Australian Greetings
Thanks to your magazine, it was the inspiration for the car I'm currently building, a 1983 Holden Commodore. For the motor, I've built a 10.8:1-compression 383 that's topped off with a pair of 64cc Victor Jr. heads and a 750-cfm Holley HP series carb. The cam is solid flat-tappet with 0.518/0.536-inch lift and 290/298 duration. Here in Australia, 98 octane fuel is premium and available everywhere. Thanks for reading this.
Jason
Victoria, Australia
B-Body Madness
I noticed in the Shop Talk article in the February 2010 magazine you wanted to know if anyone would want to see B-body builds. Well I can tell you I've been waiting a long time for that, about 12 years. I have an '87 and an '88 Caprice wagon and I love them both. I wouldn't own anything else as a daily driver, in fact the '87 wagon has been taken off the road to become a strip car that is "street legal" (at the right inspection station of course). The '88 I am driving is in amazing condition and it was fully loaded and everything works; even the air conditioning.
The '88 has a ZZ4 with a few mods, a Stage 2 200-4R transmission from BowTie Overdrives, a custom-built driveshaft (blew up the first one), and a 8.5 10-bolt stuffed with a Truetrac with 4.10:1 gears. For rubber, I have P255/70R15s on all four corners.
The '88 is no Corvette but it's by no means a slouch either. Even with a 2,200-stall and the 4.10s at the track, it launches hard at 1,900 rpm. I have always wondered if boxing in the trailing arms or getting tubular ones would stiffen up the ride and either hurt or help the launch. My current best at the dragstrip is 15.3 but that was with a 2.1-sec 60-foot. On that run, I was pulling away from a 14.2-sec Camaro, however when I got to the 1/8-mile the car started to stutter due to a nice hole in the fuel line. Best part is that on the 70-mile ride home at 90 mph I still knocked down 14 mpg.
It also holds a corner better than most people think it can, and the stopping power is unbelievable. I don't really want everyone to know how great these cars are because I thoroughly enjoy spanking those pesky Mustangs with my old, wood-paneled grocery getting tank. But on the other hand, I would really like to see what I can do to improve it or find stuff that I have spent years searching for, like body bushings. Oh yeah, the plan for the '87 wagon is a nice Duramax diesel powerplant, rollcage, tubbed tires, and I'll do whatever it takes to get into the low 10s or high 9s. Thanks for reading my rambles and I hope to see some B-body action soon.
Jake
Via email
Sounds like you're having fun and that's what it's all about. Thanks for sharing and keep us posted on how your dragstrip terror comes along. That's going to be a sight to see.
Short & Simple
Hey, I am not afraid to burn some rubber in my town and I love my six-speed Imperial Blue 2SS Camaro.
Captain Buck
Via email
Useful Formulas
I've been reading your magazine for years and it's my favorite. I looked at your website today for the first time and wanted to ask; do you have tech type resources available, such as formulas used by racers or hot rodders? I'm looking for various formulas like how much horsepower is required to move X amount of weight down the 1,320 if X gears are used, or how to compute a certain rpm or gear ratio? Do you have a pool of such information that readers can tap into online?
FYI, I'm a 50-year-old man who is a first-time race car builder and trying to make a 2,900-pound '72 Camaro with a 500-horse 355ci small-block, a Muncie four-speed, 10-bolt rear, and 10.5-inch tires to run in the IHRA Hot Rod Eliminator class. I could use all the help/resources available to me.
Ron Obey
Via email
We don't have anything online-for now. However, you've brought up a very relevant topic that we're going to address in an upcoming issue. Keep an eye for it and thanks for the great idea.