1967 RS Duramax Camaro

Burn Down

Hotrodder
Sep 14, 2008
7,092
28
48
Boise Idaho
Going to the Total Performance Diesel dyno day this Saturday. Loaded the 300hp level 7 tune last month and it's running great still. Loses traction in 3rd gear pretty easily. Should be a lot of fun getting the Camaro on the rollers for the first time. Will most likely have some pics and videos to share afterwards. Wish me luck!

Good luck dude:thumb: Get more videos.
 

dslhtrdr

Always learning
Nov 22, 2012
262
0
0
Sebastopol, Ca
Realized I only updated the Camaro's FB page so I wanted to post results here.

The dyno day was fun and got to meet some new people. Something happened to the dyno early on in the day and wasn't operating properly, so I had to put a load on the motor with the brakes, which I had a hard time doing. I know VERY little about dyno's, but Drake has his dyno set up to make a pull from 70mph on up to 110mph.

For the first 2 pulls, in OD with the converter locked, the motor bogged quite a bit and really didn't build boost/make power until the very end of the pull. On the 3rd and final pull, I tried 3rd gear with the converter locked up and made a much better run since I was able to use more rpms (and it really likes rpms...) which got me 433hp. I'm positive it's got quite a bit more in it. The car was getting a little too hot for my liking with the lack of airflow through the radiator so I decided to call it a day.

The following weekend my wife and I towed to Camaro down the Bakersfield for the Spring Diesel Nationals. I decided to sign up for the test and tune class.

Like a dummy, I wasn't paying close enough attention to the announcers booth and missed the call to get in the staging lanes and realized that when I saw other test and tune vehicles racing. I ran back to the pits and drove around to the staging lanes and the track officials were kind enough to let me go. I made a best pass to date of 11.83 at 119mph on the first run.

My second pass I didn't get the tires quite hot enough and lost a ton of traction, which netted me a 13.XX.

On my third attempt, I had a nice long burnout and rolled though the staging lights making sure my tires were nice and sticky. While I was backing up, a very small amount of coolant burped out of my overflow tank and landed on the track. An official spotted it and kicked me out of the lane. I wasn't sure what happened so I pulled to the side and asked what happened, popped the hood to find nothing wrong, and the official said I need to fix the car before I can race again. I said that there was nothing to fix, just a little coolant came out of the tank, and that's when he informed me coolant is not allowed on a race track... I did not know that.

So given how the interaction between he and I went I was a little pissed off, and went back to the pits. The kind folks from the Dmax Store came by and offered to help me drain all my coolant and replace it with water, but I felt there wouldn't have been enough time to get it done before the next and final run for test and tune, so I decided to call it a day.

All in all, I'm happy I made a new personal best, and thats what I took away from the whole trip. I have a list of upgrades I will be making to the Camaro in the near future and have already ordered some parts that are on their way to me right now.
 

Burn Down

Hotrodder
Sep 14, 2008
7,092
28
48
Boise Idaho
Realized I only updated the Camaro's FB page so I wanted to post results here.

The dyno day was fun and got to meet some new people. Something happened to the dyno early on in the day and wasn't operating properly, so I had to put a load on the motor with the brakes, which I had a hard time doing. I know VERY little about dyno's, but Drake has his dyno set up to make a pull from 70mph on up to 110mph.

For the first 2 pulls, in OD with the converter locked, the motor bogged quite a bit and really didn't build boost/make power until the very end of the pull. On the 3rd and final pull, I tried 3rd gear with the converter locked up and made a much better run since I was able to use more rpms (and it really likes rpms...) which got me 433hp. I'm positive it's got quite a bit more in it. The car was getting a little too hot for my liking with the lack of airflow through the radiator so I decided to call it a day.

The following weekend my wife and I towed to Camaro down the Bakersfield for the Spring Diesel Nationals. I decided to sign up for the test and tune class.

Like a dummy, I wasn't paying close enough attention to the announcers booth and missed the call to get in the staging lanes and realized that when I saw other test and tune vehicles racing. I ran back to the pits and drove around to the staging lanes and the track officials were kind enough to let me go. I made a best pass to date of 11.83 at 119mph on the first run.

My second pass I didn't get the tires quite hot enough and lost a ton of traction, which netted me a 13.XX.

On my third attempt, I had a nice long burnout and rolled though the staging lights making sure my tires were nice and sticky. While I was backing up, a very small amount of coolant burped out of my overflow tank and landed on the track. An official spotted it and kicked me out of the lane. I wasn't sure what happened so I pulled to the side and asked what happened, popped the hood to find nothing wrong, and the official said I need to fix the car before I can race again. I said that there was nothing to fix, just a little coolant came out of the tank, and that's when he informed me coolant is not allowed on a race track... I did not know that.

So given how the interaction between he and I went I was a little pissed off, and went back to the pits. The kind folks from the Dmax Store came by and offered to help me drain all my coolant and replace it with water, but I felt there wouldn't have been enough time to get it done before the next and final run for test and tune, so I decided to call it a day.

All in all, I'm happy I made a new personal best, and thats what I took away from the whole trip. I have a list of upgrades I will be making to the Camaro in the near future and have already ordered some parts that are on their way to me right now.

Nice! Sounds like you have been having some fun. Love to see some more videos and get some EFI live on that M-fer:rofl: If I was closer to you I would tune it when you weren't watching:angel:

On the coolant thing, the guy that teched your car should have made sure your burp hose was plugged or you have a coolant catch bottle. Any coolant on your tires or a car following you could cause an accident. Big horsepower and loss of traction can mean a direct hit to a wall or heaven forbid launch you into the other lane...
 

paint94979

Beer Nazi
Sep 18, 2006
11,715
8
38
37
The dyno can be set to whatever mph you would like :D with that vvt foot braking it is super easy but none the less the car looked good
 

TheBac

Why do I keep doing this?
Staff member
Apr 19, 2008
15,614
1,869
113
Mid Michigan
I was wondering how the car was doing. 11.83 @ 119 is nice. Its gets you on the RWYB list. :thumb:
 

dslhtrdr

Always learning
Nov 22, 2012
262
0
0
Sebastopol, Ca
Nice! Sounds like you have been having some fun. Love to see some more videos and get some EFI live on that M-fer:rofl: If I was closer to you I would tune it when you weren't watching:angel:

On the coolant thing, the guy that teched your car should have made sure your burp hose was plugged or you have a coolant catch bottle. Any coolant on your tires or a car following you could cause an accident. Big horsepower and loss of traction can mean a direct hit to a wall or heaven forbid launch you into the other lane...

Good point on the coolant catch bottle, it's one of the few things to be upgraded soon, and EFI Live is on that upgrade list as well. We took some videos of the dyno day on my digital camera and uploaded them to the FB page, but for whatever reason they wouldn't upload to youtube... still need to figure out why. Unfortunately no videos from Bakersfield. I tried taking a couple videos while I was driving it on Saturday, but my phone on the dash was too unstable and kept falling over under acceleration :rofl: I'm going to get that solved and get a video loaded up this week hopefully.

The dyno can be set to whatever mph you would like :D with that vvt foot braking it is super easy but none the less the car looked good

When I get EFI, I would like to get back on the dyno.

I was wondering how the car was doing. 11.83 @ 119 is nice. Its gets you on the RWYB list. :thumb:

It's been doing pretty good. I'm positive it can do better the way it sits, but I'm going to change a few things up before I go back to the track. I'll be taking lots of pictures again so be prepared :woott:
 

dslhtrdr

Always learning
Nov 22, 2012
262
0
0
Sebastopol, Ca
Also, of all you guys running EFI, would you recommend an autocal or a DSP switch? The Dmax store guys were offering me an autocal with Idaho Rob's tunes for I think $600. I'm up for all suggestions to help me make a decision so I know what I want when I'm ready to get it.
 

Burn Down

Hotrodder
Sep 14, 2008
7,092
28
48
Boise Idaho
Also, of all you guys running EFI, would you recommend an autocal or a DSP switch? The Dmax store guys were offering me an autocal with Idaho Rob's tunes for I think $600. I'm up for all suggestions to help me make a decision so I know what I want when I'm ready to get it.

Dsp switch would be perfect for you. I don't like them with the allison trans. because it gets pizzed off when you switch the tunes around and don't give the trans time to re-learn.

I would buy a V2, that way you can modify tunes. I would give the guys at ATP (Idaho Rob) or any of the other EFI tuner/vendors a call. Your rig is kind of one off and would need some custom tailoring with your tunes to perform it's best.
 

TheBac

Why do I keep doing this?
Staff member
Apr 19, 2008
15,614
1,869
113
Mid Michigan
I would just go thru Rob himself. V2 with a DSP2 switch (race and mild) as thats all you will really ever need.


Unless........you're planning on hooking a trailer to it and doing some towing. ;):roflmao:
 

Yellow Jacket

WannaBe Sled Puller
Feb 11, 2009
917
0
16
Waterloo, IA
Gotta do a dsp5, that way he can get a smoke tune and a lope tune and be a real bada$$!

This Camaro is sweet, and dsp2 would probably be all you need, unless you want a bunch of "in between" tunes...
 

dslhtrdr

Always learning
Nov 22, 2012
262
0
0
Sebastopol, Ca
You getting around 30mpg? I think the last time it was figured the Chevelle was at 30town/35HWY with the Gear Vendor.

Mid to high 20's mostly city driving having a lot of full throttle runs with Ppe level 7 loaded so far. Haven't taken it on any kind of long distance trip to get a real mpg calculation. Rick's Chevelle has a taller rear end ratio than me so I would assume he is capable of more mpg than me.