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A find!

I found this car through my friends father. I was 15 years old when he told me about this clean Camaro being sold buy someone. I put the number in my wallet and kept it for 3 years. When I turned 18 I found the number the night before I was going to buy a 72 Plymouth Satellite. I called the guy and it was still for sale so I went to see the car. It was in mint condition. I got it for 4000.00 All it needed was rear springs, a carburetor and a stereo. It became my daily driver. My brother Bobby bought the Satellite. I used the Camaro to go to work in Harlem and took it on vacations. At this time it had a 350 with a TH400 with a 3500 RPM stall converter and a 4:11 rear. Motion performance did the trans.

Keep in mind I knew very little about cars at this time. I met some guys who told me they could make my car go faster if we changed the engine. I was up for that. They pulled my 350 and dropped in a done up 283. Solid lifters, 202 heads, 12.5 compression pistons, a high lift cam, and much more. I had an argument with the guy who was doing the install because it was 3 months and all he had in was the short block. I towed the car from his garage back to my garage and bought a Chilton's book and proceeded to fix my ride.

The car had no power off the line, even launching it at full stall, but second gear was insane and third was just plain nuts. Most of my runs at that time started out with me playing catch up and then my opponent watching tail lights while I was throwing 3rd. I hated the way the car launched so I looked for another motor.

Realizing there's no replacement for cubic inch displacement.

A friends brother had a 400 Chevy small block brand new in pieces that I bought. In went 400 and I boat anchored the 283. The 400 rocked. Open the hood and you see a possible 283, 302, 307, 327 or 350. Most people thought it was a 350 like the badges stated on the car. :)  Many a run was won with that motor. I finally blew on its last run. I threw a rod threw the side of the block.  ( Sorry no pictures available. )

Bigger is better!

After getting a taste of big cubes I was hooked and wanted more. I found a 454 in a junk yard and took it home to be my next victim. I rebuilt the motor with a beefy cam and that's it. It had stock heads and a Carter carb. The rear and tranny were still the same. I was very happy with the results. A few years later I walked in to a auto parts store in Harlem and saw 2 big block Chevy heads covered with crud in the corner of the machine shop in the back. I knew the owner so I asked him if they were ok and how much he wanted for them. The guys there were into ricers so these were of no interest to them. The sale price was 50.00 Woo Hoo! He did a valve job and cleaned them up for me too. Total price was 150.00 I looked at them before I bought them and I saw they were stamped HI PER right on them. As soon as I bolted them on the car I saw a dramatic difference.

2005

Full tune, ball joints & tie rod ends.

I installed Hooker Comp Pro long tube headers, "H" pipe, 2 1/2 tubes, and 2 chamber flowmasters. The car never sounded better.

2016

It was time to return to a small block. My friend knew an engine builder who had a 350 LT1 for sale. I bought it and I'm had it installed. This is the first time someone else's hands were under this hood. The install came out great.

2017

I freshened up the interior.

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