Our 2014 Camaro SS Project True SStreet has gone through a few rounds of changes, upgrades, and repairs. That means it is time to hit the track again. The Camaro has been a work in progress, and now we’ve just about got the car wrapped up. Our latest trip to the track was a success as Project True SStreet went quicker than it ever has, and showed some serious potential.
Our Camaro got a healthy engine upgrade when we made the switch to 427 cubic inch LS for horsepower. This engine was one of the stars of the Horsepower Wars LS VS. Coyote 2: Supercharged Showdown, and you can learn more about it by clicking here. When you make an engine change like this, it usually means other parts would need to be swapped out to maximize the package’s true potential. So, True SStreet went back on the lift for some new goodies that would help the big 427 be all that it can be.
Big Upgrades For True SStreet
We worked with the team at Neal Chance Racing Converters (NCRC) to get the right torque converter for our new engine package. This engine is much bigger than the Chevrolet Performance LSX376-B15 we originally had in the Camaro. The best way to get the right torque converter to not only match the engine, but the rest of the car, is to fill out a converter form on the Neal Chance website. This form paints a picture for Marty Chance and his staff at NCRC of our combination so they can find the right torque converter. We filled out one of these forms and sent it over to NCRC so they could work their magic and come up with a plan.
With all of the changes we've made to Project True SStreet it was time to get a new torque converter. The team at Neal Chance Racing Converters built us a custom unit that is the perfect match for our supercharged 427 cubic-inch LS engine.
After looking at all the information we provided, Marty suggested we move to a bolt-together-style torque converter for True SStreet. An NCRC bolt-together converter is furnace brazed, has completely TIG-welded fins, and an anti-balloning cover so they’re very strong. Inside the converter, you’ll find an NCRC extreme-duty mechanical diode and thrust bearings. The star of the show is the custom stator that NCRC adds to the converter, designed specifically for your application.
The Meziere flexplate will keep True SStreet's driveline linked up.
For some additional peace of mind, we also added a new Meziere Enterprises billet flexplate to the Camaro. The Meziere flexplates are machined from 4340 round bar stock and are SFI 29.2-certified. Meziere uses its own proprietary manufacturing process that gives the flexplates strong teeth, low runout, and increased durability.
The torque converter from NCRC was just one of the major upgrades, the other was the intercooler system. Originally, we were using a five-gallon intercooler ice tank, but decided that a seven-gallon ice tank would provide the correct amount of cooling. The Rule 2000 pump was replaced by a Stewart EMP 150 water pump to move fluid through the system.
The Earl's fittings and hose made our ice tank upgrade easier. We were able to increase the size of our lines to and from the Whipple supercharger without any issues. Now the blower gets even more ice-cold water to keep IATs nice and low.
All of the extra chilled water would be useless, unless we could move it to the Whipple supercharger quickly and efficiently. To facilitate fast fluid transfer, the -12 AN lines and fittings were upgraded to -16 units from Earl’s. This new plumbing is a perfect match for our increased level of fluid flow. The result was a reduction in Idle Air Temperatures (IATs) from the 180- to 190-degree Fahrenheit range, to between 80 and 90 degrees. The added horsepower and increased tuning window provided is well worth the effort.
Maintenance Items, Repairs, And Additional Upgrades
Our Moser rearend needed some maintenance done before we came back to the track. While that was happening, we pulled the center section out and sent it back to Moser for a rebuild and a fresh set of 4.10 gears. An M&M Transmission air shifter conversion was added to True SStreet to improve the consistency of shifts during a run. The JRi shocks were pulled off the Camaro and gone through by JRi before we headed back to the track.
Just a few other items that got some attention on the Camaro before we went to the track.
Time To Test
The only way to really find out if the updates you’ve made are working is to go to the track. We loaded True SSTreet up and headed to Irwindale Dragstrip to make some eighth-mile test hits. Like any trip to the track, you never know what’s going to happen and we had an interesting time shaking True SStreet down.
There have been plenty of changes made to True SStreet since its last trip to the track, including a new E85 fuel system. So, the first pass was an easy one with any early shutoff to gather data and make sure everything was working properly. That run led to a 5.980 e.t. at 111.66 mph with a 1.394 60-foot time. Everything looked good, so it was time to lean on the Camaro a bit harder to see what the new parts were capable of.
Well, this is where things went sideways for our team at the track. A tire pressure issue led to some tire spin on the second pass. The lack of traction caused a 1.422 60-foot time with a 6.027 e.t. at 118.42 mph. Clearly, the potential was ready to show itself. The third pass was a throwaway thanks to a spark plug wire issue that fouled a spark plug.
With all of the mechanical issues resolved and a solid tune-up in the Holley Dominator, it was time to see what True SStreet could do on the fourth pass. The Camaro stopped the clocks in 5.607 seconds at 127.08 mph with a 1.330 60-foot time. This was an improvement over True SSTreet’s original best time of 5.622. Unfortunately, the track shut down the test session early, so we couldn’t work on lowering the car’s ET any more.
After reviewing the data, we’re confident that True SStreet will be able to cut mid-1.20 60-foot times and dip into the 5.40s in the eighth-mile with more testing. During our post-race inspection, it was noted that a new set of slicks would be a good idea, so we reached out to Mickey Thompson to get some fresh rubber for our next test session. We’re also going to be adding a set of WELD beadlock wheels to keep the slicks from rotating on the wheel.
That’s it for now, make sure you check out the Project True SStreet project page right here to see everything that’s been done to our Camaro. We also have some cool videos of this trip to the track that you can check out on the Dragzine YouTube channel here. Hopefully, our next trip to the track will yield even quicker times and show just what this car is capable of.
