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I'm sure everybody here has seen the COPO Camaros. They build 69 per year but unfortunately most of them never see the race track. ATI's COPO see plenty of the track.
I had the pleasure of rebuilding the engine in ATI's COPO for the 2014 racing season while I was with Virginia Speed. After the changes we made to the engine we were able to drop the ET from a previous best of an 8.44 160mph to a new best of an 8.23 at 165mph while being 100% NHRA Super Stock legal
For those not familiar with the NHRA Super Stock rules they are a huge list but the basics are on the engine side we have to keep the correct part number block, crank, rods, and cylinder heads for the original 327CID engine. We are allowed an over bore and are unlimited on cam, lifters rockers and valvesprings. cylinders heads have to meet factory port size specs and combustion chamber specs. Blower cannot be modified and limited on overdrive.
Car has to be basically the way it was from GM, can change trans and rear and move the suspension parts inboard for tire clearance. Also can add to the cage for safety at higher speeds. Car does have to way a certain amount, but we are way over that-3400+ lbs currently.
So basically with a 327CID engine and a 4.0 blower we went low 8.20's at 165 mph. no too bad if you ask me for all the limitations we have.
Since nothing is ever fast enough and we are still behind the Cobra Jets we are on the hunt for more power for the 2015 season. Our goals are to run a 7 sec pass before the end of 2015 and still be 100% Super Stock legal.
My current company Precision Racing Technologies received the engine at the end of last year for rebuild and upgrades for the 2015 season
We disassembled the engine and were pretty happy with how everything looked after 50+ passes. Bearings looked like brand new and the pistons barely looked like they had been run
right now we are doing some things to the block to reduce drag and parasitic losses. I apologize in advance if there things we don't show pictures of or don't explain some things. I don't want to give away everything and wouldn't be fair to ATI to give away the R&D they have had to pay for.
We are getting close to starting to reassemble this bad boy so check back often for updates on the engine and the car for the 2015 racing season.
Its pretty cool that you get to work on such a high end build. Most people dont realize what goes into a "legal" motor. Are you allowed to modify the factory rotating assembly ? Looks like you could remove allot of weight from the rods and the crank.
What the record for the class now?
What are those coils? Are these cars with IRS or solid axle? Manual? Jerico?
Andrew
I forget what coils they are, we were testing some stuff at the end of the year. Wasn't worth any power I know that much.solid rear axle, automatic trans
Originally Posted by jleews6
Its pretty cool that you get to work on such a high end build. Most people dont realize what goes into a "legal" motor. Are you allowed to modify the factory rotating assembly ? Looks like you could remove allot of weight from the rods and the crank.
What the record for the class now?
And most people never will. There are a lot of things we haven't done to this engine that we want to test. But this is a really reliable piece and really don't what to change it much. We are building another legal engine and pulling out all the stops on it.
I'm not sure what the fastest super stocker is, the fords have been in the 7's
Originally Posted by ls1_chevelle
Are those JE's asymmetrical pistons? Skirts look wicked on them for a season worth of abuse!
Yes they are the asymmetrical pistons. They look very good for all the abuse we put them through last season. I must have done something right last year.
My local chevy store had has one. One of the sales people got to actually build it. I think it's a 2012. They are pretty cool toys!!!. This one was not a 327 though. It sits in the back with a ton of other cools toys such as euro only P-cars ect...
Hi Shawn, I remember you from 75 & 80-JC def races that thing, you guys sure have it running the #'s
At least I had the fun of sitting in it, he just wouldn't give me the keys, lol
Hi Shawn, I remember you from 75 & 80-JC def races that thing, you guys sure have it running the #'s
At least I had the fun of sitting in it, he just wouldn't give me the keys, lol
We took the ATI COPO to MIR for the final day of testing for the year. weighing 3460 lbs the little 327 4.0 Whipple combo made some killer runs. I can't wait until we put the new bullet in for next year. 7 second passes are around the corner.
I doubt I am bringing up anything new, but do you use WPC treatment on anything in this/these motors?
It's a shot-peening process with ultra-fine peening media, at ultra-high velocities. The media is so small and traveling so fast that the heat created on impact welds the surface smooth on a molecular level and heat treats it similar to case-hardening... Supposedly. Not a lot of published data on the process.
But apparently cylinder walls, piston skirts, and even bearings can benefit from this.
I doubt I am bringing up anything new, but do you use WPC treatment on anything in this/these motors?
It's a shot-peening process with ultra-fine peening media, at ultra-high velocities. The media is so small and traveling so fast that the heat created on impact welds the surface smooth on a molecular level and heat treats it similar to case-hardening... Supposedly. Not a lot of published data on the process.
But apparently cylinder walls, piston skirts, and even bearings can benefit from this.
not to sound like an old guy unwilling to try new things but, there is always a new flavor of the week in surface treatments. From coatings to rem polishing etc there is always something. Some stuff works with limited success and I do certain things that seem to help in certain areas but none of them are the magic they claim they are.
02-03-2015, 10:02 PM
Quickest COPO Camaro 4.0 Whipple 327 rebuild 
