Parts List
Sports Exhaust
Racing Chip
NA Tuning Stage 2
Port Polish
Carbon Fiber Driveshaft
R3 Tires
Racing Brakes
Brake Balance Controller
FC Suspension
FC Transmission
Triple-plate clutch
Racing Flywheel
FC LSD
Straight Line Performance and other specs:
0-60: 3.5 seconds
0-100: 7.8 seconds
1/4 mile: 11.801 @ 125mph
0-150: 19.35 seconds
0-150-0: 23.350 seconds
Curb Weight: 1762kg (3876 lbs)
The Setup
SUSPENSION:
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Spring Rate:-------9.0/5.5
Ride Height:-------187/170
Shock Bound:-----3/2
Shock Rebound:--4/3
Camber:-----------2.8/2.0
Toe:----------------0/0
Stabilizers:--------5/5
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Transmission:
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Final to 4.610, auto set to 18, then set ratios and final.
Ratios are [2.199/1.640/1.274/1.000/0.750/0.600]
Final of 3.730.
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LSD/Downforce and others:
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LSD: 20/50/30
Brake Balance: 4/6
Downforce: None
Aids: None at all
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Notes: A customer came in with a nicely restored 1972 Chevelle and asked us to give it a bit more guts, while making it corner with today's race cars.
Well, on the other side of our shop, there was a 1970 Chevelle SS 454. All original, numbers matching. We decided to use THAT as our test mule, as the 1970-1972 Chevelles were identical under the skin.
First thing to go was the original 454; While it made rather good power, we wanted something... Bigger, badder, meaner. So a brand-new 502 crate motor was ordered and dropped on an engine dyno. There wasn't enough power. Not for us.
We ported and milled the heads, and added bigger valves along the way. Compression was raised a bit by the milling, but not enough. A mild dome on the pistons and a recam later, we were happy. 605hp on the engine dyno with a wide-open exhaust. With our 'street' exhaust, it made 580hp @ 5600rpm and 631 ft-lbs of torque @ 3600rpm.
The transmission was a somewhat logical choice; a modern 6-speed with straight-cut gears. The first four ratios are almost identical to those of a Muncie "Rockcrusher" 4-speed, and 5th and 6th are both overdrive.
That covered that, but... What of the suspension?
A completely new front suspension was fabricated, reducing unsprung weight tremendously. Highly adjustable coilovers were employed, and the upper A-arms are adjustable in length for camber adjustment.
Out back, the original 12-bolt was replaced by a custom aluminum-housing Ford 9" designed to put the rear tires at 2 degrees of negative camber. In place of the archaic leaf-springs, there is now a four-link with coilovers and a panhard bar. The differential (A custom LSD, closest to what's known as a 2-way) was stuffed with 3.73 gears.
Tires are 325-50-R15 road racing slicks on widened reproduction rims.
So far so good on the test mule. Now then, the real test: Does the customer want his car to be something like this?