by Terry McGean
In the Oct. ’00 issue, we reported on the racing efforts of a vocational school
in Texas ("Son of S.A.M."). The staff and students of the School of Automotive Machinists are
involved with numerous endeavors, but our focus had been the ’99 Camaro purchased new by S.A.M.
founder Judson Massingill. Starting with basic boltons and moving steadily to more substantial
modifications, the S.A.M. team improved the car’s performance by steps, methodically charting
the results. The report closed with the car’s then–best performance figures: 11.474 at 120.45 mph.
While mid–11 second timeslips are impressive all by themselves, it was truly remarkable that the
entire experiment had been performed using the stock short–block–no freshening, no strengthening,
just a GM assembly line LS1.
To Review
The plastic was barely off the seats when Massingill took the Camaro to the local strip
for baseline testing. With 290 miles on the clock, he clicked off a best of 13.59 at 103 mph using the
factory–issue 275/40-17 Goodyear Eagle radials. Early enhancements covered the basics: an aftermarket
airbox, a ported mass air meter, and alterations to the stock hood scoop. The fiddling dropped the e.t.
to 13.30 at 106.20 mph. Traction out of the box was sketchy, so he stuck some BF Goodrich Drag Radials
on Centerline rims and swapped the stock 3.42:1 gearset for 3.73s, thus enabling at 13.10/107.20 run
with a 1.9–second 60–foot time.
Shorty headers pushed the car into the 12s, while still blowing through the cats and a
full exhaust system; the best of this configuration was a 12.95 at 108.04. At that point, the team
decided to venture into the engine. They swapped in ported stock head castings fitted with 2.02/1.60–inch
valves (stock is 2.00/1.55), which was good for a 50–cfm flow increase on the intake side and 38 cfm on
the exhaust (at 28 inches of water), and netted 12.78 at 111.30 mph.
With the power curve on an upswing, they installed a Kenny Thomas Racing Enterprises
12-bolt axle fitted with 4.10:1 gears and a McLeod 12–inch clutch assembly. Along with this hardware,
they posed M/T ET Street 26×11.5–inch slicks for maximum launch and were rewarded with a 12.28 at 112.05.
A Comp Cams hydraulic roller (224 degrees duration at 0.050, 0.533-inch lift, 113–degree lobe
separation), brought the e.t. to 12.12 at 114.80 mph, and further carving on the airbox yielded a 12.08 at
115.20. By this time, the team felt that the stock programming might be hindering the car’s output.
Recalibration by Steve Cole of TTS Power Systems proved them right: Raising the rpm limiter and adjusting
the injector pulse width dropped the Camaro to 11.95 at 116.50. By installing full-length headers and a
matching 2.5–inch exhaust, the car picked up again, this time recording 11.76 at 119.95. Finally, they
bypassed the power steering pump and improved the clutch to generate an 11.47 at 120.45.
This was where we’d concluded, but evidently the S.A.M. team wasn’t finished. Despite
having to slow the car down to compete in the NMCA ’s EFI–12 class last season, Massingill and his
students continued their quest for stock–block LS1 performance. Their bogey was a 10–second e.t. but
without the aid of forced induction or nitrous oxide, and without going inside the short–block.
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