Super Dave's Classic Car

Here’s a surprise from last weekend’s cruise-in, a new L86 Truck engine installed in a ’56 Belair, 430hp and 470 ft/pds of torque.  They machined up some spacers and managed to fit a Vintage Air serpentine belt system.  Turns out the guy’s son lives a few doors down from me.
The truck engine L86 (6.2L) and the L83 (5.3L) have this funny upward tilt to the intake manifold, which is exactly opposite to the LT1 and the LT4, and presents a challenge trying to plumb in an intake system.

We only went to 6,200 rpm, so there was a full 500 rpm left which would probably be another 10-20 hp.

All the gremlins are chased away, the engine has 1,500 miles on it, it’s beginning to feel broken in, the brakes are bedding in and we’re ready to hang out at a few car shows this summer.

If you want to understand what the Supercharged LT4 engine is all about watch the latest episode of Motor Trend’s “Ignition Series”.  This really explains it much better than anything I can describe what my car is like to drive.  I thought it was interesting that the manual 6-speed was just a touch faster than the new 10-speed paddle-shifting automatic. Randy Pobst really has a great overview of all the current supercars because he gets to road test them all.

After about a year of effort the new Z06 Camaro hits the road for a high-speed shakedown cruise. Power is off the charts, acceleration is instant (faster than 0-60 in 3.5 secs) and the ride quality from the Morrison clip is miles ahead of the original chassis.  Even with solid body mounts the ride quality is excellent and it never comes across as harsh, the first few inches of travel are extremely compliant. With the increased camber and C7 cast aluminum A-arms the front end will handle anything, exhibits no body lean or roll and the high speed stability is rock solid.  The performance mirrors sex, drugs and rockin’ roll, is highly intoxicating and you can never get enough.  

The only way you can experience even a small amount of the available performance is on track only, this car is faster and has a higher performance level than 99.9% of the cars on the planet.  If you want to build a Supercar, this combination is hard to beat.  Since this car has no modern computer driven driving aids such as stability control, ABS, launch control or various track modes, you can exceed your human given abilities quickly, so you have to give this car a short lease to keep things under control. Do the math, right now this car has a performance level exceeding some of the fastest cars made – 4.3 lbs/hp. Even the new Dodge Demon 840hp drag special is only 4.7 lbs/hp, it’s always about the power to weight ratio. If you haven’t watched it yet, check out the ZL1 at Nurburgring.

The current rear-end gears (4.11) will be changed out for 3.73, only because I have them available. Phase III – 4 bar link, mini-tubs and wider wheels will happen later after I put some miles down. Even with the 4.11 gears I’m still only pulling 2,100 rpm at 70 mph.  This engine is much different than the LS, it spins freely at 3,000 rpm and never feels stressed like a typical SBC.  It has tremendous torque, but likes to rev quicker due to the direct injection which is a completely different feel than the LS3.  There is a fuel-cut off switch that is part of the wiring harness and once I connect it to the clutch pedal will allow much faster shifts because the supercharger has a tendency to extend the engine’s deceleration curve. “Speed is relative, floor it.”