[Z06] Big block Camaro
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,068
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Big block Camaro
I was buying something at the store yesterday, and there was an old Camaro outside. I'm not sure which year it is, but it has the 68 body style. I get into the store and the owner of the Camaro was standing there and started asking me questions about the Z. So I tell him I have heads/cam and spray, but I haven't really used the spray cause I can keep up with most of the car on motor. Then he says let's hop on the highway right now, then you'll need your spray. 
He said he had a 454 in car, and it was making 550hp or something like that.
I don't really know alot about the older muscle cars. I didn't run the guy since I had to be somewhere. On motor my car put down 460rwhp, do you guys think I'd have needed the spray?
He said he had a 454 in car, and it was making 550hp or something like that.
I don't really know alot about the older muscle cars. I didn't run the guy since I had to be somewhere. On motor my car put down 460rwhp, do you guys think I'd have needed the spray?
Pro
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 509
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Best bet would have been to go "best of three" at the track. Spray on runs #2 and #3 if needed after run #1. But you've got to wonder what else might be under there with "550 horsepower" on tap. Had a '68 for awhile, I'd bet on the Z.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,178
Likes: 1
From: Bahston Mass.
That's exactly what I was thinking.. Even if he DID have a 5 speed in there, and 3.73's, he'd be topping out a LOT lower then you.. I can't see him running 2.71's just so he can do 180 on the highway..
Seems his confidence may have been boosted by his cubes
Racer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 371
Likes: 9
From: Manteca CA
St. Jude Donor '09
BBC owners tend to throw the +500hp/500ft lb. numbers out there like it's a given. Some actually have it, most don't. How was the car set up? Serious rubber on the back? Subframe connectors, roll bar? 550hp will twist up the old muscle cars pretty good with any kind of decent traction. Can make for a pretty exciting (squirrley) ride. Even if he did, I'd bet on your Z (on motor, no spray).
Last edited by RIKKITIK; Dec 30, 2006 at 12:35 PM.
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Racer
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 433
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From: Minerva Ohio
If in fact he does have 550 hp and he can put the rubber to the road. There is no substitution for cubic inches and torque. After all, torque is ET, MPH is HP. Don't count out those "Old Muscle cars" As stated above, does he have sub frame connectors (I would assume he would or his car would be going down the road at an angle after a few pulls.) Our Z's aren't always the ultimate cars out on the street and on the track...
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,068
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If in fact he does have 550 hp and he can put the rubber to the road. There is no substitution for cubic inches and torque. After all, torque is ET, MPH is HP. Don't count out those "Old Muscle cars" As stated above, does he have sub frame connectors (I would assume he would or his car would be going down the road at an angle after a few pulls.) Our Z's aren't always the ultimate cars out on the street and on the track...
Racer
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 433
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From: Minerva Ohio
I coudn't see the back of the car since he backed into the parking spot. But I know it' not a full out drag car since there's no roll cage/racing seats/harness...etc. He will probably get me out of the hole, that's why it was funny that he asked me to go on the highway. The Z is hard to beat from a roll.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,037
Likes: 9,801
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
As a point of reference. I had a 71 454 LS6 Vette with 425 HP (gross). Net HP on the engine was 330. It was an auto with 3:36 gears. Times in the quarter were in the 13 second bracket. It was 70 lbs lighter than the Chevelle LS6 since the Vette motor came with aluminum heads. Top speed was in the range of 150. Acceleration from a roll was absolutely awesome. The auto up shifted at 5200 rpm but if I manually shifted at the 6500 rpm red line the car would go sideways on the shift from 2nd to 3rd somewhere around 100mph.
If the guy had built the engine from the factory high perf level he could easily be putting out 550 gross (the old L88 engines from the factory would dyno close to 600 gross right out of the shipping box) which means he probably was close to you in net HP.
I know one thing you wouldn't want to run him from a roll since his torque level below 4000 rpms is very high compared to yours. He will leave you sitting there wondering where he went. The speedo on my LS6 would jump from 70 mph to 80 mph so fast you couldn't see it move.
Bill
If the guy had built the engine from the factory high perf level he could easily be putting out 550 gross (the old L88 engines from the factory would dyno close to 600 gross right out of the shipping box) which means he probably was close to you in net HP.
I know one thing you wouldn't want to run him from a roll since his torque level below 4000 rpms is very high compared to yours. He will leave you sitting there wondering where he went. The speedo on my LS6 would jump from 70 mph to 80 mph so fast you couldn't see it move.
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; Dec 30, 2006 at 03:50 PM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,068
Likes: 0
As a point of reference. I had a 71 454 LS6 Vette with 425 HP (gross). Net HP on the engine was 330. It was an auto with 3:36 gears. Times in the quarter were in the 13 second bracket. It was 70 lbs lighter than the Chevelle LS6 since the Vette motor came with aluminum heads. Top speed was in the range of 150. Acceleration from a roll was absolutely awesome. The auto up shifted at 5200 rpm but if I manually shifted at the 6500 rpm red line the car would go sideways on the shift from 2nd to 3rd somewhere around 100mph.
If the guy had built the engine from the factory high perf level he could easily be putting out 550 gross (the old L88 engines from the factory would dyno close to 600 gross right out of the shipping box) which means he probably was close to you in net HP.
I know one thing you wouldn't want to run him from a roll since his torque level below 4000 rpms is very high compared to yours. He will leave you sitting there wondering where he went. The speedo on my LS6 would jump from 70 mph to 80 mph so fast you couldn't see it move.
Bill
If the guy had built the engine from the factory high perf level he could easily be putting out 550 gross (the old L88 engines from the factory would dyno close to 600 gross right out of the shipping box) which means he probably was close to you in net HP.
I know one thing you wouldn't want to run him from a roll since his torque level below 4000 rpms is very high compared to yours. He will leave you sitting there wondering where he went. The speedo on my LS6 would jump from 70 mph to 80 mph so fast you couldn't see it move.
Bill
I agree, but that' the beauty of racing from a roll, I won't be under 4k rpm. Unless we're rolling out from like 10mph.
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 86
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From: Hicksville NY
exactly, im never under 4500 rpm in any roll race. Also i think you would have raped him. I killed my father's 70 chevelle ss 454ci from a roll, and im putting down 440rwhp.
Last edited by 06CobaltSS; Dec 30, 2006 at 07:13 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 781
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I have listened to many stories told by 'old schoolers' ("big block" this and "4 barrel" that, etc.) that talked about fast cars they had or rode in. The fact is that many of these people have no idea of what FAST is (and being drunk only makes a car seem faster). They think a car that can smoke the tires in 1st and 2nd gear, or fly down a stretch of straight highway at 115mph IS fast. A 2WD Chevy PU w/454 can do that!
This Camaro certainly could have been a true screamer. With 550hp or not (crank HP?) his car still doesn't put that power to the ground as efficiently as a 3,150lb Z06 with obviously well over 500 crank HP.
In a true drag race scenario he may have put up a good fight (until you hit the squirt), but out on the open road he would have a new concept of what fast IS, after spending a half mile watching your rear license plate getting smaller, and smaller, and...
This Camaro certainly could have been a true screamer. With 550hp or not (crank HP?) his car still doesn't put that power to the ground as efficiently as a 3,150lb Z06 with obviously well over 500 crank HP.
In a true drag race scenario he may have put up a good fight (until you hit the squirt), but out on the open road he would have a new concept of what fast IS, after spending a half mile watching your rear license plate getting smaller, and smaller, and...
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 5,941
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From: Was New Orleans but swam to Baton Rouge LA
Cruise-In IX Veteran
How about some first hand experience! I have a friend in Lafayette with a 68 BB camaro with a 427 and a 4 speed with 3.55 gears. Now I went and hung out with him a while back and we lined them up for giggles. His car makes 491 hp and tq on an engine dyno. I on the other hand did 451 rwhp 423 rwtq on a Chassis dyno. We both took off and stayed dead even with each other the entire time. Both of us were on drag radials as well so spinning was not too bad. Without knowing all the mods, what Hp rating (dyno or chassis), and driver skill it is hard to say. You can use my story as a to compare if you like, and both me and my friend are expert drag racing drivers.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,398
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You just never know with those older muscle cars. My 74 Pontiac SD-455 )4150 lbs with driver) has run 11.40's on the motor and 10.20's at 154 on a 2 stage 450 shot of nitrous. Its no freeway top end slouch either.
Last edited by briann510; Dec 30, 2006 at 11:32 PM.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Minerva Ohio
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Las Vegas NV
Time and time again people want to drag race a Z06. The Z06 was designed for a road course. The fact that it's fast in a straight line is a product of how good of a design it is - and not it's intention. On a road course, he might as well be driving a Pinto. You will lap him with closing speeds that will make it dangerous when you encounter him.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
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From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Bill