for nice weather thrashing and cruising. Replacement for a previous one that rotted out which was also my very first car, a 1979 camaro. It was found May of 1998 not running in a lot next to a laundromat and occupied by a very scared mouse that exited immidiately when the drivers door was opened. Then it was powered by a 180hp 305 4bbl 1984 monte SS motor with a blown up TH350 trans and 3.42 geared 10 bolt posi. The body and interior was a visual basket case but solid because the car was only in Wisconsin for 2 years after the previous owner's brother drove from California when it died and sat, then I made the purchase. Initially after building up the car it was carbureted (1999-2003) but then I changed over to programable EFI (electronic fuel injection), as this has always been a modification of interest I wanted to perform on an modified street machine since the mid 1980's when most factory original cars became electronicaly managed. I incorporated provisions for these mods to be later added within the original build plan, before I even built the car.

My ride is now powered by 462 cubes (7.7 litres) of electronicly nitroused and sequentialy fuel injected V8. Operating off of a speed density tune it makes 575hp without a 200hp shot of the giggle gas on 110 octane race fuel, although I also run on E85 which has a 105 octane rating. E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) makes the same horsepower or more as high price race fuel with noticeable gains in torque and is usually cheaper than 87 octane fuel while pleasing the "tree-huggers" (environmentalist). Using flex fuel control strategy mileage is slightly less from E85 because the base fuel map must be increased up to 30% to get the proper burn from this oxygenated "corn whiskey" , due to it's BTU rating being 25-30% less than gasoline. With flex fuel tuning you have to allow for transition from gasoline to ethanol but for the most part it's still a gasoline tune. Ethanol is an alcohol which allows for a much more agressive engine tune, and with an optimized dedicated tune I've exeeded performance in both mileage and power over straight gasoline. Backing this is a Cheetah valve bodied, blueprinted full competition 34 element sprag TH400 trans with a steel alloy clutch hub and rollerized thrust bearings. Launches are controlled by a 10" "nitrous" torque converter that stalls 3800rpm on motor, and approximately 4600rpm stall on nitrous. All engine blueprinting, assembly, and tuning was done myself. Engine Components list 

I'm very satisfied with the performance, drivability, and cruising range I picked up over carburetion. I personally designed my own throttle body using EZ Cam software and CNC machined it from a solid piece of T651 aluminum. I also desinged and machined the throttle shafts, blades, linkage, throttle position sensor mount, idle air control curcuit, and fuel rails along with the machining of the edelbrock victor race intake manifold for injector bungs to be epoxied into place. All of the design and machining was done (Nov 2001 - Feb 2002) in my spare time after class work, while I was a student in technical college.

Many will argue and debate over which is better, programable EFI or carburetion in performance and race applications. Although "peak" horsepower and torque will be comparable between the two, EFI will always "average" more through out the power band and is more flexible with ANY engine or engine combination. Carburetors also cannot make fueling corrections due to changes in atomospheric conditions such as altitude, temperature, humidity, and fuel type v.s. EFI with wideband correction operating in closed loop. This can be especially crucial with modified engines, as the tune sensitivity can be much more pronounced from atomospheric changes on a givin engine combination. My engine management system can be configured to switch on the fly from gasoline to E85 fuel or any mixture of the two.

Here's a sequence vid approx 28 min long total of the Dynomax exhaust power to the wheels dyno challenge (these vehicles are running on E85 ethanol):

Another benifit of programable EFI is all fueling, ignition timming, and even idle speed changes can be done on the fly in seconds without even lifting the hood, but I still like to get my hands dirty (LOL). Data logging will allow recording of engine performance in as little as several samples (frames) per second (fully programable log length) on the fly, save the log then play it back and edit the tune program on the pc at a later time in a living room or any other convenient place that's chosen. All tune programs can be uploaded from or downloaded to the ECM (engine control module) from either the pc's hard drive, 3 1/2" floppy disc, or USB flash drive and you can create as many as you want for different operating stratagies. My system even offers password protection if I chooses to use it! Don't get me wrong carburetors are and always will be cool I got my start in this hobby with them. EFI isn't for everyone, it all comes down to preference and budget.

All programing and editing on the fly is done here in the passenger compartment via laptop pc. The ECM is a Accel Digital Fuel Injection Gen7+ unit and harness with wideband oxygen correction. The nitrous system is also programed and triggered through the ECM. I designed and built the swiveling computer table which also has an integrated cooling fan, to circulate air underneath the laptop computer. This table is completely removable and takes a whole 30 seconds or less thanks to quick release 1/4 turn dzus fasteners. Sharp observers will notice that I have a 79-81 dash instead of the 70-78 style. I've always prefered that style and had one in exellent original condition from my first car.

The interior color of choice is charcoal grey, with a dark charcoal molded carpet from JC Whitney . The seats are out of a 93 Acura integra and weren't just a bolt in deal. I had to do extensive modification to the underside of the seats to mount them on the original camaro seat rails, as the integra floor pan is flat where the floor of the 78 camaro is higher inboard near the trans hump. Gear selection is done by a Hurst quarter stick console model with the shift knob color matched to the interior.

The nitrous bottle, with bottle blanket installed is mounted on a removable aluminum access panel where the rear seat used to be for easy pressure monitoring and valve opening access (wink wink). I also have a automatic electric bottle warmer supplied by Dyno tune which is fully adjustable to maintain whatever bottle pressure you want. The larger line exiting the valve is the blowdown vent hose to channel the nitrous outside the vehicle should the pressure relief disc rupture. The nitrous system was added over the winter of 2005 / 2006.

This is the dual guage A-pillar pod I adapted from a early 90's ford lightning pickup application leftover from an earlier project abandoned on another vehicle. I used fiberglass and body filler to form a new contour and shape to fit the camaro A-pillar as there weren't any pods available for 2nd gen f-bodys. The guages are 2" round digital from Dyno Tune.

Buster the overseer and co pilot absolutely loves hotrods is ready to go for a ride prior to completion, then he changed his mind and decided he want's to drive!

Rest in peace my little boy, you'll always be loved and missed.

The rear end is a narrowed ford truck 9 inch axle housing with a 3.50 to 1 geared detroit locker for use with nitrous (was previously a 3.70 to 1 ratio 1999-2004), moser engineering HD nodular case with a "steel" daytona large bearing pinion support, and moser engineering 31 spline alloy racing axles all hung by a braced 4-link rear supension with aldan coil over shocks. Linking this to the trans is a custom built heavy duty 3 1/2" diameter drive shaft with solid 1350 series u-joints from A-1 driveshaft. The rear brakes are ford 11.00" dia drums redrilled to the 4 3/4" chevrolet wheel bolt pattern, and the stock brakes are up front for now with performance carbon metallic pads. Weld racing draglite forged aluminum wheels (15x4 front, 15x10 rear) wrapped in Mickey Thompson (sportsman front 15x7.5x28, et street rear 15x12.5x28) tires round out the rolling hardware. Even though there isn't a cage in the car (yet), the 4-link crossmember and attachment points are fully gusseted, reinforced, and tied to the front by welded in crossbraced subframe connectors. All fabrication, setup, and welding minus axle housing narrowing was done by yours truly.

This photo is showing the bracing with a coat of POR-15 top view through the interior prior to body paint and completion of the interior. The entire underside was also coated with POR-15.

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