During the explosion of LS1Tech.com and the subsequent race series, there was quite a lot of buzz surrounding several 8-second and potentially 7-second F-bodies. Among them, the Ohio Boys turbo LS1-powered '96 Formula was attempting to steal the show-constantly jostling with the HPE LT1 Formula for bragging rights. Meanwhile the Ohio Boys 2002 yellow Collector Edition Trans Am was falling just under the radar, despite being an 8-second street car true to its name.
Co-founder of Ohio Boys Racing and owner of the CETA, Mike Brown has been quietly building this beast of a street car over the past few years using fairly modest components. With a stock bottom end and an Incon twin turbo kit, Mike was already breaking into the nines. It didn't take long before he had outgrown this combo, and decided to fabricate his own large single turbo system. Taking a suggestion from Wheel to Wheel, whom he had commissioned to build a stock crank LS2 short-block, a set of 6.0L truck manifolds were turned around backward and modified to house a 91.5mm turbo. Boost was chilled by an air-to-water intercooler fabricated to Mike's specs by Famspeed, and a 5-inch downpipe would then vent the recycled fumes into a 3-inch bullet muffler for street-going decibel levels. With the help of a transbrake-equipped Rossler 4L80E, Mike maintained total streetability while reliably and consistently running 8.50s.
When the Ohio Boys '96 Formula took a nosedive into the wall at the track, the CETA became the primary racecar for the crew and Mike began using the Rossler Turbo 400 (from the Formula) at the track. With the best ET pegged at 8.53 at 163 mph on Mickey Thompson drag radials, he decided to take ERL Performance up on its offer to provide a prototype sleeved race block. With larger 4.127-inch bores, a much stouter set of heads with larger valves could be afforded than with the previous stock castings. In addition this block also has the benefit of billet main caps to secure a Callies forged crank, whereas the previous motor kept the stock variants. Wiseco pistons and Howard Enterprises forged rods round out the short-block as assembled by LS1 gurus Wheel to Wheel. For durability, a low 8.2 to 1 compression and stock stroke are maintained to lessen wear and tear on the pistons as well as other rotating parts. Despite his intentions to go deeper into the 8s and run 27 psi of boost, Mike elected to stay with a hydraulic roller setup to avoid the hassle of adjusting valves. Just like with his previous motors, he had COMP Cams grind him a custom roller to his specs. Total Engine Airflow had just completed development on a Stage 3 porting program with Dart castings, which fit nicely with the engine combo-using large 2.10 stainless steel intake and 1.60 exhaust valves constructed of a special alloy for turbo applications. COMP Cams chrome moly pushrods and Harland Sharp 1.7 ratio aluminum rocker arms keep the valvetrain light but sturdy.
The swooping Collector Edition graphics help put this 'Bird in flight along with well over 1,000 rwhp. If banana peels could get you this high, I wouldn't have to resort to sniffing glue. | 
Mike likes to keep the interior simple and true to the CETA's street car roots-keeping the ebony leather interior intact, adding only a Wolfe six-point cage (with a custom front section) as well as gauges for trans fluid temperature,... | 
...fuel and boost pressure. Despite the Rossler TH210, the stock shifter is used in conjunction with the red button on the e-brake to engage/disengage the transbrake. A 4L80E is also rotated into the 'Bird depending upon the event, which allows quite a bit more streetability. |