reboot04

We should have the LS7 on the dyno at Katech in the next week or so and I thought after lurking on the site for the last couple of years I would take a minute and introduce myself and give you some background on our '67 Camaro project.



We have been working on the car for just over two years and hope to have it done in the next four or five months. It is a Pro-Touring style ’67 Camaro RS that we are building to compete in open highway competitions like the Silver State Challenge and eventually the Cannonball One Lap of America.

reboot04

The car started as an Ebay special – one of those cars that’s too cheap to pass up but you know has to be worse than you anticipate



Which of course it was



But then six moths go by…



and then a year…



and another six months…



until two years have passed and it’s just about ready for paint:

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And to ensure that it’s up for the challenge of competition:

Front Suspension is American Touring Specialties’ Chicane-LM Coilover modified subframe:



Rear Suspension is Lateral Dynamics’ 3-Link



Full roll cage

reboot04

And of course we needed an engine that would be up for the project as well:



We bought this LS7 takeout from a member here at LS1Tech who was upgrading to a twin turbo setup

It came out late last year:

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And now it's over at Katech Engine Development for a complete teardown and rebuild to their Street Attack specifications.

American Touring Specialties has hooked us up with one of their dry sump pans:



And their stainless Road Race Tri-Y headers:



Awesome welding





As well as their new Sidewinder accessory drive:

reboot04

Anyways, that’s an introduction to the project. As I said at the beginning, we should be on the dyno at Katech in the next week or so and should have some more updates as everything comes together.

General specs for the entire project:

ENGINE

• TYPE - Katech “Street Attack” Chevrolet LS7, 427 cid
• BLOCK - Factory LS7, torque plate bore checked/honed
• OILING - Dry sump, ATS fabricated road race oil pan
• ROTATING ASSEMBLY - Stock crank, Ti connecting rods, bronze bushings, 11:1 Katech forged Pistons, hardcoat anodized
• CYLINDER HEADS - Factory LS7
• CAMSHAFT - Katech
• VALVE TRAIN - High lift beehive valve springs, Titanium valve spring retainers
• INDUCTION - Currently in development
• IGNITION - UMI harness with custom programmed MEFI4 ECU
• FUEL SYSTEM - Rick’s Stainless Stealth fuel tank, internal Kinsler spec pump
• EXHAUST - 3” custom behind ATS stainless steel Tri-Y road race headers
• COOLING - Ron Davis radiator, remote oil, steering, diff, and trans coolers

DRIVETRAIN

• TRANSMISSION - ATS/Rockland Standard Gear road racing T-56 6-speed
• REAR AXLE - 3.89:1 gears, Black Gold differential, Mark Williams axles
• TRACTION CONTROL - Cockpit adjustable electronic traction control

CHASSIS

• FRONT SUSPENSION - ATS Chicane Suspension - AFX tall spindles with sealed C5 hubs, tubular control arms with Del-a-lum bushings, ATS Spline-Tune rate adjustable front sway bar, ATS 670 power steering box, Penske double adjustable coil over shocks, Hypercoil springs
• REAR SUSPENSION - Lateral Dynamics 3-Link – Custom Ford 9” rear housing, Road Race 3-link with Watts link, Penske double adjustable coil over shocks with Hypercoil springs.
• BRAKES - Front - AP Racing 6-piston caliper, 14” slotted two piece rotor
• BRAKES - Rear - AP Racing 4 piston caliper, 13” slotted two piece rotor
• SAFETY - 12-point roll cage, Willans 6-point restraints, Safecraft fire suppression system

WHEELS and TIRES

• FRONT - HRE Performance Comp20 Wheels, 18 x 8.5” with Toyo Proxes R888 255/35ZR18
• REAR - HRE Performance Comp20 Wheels, 18 x 11” with Toyo Proxes R888 315/30ZR18

slimcracka

iTrader: (7)

bad *** car i cant wait to see it finished.. alot of time and money right there..

Da Swami

iTrader: (6)

DANG!

Looks like it would be at home at the shows or the track.

I love the Watts Link setup; SO much better than a panhard for racing applications.....takes a lot of skill to setup (from what I've heard) but it looks like you're more than covered in that regard, lol.

ls1_chevelle

iTrader: (9)

Is that being built at davenport?

OneQuickCoupe

iTrader: (1)

A lot of nice components going into this build. Coming from an Ebay car to something like this is impressive to say the least. Lots of long hours on something like this. Congrats and good luck with the rest of your build.

D.J.

reboot04

nope

The body and most of the fabrication has been done at Heighton Restorations, the rest is being done in my garage.

It's been a long road to this point. All told we have just over 2000 hours into the build right now.

As Katech completes the engine and we start the reassembly I'll try to provide some meaningful tech updates. The incorporation of the dry sump has requied a significant amount of thought and modification. Some of the other bits and pieces such as the traction control have been a learning process that required some help from some really creative and gifted people. We also have some really cool bits and peices still to come.

frojoe

iTrader: (10)

If a human being did that welding, they might as well be a god.

Kamin

thats robot tig welded lol. nobody is that good haha

and you have any pics of the top of the motor? id like to see the ITB setup on it as im thinking of doing it on my car.

65SSZO6

iTrader: (4)

James, Great looking Camaro.Hope you enjoy driving it as much as building it.

Do you have any of the OE front accessory drive parts(since you replaced with ATS Sidewinder)?If so PM me with what you have and $.What color is the Camaro?Red or orange?

VictionOne

James,

Thats one sick build. Looking forward to see this car finished and post more pictures! Any more details on the ITB and traction control setup? What MC and booster are you going with for your brake setup? Those front AP calipers looks huge.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

I bet those are hand welded. Those headers are not mass produced. Below is a picture of a fabricated NASCAR 9" rear end housing from Tex Racing. All hand welded.

Excellent work on the Camaro. One Lap 2009?

Andrew

myfast70

iTrader: (38)

I've got a buddy that was building bike frames for a number of years and is now working for a custom fab shop that welds like that. At first I thought he was bs'ing me but he then laid down a few beads and sure enough they were his. I guess when you've been doing it day in & day out for years you can produce those results. Very nice work to say the least!!

reboot04

Indeed


These are all hand fabricated - there are no robots involved.

LivingCanvas

iTrader: (4)

Thats gotta be the sickest set of headers ive ever seen

reboot04

I don't have anything that is really good. Kinsler was kind enough to lend us this intake for the SEMA show. Our plan at the time was to go in that direction but we have something a little different in mind now. Here is something: