Camaro LS1

Who this thing did? Pretty good. Hey, Joe, looks like about 300 horse to me. Not bad for 80,000 miles and a great place to start today. Hi, welcome to the shop.

You know, it may be gone but not forgotten. I'm talking about the Camaro. Of course, one of America's favorite muscle cars, even though Chevy pulled the plug on it in 2003.

But you know what, the legacy lives on. Thanks in part to cars like this. 98 here that we just picked up for our newest long term horsepower project.

Yeah, 98 was the first year for the LS one in the Camaro.

But today, man, this thing has become one of the most potent power plants on the street or the strip. And that's largely because the aftermarket has really stepped up to produce a whole slew of performance parts for Chevy's latest small block.

You can pick one of these LS One Camaros up without breaking the bank

and we got ours for less than 11 grand. But it's an Ss

and on the search for this one, we've even seen that Z 28 go for a few 1000 less.

Now, this thing's pretty much all stock, but in the upcoming weeks, we're gonna show you how to turn one into a high performance pavement pounder.

The 98 and 99 models are notorious for restrictive exhaust systems. So that's what we'll make. Our first improvements starting with this American Thunder Cat back set up. We got from Flowmaster.

Now, the pipes from the cat measures a full three inches in diameter

and it dumps into an 80 series muffler that's specially made for the F body.

Hey, hey, good job Mike. Well, with the old exhaust system out of the way, let me tell you something about our new exhaust system. Not only is it gonna help us make more power, but it can also help us out with fuel economy and one thing's for sure, it's gonna give our Camaro here an exhaust note that's gonna let everybody

know that we mean business and speaking of that. Well, let me show you the business end of this pipe here. Now, this is a Luminis three inch pipe with Mandril Bend. So this is gonna give us long life and free flowing exhaust. Now, there's also one more thing that I really like about this Flowmaster kit. I'm gonna check this out.

These polish stainless tips are gonna give our Camaro a true dual exhaust. Look

what I like most about this kid is how easy everything installs. Plus we don't have to do any fabing to the hangers. It uses all the stock locations and hardware

and Chuck was right about that dual exhaust. Look now before you c

everything down, make sure to check for clearances around the floor pan fuel lines and of course over the rear end

then you can tighten down all the clamps or even have the whole system welded up.

Well, the sound alone is worth the money, but we've got more tricks up our sleeve to make this LS one a deep breather.

Yeah. Well, breathing isn't all about exhaling. You gotta take in some air too and well, of course, the more air you take in

the more power you're gonna make.

So we're gonna replace that factory air box here with this S LP flow pack. Now, what it does is pick up cold air in front of the radiator using this metal duct here and on the inside of the box, you're gonna find a reusable canine

air filter. Plus it uses this smooth connector here to help straighten out the air flow

to the throttle body. Now, the first thing we got to take care of those, get rid of this factory air box

trim, the base of the factory air box according to the instructions.

Next position, the stainless air duct from the kit.

So it sits flat on the top of the radiator support,

then secure it with two sheet metal screws.

Now you can install the ceiling strips

and transfer the mass air sensor to the new lid.

Well, that air box is out of the way and Chuck is finishing up, I'm gonna replace the stock 75 millimeter throttle body with this larger 80 millimeter piece from BBK.

Now, when you take on a swap like this one, don't be intimidated by the electronics, it's a lot like replacing a carburetor. In fact, after you disconnect the battery,

just disconnect the linkage

along with connectors for the idle air control, the throttle position sensor,

then remove the P CV hose,

remove the coolant hoses from the throttle body,

then you can remove three mounting bolts

and the throttle body comes right out,

remove the idle air control valve and throttle position sensor and reinstall them on the new throttle body.

The kit comes with this new tapered adapter plate. So when you install it, make sure that the small side is towards the throttle body.

But first, we need to install the gasket,

the adapter plate

and the whole assembly

to the intake.

You'll also need to install a new bracket from the kit for the throttle cable. And after that's handled, reconnect the throttle cable, the coolant and vacuum lines and the electrical connectors.

Hey, you guys do great work even if you're only running at half throttle. Now, as you can see, I put the new lid here on the original base. So now we can bolt this thing up as an assembly.

Well, at least a couple of us have earned a break. We'll be right back with more fun with our LS one. So stick with us.

Hey, glad you could make it back for more of the initial build up on our latest project car here. This 98 Camaro Ss.

So far, we've helped it breathe better with a new cold air kit and throttle body on the induction side

and a free flowing exhaust on the other end.

But before we can put it back on the dyno Jet, we're gonna see if we can put some new spark in this 80,000 mile LS one with a new set of plug wires. These are moroso ultra 40 race wires and

well, the reason they call them that is because of their ultra low resistance, about 40 ohms per foot. So I guess these are what about 20?

Now, the reason they're so short is the LS one has individual coil packs per cylinder on top of the valve cover. So that makes the distance between the plug and the coil pack pretty short and that will give us some more efficient spark path. Plus you don't have to worry about any firing order. So these things should be the easiest you'll ever install.

Hey, you were right, Mike, these things were the easiest I've ever installed and well, now, let's see how easy it's gonna be to make some more horsepower. Let's strap it to the dyno.

Now, the baseline, you remember was 300 horsepower at the rear wheels.

Well, 319 that time, not bad for a day's work and well, about 300 bucks for the cold air kit, another three for the cat back exhaust and about 380 for the throttle body. But you know what, we have a lot more upgrades planned for this SS and we don't want to miss the shift on that six speed. So

after we get this thing unstrapped, I'm gonna jump inside and start pulling out the old shifter.

Hey, good idea. Now what we're gonna be using to tighten up our Camaro shifts is A B and M sports shifter. Check it out. It uses a stainless steel stick and the pivot bearing is mounted down here in a billet aluminum housing.

Now on the rail end of the shifter, they've reworked the geometry to give us a nice short shift and a real solid feel.

Plus it's pretty easy to install once you get the console out of the way and the O shifter out.

Now, when you install any shifter, it's a good idea to take the stock pushing and give it a good coat of grease

that'll keep the shifter ball moving freely through the rails.

Now, we can take some R TV sealer and apply it to the base,

then drop the new shifter in place.

The kit comes with different washers that allow you to locate the shifter

in the forward back or stock position.

Now, once the shifter bolted to the trans,

running through the gears to check for full engagement,

then we installed this shift or boot from the kit,

followed by this factory booth here.

Then the console goes back on. Of course. And we're done. Well, we got a good start on the LS One project and we got some good dyno numbers, but now it's time to go test our work the old fashioned way.

Yeah,

nothing like a classic muscle car. And this thing is nothing like your typical classic muscle car.

Now, when you got one that has 530 horsepower all in a car that rides and handles like a new one

maybe better. The power and performance story behind the street machine.

Well, right here at Edelbrock headquarters in Southern California

and the story behind the company is a living lesson in how made in America is more than a phrase. It's a heritage

one that's behind the development of parts that perform

and the ongoing dedication to their perfection.

The El

Rocks share the same passion as their customers who trust their hard earned money for parts that unlike some imitators are the real American thing.

For example, here in the

dyno

room, Dick Edelbrock junior and I started a plant tour with an eye opening devil in the details comparison, a

born made knockoff compared to an Edelbrock original.

And then you look at these two and they look exactly the same.

But if we look at things that affect performance and

this is a performance item.

Uh and uh it's got to work right?

And such as gasket alignment because this affects flow which affects performance. You can see, oh

easily see between the 21 is

uh way off and one is right on

now, making a good old American way.

Our, our

gaskets line up, this gives maximum flow, it gives maximum performance

in this building. Edelbrock workers build everything from Russell brake lines to high performance exhaust systems.

The first place VIC and I visited was the shock area

where some amazing machines ensure their shocks are quality consistent.

You're putting a uh

uh a shock disorder together that's got nitrogen gas in it under pressure, oil

and all that. And this is all done

with this machine and it'll give you there's a green light on that one. It will give you a green light or a red light.

And uh

yeah, he knows that it's right. He goes in the box and

then it's gonna go outside and be final assembled.

Here's a machine that closes the shock body using intense heat and a mandrel turning and rotating to close the end perfectly.

A machine that also rolls grooves into the body.

Robotics play a big role in the manufacturing of many components precisely programmed by humans. They perform every task right every time and they never miss a day of work.

And we don't have to feed it either.

It doesn't take a coffee break, you

know.

It sure does.

As the Whirlwind tour continued vic took me to the shock dyno room. That's right. A dyno that's dedicated to testing ias shock absorbers.

Wow. That's a monster. That is a real shock. Dyno. This is something you don't buy off the shelf. But we have to really know what's going on in there to tune it and turn it right.

No time to see every process. But I did want to check out some of the header and exhaust construction.

They too use some pretty trick machines, including robots.

Although it still takes skilled hands to complete the job with grinding plans

and welding some of the pieces together.

Things got to be bent just right or they don't come together and we right

and then they got to perform

when you're all done, it's got to work or there's no sense putting it on.

Well, this is a laser cutter and the main reason we have is that cut out these exhaust plans

because rather than make tooling on each one and stamp them, we can make them very fast on here. It puts all the holes in it and everything.

Check out this Eaton, Leonard Bender. They used to make multiple bins and exhaust pipes

and every time we bend apart,

we stick it in a jig

and that check's made by us

and that tells us that is just what we want. Perfect.

Ok.

Yeah,

to walk the walk or ride the ride as the case may be. Vic and his fun team use Edelbrock components in their own race cars.

He and his daughters compete in vintage races around the country,

not only promoting the brand name, but also living the high performance lifestyle, which in a way is what it's all about.

The main thing in this racing, Joe is go out and have fun and uh don't, don't hurt your car, don't hurt anybody else's car and uh just have a good time.

Hey, welcome back.

We know a lot of you guys would rather build your own power package just like with that Chevelle. But let's say you got something like this cool street riding. You can't wait to get your ride on the road, take a look at this.

There, it is a 350 Chevy ready to rock and of course made to America

when you combine Edelbrock total power package concept with a GM short block, what you've got is a performance engine ready to unbox and bolt up, backed by Sirius

dyno testing these crate motors. Now come in several power levels, they're fully assembled and virtually ready to run.

Why did you start the crate program in the first place?

Well, because we felt there was a real need for, for making all different kinds of applications. I mean, we go from 310 horsepower to 440.

Uh, we have mission related engines. We give them the whole gamut to pick from and we felt

that that was really needed. Plus it's a complete engine down to the ignition time within a degree.

How many people know how to put an ignition in and get it in. Right.

Uh, so the guy just simply takes us out of the, out of the package and puts it in the car, of

course, you gotta put oil in it and that kind of stuff and they're off

whether the car is a weekend warrior of a strip circle track or road course

or just a serious street machine built for daily duty,

whether it gets a new show and go manifold or a whole ready to go crate engine.

One thing holds true.

Serious car guys and gals expect performance and value these days and it makes you kind of proud to know you can still get them both and get them both made in the good old USA.

There you have it. Well, right now it's time to head back to the horsepower shopping. I don't get to drive this time.

It's her car.

Here's a way to run hard on the strip and ride easy on the street.

It's Mickey Thompson's New Street et radio

that's got a dot approval and a soft compound for maximum traction. Now, it also has radial construction for an excellent ride and reliability.

It uses a directional tread pattern with a low void for a maximum contact patch

and a special side wall construction for a super launch. Now, they're available in the most popular 1516 and 17 inch sizes with prices starting at under 100 and 50 bucks

when it's time to upgrade your ignition. Sometimes it's good to think out of the box and come up with a new one. Well, like this second strike system for patrons

now it's a digitally controlled capacitive discharge system with an adjustable rev limiter. And thanks to advanced electronics, it delivers a powerful second spark throughout the entire RPM range and it's adjustable from 2 to 18 degrees after the primary spark sound good. Well, the price should spark your interest around 300 bucks.

The next time your prized ride gets a nasty scratch duplicates,

got you covered with their new premium touch up repair kit. Here's what you get spot putty for large chips and scratches. Some filler primer, a clear top coat

sanding disk with adhesive back sandpaper and even some finishing compound.

They also offer a factory matching paint sold separately with a two in one applicator. Now, on one end there's a brush for larger areas and on the other, there's a roller ball for more precision work.

You can pick up the kit and the color at your local auto parts store for about 21 bucks. Good deal.

You could pick up on some more horsepower TV. Next week. Of course. And we're gonna see you there.