I was out for a drive to stir the fluids in my "wife's" 92 Camaro RS last night. No, it's not stock, but you can't tell from the outside, and it's not that intimidating a combo in reality anyway. Looks like just another tired old 305 TBI 3rd gen Camaro with faded paint, door dings, brake dust on the wheels and a slightly louder than stock exhaust. Something you would expect to run a low 16. On a good day. Down a mineshaft. With a tailwind. The back story: my wife wanted to go racing for the first time so this is what I built her- all from parts I had laying around from other projects. Had to be quick, but not too quick, have an automatic trans and be safe and easy to drive for a first-timer.

I happened to roll up against a guy in a late-90s Cobra with exhaust and some nice wheels by the Concord Mall on 202. It certainly looked and sounded much more intimidating than my ride. Oh, Why not? Give him a try. I jerked my car up against the brakes at the light just to be obnoxious and signal clear hostility. He bit.

Light went green and I dead-hooked wide open against the DRs I had mounted on the stock, corroded wheels. Engine can't even chirp 'em with the stock converter still residing in the rather tired 700R-4 automatic. Like the poor man's traction control. The 4.10s in the back hauled me outta the hole in a right quick hurry and the engine was at full-song by the far side of the intersection. The 6000 RPM shift point to 2nd wasn't much further down the road. Buh-bye! Once I was out of the hole I never looked back- I stacked on the distance as much as I could without mercy. By the time I hit 60 he was way back- a solid 2 lengths or more. It would have taken him WELL past 100 to reel me back in, which just wasn't going to happen in the space we had. And even then, he might not have ever caught me.

Car is the Camaro in my signature, below. With the sticky tires and stock stall converter in the trans. It's far from dragstrip-optimized at this point but launching it on the street requires ZERO talent. Absolute no-brainer. Brake-torque it up a little, let off the brake and nail the gas. The machinery does all the work.

It's gonna get real fun next year when I build up the trans, put in a matched converter and then slap a little plate nitrous system on it. I may, with some luck, be able to squeak an 11.99 out of it. And it'll still look like a worn-out 16 second stock Camaro RS.

 

Nice tired sleeper kill. All the ones that look like your car around my area are just what they are though.

-Dustin-

 

Got to love the worn out stocker look I have surprised many with my LX that looks like a 4cyl with stock 10 hole rims. Powertrax locker with 31 spline axles and DR's is going on along with a 150 shot of nitrous (thanks Timberwolf). It never gets old seeing the look of someone with an expensive car that just lost to a car that does not look quick. Good kill.

 

Damon, what all you have done to that 350??? 13.6 is pretty good. what carb, intake, cam?

TONY

 

It's a 355 with flattops, 9:1 compression, 74cc Dart Iron Eagle heads (200cc intake ports), old Edlebrock Performer intake (non-RPM version) with a stock Holley 600 vac sec on top, rebuilt by yours truly. Little Crane 272 Energizer cam (flat tappet hydraulic- 216/216* @ .050). Stock HEI distributor, recurved by yours truly as well. Hooker 1-5/8" shorty headers and y-pipe feeding into an SLP 3" cat-back with the wierd "2 on da lef" tailpipes. No emissions equipment at all, like something from the 1960s, but with the stock serpentine accessories on the front. All the major components were literally laying around in my basement or garage from different past projects.

This is the kind of engine the magazines tell you to build for your "first 350 Chevy". Real mild. I think it probably makes a legitimate 325HP at the flywheel.

 

Pretty cool story, enjoyed reading.

 

"Poor man's traction control" Oh my god I was laughing so hard ! You are a trip !! And I can vouch for this sleeper. It is exactly what Damon says it is. I havent seen it with the new gears. I can't wait until our next track trip.

I would think if you put 2 cars on someone by the end of 1st gear; the only way their going to make up the distance is if they are a mid 12 second car or faster.

Good kill Damon. Way to put the ferd owner in his place.

Heavy

 

That mild 350 must be making some good power to trap 104mph. I'd really like to have a 3rd gen that would be easy to work on.

TONY

 

LOL that's great. The cobra owner must have been pissed off big time.

 

Yes it is making good power, LS-1 type power.
She'll be a little quicker now that the proper gears are installed.

This 355 can be built for under 2 grand if your able to do some searching for good used parts like intake, carb, distributor.

Heavy

Damon, any more 202 racing stories?

 

Somehow, I just knew you would find this thread, Mark. Yeah, 202 racing stories are about all I got nowadays. Never any time to get to the track so it's all about beating up on the local high school kids in their fuelie Camaros and Mustangs (and Eclipses, and Civics and Subies and and and......).

Yeah, she's built dirt-cheap. That's what makes it fun. Going fast with parts that aren't supposed to go fast.

OK, one more "202 racing story". And this one was a LOSS. It was in my 94 Formula M6 about a year ago before I sold it. Free mods only, but a DAMNED quick car. 13.5 @ 105. I never heard of anyone going any faster in a nearly stone-stock LT-1. I had JUST finished nailing down a long-standing ignition problem with it. The stock double-platinum plugs were the root cause of many popped coils and coil wires, plus an Opti or two. With a fresh set of cheap copper Autolites the car was runnign better than it had in probably a year. It felt STRONG. Feeling like king-of-the-hill, I was out driving around enjoying how well the engine ran now that I had nailed an annoying problem dead-bang. I ended up out on 202........

A kid in an early Turbo Eclipse was behind me and clearly wanted to play. He couldn't go to either side of me due to blocking traffic. So somewhere around 40 MPH I laid into it for all it had from 2nd gear. I dropped him 1-2 car lengths before he had a chance to realize I had taken off. Easy pickins, right? Nope. By about 80 he had reeled me back in and was INCHES off my bumper getting on and off the gas. That Eclipse was a LOT faster than me. Oops. Kinda hard to tell how fast those turbo buggies are from the outside!

 

I think we talked about this second story before. I bet you were like, "Damn if he's not right on my ***?!" I could picture it too. LOL

Those DSM turbo cars (I think? not sure though) can run in the mid 12s on the stock turbo. And there are aftermarket turbos that can bolt right up combined with upgraded fuel and spark systems which will really make them faster. Those are usually AWD though because the FWD types just blow the front tires up in smoke. That crowd is always talking about 20 psi of boost, or 30 psi on race gas and that sorta thing....

I like them as long as they're not riced out !

Mark..

 

damon nice kill, i live right down the road from the mall. had many fun runs from that light up into pa.

 

reminds me of low 10's primered 5.0 mustangs... lol always good for a "what the f***"