After consulting with Thunder Racing on available engine combinations, a plan came together to build a largercube motor using a fresh LS2 block. Build duties would naturally fall to David Nickens and his wildly successful Nickens Racing Engines of Conroe, Texas. According to Roddy, "Nickens has been at the top of the field for decades in engine building for professional race classes, and, after winning back-to-back titles with his engines, it was a logical choice to have David build a high-revving LS2." The stock bore of 4.00 inches was line honed to 4.015 inches, while the 3.622-inch stroke was fitted with a Lunati Pro-Billet 4340 forged crankshaft pushing the stroke to 4.00. Rather than utilizing off-the-shelf pistons, Roddy contacted his old friend Ed Ersis of JE pistons and in combination with Nickens, a custom-built, flat-top piston was designed that included redesigned side skirts, gas ports and lowtension ring packs. After blueprinting the assembly, a set of Thunder Racing billet main caps secure the rotating assembly. Rounding out the bottomend is a blueprinted stock oil pump, factory oil pan and an ATI Super Damper harmonic balancer.
With a solid bottom-end built, Coleman turned to Brian Tooley at Total Engine Airflow (TEA) in Tallmadge, Ohio, for cylinder head expertise. A fresh set of GM LS6 heads were utilized and were subjected to TEA's Stage porting. After enlarging the combustion chambers to match the 4.00-inch bore and extensive CNC-porting, the heads were milled to 62cc in order to achieve an 11.5:1 compression ratio. After receiving new seats and guides, Manley stainless valves, measuring 2.08 and 1.60 inches respectively, were fitted and a competition multi-angle valve job was performed, allowing the heads to flow 325 cfm at .600 lift on the intake and 260 cfm on the exhaust. Comp cams 921 double springs and titanium retainers along with Thunder Racing 7.3750-inch hardened chrome-moly pushrods work in conjunction with a fresh set of stock hydraulic roller lifters and GM 1.7 rocker arms to swing a custom Thunder Racing/Comp Cams hydraulic roller camshaft. Although the cams specs are proprietary, guess above 280 duration at .050 with Mothra-like lifts approaching .800, and you will be in the ballpark.
With an efficient piston and head design, attention turned to the fuel and exhaust systems. Topping off the heads is a TEA-ported FAST 90mm intake that is fed by a Nick Williams 90mm billet throttle body that receives air from a GM 85mm MAF, Whisper lid and K&N air filter. A matched set of Bosch 37-pound fuel injectors provides the hungry motor fresh 108-octane racing no-lead that is pushed forward by a Racetronix in-tank fuel pump. Stock coils, spark plugs and plug wires light the fire in the engine, which was expertly tuned by Geoff Skinner of Thunder Racing using EFI Live. In order to evacuate the cylinders in rapid fashion a set of Dynatech 1 3/4- to 1 7/8-inch stepped headers were ceramic coated and dumped into a 3 1/2-inch collector before exiting through dual-tuned 1-foot long length exhaust pipes.
 The black Z28 launches off...  The black Z28 launches off the brake and the shrieking Ls2 engine sends an Ati 4500 stall converter into a time warp that results in the Camaro leaping for the stars again and again. Madman & Co. front end chain limiters and rear wheelie bar, along with the infinite adjustability of the AFCo shocks, work in conjunction to prevent k-member kabooms and rear fascia rash. |  A stock-appearing VFN Fiberglass...  A stock-appearing VFN Fiberglass carbon-fiber hood effectively shields 404 cubic inches of gen iV hydraulic roller lunacy. Although sedate looking in comparison to other 9-second motors, look closely and take note of the thunder Racing/Madman & Co. motor mid-plate and Burkhart Chassis hVAC and ABs delete plates. keeping the engine cool while it thunders through the traps at 7600 rpm is a Ron Davis Racing Products aluminum radiator and Meziere electric water pump. |  A single kirkey racing seat...  A single kirkey racing seat covered in pedestrian grey cloth now lays claim to the only seating surface in the Camaro. Clearly Coleman won't be taking prospective R&R customers on a joy ride. Note the roll-up windows and lack of power accessories. Rather than adorning the car with aftermarket gauges and switches that ruin the aesthetic confines of the interior, this car is all business. Alright, there is a mandatory fire extinguisher but the biggest addition is the grant steering wheel with bright yellow tape at 12 o'clock. yes, the tape is there as a visual reminder that when flying, remember to land with the wheel pointed straight ahead to avoid barriers! old school, you bet-but effective. |