A couple of pics of my cars

[MarkFL]

This is my 2007 Corvette Z06:



This car is bone stock, having come out of the box with everything I want.

This is my 2002 Camaro SS 35th Anniversary Edition:



Here is a list of the performance modifications I have had done:

Reinforced panhard bar - modified by welding a 1/8" steel plate to box the arms and reinforce the bar for increased rigidity and then black powder coated. SLP also installs new polyurethane bushings to help decrease deflection under load and create more control and stability. Designed for all forms of racing, from drag racing to autoX.

Strut-Tower Brace - constructed with flame cut 1/4" mild steel plate and 1-1/4", 0.095 wall thickness mild steel tubing. Shipped with a black powder coat finish and complete with mounting hardware.

Bolt-on subframe connectors - constructed of heavy-duty steel box tubing and comes with a gloss-black, powder coated finish. They are constructed of 2" X 2", 1" X 1" and 2" X 3" 14 gauge steel tube and 1/4" steel plate.

Mass Air Flow Sensor - lightweight (1 lb. less than stock) composite MAF has a 13% larger diameter than stock (85 mm vs. 75 mm) and will flow 90 CFM more than stock. It flows enough air for engines up to 600 hp.

Cylinder Head and Cam Package - precision CNC-ported chambers and ports ensure maximum flow, velocity, and swirl. Manley stainless steel 2.020" intake/1.575" exhaust valves feature a high-performace multi-angle valve job. Milled 63.5cc combustion chambers raise CR to 10.7:1. Heads are assembled with all new hardware including SLP titanium valve-spring retainers, SLP high performance valve springs, and GM valve seals and keepers. The camshaft specs are:

intake...0.576" valve lift, 234* duration at 0.050

exhaust...0.571" valve lift, 228* duration at 0.050

centerline - 112*, lobe separation - 113*

Headers, 1-3/4" tuned/long tube 1998-02 off-road - for those fbody owners who wish to remove their factory EGR valve (1998-2000 models only) and air-pump assembly. They are functionally identical to the original long tubes, but lack the stock emissions-equipment provisions. They feature 0.055" wall thickness 409 stainless steel, are mandrel bent to maximize flow, use Jet-Hot's polished aluminum-ceramic thermal barrier coating (interior and exterior surfaces) to keep heat in, exhaust velocity up, and under hood temps. down. They feature 1-3/4" primary tubes flowing into a 3" 4-into-1 collector.

Catalytic converters, high-flow (pair) - designed for low flow restriction and compact size.

Loud Mouth exhaust system - employs a specially designed resonator instead of a traditional muffler. Features mandrel-bent 3" intermediate pipes and are constructed from 409(intermediate) and 304 (tailpipes and tips) stainless steel.

Bellow, smooth - a single rib design allows adequate flex while posing minimal restriction. Constructed of high-quality fiberglass-reinforced silicone.

Rear-axle assembly 3.73 12-bolt (ABS/TCS) - blueprinted and hand-built to SLP specifications by the pros at Moser Engineering, this 8.875" 12-bolt unit uses the strongest, highest quality parts available. Each assembly comes with custom 33-spline allow axles (complete with wheel studs), an Eaton Posi center section, a performance aluminum cover, and a 1350-style driveshaft yoke. The axles are retained with pressed-on roller bearings, seals (not c-clips), and bearing plates.

Torque Converter, 4L60E (3300-3500) - this 245 mm lock-up torque converter is custom built to SLP design specs. and is fully balanced, incorporates carbon-ceramic clutch materials and an oversized roller clutch for strength and durability.

Heavy duty driveshaft loop - the 1/4" thick loop is a single piece securely welded to the precision formed attaching member. Powder coated black with an embossed, stainless steel SLP logo badge.

High-capacity radiator - features almost 50% additional core surface area, yet have an OEM appearance and accepts all factor sensors and fittings.

Thermostat, 160° - replaces the factory 195° unit.

Control Arms, lower reinforced - fully boxed control arms are modified by welding 1 1/8" steel plate to box the arms and reinforced the bar for increased rigidity and then black powder coated.

Heavy duty adjustable torque arm - heavy duty tubular torque arm is equipped with high strength rod ends and a low deflection polyurethane front bushing, and virtually eliminates flex and wheel hop. An adjustable lower rod end makes it easy to fine-tune pinion angle for improved traction on any road surface.

Timing Chain, double roller - offers greatly enhanced strength and accuracy compared with the stock piece and even allows for timing adjustments (advance or retard) od up to 8 degrees. The set contains an adjustable, nine-keyway nitrated crankshaft sprocket, a double-row chain, a nitrated camshaft sprocket, two oil-pump-spacer plates.

LS1/LS6 heavy-duty oil pump - a ported and blueprinted pump that is virtually bulletproof under even the most severe racing conditions. It's an ideal compliment to the double roller timing chain.

Pushrods, LS1 Chrome Moly (set of 16) - Manley 5/16" chrome moly pushrods are made from seamless 4130 chrome moly (NASCAR-quality 0.080" wall), stiffer than stock steel for superior high-rpm control, slightly longer than stock (7.35" vs. 7.32") for use with SLP's smaller-base-circle cams and are perfect for any high-rpm (6000+) application.

Chassis-Dyno testing - boasts a custom-built ventilation system capable of supplying 60,000 CFM of directional fresh air and exhaust.

PCM tuning - recalibrate speedometer, remove speed limiter, remove torque reduction, increase shift firmness, raise rev limiter to 6500, raise shift points, adjust cooling fan activation points, deactivate EGR, deactivate air pump, install SLP custom spark advance, tune fuel mapping.

B&M 24K GVW Supercooler

TCI cast aluminum deep pan

There are also some appearance and audio system modifications, but they are less important.

 

[SuperSonic4]

I know practically nothing about cars but looking at the pictures that sure is one beautiful car. Has she got a name yet?

Edit: As I've just noticed your sig did you ever think of getting a red barchetta?

 

[MarkFL]

Thanks!

No names for either; I've never been one to name my cars, although my ex-wife tried to name the Z06 "Victoria" since it is Victory Red.

I do like to listen to "Red Barchetta" when I'm cruising the boulevard.

 

[alane1994]

Got a thing for red?
I had named my Supra Aine.

Here's the meaning:
Ancient Irish name from the noun aine that means “splendor, radiance, brilliance.” Aine is connected with fruitfulness and prosperity. The queen of the Munster fairies was called Aine as was one of the wives of Fionn Mac Cool (read the legend). Aine appears in folktales as “the best-hearted woman who ever lived – lucky in love and in money.”
Pronunciation:
Awn+ye

 

[MarkFL]

Funny thing about the color...

I wanted the 35th Anniversary edition of the Camaro, which only came in Bright Rally Red with the stripes. The front grille I added later to match, as it was black from the factory.

When I ordered the Z06 I wanted to go with Le Mans Blue, but that color was on constraint, so rather than wait I decided to go with a second choice of red to match the Camaro.

 

[alane1994]

Nice, I found a picture of my Supra before I had it repainted.

Edited for content...

 

[MarkFL]

Nice!

Hey, is it a safe assumption that you had "traction issues" given the power you were putting to the pavement?

 

[alane1994]

hehe, some... I actually bought it off a guy, it is right hand drive. I tried to get it converted to left hand drive, but it would have cost mega-bucks...

I bet you can go through tires really easy with both of your cars as well... am I right?

 

[MarkFL]

Oh yeah!

I have Nitto drag radials on the SS and Michelin Sport Cups on the Z06.

 

[alane1994]

My drift tires are Nitto.

 

[MarkFL]

Now I can appreciate that drifting takes skill, but it goes against my philosophy of maintaining traction to increase speed around the track.

This is probably what we used to call a "generation gap."

 

[alane1994]

Well... it depends on the curve whether or not drifting is slower.

Also, I am contemplating what exhaust to put on my Mustang... any thoughts.
I don't know whether to put on a deep throaty sounding exhaust or a more tuner sounding exhaust.

Also Mark, are those the only cars that you own or do you own more? I personally have 3 vehicles. My Mustang, my Grand Marquis, and my Ram 2500.

 

[MarkFL]

Off the top of my head, Borla makes a good exhaust...I recommend a deeper sound for a V8.

I also own a Chevy Suburban for practical use. It has a big block 496 (8.1 L), and has enough torque to spank V6 pony cars!

 

[alane1994]

Nice, my Ram has a Cummins Diesel in it, and it has more than enough to spank most pony cars.

It never really occured to me to take a picture of my Grand Marquis, but this is what it looks like. I found this off of a google search.

 

[MarkFL]

I once had a Dodge Ram (don't know the specific model) diesel duelie (I could hear the whine of turbos) give me a good run for my money up to about 120 mph on I-95 in the Z06, before I really began to pull away. I had to give that guy a big thumbs up!

 

[alane1994]

You and some random guy raced on the I95? lol

 

[MarkFL]

Who me?

 

[alane1994]

Took out the Mustang for its first... "contest", and it did remarkably well. Smoked the guy. Also I had it dyno'd, it peaked at 782 horsepower. It's torque was about 600 ftlbs

 

[MarkFL]

Impressive numbers!

Based on them I would predict that the torque and power curves intersect at about 5252 rpms...

 

[alane1994]

I honestly don't know what the torque is. I did some simple calculations to try and figure it.

 

[MarkFL]

1 horsepower is defined to be 550 pound-feet of work per second. Engine speed is normally referred to in revolutions per second (RPMs). Since we need a "per second," we need to convert RPMs to "something per second." The seconds are easy -- we just divide by 60 to get from minutes to seconds. Now what we need is a dimensionless unit for revolutions: a radian. As you know, a radian is the ratio of the length of a circular arc to the radius of the arc, so the units of length cancel out and you're left with a dimensionless measure.

You can think of a revolution as a measurement of an angle. One revolution is 360 degrees, and since the circumference of a circle is $2\pi r$, there are $2\pi$ radians in 1 revolution. To convert revolutions per minute to radians per second, you multiply RPMs by $\displaystyle \frac{2\pi}{60}= \frac{\pi}{30}$. This gives us the "per second" we need to calculate horsepower.

Let's put this together...we need to get to horsepower $\text{hp}$, which is 550 pound-feet of work per second, using torque $T$ (given in foot-pounds) and engine speed (RPMs). If we divide $\text{hp}$ by $\displaystyle \frac{\pi}{30}$ we get:

$\displaystyle \frac{\text{hp}}{\dfrac{\pi}{30}}=\frac{30\text{ hp}}{\pi}=\frac{16500}{\pi}\approx5252$

So, if you multiply $T$ by RPMs and divide by $\displaystyle \frac{16500}{\pi}$ you can get from $T$ to $\text{hp}$, thus:

$\displaystyle \text{hp}=\frac{T\cdot\text{RPMs}}{ \dfrac{16500}{\pi}}= \frac{\pi\cdot T\cdot\text{RPMs}}{16500}$

Now, if the magnitude of $T$ and $\text{hp}$ are equal, then we can divide both sides by this magnitude to find:

$\displaystyle \text{RPMs}= \frac{16500}{\pi}\approx5252$

When a car is put on a dyno, it is the torque that is directly measured, and the resulting $\text{hp}$ is computed from the formula above.

Typically, a flat torque curve is desired...can you tell me how the power must vary with RPMs to achieve this?

 

[MarkFL]

Here is a pic of the dynograph for my Camaro, giving both the baseline and the after-modification graphs:

 

[alane1994]

I had it dynod at a bike and car show on my town square. They just shout out after your run so the crowd could either cheer or boo you.

 

[alane1994]

You had the work on your Camaro done in NJ, why was that? Weren't there any shops that met your standards down in FL?

 

[MarkFL]

For the 4th gen. f-bodies, SLP Engineering was contracted by GM to upfit the Camaro Z28 to the SS model, and the Firebird Formulas and Trans Ams to Firehawks.

I wanted the same company (actually SLP performance parts) to upgrade my Camaro with their 485 hp head/cam package along with other supporting upgrades. It was only an 16 hour drive one way.