New Camaro Performance Upgrades

The new fifth generation Camaro is powerful proof that the factory hot rod is back

and the performance aftermarket is hot on his trail

we recently discovered in here how a boton supercharger with just a little boost can add well over 100 horsepower to the car's L 99 V8.

Of course, the supercharger can set you back 6 to 7 grand quite a hunk of change, especially if you're also making car payments.

We thought we'd try some other performance parts on this 2010 model here and see what kind of gains we get on a lot leaner budget.

So what are we using? Well, for one thing, this hypertech Max Energy programmer custom made for the 6 2 L,

then an air raid cold air induction kit

followed by these JB, a stainless steel headers

and some ignition wires to go with them. We'll explain that a little later

plus an American thunder exhaust system from Flowmaster Total tab for all this stuff. A little over 20 300 bucks. Now, the baseline run we just laid down was 324 horsepower, 333 ft pounds of torque at the rear wheels. That's what we got beat

to install the air aid kit. We first go inside the trunk to disconnect the positive battery terminal.

Then under the hood, remove the breather hose

and loosen the throttle body hose, clamp,

we unscrew the mass airflow sensor from the inlet tube and set it aside.

Next disconnect the factory air box, remove it

and save the Grammas for reuse. Now with the new box upside down, bolt up the kit's lower bracket with a bumper attached, then install the factory scoop into the new box.

There's a ground lug on the driver's side which you need to remove and save

and in its place goes the side bracket.

Now time to install the new cold air box

and reinstall the ground lug through the box and side bracket,

bolt, the air filter adapter,

install the coupler to the throttle body and join them with the new four inch diameter inlet hose. Then we can install the mass airflow sensor and it's important to use the new screws from the kit

using a new breather tube,

connect it to the NPT barb fitting.

Now attach the filter to the adapter.

That's it for the kit.

And this weather stripping they included will seal against the bottom of the hood when it's shut

to make the Camaro exhale better. We're gonna remove the stock exhaust starting with this cross member.

Then with these couplers unbolted everything from the cat's back comes off in one piece.

Then after disconnecting the 02 sensors and unbolting the exhaust manifolds from the top,

we can pull both cat pipes and the manifolds out together from below.

While the exhaust is out of the way, we're gonna install something extra we ordered. That wasn't among the parts Joe showed you earlier.

That is after we remove the factory automatic transmission

PTC now makes a six LAE 10 inch torque converter for the Camaro. And it's helping guys shave almost a second off their eight mile ETS.

Now inside the billet cover, they've installed special needle bearings and steel splines. Plus it's furnace braised and comes with a hardened hub for durability

before prepping it though. We want to check it against the stock inverter to make sure the bow

hoes line up.

We're good. Same to mention.

Then we can fill it with trans fluid

and lube up the hub with lithium grease

when mating a converter to a transmission, be careful not to damage the front seal and bushing.

Then with more grease on the converter pilot, we can reinstall the transmission,

our JB A headers installed next they're built with and three quarter primaries, one piece laser cut flans and their patented fire cone merge collectors.

Now JB A recommends their power cables as a companion upgrade first for the spark energy they allow

and also because their 100% silicone jackets resist high heat

with the Camaro back up. We'll need to reinstall the factory cap pipes before installing the flow master system, which starts with this three inch scavenger X pipe designed to improve midrange torque.

After using couplers from the kit, the next set of pipes speed into two chamber mufflers which are finished off with four inch polished tips.

Before we let the car down. Here's something you need to know about if you ever plan on working on a new Camaros transmission or torque converter. Now GM considers this a sealed unit and it doesn't need servicing for 100 and 25,000 miles. Now, when we drop the converter, we lost some fluid. Now there's not a dipstick or fill tube for the transmission, but check this out

on top of the tranny is a little plug with a plunger that allows you to remove it.

Then you can use a pump to replace the lost fluid.

We're parking the car back on the

dyno. But before our final run,

we've got one more thing to pull out of our bag of performance tricks.

I guess by now, most people know that a programmer like this one from Hypertech doesn't make horsepower, it freezes it up.

Now, the engineers at Hypertech will take a car just like this one to their facility

and then basically teach a tuner how to optimize spark timing and the air fuel mixture from idle all the way up to full throttle.

Now, this max energy tuner has all kinds of adjustable features too for things like the rev limiter shift points and so on.

After warming the engine up and a few runs, our reprogrammed computer and engine are syncing up pretty quick. Let's see what it's got.

341 is a respectable number.

Yeah.

Ok. After three follow up runs, we'll come here and check it out.

Por power in that follow up was 351 compared to 324 for the baseline. But I wanna look at 5400 RPM. S that's a difference of 34 pretty good.

Now for torque, we made 356 compared to 333. But

here at

5100 RPM,

we've got a difference of 37.

So considering our budget, we're pretty happy with that and you'll be even happier out on the pavement where you can fill that torque converter as well.

Well, coming up on the horsepower,

I don't really have a clue but we'll figure something out. Stick with us.

Hey, this time we've got an engine project for you. Four guys on a budget,

we're gonna show you how to build a respectable and reliable 302 for about two grand. And since we're all about horsepower, we're gonna use the

dyno to show you some performance options.

This time, our starting point is a remand long block like this that you can pick up for about a grand or so these days, of course, the things that you have to add to one are oiling system, a

balancer

and some sort of induction to name a few. We got that Hale with Summit racing. Now, the fun starts

when we compare the two different intake manifolds. And even though a long block comes with a cam and valve train, we're gonna see if there's a benefit to stepping up to this more aggressive piece from Summit

new set of lifters,

roller, tip rockers and a double roller timing set.

Anytime you buy a remand like this, the block should have been machined with new stock pistons added and connecting rods reconditioned.

Plus your long block should come with new freeze plugs, bearings and internal gaskets.

Now, before dropping on the pan, we need to take care of some business up front and to save money, we're reusing a stock timing cover we had

and repurposing this moroso electric water pump.

We are using new fell pro gaskets and seals for all the parts. We're installing

the new ones so far are stock replacements like this five quart pan

as well as the balancer.

One thing that's not a stock replacement though is the intake manifold. And the first one we're going to try out is a Summit street strip stage one. Now it's cast aluminum and has a basic operating range from idle to 6000.

After running the manifold bolts down and torquing the specs we're ready to mount the small block to a cart

and send it off to the operating room.

Now, the Summit Street strip car is in a feed are 302 and we got the 600 CFM version with electric choke and vacuum secondaries.

Ok. That's good

to save time. We're using our dyno

dedicated MS D pro billet distributor since it's set up to run with our ignition system and it already has wires attached to connect to our basic parts to our spark plugs.

We're burning 87 octane on all these runs and

did a little 302 homework here. And when this engine left the factory in 1970

it was rated at 220 horsepower, 300 ft pounds of torque with a two barrel carburetor and a cast iron intake.

If this thing warms up,

it'll be interesting to see the difference.

All right, here we go.

243 horsepower, 317 ft pounds of torque. Good. Well, that's uh 23 more horses, 17 more foot pounds in the old days. Really smooth grass. Look at that.

All right, to put an accurate price on all that power. Let's also factor in the cost of things we had around here to reuse like the distributor, the electric water pump, the valve covers and of course, that timing cover

according to our

ma

your total parts bill so far would be $1287 add to that the remand long block bill and you've got a $2287 engine that makes 243 horsepower. Happy yet.

Well, we're not summit stage two intake manifold is a high rise design with separated intake runners and an operating range that is 500 RPM s higher than the stage one.

Plus it only cost $18 more.

So for a few more ponies, it would be worth it. Right.

All right. 2 31 2 91

went backwards

backwards

backwards.

What do you

think

uh,

air fuels are good? I

bigger intake, no bigger intake with this camshaft it's not met, you know, for something that big

it's gonna lose power.

That

makes perfect example of bigger is not always better.

So let's get that stage two off and move on to the next test

for it. We also need to remove the valve covers, water pump,

the stock rockers and push rides,

then we'll pull the balancer

and remove the timing cover.

Hey, if you guessed a cam swap is next, you got some gray matter between your lobes.

It's the summit racing, hydraulic flat tavi you saw earlier,

it's got a little more lift and duration than stock and a tight lobe separation for better throttle response torque and midrange power.

And to ensure proper cam timing we throw on the double roller we ordered. Of course, any time you swap flat tap at cams, a new set of lifters is a must. We are. However, keeping the stock rocker arms on for the time being.

Now, we can get back to the stage one intake manifold and we're almost there

when we removed all those parts for the cam swap, especially the timing cover some water. Got into the crank case. So it's important that we drain all the oil and refill with some fresh before the next run.

It's gonna be a good marriage.

Wow.

294 with 332 ft pounds of torque.

A 243 baseline.

Yeah, that's, that's impressive right there. That's 50 horsepower.

Wow, almost 50 horsepower. Yeah.

Very, very cool.

We got all that extra horsepower and torque for only 100 and $78. On top of our original budget of 2287

that cam was just the right upgrade for this motor.

But as the saying goes, wait, there's more

these comp cam roller tip rockers are self aligning and stud mounted, which is good, but they also have a 1.7 ratio

compared to the stock 1.6.

So does increase lip translate to any increase in power.

Well, since we're keeping score with money, the Rocker set cost an additional 160 bucks.

Here we go.

See how good work did 300?

It sounded really nice.

And

30 there

it

is.

Very cool.

Ok, after three runs, we got an average of 302 horsepower with the new Rockers at it

339 ft pounds of torque.

So, what does all this stuff prove? Well, first of all, you can have a good solid foundation with a remand long block and build on it. Have an engine for about 2200 bucks.

Of course, you also saw how adding one high performance component to a bunch of stock parts can hurt you in more ways than one. You're gonna spend more money and lose power

because the stage two belongs somewhere else. Well, best of all, we wound up with a small block that makes impressive, reliable and still fairly affordable horsepower. And

that's what we do around here.

I'm shutting this down. All right.

Hey, welcome back.

Let's say just like us, you built a motor for your car, got it bolted in and man, you're ready to hear the results of all that hard work.

Well, remember first things first, you got a first brick in the cam shaft.

Now, if you were paying attention earlier, we primed the system until we saw oil coming out of all the rockers. So you don't have a special priming tool. Well, not to worry, you can make your own if you got an old distributor lying around like this, that you can sacrifice for the cause.

First push the roll pin

and remove the distributor gear,

remove the shaft from the distributor housing,

cut the top part of the housing off, using a cut off wheel or even a saw

cut off the advanced spring perch from the top of the shaft. So it'll fit into your drill

while you're at it grind the teeth off the distributor gear you just removed.

Then after a thorough cleaning of all the pieces, the gear stub goes back into the shaft with the roll pin. And

after a little lube, the shaft goes back into the housing now to hold the housing in place, drill a hole at a washer

and a cotter pin.

Well, we're just like a purpose built tool and of course, depending on the distributor, you can make one for a Ford Chevy or a Chrysler. Now, it's worth pointing out that on Chevys. This sleeve is not only necessary but critical for getting oil to both banks of the Rockers. Hey, you just saved yourself 20 bucks, but don't spend it yet. We got more stuff to come.

Next time you compete at the drag strip, you might want to include a cooler inside your cooler. These racing cooler sets are designed to efficiently cool down your engine between rounds and avoid some of that power robbing heat soap.

Now, what you do is freeze this gel insert overnight before the race. Then 30 minutes before the next round, drop the insert

into this fire retardant bag that also has velcro straps.

Then you just place it on the

intake or wherever it's designed to go.

They've got them for Chevy and Ford Engine applications and various parts. For example, this one here

is designed to cool down a five gallon fuel cell. Well, prices vary but one thing's for sure when the competition's hot,

you gotta keep your cool. Can a filter find you more horsepower? Well, that's the idea behind this Flomax 300 from Ramco Performance manufacturing. Now it contains fuel and water separating me

that'll filter down to five microns. It works with all types of fuels and has a 300 gallon per hour flow rate, plus it'll support over 2000 horsepower. Now, it comes with extra ports that you can use as either a fuel system, drain gauge port or anything else. You'd like the price. 75 bucks. Here's a little kit that could save you a lot of time money and probably some foul language on one of your next projects.

It's called hose candy, a hose quick coupler system with everything from CNC rotors to various size Barbs, couplers, adapters. Well, you name it,

you can come up with countless configurations for vacuum ports, fuel pressure regulators, turbos. And the list goes on. The basic hose candy kit goes for about 60 bucks. Wow. Is our time up already? Well, we gotta go, but here's an idea. Let's do it again. Same time, same place. See you then.