Simviation Forum - My 1969 Camaro is Running!!!

May 27^th, 2007 at 11:37pm

RichieB16 Offline
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January 27, 1967
Oregon

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Posts: 4408

Well, I haven't been that active on the boards lately but rest assured...I am still lurking around.

Anyway, as many of you know, I have a 1969 Chevy Camaro that I have been working on for the last couple years. I have been doing an engine swap removing the basically stock spec 350 and replacing it with a high performance 396 big block V8. After nearly 2 years, I finally got the car running today. We broke in the engine and it is running fine. I still don't have it drivable...I'll bleed the brakes tomorrow and take it for a test drive when thats finished. If all goes well, I'll drive it about 10 miles to my muffler shop on Tuesday (using back roads as I have no exhaust system on the car and its awesomely loud) to get the exhaust put on.

The first car cruze of the season is June 2nd, and I will be there. Cool

Here are a couple pics, the first was taken before the engine swap. The car has a cowl-induction hood now (stock size cowl) that has yet to be painted...its primer black right now and will be painted.

Here is a pic of the motor taken about a week ago. As you can see (in the back), the distributor isn't in it yet...but it is now. It's all put together.

&&Check Out My 1969 & 1996 Camaro's&&

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Reply #1 - May 28^th, 2007 at 10:19am

Sir Crashalot Ex Member

That's a nice looking car, Richie. Shiny block too.

Crash Wink

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Reply #2 - May 29^th, 2007 at 3:23am

Mushroom_Farmer Offline
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To the Sooper-Coop Fred
Indiana, USA

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mmmm......big block chevy.......please tell me you have the proper open chamber, rectangular port cylinder heads.

&&&&"We're just sitting here trying to put our PCjrs in a pile and burn them. And the damn things won't burn. That's the only thing IBM did right with it - they made it flameproof." && Spinnaker Software chairman William Bowman, 1985

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Reply #3 - May 29^th, 2007 at 10:22am

Fly2e Offline
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It's 5 O'clock Somewhere!
KFRG

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WOW!!!
Looking real mice Richie!!

Nice big block!!!
I may go that route when I swap motors!

Ironically my good friend Rich had a 1969 Camaro that looked identical to yours!!!

Keep posting the progress!!!

Dave

Intel Core i7 Extreme Processor 965, 4.2GHz/8MB L3 Cache, Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58 Chipset Cross
Fire & SLI Supported, Mushkin Redline 6GB (3X2GB) Memory, eVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285, Vista 64.

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Reply #4 - May 29^th, 2007 at 5:57pm

bok269 Offline
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I've become a badger lover.
Make badgers not war!!
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Sweet ride.

Check out my around the world tour!

&&http://fsxaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/&&Reality is wrong; Dreams are for real. -Tupac&&&&No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings. -William Blake&&&&The way I see it, you can either work for a living or you can fly airplanes. Me, I'd rather fly. -Len Morgan&&&&To invent an airplane is nothing. To build an airplane is something. But to fly ... is everything. -Otto Lilienthal&&&&

I will not be silenced by a stupid badger!

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Reply #5 - May 30^th, 2007 at 7:12pm

RichieB16 Offline
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January 27, 1967
Oregon

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Mushroom_Farmer wrote on May 29^th, 2007 at 3:23am:

mmmm......big block chevy.......please tell me you have the proper open chamber, rectangular port cylinder heads.

Actually, I do have the correct open chamber rectangular port heads. Wink

&&Check Out My 1969 & 1996 Camaro's&&

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Reply #6 - May 30^th, 2007 at 7:18pm

BMan1113VR Offline
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Los Angeles, California

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Looks great richie, congrats on finishing it! You do anything to the 396 or is it the standard gm performance 396?

Sincerely,&&Me&&&&SimV NFL 2006-2007 Season Pool Co-Champion (157-99; 9-2)&&SimV NFL 2005-2006 Season Pool Co-Champion (163-93)&&SimV NFL 2004-2005 Season Pool Champion (166-90) &&

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Reply #7 - May 30^th, 2007 at 8:56pm

Jared Offline
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I'd rather be flying...
Uniontown, Ohio

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looking GOODDDD! I bet it sounds amazing too!

Hope all goes well in the following days!

rest assured I'm extremely jealous as I would love to be able to remove and rebuild the engine on my ole comet

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Reply #8 - May 31^st, 2007 at 4:37pm

RichieB16 Offline
Colonel
January 27, 1967
Oregon

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Posts: 4408

BMan1113VR wrote on May 30^th, 2007 at 7:18pm:

Looks great richie, congrats on finishing it! You do anything to the 396 or is it the standard gm performance 396?

It's moderately built, using computer dyno sims its coming out at right about 400hp. Here are the basic specs:

396 bored .040 over (so, 404ci) with Forged crankshaft
Factory Heads with stock valve train except double valve springs
Comp Cams 270 camshaft (intake & exhaust 224 @ .050) - hydraulic flat tappet cam
Holley 770 Street Avenger carb
Performer Intake Manifold (Chinese Edelbrock copy)
Ignition: GM Performance HEI Distributor
Hedman Elite Headers (Ceramic Coated, 14-Gauge, 1 3/4in primary tubes, 3in collector)
2 1/2in dual exhaust with Magnaflow XL Mufflers and Magnaflow X-pipe

&&Check Out My 1969 & 1996 Camaro's&&

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Reply #9 - May 31^st, 2007 at 8:42pm

Mushroom_Farmer Offline
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To the Sooper-Coop Fred
Indiana, USA

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RichieB16 wrote on May 30^th, 2007 at 7:12pm:

Mushroom_Farmer wrote on May 29^th, 2007 at 3:23am:

mmmm......big block chevy.......please tell me you have the proper open chamber, rectangular port cylinder heads.

Actually, I do have the correct open chamber rectangular port heads. Wink

Good lad,

Although the 396 originally had closed-chamber heads, open-chamber heads will breathe so much better. But you knew taht, didn't 'cha? Besides, it's all about performance m'boy. Grin

You specs look good. It should be very streetable. I personally would use a Mallory dual-point distributor, but I'm just old skool.

&&&&"We're just sitting here trying to put our PCjrs in a pile and burn them. And the damn things won't burn. That's the only thing IBM did right with it - they made it flameproof." && Spinnaker Software chairman William Bowman, 1985

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Reply #10 - Jun 2^nd, 2007 at 11:23am

RichieB16 Offline
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January 27, 1967
Oregon

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Posts: 4408

Mushroom_Farmer wrote on May 31^st, 2007 at 8:42pm:

I personally would use a Mallory dual-point distributor, but I'm just old skool.

I was thinking about going mallory or MSD down the road. The MSD E-curve distributer is somewhat intreguing to me...but eventually I want to upgrade the ignition system. I'm using the GM HEI right now because it was on my small block and it saved me a little money for the time being (when my funds are nearly depleted).

One thing is I need to get it all timed in just right...I don't have it there yet and I'm not sure exactly what it needs. So, I guess I'll just have to experiment (although its not bad where it is right now).

I also need to have the transmission kickdown linkage hook up (it has a T/H350 3-speed automatic with a TransGo shiftkit). Without that kickdown I really can't tap into the motors full power potential. The kickdown linkage I have I think is a little to short and I'm not completely sure how to hook it up.

&&Check Out My 1969 & 1996 Camaro's&&

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Reply #11 - Jun 6^th, 2007 at 11:18pm

Mushroom_Farmer Offline
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To the Sooper-Coop Fred
Indiana, USA

Gender:
Posts: 1976

RichieB16 wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2007 at 11:23am:

I'm using the GM HEI right now because it was on my small block and it saved me a little money for the time being (when my funds are nearly depleted).

One thing is I need to get it all timed in just right...I don't have it there yet and I'm not sure exactly what it needs. So, I guess I'll just have to experiment (although its not bad where it is right now).

Nothing wrong with the GM HEI unit Rich. They can be recurved just like any other distributor. I only mentioned the Mallory dual-point to show my age. Wink

Anybody here actually remember breaker-point distributors? Grin

One thing I have noticed through the years is that the BB chevy doesn't need as much total advance as the SB Chevy. This is how I originally obtianed the afore-mentioned Mallory unit. It was on at least two small blocks and didn't perform at all. It's total mechanical advance was 29° and it has no vacuum advance. It was eventually given to me for free. I also played around a little with the cam timing one the BB Chevy.

&&&&"We're just sitting here trying to put our PCjrs in a pile and burn them. And the damn things won't burn. That's the only thing IBM did right with it - they made it flameproof." && Spinnaker Software chairman William Bowman, 1985

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