Purpose Built Road Course LS7 Camaro [COTW 1/19/15]

[1977and2010]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hpe-sp73/overview/
This is the one I went with. Forged parts that SHOULD last. This whole experience made me real gun shy on blowing a lot of money on something that can be taken out by something as simple as a valve spring. To be 415 I figure it has the stock bore which later on down the road if I wear it out instead of actually blowing a hole out the side of it, I can hone or bore and be good to go again. I looked into an LS7 and that would be considerably more expensive. I would have loved to have gone that route but too much for me.

As far as power goes its hard to say, my first engine with cam, heads, ported intake/TB, UDP, vararam cai, 1 7/8 LTs made 486 rwhp on dyno jet. The new 415 with a cam that has a little more duration but a little less lift and same everything else only made 463 rwhp on different mustang dyno. So that doesn't tell much but I can tell you it pulls MUCH harder. It especially feels stronger around town cruising in higher gears.

[JOHNSONROD]

im quite certain that custom build will be strong and bullet proof. i picked up the crate engine because i was out of time. i blew it giving hot lap rides at the grand opening. dude, i had an awesome time at the track grand opening. i drove pace car for parade laps all day two days in a row in an old museum C4 corvette. i watched tommy milner n ricky taylor run the 4 car on track. milner was giving celebrity VIP rides. he sat and had a cool conversation with me about how the ctsv brakes bolt on the camaro. maybe he was being nice because he is supposed to but he just seemed like a real dude to me. i talked to jordan taylor on pit road while ricky was getting in the 4 car. he actually remembered him and ricky spanking our entire DP sim league. i qualified 3rd and jordan caught me like 15 laps into the race after not even qualifying.
anyway, after that dose of crack, the only question was, how can i get this car fixed by the 26th of sept. my wife ask me how you were taking your engine blowing. i told her "hes fine, hes already racing our engines we dont have in yet. she said, good ole pete. we will get these tanks turned around.

[SSSoon]

Originally Posted by JOHNSONROD

im quite certain that custom build will be strong and bullet proof. i picked up the crate engine because i was out of time. i blew it giving hot lap rides at the grand opening. dude, i had an awesome time at the track grand opening. i drove pace car for parade laps all day two days in a row in an old museum C4 corvette. i watched tommy milner n ricky taylor run the 4 car on track. milner was giving celebrity VIP rides. he sat and had a cool conversation with me about how the ctsv brakes bolt on the camaro. maybe he was being nice because he is supposed to but he just seemed like a real dude to me. i talked to jordan taylor on pit road while ricky was getting in the 4 car. he actually remembered him and ricky spanking our entire DP sim league. i qualified 3rd and jordan caught me like 15 laps into the race after not even qualifying.
anyway, after that dose of crack, the only question was, how can i get this car fixed by the 26th of sept. my wife ask me how you were taking your engine blowing. i told her "hes fine, hes already racing our engines we dont have in yet. she said, good ole pete. we will get these tanks turned around.

Sounds like an awesome time at the NCM event. Gonna have to make it down there some day, maybe next summer. 26th sept, huh? Has the engine arrived yet? I'm hoping my build is done by end of Sept so I can take a scenic trip through NC along the coast to Road Atlanta for a run there Oct 10-12.

Yeah, tell your sweetheart that I still have a lot to learn before I beat your lap times, but the LS7 might just help a bit

[SSSoon]

Originally Posted by 1977and2010

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hpe-sp73/overview/
This is the one I went with. Forged parts that SHOULD last.

The new 415 with a cam that has a little more duration but a little less lift and same everything else only made 463 rwhp on different mustang dyno. So that doesn't tell much but I can tell you it pulls MUCH harder. It especially feels stronger around town cruising in higher gears.

Nice engine! Yeah, hard to really compare across different kinds of dynos. Hope you get to the track soon to test it out where it counts

[JOHNSONROD]

shoot you passed me two years ago. i am going to work on the driver mod with this track so close. i banged my right arm up at work so im gimped up for a week or two. the engine is in my garage and my right arm is in a sling.
im going to tinker with it this week and try to get a few guys over to help.

[SSBUSDRVR]

Sorry to hear of your engine failure. Wish for better things ahead Sure sounds like it will be with the LS7

[SSSoon]

Well, here we go. Looks like melted cats were root cause. I'll be damned if I can list any symptoms that I should have noticed that pointed to cats as the cause, though: no codes thrown (misfire, etc), no lugging or choking on acceleration, no rough idle, nothing. The only symptom set happened only at 5000 RPM at WOT: Stabilitrack going nuts, a rapid banging noise, and boot gauge suddenly going wild. All disappeared when I got off the gas.

I knew that even high flow cats are a risk with a supercharged engine, but thought that for sure I would have been able to feel a choking engine long before anything really bad happened. Kinda feel like an idiot, like I SHOULD have been to tell. Ah well.

I guess the other clue was last July at VIR when I could only hit 135 on the back stretch instead of 145. But it was high 90's and end of the day, so I figured heat soak...

[JusticePete]

You learned and will know the next time and it cost less than a semester of higher learning at a prestigious university ;-)

[snizzle]

Incredible. But good to know. I'll learn from this when I go SC.

[DarkObsession]

So what damage have you found to the engine itself from that?

And yes, good to know about being SC!

[SSBUSDRVR]

Going to have to check the Cats. Last time had them off was app 1k( they were fine maybe should have left them off) Before Engine Failure without warning somewhere between 4500-5000k that I remember.

[SSSoon]

Originally Posted by JusticePete

You learned and will know the next time and it cost less than a semester of higher learning at a prestigious university ;-)

LOL. Yup.

Originally Posted by DarkObsession

So what damage have you found to the engine itself from that?

More to come as they tear it down.

Originally Posted by SSBUSDRVR

Going to have to check the Cats. Last time had them off was app 1k( they were fine maybe should have left them off) Before Engine Failure without warning somewhere between 4500-5000k that I remember.

I guess if I had to do it all over again, when I experienced a sense that it wasn't accelerating as well as it used to under WOT, I would check the cats. I think that was my warning, and I missed it.

[SSSoon]

Got back from dropping off race seats and roll bars at Arrington tonight, had an opportunity to see progress. They're stripping the interior (weight reduction, plus lessens fire hazard in a crash if there's nothing in there to burn), and are going to weld in my roll cage. No more swapping OEM seats for Kirkeys - the race seats will be in full time.

In addition to talking with JusticePete again, I had a chance to meet the guys doing the engineering behind the new engine, and doing the work on the car. Wow, talk about knowledgeable. They are putting together what will be an absolutely awesome engine, and helping me think through some supporting mods for the track. I am excited about how this is going to turn out! More details as the plan comes together.

Pete

[SSSoon]

L99 coming out