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MoeBawlz
10-25-2004, 09:31 AM
Does anyone have any detailed information on Smokey Yunick's Camaro? I found a few sites on it, but nothing really comprehensive.

ALLFAITH
10-25-2004, 10:04 AM
I beleive Vic Edelbrock owns it now. I have seen it a few vintage races. Smokey's book is a good read too.

MoeBawlz
10-25-2004, 09:44 PM
Im kinda lookin for info on the car and all the things he did to tweek it...

i heard he acid dipped panels ot make them lighter and massaged the fenders to accomidate for larger tires. I think the body was channeled too to bring it closer to the ground. Frame was cut and lowered. boxed lower control arms (supposedly helped underbody aero), underbody pan, had some kind of pressurized air system from the clutch fork to the intake, laid the windsheild glass back a bit and replaced all glass with thinner and lighter materials, at weigh in time he would fill the tires with sand to make it heavier, then before the race started, swap tires with regular tires, ran a false bottom fuel tank, and had large diameter hose that ran the length of the car several times so he could allow for more fuel capacity than what the regulation would allow by tank size, had a vacuum setup so that when they were in endurance races and had to swap pads they could suck the brake fluid back and out of the calipers to allow for a quick change of pads, modified a 9" rear end to look like a 12 bolt. I dont know of any more tricks he had off hand... if any of you do please let me know, im really curious.

I also heard that many teams at the time would put wood blocks as spring spacers in before the race so they could acheive the minimum race hight that was specified, but then after a lap or so the wood blocks would be crushed to splinters and their ride height would be greatly lowered. I also heard that the Dodge guys use to lodge rocks between the torsion bar and the floor pan so it would increase ride height, and when the race started after some vibration the rock would fall out and the car would be lowered.

I also heard some teams would fill their roll cages with nitrous and use that to spray down the engine compartment, giving the engine a "contact high" burst of power. I have heard and seen this one before, but ive only seen it on street racing cars really.

Another thing that I think came from Smokey, but im not sure if he ever did this is...
Grind a cam to run on 7 cylinders and use the 8th as a supercharger (air compression piston)

Some team had a car made at 7/8ths scale so it would weigh less or something... I dont know what kind of car it was but Ive heard from several people that this is true, but i cant for the life of me remember what car it was.

Any other crazy things you might have heard about vintage racing or Smokeys car specifically would be great.

Q ship
10-26-2004, 06:46 AM
Some team had a car made at 7/8ths scale so it would weigh less or something... I dont know what kind of car it was but Ive heard from several people that this is true, but i cant for the life of me remember what car it was.

Smokey's NASCAR Chevelle was rumored to be a little "smaller" than stock, but I don't think that was ever proven. His cars were sure slick, though-that Camaro is probably my favorite first gen of all time.

Google result (http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/stories/hr601/best_camaro.html)
And another (http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/vintage/camaro.html)
Old C-C thread (http://forums.corner-carvers.com/showthread.php?threadid=4315&s=)

Maybe Edelbrock would have a lot of the detail info you're looking for?

MarkM66
10-26-2004, 08:04 AM
In Smokey's books, he states he never 7/8 scaled anything.

I've got tons of info on the '66 Chevelle, but nothing on the Camaro.

He doesn't even speak much of it in his books.

MoeBawlz
10-26-2004, 04:19 PM
Does anyone have any close up pics of Smokeys fenders?

and im going to go check out his Chevelle now, after reading about the Camaro Im really curious now...

Bill Howell
10-26-2004, 04:52 PM
Ditto's on Smokey's book being a good read. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know and learn about a true pioneer in the automobile industry. He really told it like it was and is. He will give you a new outlook about NASCAR. Since reading his book, I find myself not watching NASCAR much anymore.
Smokey always thought outside the box and was a true innovator because of that. I'm sure if he were still around, he would be making some truely trick pieces for Pro-touring car today.

69lt4
10-27-2004, 02:13 AM
I found these a couple of years ago. The sites I believe are still good.

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/stories/hr601/best_camaro.html

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/vintage/camaro/html

Kevin