floman

iTrader: (54)

I purchased my 98 SS back in Nov 2012 from a forum member in Sugarland,Tx. I will list the mods that the car had at the time of purchase and what the previous owner stated that the car dyno'd and the track times he stated.

Car: stock bodied 98 Camaro SS, T-top car with full power accs and leather interior, A/C still intact. Car is full weight with no weight reduction done at all. Race weight is actually heavier than a stock SS due to the addition of the heavier aftermarket suspension parts and the Moser 12 Bolt rear end.

Engine: 2007 L92 engine from and Escalade, stock crank & pistons with Compstar rods, minor cleanup on the stock heads with lightweight stainless valves & Pac beehive springs and YellaTerra rocker arms. Comp Cams hyd roller 232-246 dur @ .050" with .595" int/ .613" exh on a 115 LSA. FAST 102mm/102mm setup, TSP 1 7/8" LTs, 3" ORY merged with a 3 1/2" discharge over axle into a Borla XR1 racing muffler 16" x 6 1/4". HSW nitrous system with Zex plate and Nitruos outlet window switch (150 shot)

Trans: Century Stage 2 4L60E with a Circle D 3600 conv ( not sure on which model # it was, but it seemed pretty loose when driving the car)

Rear axle & suspension: Moser 12 Bolt rear with Tru-Trac diff and 33 spline axles w/ 4.11 gears, Sphon extreme duty driveshaft, Sphon Pro Series torque Arm, BMR lower control arms, Panhard bar & relocation bracket. QA1 "R" series front shocks & 300# coilovers, rear QA1 single adj shocks w/ 150lb coilovers. Stock K-member with factory control arms. Stock brakes w/ drilled & slotted rotors.

Wheels & tires: Billet Specialties Street Lites 15x3.5" front runners w/ MT Sportsman 28" front skinnies, Rears 15x10" F-Body specific w/ MT 275-60-15" Drag Radials

Previous owner stated 470rwhp dyno ( unspecified rwtq) and best track pass of 11.20 @ 121 mph on a 1.58 60 ft. Estimated raceweight of 3575 lbs.


Fast forward to Purchase: First thing I did was take the car to Geoff Skinner @ EPS to have him check the tune and try to troubleshoot a tranny issue with the torque converter not locking up on a consistant basis. Geoff spent all day on the tune and we concluded that there was a mechanical issue with the converter clutch.

Dyno run showed a peak gain 10hp at peak and as much as 15-20 at certain points during the pull. I was disappointed with the final #s of 432rwhp/410rwtq. Made one pull on the 150 shot nitrous at 583rwhp/ 495rwtq and blowing through the converter. (Dissapointed, but it is what it is)

Three weeks later the 4l60 started acting goofy and went into limp mode. At this point I am leary of the tranny and don't want to sink anymore money into the 4L60.

Fast forward 5 months later: I purchased a brand new 4L85E from GM Performance Parts, FTI 9.5" Billet triple disc 3800 nitrous converter, TCI SFI approved Flexplate, BMR 4l80 crossmember, Sphon "Top-Gun" seemless chromoly driveshaft with "Strange" chromoly slip yoke, B&M stackplate cooler with fan. Tranny is controlled with the stock 98 PCM using the "slow67" relay mod. Still working on the tranny tune( trying to bring the shift rpms up to 6500 in each gear change, have not got it just right yet.

May 18th: Evadale,Tx @ "Ben Bruce Memorial Raceway Park. Made two passes in 86 deg high humidity weather at + 2000 DA

Car is driven to the track, approx. a 75 mile round trip

Motor passes only.
1st pass: 11.71 @ 117.9 mph on a 1.71 60ft - tranny shifting early at 5700 rpms 1st-2nd, and 6200 rpms on 2nd-3rd, thru traps @ 6200 rpms, launching at 2000 footbrake

2nd pass: 11.76 @ 117.6 mph on a 1.74 60ft, same early shifts and launching off idle and flashing the converter.

Friday June 7th: Evadale,Tx at "Ben Bruce Memorial Raceway Park" Friday night street car "instant green"

Car is driven to the track approx. 75 miles round trip.

Motor passes only.
1st pass: 11.45 @ 119.6 mph on a 1.68 60ft, manually shifted tranny on 1st-2nd(6500 rpm) and over shifted into "D" and computer shifted 2nd-3rd at (6200 rpm), launch at 2000 footbrake.

2nd Pass: 11.27 @ 121.04 mph on a 1.639 60ft, manuall shifted at 6500 rpm at each gear change and through traps at 6500 rpms, launch at 2000 footbrake.

3rd pass: 11.27 @ 121.16 mph on a 1.644 60ft, manually shifted at 6500 rpm at each gear change and through traps at 6500 rpms, launched at 2000 footbrake

Overall I am very satisfied with the results so far. My raceweight at this time has increased from what the previous owner was at, and is now a hefty 3775 lbs with 5/8 tank of fuel and my big ***(260lbs) and the extra 75 lbs or so added by the 4L85E and related install items. I fully expected the car to be slower due to the increased weight and the milder gearing of the 4L85E and added mass of the internals. Also the FTI converter is not as aggressive on the launch as the 4L60/Circle D setup.

To say the least, I am impressed so far, (although it was not a cheap swap) and I hope I have gained a lot of reliability at the same time. I also realize that this swap is probably overkill at my power level, but its something I can grow into.

badblazeSS

iTrader: (6)

Nice ride

floman

iTrader: (54)

Thanks man.

Looking forward to making a few passes with the 150 shot here very soon. Hoping for some low 10.20s or so around 130-132 mph and maybe somewhere in the 1.4x 60 ft times. Should be fun!

Photochop

iTrader: (74)

Man, gotta get that weight down! That thing has 1.5 60's in it and a 10.9x if you could get 300 lbs out of it! Good gains though so far, try and get it out this fall in better air

Kingc8r

iTrader: (21)

Nice results. Do you have an idle sound clip?

floman

iTrader: (54)

Yeah, I know your right about that. I have just told myself that I'm not gonna go cutting this car up. I want it to stay 100% stock bodied and not strpped out. That's one thing I like about this car, it still looks like a stock car with wheels on it when you walk up and look at it.

If anything, I might get the converter loosened up some before my year from date of purchase is up. I know some 1.5x 60ft would get it there. I believe in some good cool negative DA air it will go some 11.0s just like it is.

But, some 10.90s sure does sound more impressive

I've only made 6 passes so far, will make a few 150 shot passes soon. Want to see what the converter does on spray before I make a decision on any re-stall

floman

iTrader: (54)

Thanks. Here is an older video when I had the single 3.5" Borla XR1 muffler on the car. I have since replaced it with a 16" Dynomax bullet in the I-Pipe and a 3.5" Hooker Aerochamber muffler with single 3.5" outlet. I will try to get a new video of the present setup, Borla was just too loud for my taste.

3" ORY with 3.5" I-Pipe to over axle into 3.5" Borla XR1 with single 3.5" outlet.
http://s3.photobucket.com/user/floma...5ad9e.mp4.html

Kingc8r

iTrader: (21)

Nice the car sounds good and people say 115 LSA cams don't lope lol.

I'd definitely like to hear the new setup. I have a Hooker CB but it is a 3". When I got tuned it was down 10 hp/trq thru the CB compared to my 4in cutout. So I'll probably be upgrading that soon.

I'm torn between a new Hooker 3.5" or a Mufflex CB

Blackbird-WS6

iTrader: (15)

Hooker makes a 3.5inch catback now? Have a link

Kingc8r

iTrader: (21)

I looked all over, I couldn't find ****.

floman

iTrader: (54)

Yeah, the ole cam lopes pretty good, it turns heads when easing around the neighborhood or idleing into the pits at the local track.

I will get a clip of the new setup tomorrow evening after work. I have a
3.5" electric cutout installed also. You'll be able to hear how much the Hooker Aerochamber quietens it down. Don't get me wrong its still pretty loud at WOT, but much more tolerable for everyday driving and I know the neighbors appreciate it, LOL!

I made two passes at the track three weeks ago, one with the cutout closed and one open. Virtually no difference between the two runs, time slips are almost carbon copies of each other. ETs are within .003, mph within .1 mph, and 60ft within .005 sec. So, the 3.5" Hooker Aerochamber flows pretty well.

floman

iTrader: (54)

"Kingc8r" here is another video I took today after work. Its not the greatest but gives you an Idea of how the Hooker Aerochamber sounds, although I think it sounds better in person. Really sounds better going down the road under real driving conditions. My buddy has a GoPro camera, I will try to get a video of it rolling down the road and do a full throttle blast. Anyway, here it is.

3" ORY into a 3.5" I-Pipe with 16" x 3.5" Dynomax bulletthen over axle with 3.5" electric cutout & turndown and 90 deg into a 3.5" Hooker Aerochamber with a single 3.5" pipe tucked under the bumper. I want to re-do the turndown on the cutout to mimic the pipe exiting the Aerochamber muffler so that it looks like dual pipes tucked under the bumper ( the turndown is just temporary).

http://s3.photobucket.com/user/floma...8ab64.mp4.html

Wildside

iTrader: (21)

If it would sixty foot it would fly

floman

iTrader: (54)

I agree! Its very tempting to pull the converter and send it back to FTI and let Greg loosen it up some and get a high 10sec slip on motor. But, I want to make some passes on the 150 shot first to see how the converter reacts on the spray, since it is a nitrous spec conv.

The nitrous conv is a compromise for an all out motor pass for sure. Would love to see some low 1.5x 60s on motor to get some 10.90s in cooler weather. But, I think with a 150-175 shot behind it, this conv just might surprise me with a respectable 60ft and hopefully get me down to some low 10s on the bottle. ( a 9.999 slip would be cool as hell)

I have to say, this conv drives really well on the street. With light throttle input it is very streetable and easy to live with. I will know pretty soon as to what my next step will be.