Where is 69 Yenko Camaro 124379N663539 - Page 15

novadude · #**141** 12-19-2016, 12:55 AM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: GM_427_Racer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Nice videos, I enjoyed watching them both. I see that you have a Ken Keir single wheelie bar too, it is definitely a slick piece.

The intake is a stock Chevy piece, it is an NHRA approved replacement casting number 19131359, so dimensionally, it is pretty close to the original.

GM </div></div>

Just curious... what cylinder heads does NHRA allow for this combo? Those AL heads don't look factory.

**GM_427_Racer** · #**142** 12-19-2016, 02:30 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: novadude</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: GM_427_Racer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Nice videos, I enjoyed watching them both. I see that you have a Ken Keir single wheelie bar too, it is definitely a slick piece.

The intake is a stock Chevy piece, it is an NHRA approved replacement casting number 19131359, so dimensionally, it is pretty close to the original.

GM </div></div>

Just curious... what cylinder heads does NHRA allow for this combo? Those AL heads don't look factory. </div></div>

Nova Dude,

You would be correct, the heads are not Chevrolet factory parts, however, if you look at the last picture of the driver's side engine, their is an "NHRA" logo milled into the head by Edelbrock who is the manufacturer of these heads.

NHRA does a pretty good job of supplying the racer the approved specifications to run just about any combination that has been built for a bunch of years. If you go to www.nhraracer.com and look on the left side, you will find a section that says "Engine Blueprint Specifications", click on that, and then scroll to the manufacturer that you want and click on the year and you will see all the pertinent specifications of the particular engine you are interested. The accepted cylinder head replacements are also listed for the particular combination based on the last three digits of the casting number under the notes section, not to mention all the other information. There is also a section on that same web page, "NHRA Accepted Products" and that section has a ton of information as to what after market products NHRA accepts in place of the original parts that are becoming extinct. All of these reference pages along with an NHRA rule book gives the racer what he/she has to know in order to race a legal car. They also provide a service (phone numbers) where you can call either one of the division Tech Directors or the national Tech line located in Indianapolis to answer any questions the racers may have.

There is also another section called "Stock Car Classification" a little further down the page and that section will basically tell you what class the particular car and engine combination that you choose will be. However, you need a rule book to see what the weight breaks are for each class since they are based on NHRA factored horsepower and their shipping weights to determine which class. It is kind of complicated, but the rule book does spell it out as to how to make the necessary calculations to come to the correct weight and class.

I hope this answers your question, if you have any others, feel free to ask and I will do my best to help.

Gary Merrick

novadude · #**143** 12-19-2016, 06:28 PM

I would imagine that "stock" is moving far away from stock parts as more and more items become NHRA approved. From what I can tell, the port shape on those Edelbrock castings and GMPP intake look nothing like the OEM L78 parts. Can someone be competitive with the "NHRA approved" stuff using real GM castings from 50 years ago?

**GM_427_Racer** · #**144** 12-20-2016, 12:20 AM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: novadude</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would imagine that "stock" is moving far away from stock parts as more and more items become NHRA approved. From what I can tell, the port shape on those Edelbrock castings and GMPP intake look nothing like the OEM L78 parts. Can someone be competitive with the "NHRA approved" stuff using real GM castings from 50 years ago? </div></div>

novadude,

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, however, unless you have x-ray vision or you have a set of Edelbrock heads and Chevrolet intake manifold as described above in front of you for comparison, I don't know how you can make the statement "the port shape on those Edelbrock castings and GMPP intake look nothing like the OEM L78 parts". NHRA makes the rules and if they say that these parts are legal for replacement, then it is up to the individual racer to decide what parts they want to run. Obviously, I did not mention it, but all of the above replacement parts are interchangeable with an original Mark IV block. NHRA mandates the cc's requirements on intake ports, exhaust ports and combustion chambers to maintain the integrity of the stock dimensions, also included are valve dimensions including diameters, stem size and weight of the valve. All of those cc measurements were obtained in the mid to late 1980's off of stock big block L78 parts. The one big difference between the replacement heads and the old iron is the combustion chamber cc's have been changed since both the aluminum 401 Chevrolet Head and the Edelbrock replacement head (Edelbrock did the castings for the aluminum Chevrolet 401 head) are both the open chamber design, rather than the closed chamber design as were the originals back in the 60's and 1970, so that the compression ratio is correct for the year claimed. If the intake runners or exhaust ports are bigger than the NHRA specification and/or the combustion chamber is smaller than the specification and the tech department does a random check or if you get torn down for setting a National Record, and these dimensions are not correct, NHRA will tell you that you cannot race at their events for one year from the time of the infraction. After the year suspension they will also require you to bring the heads to them, they will cc them and then you can re-assemble them to the engine before you can compete at that event. Stock is the most regulated class in NHRA racing and I will agree that a lot of the requirements have been relaxed over the years due to the unavailability of stock parts, but dimensionally, the requirements regarding various weights and dimensions are still in the rule book and are enforced. Are there racers that stretch the rules, of course there are, but in my humble opinion, they are just kidding themselves if they decide to go outside of the spirit of the rules.

To answer your other question, I think the original heads can be very competitive, in fact between the original iron head and the aluminum head, NHRA imposes an increase of 5 horsepower, so you have to weigh more depending on which class you are running if you choose to run the "new" replacement aluminum heads. My original engine had cast iron heads (291 castings) that could have been updated, but I chose to go to the aluminum heads (even though there is the horsepower penalty), but I did it anyway since I am getting old and the iron heads are approximately 40 lbs per head heavier than the aluminum and with two broken wrists, it is getting harder for me to pick them up.

Above statements are my opinion, and as I said you are entitled to your opinion.

Gary Merrick

**DW31S** · #**145** 12-20-2016, 01:16 PM

Lots to read and learn from these posts. I see you are friends with Sweitzer....I see him a lot at the sale. I'm sure we have crossed paths and probably share a lot of racing buddies; MacNeish, Totaro, and on and on. My hat is off to you to be able to race competitively with such an elite group. NHRA Stockers are extremely intricate and few outside of the racing fraternity understand what it's all about. I chose the nostalgia route as my real racing days are behind me. It's not that we don't want to win, it's just that we don't really care when we don't. Eventually, my Camaro will be like the Bryan Adams song lyrics "back in the summer of '69" and hope to have power trains for the three classes the car competed in. You're rubbing elbows with some of the sport's finest and your cars reflect it in both presentation and time slip numbers. I'll be sure to stop and say "Hi" at one of next year's events. Merry Christmas, my friend.

Dave Siltman

**GM_427_Racer** · #**146** 12-21-2016, 12:00 AM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DW31S</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Lots to read and learn from these posts. I see you are friends with Sweitzer....I see him a lot at the sale. I'm sure we have crossed paths and probably share a lot of racing buddies; MacNeish, Totaro, and on and on. My hat is off to you to be able to race competitively with such an elite group. NHRA Stockers are extremely intricate and few outside of the racing fraternity understand what it's all about. I chose the nostalgia route as my real racing days are behind me. It's not that we don't want to win, it's just that we don't really care when we don't. Eventually, my Camaro will be like the Bryan Adams song lyrics "back in the summer of '69" and hope to have power trains for the three classes the car competed in. You're rubbing elbows with some of the sport's finest and your cars reflect it in both presentation and time slip numbers. I'll be sure to stop and say "Hi" at one of next year's events. Merry Christmas, my friend.

Dave Siltman </div></div>

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the nice comments.

I only know Steve Sweitzer from his racing reputation, which he is an excellent racer, although I have not seen his car in recent years. The reason his name was on the door of the 70 Camaro is because the previous owner and Steve are good friends, in fact I was told Wes McCracken (the former owner) works for Steve a few days a week currently. MacNeish and Totaro are also very good racers by their reputations, both are either current NHRA Record Holders and/or maybe previous record holders, but I have never had the pleasure of meeting either one. I have not been traveling a lot to the east coast for quite a few years, although, I do plan to make a few more trips over that way next year, time will tell.

If you are at a race and I am there, please stop by and we can shoot the breeze. Good Luck on your nostalgia project, racing with three different powertrains sounds like it will be a lot of work, no doubt you will be quite busy and I hope you see many WIN lights.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and also, I wish you a Happy New Year!!!

Gary Merrick

**Xplantdad** · #**147** 12-21-2016, 12:13 AM

Gary...I for one, enjoy the heck out of your posts. Please continue! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

ds1 · #**148** 12-21-2016, 11:51 AM

Sweitzer's car was for sale on Racingjunk. 39k. I told Joe on one of my trips to see him. Also Rick Wolfe Cuda has been for sale a few times in the last two years. Wes had a service station near Lock Haven. I grew up watching all those guys run and test at my home track. Wes used to run IHRA Hot Rod with Norm Szymachi. Norm only runs about 3 to 4 times a year anymore. Joe sold his last car and is done also.

**GM_427_Racer** · #**149** 12-21-2016, 10:53 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Xplantdad</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gary...I for one, enjoy the heck out of your posts. Please continue! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img] </div></div>

Thanks Bruce,

If someone has a question about my Yenko or NHRA drag racing, I will be more than happy to respond.

Gary Merrick

**GM_427_Racer** · #**150** 12-21-2016, 11:00 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ds1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Sweitzer's car was for sale on Racingjunk. 39k. I told Joe on one of my trips to see him. Also Rick Wolfe Cuda has been for sale a few times in the last two years. Wes had a service station near Lock Haven. I grew up watching all those guys run and test at my home track. Wes used to run IHRA Hot Rod with Norm Szymachi. Norm only runs about 3 to 4 times a year anymore. Joe sold his last car and is done also. </div></div>

ds1,

I do remember seeing his car on racing junk for sale a while ago. I guess a lot of guys are dialing it back for various reasons, my plan is to keep going until it is not fun anymore. When that happens, I will hang it up too. Hopefully, I will go for quite a few years, can't golf, don't like to fish, so old muscle cars and drag racing are the only way to go for me.

Gary Merrick