1987 Camaro
IROC-Z ET Bracket Race Car

I produced a movie of a 9 second pass
from footage shot on Oct 7 2007
video
9 second pass movie


Best pass in June with tach insert

Here is a seperate page on the back half project

narrowed diff

All these parts are what is currently on the car. Performance results may be from previous configurations.

Body

.

  • Complete wiper assembly and related parts removed.
  • Both bumpers and related parts removed. They can't be seen behind the plastic covers anyway.
  • Manual steering box from an 87 S-10 pickup. Camaro pitman arm retained to keep the same steering geometry
  • No interior except a dash pad and a race bucket seat.
  • Non tilt steering column is stripped down to just a shaft.
  • Manual brake master cylinder converted from an S-10
  • 10 point rollcage built to 12 point specs with X door bars
  • 5 point harness and window net
  • Race weight for 2008 is 3042 pounds. 1786 Front and 1256 rear for a slightly better nose heavy weight of 58.7/41.3. The increased rear weight could be because I repositioned the seat to move me back a bit, the addition of the CO2 bottle and the addition of an anti roll bar. The front weight reduction was from changing the intake and fuel system.
  • Race weight for 2007 is 3062 pounds. 1850 Front and 1212 rear for a 60.8/39.2 nose heavy weight ratio. That was after the back half project.
  • 2006 race weight with driver was 3085 pounds. 1851 Front, 1234 rear for a 60/40 nose heavy split.
  • Lexan locking T-tops from a Formula Firebird. Undersides painted black to keep the sun off my head.
  • Lexan windows all around.
  • Sheet of aluminum made into a simple deck lid and secured with Dzus fasteners
  • Stripped down non power option doors. Crash bar removed. Aluminum paneled
  • All IROC body ground effects still installed.
  • Working tail lights and headlights remain for night time racing. All other non essential wiring removed.
  • Mirrors and antenna removed and the holes have been filled in.
  • '82 fiberglass hood with a 2-1/2" cowl scoop and a short aeroscoop attached to the top. Everything else is still factory steel.
  • Hood latch, related parts and brackets removed. Hood pins now hold the hood down at the front. Factory hinges and struts still lift the hood. The hood is too big and still too heavy to be a complete one person lift off while in the pits.
  • Tranny tunnel has been cut out and refabricated to allow more room around the bellhousing. It makes pulling the tranny easier. A completely removable tunnel would be even better.

. Chassis and Suspension

  • Koni SPA1 front struts
  • Comp Engineering 12 way coil overs in the rear with 130 pound springs
  • Moroso trick front springs
  • Front and rear factory sway bars removed
  • Rear anti roll bar
  • Baer bump steer kit
  • Lakewood drive shaft loop
  • Front tires MT 27.5" Front Runners tires mounted on 15 x 3 1/2 Weld Draglite's 1/2" wheel studs
  • Rear tires MT 32 x 14S slicks mounted on 15 x 15 Weld Pro Star's with 5.5" backspace. 5/8 " wheel studs
  • Narrowed Ford 9". 45" from axle flange to axle flange.
  • Moser 31 spline axles and spool, 4.86 gears
  • Comp Engineering rear frame rails and 4-link kit
  • 1350 series u-joints on a local custom made 3" x .083" steel driveshaft
  • Profab tubular K-member and A-arms
  • Aerospace drag front brakes
  • Ford 11 x 2-1/4" drum rear brakes
  • Parachute mount installed but no chute yet.

Engine 383 small block 1999-2000
(Totally destroyed during last race of 2000 season. Very few parts could be reused)
I found out from the previous owner that this engine had a lot of miles on it as a 383. It was in a Jag and a MG before being dropped into the IROC. I managed around 200 1/4 mile passes in 2 years before it finally let go. I can't really complain about how well it ran when I had it. This is what I had in the engine when it finally let go. These specs are just for referral purposes to show what can be done with a 383

Best results before the 383 blew up
Best ET on a time slip: 11.857 altitude corrected to 11.163
Best MPH on a time slip: 117.87 altitude corrected to 126.10
Altitude corrected rear wheel HP based on power to weight ratio: 476.5
Best 60 foot: 1.662

  • Pre 80 "010" casting 350 block (LH side dipstick) (scrap metal)
  • Chev 383 short rod stroker (Cheaper and easier to build than 5.7 rod) (scrap metal)
  • Flat top cast pistons (scrap metal)
  • Weiand X-CELerator single plain low profile manifold
  • BG Speed demon 850 double pumper carb
  • 2 inch carb spacer
  • Holley Blue fuel pump
  • Camel back heads. Ported and polished, spring seats enlarged, stud boss machined off for screw in studs, bronze guides installed. Combustion chambers cc'd to 63cc. Final compression ratio will work out to be 10.1:1 on this 383 engine.
  • ARP 7/16" rocker studs
  • Comp Cams #986 double valve springs, 10 degree retainers & locks and #4808 guide plates
  • Comp Cams hardened pushrods #7693. (many are damaged)
  • Crane Gold 7/16 stud, 1.5 ratio roller rockers
  • Manley 2.02/1.6 Race-Flo stainless valves (5 are visibly bent, 2 intake and 3 exhaust)
  • Moroso tall valve covers
  • Headers 1 5/8" Hedman full length. No other exhaust except some short dumps to angle the exhaust away from the tranny
  • Holley Laser Shot coil
  • HEI large cap distributor (damaged drive gear)
  • Holley Strip Annihilator ignition
  • MSD 8.5 wires
  • AC R43TS spark plugs (damaged 2)
  • Dual IROC electric fans with electric drive water pump.
  • Crane solid lifter cam #114691. New grind name is F-290-2. Old grind name was CC-290A (Broken and broke a bunch of lifters too)
  • True roller timing chain installed 4 degrees advanced.
  • K&N air filter 14x4 sitting on a 2 inch spacer on top of carb.

Engine 454+ BBC 2001-2005
540 BBC 2006-

  • Dart Big M 4.500" bore block
  • Front motor plate with an engine limiter (keeps it from moving forward and backward)
  • JE race pistons. Floating pin, raised wrist pin for the longer rods. 14.2:1 compression ratio with open chamber heads
  • Total seal rings - 2% leakdown
  • Eagle 4.25" stroke crank 4340 steel internally balanced
  • Eagle 4340 H beam steel rods, 6.385" long (1/4" longer than stock) with 7/16" ARP cap screws
  • Clevite 77 bearings. Tri metal HK series
  • Moroso 7 quart oil pan
  • Canfield 310 unported aluminum heads. 2.25/1.88 Manley valves. Titanium retainers. 10 degree locks. Reher-Morrison stud girdle.Comp Cams springs. These heads work but the 540 should have bigger heads.
  • Fabricated rocker covers
  • Ed Quay headers. 2-1/4" primaries with 4" collectors
  • Magnaflow #14153 race mufflers on each side of the car. Exhaust can be easily removed to run open headers but it's too loud.
  • MSD 8.5 wires
  • Rad and electric fan from an early 90's Firefly, Sprint, Geo
  • MSD billet distributor. The weights and springs have been removed and the distributor has been locked out to full advance
  • MSD HVC II coil
  • Holley Strip Annihilator ignition
  • Holley crank trigger
  • NGK racing spark plugs all indexed
  • Edelbrock 2R tunnel ram
  • Ron's fuel dual 4.1" flying toilets. 1800 CFM each
  • Ron's fuel 0-1/2 belt driven fuel pump.
  • Cloyes true roller timing chain.
  • Comp Cams roller camshaft 11-740-9. 286/298 @ .050, .748/.748
  • Crane Cams Pro series roller lifters
  • Comp Cams Pro Magnum 1.7 roller rockers and Comp Cams one piece 3/8" custom length push rods and guide plates
  • Power Bond SFI fluid balancer and Scat SFI flexplate with ARP bolts
  • Meziere electric water pump
  • Powermaster XS starter (Mini starter needed to clear headers)
  • Moroso 3 quart oil accumulator
    Transmission
  • Powerglide 2 speed, 1.76 first gear.
  • TCS 8" torque converter - Stalls at 6100
  • Polyurethane rear mount
  • B&M Pro Ratchet shifter
  • Huge oil cooler in front of rad
  • Oil temp sending unit is in the oil pan
  • TCI steel clutch hub
  • Dual seal servo piston
  • TCI Vaccu Melt 300 input shaft with turbo splines
  • TCI manual valve body with Pro tree transbrake
  • CSI flexplate shield
  • TCI tranny shield
  • Custom made transmission crossmember