Facts / Figures Page 2

Well here we are at page 2, and this page is dedicated to my 1979 Z/28 Camaro

Not to much can be said for the vehicle in the performance factor, (off the showroom floor) base Z/28
Factory specs are indeed very disappointing, but they can be worked

Engine 350 cu" V8
Transmission 350 Turbo/Hydro Auto
Differential 10 bolt Posi-Traction
Horsepower 175
Torque 270

I've rebuilt my engine, as it was seriously lacking power and it's easy to gain more than double the power from these great powerplants.
Here is a run down on my engine mods.

Bored the block out to 355 cu" which is oversize 30 thou. Block was then drilled to facilitate 4 bolt mains bearing caps
I retained the steel crankshaft, only polished the journals, and deburred rough forging marks.
I've fitted an Iskyderian camshaft of specs I don't wish to disclose, but it is a hydraulic type and of considerable lift.
There is a Peter Jackson gear drive to rotate the cam and keep the timing in tact.
The heads are where the real work has been done. The heads are casting P/N 462624 and were bead blasted clean. Valves are 2.02 Inlet and 1.60 Exhaust. They are common LT-1 Heads, just machined to except the larger valves and bronze guides.
I've spent a great deal of time C C'ing the combustion chambers, and relieving the chambers around the valve seats, giving a 77 cc chamber.
The seats themselves have been replaced, I've machined up inserts from 440 grade stainless steel and machined the heads to accept the new seats.
The valves are of Stainless steel - swerl polished, by Manley performance parts, and are of standard length and diameter, as the cam lifts high enough anyway. These heads flow very well, and although not quite as good as the 186 castings (Fuelly Heads) I think with the work I have done, they would flow equally as well, if not better, they have a far better heat riser for cold starting, and as I've fitted Crane Gold Roller Rockers, Guide plates, and enlargened the oil openings, these will deliver the goods. To top things off, I've decked the heads on the surface grinder 75 thou giving a compression ratio of 11.5:1 with the flat top pistons.
Intake manifold was a hard choice, with so many after-market models available. I had to choose one carefully as I needed to retain the very low hood clearance to the hood scoop.
I ended up purchasing an alloy small block quadrajet GM intake with EGR from Classic Industries in the U.S.
Quite a costly item, but one that will pay off.
I retained the Rochester Quadrajet - reason being is they are a very good carby, and alot of people under estimate their potential.
They can be lean when they have to be, and mean when you want them to be.
With a little time and thought, you can manipulate those actuation rods to the secondary throttle control and skim off stopper plates to give optimum butterfly openings.
Fitting larger primary and secondary metering valves is pretty much all that is needed to give these dinosaurs a big boost in power.
I'm in the process of manufacturing stainless steel exhaust header pipes, so I'll post up photos of those when they are completed.

I won't rave on too much more about my Camaro, but wish to
share with you, that this car was purchased off www.ebay.com.au
back in 2000 and I was the only bidder with an opening bid of $5,000
The car was in running order, but hey it was all there and it had
T-Tops which I love. Just about every replacement part for it has come from ebay which has been great, especially when parts like trim and genuine
replacement parts are not available here in Australia.


You can find photos of my Camaro in the Garage section of the site,
and various parts and modifications I've made in the Garage page of the site also.