You'll notice that Frank went at least nine yards on the rest of the Camaro too. Not a street fighter by any stretch, he's addressed all aspects of comfort and convenience and planted a high-end audio system in the middle of it all. He wanted everything that wasn't in the '57 Chevy or the '71 454 Chevelle he'd gnawed on in another life.
After cranking on his livelihood as a title-insurance sales rep, Frank would seem needy of the visceral input afforded by his Camaro, and that's everything from the suck-you-up red paint to the bark of that big small-block, to those seat-of-his-hiney thrills. Ten years ago, the roads around Santa Clarita were wide open, pure, and tolerant of joy-riding folk, but human hordes have snuffed all that. The threat of an early Sunday morning burn-down on the 14 Freeway is about all there is left now. But that's a good thing. Frank's just out for a ride.
Powertrain
Frank got serious and copped a Dart Little M block (splayed four-bolt mains) for the foundation for his 406 (4.15-inch bore x 3.75-inch stroke). He handed everything over to Furani Racing in San Gabriel, California, which would build the bullet after the balancing work was completed by L&R Machine in nearby Santa Fe Springs and the machined parts arrived from Dyno Flo in Henderson, Nevada. Furani poured a forged Eagle crank (with 350 small-journal mains), SRP pistons fitted with JE Pistons chrome-moly rings, and Eagle 6.00-inch connecting rods into one of Rich Maskin's finest. The camshaft? An Iskenderian, of course. The hydraulic roller features 0.530/0.550 inch lift, 234/248 degrees duration at 0.050, and 110-degree lobe centers. The cam and crank are joined inextricably by a Cloyes Tru-Roller timing chain. Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum heads (70cc combustion chambers) have 2.02/1.60 valves held by Isky springs, keepers, and retainers, and Isky roller-rocker arms put the pressure on the Isky 51/416-inch pushrods. Before sticking heads to block, Furani matched the ports in the Edelbrock single-plane manifold to the ones in the castings. Then they anointed the 406 with a Holley 830-cfm carb and a 3-inch K&N air filter. A low-profile Milodon 7-quart oil pan shrouds the Melling high-volume pump and pick-up. Furani dropped in an MSD Digital-6 ignition system (38 degrees total) and used ARP fasteners and Aeroquip lines throughout. Once the Dart was resting comfortably in the engine bay, Brad and Norm at B&N Custom Rods in Canyon Country, California, attached the Doug's headers and fabbed a 211/42-inch system with Flowmaster Delta race mufflers and resonators. A Flex-A-Lite electric fan sticks to the Griffin aluminum radiator like grim death. Vintage Air's Front Runner serpentine-belt accessory drive is economical on space (all the pieces remain within the engine's width) and handsome besides. Moving aft, C&O Automotive in Hawthorne did up a 700-R4 and fitted it with a Continental 3,000-stall, 10-inch converter via Kris Abrahamson. This required a custom-length driveshaft, as purveyed by General Drive Shaft Service in Monrovia. HTH narrowed a 12-bolt and fitted it with 3.73:1 gears. That 0.70:1 OD translates to a 2.60:1 final drive, amenable for the long haul at least.