Lets start this months article with a photo of things to come.

In photo 5A we see our project 69 Camaro leaving the line during qualifying at the Federal Mogul Points meet on April 29, 2000. The track is Indianapolis Raceway Park. This was the largest FMDRS points meet in NHRA's history as 703 race cars were in attendance. They only took the top 128 qualifiers in stock class and they had 141 stockers appear so a few stockers didn't even get to race. Tony Goodman did a great job behind the wheel as he got the Camaro to run a 11.567 on a 12.15 index. That puts the car at 0.583 under. The engine we have is a little tired and we have great plans ahead. Look for some much quicker times in the future. Last week we ran a 11.54 on a break-out pass at Martin US 131 Dragway. Back to the buildup. And it was a pleasure talking to everyone at Indy. And one of the best comments came from a well respected stock/super stock guy, "The Internet photos don't do this car justice, this car is NICE." Thanks.

In photo 5B we see son-in-law, Tom Tilton installing our Auto Custom Carpet that we purchased from Classic Industries. It fit perfectly and here we can see Tom doing a little trimming around the roll bar. I have been using Auto Custom Carpets for years in all of my Hot Rod's. Besides the owner of the company, Jeff Moses is also a major gear head.

In photo 5C we see the shock brand we use on all of our race cars, HAL SHOCKS. HAL makes the trickest shocks for a stocker, and they are called the Stocker Star AL. Each shock is machined from billet 6061 aluminum, with a 5/8" hard chrome piston rod. Each shock has 12 external adjustments. All valving adjustments are made by turning one knob to fine tune for changing track conditions. It was necessary to use a shock extension to achieve the recommended 60% compression of shock piston rod. The extensions are also available through HAL SHOCKS. If you have any questions, they have a great technical group. They can be reached at 1-561-221-0164 or the ORDER DESK at 1-888-ADJ-SHOX.

In photo 5D we see a set of Hooker Headers # 2131 and they are 1 7/8 x 30 when you use them stock, however we ordered the adjustable header kit # 11460 , the merged collector kit # 14730 and the slip-on extension kit. Then we welded it all together and shipped it off to JET-HOT to get everything coated. We've been using JET-HOT for about 8 years and we have found that JET-HOT lasts longer than any other brand. You can reach JET-HOT on line at www.jet-hot.com or call them at 1-610-277-5646 for technical questions of 1-800-432-3379 for their order line.

In photo 5E we see the complete wiring of our Camaro. For the wiring harness we chose the Painless Wiring #50001 8-Circuit Universal Harness Assembly. The Kit comes complete with every circuit protected with a fuse and a 30-amp relay for maximum reliability. Each circuit has 18 feet of heavy duty wire, you get all the terminals you'll need, wire ties, fusible link and a rubber grommet for the fire wall. In the top right of the photo you can see our Painless Wiring #50202 self contained drag race switch control center. You can easily mount to your roll bar, however we chose to mount it between the bucket seats of our stocker. You can also see a fuel pump relay kit #50102. And we also picked up a daytime running lights kit # 30810 for our tow vehicle. I think it is a great idea, as I travel the highways every day and I think daytime driving lights save lives. You can reach Painless Wiring at 1-817-244-6898 or on the web at www.painlesswiring.com they make good stuff.

In photo 5F we can see the shifter we use in all 4 race cars, the B & M Pro Ratchet part # 80841. This thing is bullet-proof. We have been using the same shifter in my red car for 11 years and no problems. Plus if you switch from a standard valve body to a reverse valve body, the ratchet action works both ways B & M can be reached at 1-818-882-6422 or on the web at www.bmracing.com
In this photo we can also see our Painless Wiring switch control center already mounted.

In photo 5G we can see our complete lineup of Autometer guages. This time we went with the smaller 2 1/16" gauges in Autometer's Ultra Lite brand. This way we could fit the gauges in the smaller Camaro dash. Plus we picked the big 5" Ultra-Lite tach, part #6856 it is the 9,000 rpm single range tach. It also features the bright yellow "Quick-lite" plus the tach recalls the highest rpm reached during the race. The gauges we picked are #4313 fuel pressure with isolator 0-15 pounds, #4332 water temperature 120-240 degrees, #4321 oil pressure 0-100 pounds, #4341oil temp 140-280 degrees and #4351 trans temperature 140-280 degrees. Plus in all of our race cars we use the Autometer Pro-lite with a 30 pound pressure sender. So if during a run the oil pressure drops below 30 pounds, let off the gas before you blow the engine up. I know, I've done it twice. Autometer makes great products and they can be reached at 1-815-895-8141 or on the web at www.autometer.com

In photo 5H you can see the cool dash bracket that driver Tony Goodman has fabricated for three of our Autometer gauges.

In photo 5i you can see just a few of the items we use from K & N Engineering. They make the best air filters in the land, plus oil filters for your race car and tow vehicle. We use #HP2002 oil filter on our Camaro and a #E-1420 air filter. We also use K & N oil and air filters on all four race cars and four tow vehicles. The nice thing about K & N air filters is to make them new again all you have to do is clean them and reoil them with their easy to use kit # 99-5000 and everything is brand new again. They can be reached at 909-684-9762 or on the web at www.KNFilters.com

In photo 5J we can see at transmission in a shipping box. The trans is my spare JPT (Jims Performance Transmissions) killer turbo 350 with all the roller bearings, aluminum drums and assorted tricks. Jim can be reached at 517-663-0578. Much more on JPT later. But this photo is supposed to show you the cool automatic transmission shipping and storage container made by Scribner Plastics. I hate a mess and before these containers came around I always had automatic transmission fluid on the garage floor, back of the pickup or in my storage area in the basement. These containers solve all my messy problems. These can be stacked on top of each other as they have a stackable interlocking design. They make them in two sizes with different inserts to for most transmissions. We used the #5125 which is the 46" base and cover and then we ordered the #25-700R4 insert which you'll need if you have a turbo 350-turbo 400 or a 700R4 transmission. It comes with a cinch strap to keep the transmission from moving in transport. This is a great idea and they have a container to fit any transmission, plus Mr. Scribner is a nice guy. They can be reached at 1-800-552-5847 or on the web at www.scribnerplastics.com

In photo 5K you can see my transmission ready for transport. These are neat and I hope they sell a lot of them. Any questions or comments you have on our project Camaro, I'd love to hear from you. Please e-mail me at 455@i2k.com See ya next month with a lot more.