1976 Chevy Camaro - Project g/28 Part 4

Out west, any passenger car manufactured after 1975 is subject to bi-annual emission inspections, and "the man" is very interested in the hardware under the hood. Our project g/28, the 1976 Camaro project we've been building over the last few issues, definitely falls under the category of an emissions parolee. Our Camaro is bound by law to check in with the smog inspection authorities every two years, where they decide whether it's staying clean and can be allowed free amongst the general population. Give in to temptation and step outside the terms set down by the Board, and the Warden will drop the hammer and take it off the streets. We like to avoid the crack of the gavel when we can.

Out here we have something we consider frontier justice, a sense of propriety and fairness that forms a code of its own. In the days of the Old West, Judge Roy Bean was the law west of the Pecos River, deciding on common sense and logic what is right, the codes and law books be dammed. Our g/28 would have to have a hot mill, yeah hot enough to stand out as a rowdy outlaw, but enough inside the law not to get hanged. We had no doubt that the engine we'd build would burn clean. We'd have no problem consenting to a sniff of the pipe--our engines normally have nothing to hide from the smog station sobriety patrol. Clean or not, the equipment must also get past the official visual shakedown. The fact is that by strict interpretation of the codes, we doubt our engine meets every letter of the law. As long as it burns clean, and externally carries the required exempt and legal components, our sense of frontier justice will be satisfied. More importantly, we are fairly secure that it would earn a reprieve in view of the critical eye of the authorities.

Project g/28 was originally equipped with a small-block 305, a mill too light on displacement and too scrawny in bore size to be practical as a street thug in a heavy Camaro. The obvious scheme was to juice the bottom end, bulking-up illicit muscle with a doping of displacement. The goodfella big small-block in the Chevy world has long been the 383 combo, a street savvy balance of size, torque potential, durability, and practicality. The extra 78 cubes the g/28 will be packing are easily smuggled inside a stock-looking block, and will stash a heavy load of useable torque. We planned our bottom end job around a production four-bolt 350 block, and packed the heat in the form of Lunati's new 383 "Sledgehammer" rotating assembly.

The Lunati hardware includes the US-manufactured "Sledgehammer" 4340 forged non-twist forged steel crank, which is made tougher by nitriding. Adding to the strength of the set-up are bulletproof forged 4340 I-beam rods with capscrew fasteners and forged 4032 alloy flat-top slugs, all equipment tough enough to take a beating without squealing. In fact, it might be said that the Lunati equipment we selected for this application is too hardcore for our final output goals of just over 400 real street horsepower. In reality, the Lunati bottom- end can easily handle far more threatening power levels. Why the extra-tough components? We want the backup in place downstairs if the situation calls for it. Besides, the Sledgehammer crank is surprisingly affordable (around $800 at going mail order prices) so why not? Yeah, the world of Popular Hot Rodding can be a dangerous place for an engine's guts, a minefield of all-out high-rpm road-course track time, dragstrip punishment, not to mention the seduction of experimenting with injected nitrous oxide. We had little doubt that the Lunati equipment would cover our backs no matter what we later threw at the engine. The "Sledgehammer" kit came internally balanced, and is supplied with the full swag, including ductile iron moly rings and alecular bearings.

Lunati's kit had the inside angle covered, but our moves on the outside would be more open to scrutiny. Here, the obstacle is making it through the watchful eye of the visual inspection without ending up busted, and the prospects are limiting. No matter how clean the actual emissions might be, if the equipment doesn't have a C.A.R.B. (California Air Resources Board) E.O. number (Exemption Order) expect to be slammed. We really didn't want to go through smog testing with a lump in our throat like an illegal without the requisite papers making a border crossing, so here we wanted to go legit. Holley's 50-state legal SysteMAX combo, PN 300-504-1, made it easy to walk that tightrope, with the E.O. documents to prove it. The SysteMAX cam/heads/intake package includes an emissions-legal camshaft and components (CARB E.O. No. D-115-10). Though the camshaft will blow under the legal limit, the specs are well beyond meek OE small-block smog cams. The mug shot shows an intake duration of 272/284 degrees (216/228 degrees at 0.050 inch), and 0.454/0.480-inch lift on the intake and exhaust lobe, respectively. Lobe separation measures a smooth 112 degrees. Supporting the cam kit, Lunati components were used throughout, with 1.5:1 aluminum roller rockers, a double-roller timing set, and the required pushrods. Up top, PN 300-522-1 cylinder heads are also smog-legal (CARB E.O. No. D-115-8), and post an intake flow of 223 cfm through 184cc ports, and 173 cfm on the exhaust side, with the readings taken at a realistic .500-inch lift. To finish the emissions-legal package, an Weiand two-plane intake (CARB E.O. No. D-265) gets the okay, kept legal with an E.O. 600-cfm Holley No. 80451 vacuum secondary carb.

We took our smog-legal small-block scheme to Speed-O-Motive, and they too were intrigued with the prospect of a torquey 400hp stealth stroker that could run clean and pass a visual inspection in a carbureted application. The SysteMAX components and the 600-cfm 4160 carburetor are exempt for a wide range of pre-1986 applications, with a detailed listing available at Holley.com. With so many potential hot street machines falling under the long arm of the inspector, a combo that can make real power while keeping the law at bay certainly has its appeal. Speed-O-Motive handled the machining and assembly of the engine, filling out the remainder of parts list with a mix of their in-house product lines, and bolted it all together with fasteners from ARP and a complete HEI ignition from MSD. Despite the long list of custom parts, the engine was very cooperative when it went together. The matched aftermarket Holley parts bolted up like the stockers.

On the dyno day, we were eager to see if the 383 could deliver brutish street power levels, even with the mild, emissions-friendly, parts. Sure, you might think running smog-legal is like making a break for the fence in leg irons, but the 383 cracked the 400hp mark, clearing 403 hp at 5,400 rpm, with Speed-O-Motive's tuning of the carb and ignition. While the power level met the mark we were hoping for, torque came on like a bully, twisting the dyno's torque arm to the 416 lb-ft mark right at the bottom of our pull at 2,400 rpm, and laying down 450 lb-ft of torque at the peak. Torque will litter the pavement when this mill comes into town. This 383 combo has the manners you can live with every day without feeling abused, idling nicely at 750 rpm--but stab the throttle at any rpm, and the ferocious torque will punch you right back. Want one? Speed-O-Motive sells this 383 as a package, built for $7495, turn-key, and dyno tested; including the flex plate and damper.

We plan on stabbing our smog-legal Speed-O-Motive 383 into g/28 in the coming weeks, mating it to one of TCI's bulletproof Turbo 350 transmissions. That TH350 will have a manual reverse-pattern valve body for hand-to-hand combat in road racing and it will be coupled to TCI's Breakaway converter and new StreetFighter shifter. We like shifting manually, especially on a road course, so this ought to be one simple yet tough combo that won't let us down. Once we get that done, we'll strap g/28 on the chassis dyno and see how well our combo does at the rear wheels.

We've still got to get our Nitto R-compound DOT tires on some 17x9-inch rims, and we think we may have found the answer in the form of American Racing's new Rebel one-piece wheel. If they work out like we think, they'll cost even less than the Weld Pro-Star XPs, which are no longer being built. We're also working on a 14:1 steering box upgrade from Flaming River and some better, more supportive seats from Jeg's. Lots more affordable performance is coming down the pipeline for Project g/28, so stay tuned!