About 2 years ago, a good friend of mine got bit by the musclecar bug hard, and bought a nice black ’68 Camaro. I still remember the day we drove to Portland, Maine to pick it up. He was stoked, and so was I. Finally, a friend with a nice GM product to race! For 2 years we raced quite a bit, from the point where his car was just as the way he bought it, up to now. He could never beat me, except for once when my car was fully loaded up (full tank of gas, spare tire/jack and an extra passenger in the car) and sportin’ the Radial T/A’s which offered no traction whatsoever (he was on Hoosier Quick Times). But other than that one time, he could never get past my rear bumper. The engine is nothing fancy, just a solid old-school 2-bolt, cast crank 350 with an LT1-spec cam, older cast iron 2.02 heads, Victor Jr, Holley 3310, and 1 5/8” headers. He bought it as a 350/4speed car, but the trans went and now it’s got a JW TH400 with a 3000 stall converter, backed by a Moser 12 bolt with 3.42’s. It’s a beautiful car, he’s redone the entire suspension and interior, using nothing top-notch parts for a hard core street car….including an NOS Super Powershot system set at 100HP. 
I’ll list the parts if anyone’s interested….some pics here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/38339638DLqDzW
Well, my winning streak came to an abrupt end on Sunday.
I honestly didn’t think he could beat me, I thought we would be about equal now, since the car seemed to slow down a little bit with the addition of the TH400, but with the spray I figured we’d be a good race. Which it was.
I just finished washing the GN when he stopped by, I was gonna head over to his place afterwards and shoot the breeze or go for a cruise. We got in our cars to head over there, and I yelled out the window and said “Let’s take Blue Hills Ave” (long straight industrial park road with few occupants on the weekends). He agreed, said his car was running good. I’d never raced him when he had the bottle before, so this would reveal the truth.
We got out onto the road, and we couldn’t see any cars for miles….perfect conditions, weather was cool, not humid, and there was no one around. My Hoosiers are a little worn out, but so are his. We stop in the road and I give the countdown. On 3 we both hit it. I immediately jump out to a nice carlength lead (gotta love TORQUE!) even with some hard tirespin, and it stays that way up until he hits the button in 3rd gear. Holy crap. The Camaro makes a sound like he fired up a 2nd engine at 6000RPM and walks by me at a steady rate. By the end of the 1/4 mile, I was at HIS rear bumper. We let off and I get up next to him and nod my head “yes”. Shoulda seen the grin on his face. The GN had finally gone down. He had always been so tired of losing to my car. Well, he finally made his mark. So now he’s the hunted one. It was cool though, because I had always told him “Someday I’ll be looking at your taillights. Be patient it’ll happen.”. Well it happened. Time to go buy those Quick Time Pros I’ve been thinking about, and make a call to Mr. Cotton….
I can’t say I’m depressed or humiliated, since it’s a GM car, and it’s really nice (I love Camaro’s). He’s put a lot of money, hard work and time into it, so kudos to him. Plus, we’ve been friends for over 20 years, and I’m sure the day will come soon when he’s looking at the GN badge on the trunk of my car again.
Steve
I’ll list the parts if anyone’s interested….some pics here:http://community.webshots.com/album/38339638DLqDzW
Well, my winning streak came to an abrupt end on Sunday.
I honestly didn’t think he could beat me, I thought we would be about equal now, since the car seemed to slow down a little bit with the addition of the TH400, but with the spray I figured we’d be a good race. Which it was.
I just finished washing the GN when he stopped by, I was gonna head over to his place afterwards and shoot the breeze or go for a cruise. We got in our cars to head over there, and I yelled out the window and said “Let’s take Blue Hills Ave” (long straight industrial park road with few occupants on the weekends). He agreed, said his car was running good. I’d never raced him when he had the bottle before, so this would reveal the truth.
We got out onto the road, and we couldn’t see any cars for miles….perfect conditions, weather was cool, not humid, and there was no one around. My Hoosiers are a little worn out, but so are his. We stop in the road and I give the countdown. On 3 we both hit it. I immediately jump out to a nice carlength lead (gotta love TORQUE!) even with some hard tirespin, and it stays that way up until he hits the button in 3rd gear. Holy crap. The Camaro makes a sound like he fired up a 2nd engine at 6000RPM and walks by me at a steady rate. By the end of the 1/4 mile, I was at HIS rear bumper. We let off and I get up next to him and nod my head “yes”. Shoulda seen the grin on his face. The GN had finally gone down. He had always been so tired of losing to my car. Well, he finally made his mark. So now he’s the hunted one.
It was cool though, because I had always told him “Someday I’ll be looking at your taillights. Be patient it’ll happen.”. Well it happened. Time to go buy those Quick Time Pros I’ve been thinking about, and make a call to Mr. Cotton….I can’t say I’m depressed or humiliated, since it’s a GM car, and it’s really nice (I love Camaro’s). He’s put a lot of money, hard work and time into it, so kudos to him. Plus, we’ve been friends for over 20 years, and I’m sure the day will come soon when he’s looking at the GN badge on the trunk of my car again.
Steve
