Since Camaro's 1967 debut, a six-cylinder engine ('67-'79, I-6; '80-'02 and '10-up V6) has been either standard or for four years in the early-’80s when General Motors made the awful mistake of an inline-four for a base engine, a midlevel option.

For the Camaro's first ten years, V8s outsold sixes by a considerable margin, but in 1977, with our country in the throes of an agonizing gasoline shortage, V6s sold on par with V8s. From then on, until production temporarily ceased after model year 2002 (MY02), six-cylinder market penetration averaged 50.4% and for MY93-02, V6es sold 62.4%. Bottom line, there’s a ton of sixes out there, especially in fourth generation Camaros and that trend is sure to continue with the fifth generation 2010-up cars.

One reason V6es sold well towards the end of the 4th Gen era was the 200-hp, 3.8-liter engine introduced in halfway through 1995. Called “3800 Series 2”, it’s the unblown version of the supercharged motor used up to MY05 in the Impala and Monte Carlo SSes. By mid-'90s standards, for buyers looking for a sporty coupe but for whom performance was a consideration but not the most important one, this offered a more affordable alternative to the V8-powered Z28s and SSes.

Back in late-'05 and early-'06, when gas prices went bonkers, visitors to our parent company, Tom Henry Racing (THR) asked about V6es. Aftermarket companies tell us demand for V6 performance products has grown indicating interest in hot-rodding those cars. There are even web sites devoted to V6 Camaros at www.camarov6.com and www.3800pro.com/forum/.
We decided to jump on the bandwagon, acquire a 2001 Camaro V6, 5-speed and try some mods. We're calling the car a "Tom Henry RS", in honor of the famed V8-powered Tom Henry SS "tuner" Camaros of '01 and '02. Since we're starting this project in the dead of winter, we've farmed the job out to THR's, West Coast development "laboratory" near Los Angeles.

Our goal is more exciting street performance, not building a drag race car. In addition this project is a little bit of "what-if". We want to modify the engine to about the 300-hp level to match the performance of a 2010 Camaro. Additionally, we're going to modify the suspension of this 4th Gen V6 and see what happens.

Our engine mods will pass a state exhaust emissions test and won't degrade low-end torque. Our suspension enhancements will improve handling but will still have the car riding reasonably nice enough for commuting over the rough surfaces of freeway/expressway systems in cities with the worst roads in the country, such as Philadelphia, Detroit and Los Angeles.

Before we start working, let's talk about service data because information is power–power over your Camaro if you work on it yourself. Unless you’re an experienced Camaro technician, you need a factory service manual (FSM) from Helm, Inc., publisher of GM all service data. Our 2001 Chevrolet Camaro Service Manual was indispensable in preparing this series.



A downside of the factory manual is cost. Some of the stuff we are going to do to the Tom Henry RS is discussed in the less-expensive, 1993-2002 Camaro Haynes Repair Manual.While the Haynes omits some front suspension information, suggests some questionable tool choices, and erroneously states you can’t work on the brakes without a scan tester; it's an acceptable reference for those on a tight budget doing regular maintenance or basic repairs. On the other hand, if you're getting into engine controls diagnosis or heavy mod'ing, buy the FSM.

What about parts? Most of the GM and aftermarket parts we're going to use during the next 12-months or so can be sourced from Tom Henry Racing, the performance parts sales division of Tom Henry Chevrolet. In the case of the few parts which can't be purchased from THR, we'll tell you where to get them.

The staff of Tom Henry Racing's parts operations, headed by Parts Manager, Stan Lorence, stands ready to assist any Camaro Homepage visitor in finding Camaro parts. Additionally, the people at Tom Henry Racing's Service Department, headed by Manager, Cory Henderson, can install many of the modifications discussed in this series.

First Mods

After wheels and tires, perhaps the most popular aftermarket modification performed by Camaro fans is the addition of an aftermarket exhaust system. Flowmaster’s American Thunder system for ‘98-’02 Camaros with 3800 V6es (PN 17358) has larger, 2.5-in. aluminized pipe, an 80-series muffler and stainless steel tips, all typical Flowmaster features. It's unique part is a resonator, cleverly-packaged beneath the passenger-side rear seat. Flowmaster says that certain frequencies of V6 noise are difficult to attenuate and this resonator facilitates that. One Saturday, we got the car up on jack stands and installed the American Thunder system using hand tools. We demanded increased performance, improved sound and better appearance. Flowmaster’s cat-back got us all three.

Chassis dynamometer testing will be a key part of this project series. All of our chassis dyno work will be done by the Westech Performance Group in Mira Loma, California. Westech's owner, Rick Stoner is a long time Chevrolet enthusiast and owns a number of Chevy hot rods and classic Corvettes. Westech's key specialties are dynamometer testing, both engine and chassis, and custom engine building. Westech’s SuperFlow SF840 chassis dynamometer is a state-of-art piece of equipment which can be run in either the "brake dyno" or "inertia dyno" modes. For simple performance validation, Dynamometer Test Technician Ernie Mena typically runs the SF840 as an inertia dyno.



Westech's Superflow showed our V6 with the Flowmaster American Thunder exhaust system gained a hair over 11, horsepower (SAE-corrected) at the rear wheels and road test numbers backed that up. Using a Vericom VC3000 Performance Computer, an on-board vehicle dynamics tester, we saw 0-to-60 time decrease from 7.83 to 7.44-sec. and quarter mile stats going from 16.15-sec./89.14-mph to 15.87/90.69.

Eleven horsepower and nearly two tenths and a mile-and-a-half an hour in the quarter is an outstanding improvement for just an exhaust change on a car which, in stock trim, made only 162-hp (SAE) at the wheels. Clearly, the O.E. exhaust is restrictive. In addition, it was too quiet, sounded funky and had ugly tail pipes. The American Thunder system gives that deep-toned, trademark Flowmaster sound and its stainless outlets look a lot better. The Aussies at Holden, who are doing most of the vehicle development of the 2010 Camaro, need to listen to our project car so they won't make the same mistake made by GM on the 4th Gen car and put a wimpy exhaust on V6es.
At Tom Henry Racing we put lubricants from the Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation in a lot of customers' modified, street high-performance Chevrolets. From the Cobalt SS Supercharged to the Impala SS and from the Camaro to the Corvette Z06, just about any hot rod Chevy can benefit from Red Line's premium synthetic products.

In this project car, we used Red Line 10W30 Engine Oil, Red Line Power Steering Fluid in the power rack-and-pinion steering system, a 50/50 mix of Red Line D4 ATF and Red Line MTL in the car's TREMEC T-5, five-speed transmission and Red Line Heavy Shockproof Gear Lubricant in the rear axle. The gain was slight, 1.5hp (SAE) at the wheels, so the chief advantage of Red Line products is their enhanced thermal stability and the better durability of powertrain components which comes from that. There’s also the possibility of extended engine oil drain intervals, if we choose.
We wanted an oiled cotton air filter so we added a “Green Filter” (PN 2021) we got from THR. While many filters have cotton media, a Green uses two layers of woven cotton which are thinner, stronger and hold filter oil better than the gauze used by K&N and others. The Green Filter people say that, because it’s woven, the thinner material still traps particles as small as 5 microns. More interesting is what they claim about filters with injection-molded edges. During molding, rubber can leak onto the filter which reduces its area. Since a Green’s edges aren’t injection molded; that can’t happen. When we compared a Green to an injection molded K&N Filter, sure enough; we noticed that difference.

Dyno runs, quarter mile testing and aggressive street driving made colder spark plugs desirable, so we installed Denso IT-20 Iridium Power plugs which are sold by THR. The IT-20 is one heat range colder and its iridium tip is more durable but has less resistance than the stock platinum, AC Delco plugs that were in the engine when we started. The Densos' small, 0.4-mm center electrode and tapered ground electrode give the spark maximum exposure to the incoming, air-fuel charge. We should add that even General Motors must see merit in the Denso spark plug design because after about 2004, some Chevrolets have Densos from the factory.

We put MSD’s Super Conductor plug wires (PN 32089) on our modified 3800. Their design came out of stock car and road racing several years ago. They have low resistance but radio frequency interference (RFI) suppression equal that of stock wires. The Super Conductor core is Kevlar around which is a tightly-wound, copper wire. A foot this stuff has about 40-feet of coiled wire which acts like an RF choke and suppresses RFI. The outer sleeve is heat, abrasion and tear resistant. Add super grippy connectors and durable, heat-resistant silicone boots, the choice of black or red and you’ve got a great plug wire. Super Conductors’ lower resistance increases the performance margin of our ignition system, which could come in handy later, and the high suppression keeps the Tom Henry RS's Monsoon sound system noise-free.

We stuck a Stant 180° thermostat (PN 45848) in place of the stock 195° unit. Running the cooling system at 180° may reduce the engine’s tendency to detonate and will improve durability of underhood rubber and plastic. Next we swapped the O.E. drive belt for a Goodyear Gatorback Poly-V belt (PN 4060940). Its diamond-checked back allows the Gatorback to run up to 15° cooler, extending belt life. Lastly, we added a bottle of Red Line WaterWetter to the coolant. WatterWetter can improve cooling performance when the engine is run hard.
Speaking of Goodyear, the last big American tire company, its Eagle F1 GS-D3 is a killer, all-weather, ultraperformance radial tire. It has good dry traction and, by virtue of its distinctive tread pattern which aggressively channels water away from the tread, great performance on wet roads. It also has excellent tread life and low noise characteristics. Lastly, it has Goodyear’s neat “Rim-Guard” feature which lowers the chance of wheel damage if we scrape a curb. We swapped the stock, T-rated, 235/55R16s for a GS-D3s in P245/50ZR16. As these Z28-sized tires fit on our stock 16x8-in. wheels, the switch was simple. We ordered the GS-D3s from Tucker Tire in Covina California, then had Tucker’s professionals mount and balance them.
Now, we needed a little DIY computer reprogramming. We used a Hypertech Power Programmer (PN 30009) to lower our engine control module's (ECM) fan-on temperatures to match the 180° thermostat, to alter the vehicle speed limiter above what was stock with T-rated tires and optimize the speedometer calibration for the slightly-smaller-diameter, Goodyear F1 GS-D3s.

Working a Little Harder

The first mods where easy but now, we’ll earn our pay. Under the back of this Camaro was that gleaming Flowmaster exhaust but a nasty-looking rear end. We didn’t want to take the rear end apart to have the housing grit blasted before we could paint it because, then we’d have to set-up the gears. Not!

The Eastwood Company has a paint called “Rust Encapsulator” which spokesman, John Sloane, told us, “...is a slow-cure enamel, fortified with a fine glass-flake amendment which seals the surface.”

Seal the surface and rusting virtually stops. “R.E.” can be used alone or as a primer, over which you can apply just about any paint. It’s intended for spray application after thinning with 20% lacquer thinner, but can be brushed on, if you add 10% retarder.

We plugged the brake hose connection on the chassis, then got the Camaro’s axle out, stripped-off the brakes, capped-off the caliper hoses, masked its vent and ABS sensor connection.

Some aftermarket service data, like the Haynes Repair Manual, claims you shouldn’t remove brake components because that lets air in the system then a scan tester is required to bled it. That’s bunk. It is true that, in the unlikely situation that you loose enough brake fluid such that the ABS brake valve drains, you need the scan tester to bleed the ABS; however, when you remove the rear axle or the front calipers, immediately plug the connections on the chassis and the brake hoses. Once you reconnect the brake plumbing, bleed the brakes manually to get the small amount of air out of the lines and hoses and you're set.

Next we cleaned the rear axle with warm water and Simple Green using a Karcher 2650HH Pressure Washer we bought at Costco. We blew the axle dry with shop air, masked-off the brake hoses and the parking brake levers then painted it with Rust Encapsulator (PN16040Z). After overnight drying, we shot it with Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black (PN11175Z). After a second overnight dry we reinstalled the axle, reassembled the brakes then bled the rear calipers.
Global West Suspension Systems, an engineering-driven manufacturer of high-performance suspension pieces for Camaros and other Chevys, has a brand called “Quiet Ride”. These products combine polyurethane or rubber bushings with spherical bearings for a decrease in deflection but only a modest increase in harshness. Quiet Ride parts are for high-performance street use, not racing, and are available from Tom Henry Racing.



We bolted-on Quiet Ride tubular steel, rear control arms (PN TBC14) which fit ‘82-’02 Camaros and offer an increase in rigidity over the stamped-steel stockers. GW arms use a Moog, rubber bushing in the body end and a spherical bearing on the axle end. These arms can be installed in an hour.
Next, we ordered Eibach Springs and Bilstein high-pressure, gas shocks. The rear Eibachs are a stiffer, progressive rate design, dual-rated at 75 and 135 pounds-per-inch. They lower the car about 1.5-in. and are part of the “Pro Kit” (PN 3870.240) for V6 Camaros. The Bilsteins' (PN B46-1914) stiffer damping is an excellent match for our spring rates and ride height. We added a 19-mm, Z28 rear stabilizer bar. We used the production Camaro mounts and end links but installed Global West polyurethane link bushings (PN 19-428).


We finished the rear with a Global West, Quiet Ride Trackbar (PN PHC3), an improvement over the flimsy, rubber-bushed stocker. Made of tubular steel with a poly bushing in one end and a bearing in the other, it’s a stiffer lateral link so suspension deflection during cornering is reduced. It’s adjustable for length, so the body can be centered, regardless of ride height. All these rear suspension parts came from Tom Henry Racing.
On to the front suspension. We pulled off the front brakes, popped the ball joints loose then removed the steering knuckles, the struts and the front control arms. Let's take a minute to expand upon the subject of polyurethane suspension parts. "Poly" is common in suspension upgrades, however, it's not appropriate in all situations. Urethane is more rigid than rubber so, on a car with ride travel typical of road cars, when a suspension nears compression and rebound limits, urethane can bind suspensions which have control arms which twist as well as move up-and-down. Examples are rear bushings in 4th-gen front lower arms or the bushings in the rear arms. On the street, if you want reduced deflection, it’s better to use high-durometer-rubber bushings from the FE7 suspension. Some may know these as “1LE bushings”, though they were on cars other than 1LEs. These bushings noticeably decrease deflection, however, they won't bind the suspension on street cars nor are they overly harsh.

We ordered stock, FE7 front lower bushings (PN 22145392 and 22156434) from the Tom Henry Racing. We, also, ordered Moog’s “enhanced design” lower ball joints (PN 6145T) which have pressed-in rather than folded-over bottom plates and come with grease fittings, both durability and performance upgrades. Moog is a supplier to NASCAR, so if they’re good enough for the Busch and Cup guys; they’re good enough for us.

Both the bushings and the ball-joints have to be pressed-in. Since we were ordering the parts from THR, we shipped the arms to Tom Henry Chevrolet's Service Department and had them run next door and get the parts, install them and ship the arms back. Finally, we wet-abraded the lower arms using Standard Abrasives Medium BriteRite Pads with hot Simple Green and water. We dried them with shop air then, then shot them with Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black.
When reinstalling control arms with rubber bushings, have the arms at ride height while tightening the bolts. Bushings don't rotate, they twist. Tighten the bolts with the suspension hanging and, when it returns to ride height; the bushings are constantly twisted. When the suspension nears full compression, they’ll really be twisted, which can damage the bushings. Also, with the rear bushing in the front lower arm of a 4th-gen car, if you tighten the bolt with the suspension hanging, the bushing may turn off-axis in the crossmember. If that happens, setting alignment is difficult, the misaligned bushing can cause increased harshness and the crossmember and bushing may be damaged.

We disassembled the front strut assemblies, scrapped the stock springs and shocks then installed the stock spring seats, 377 lb/in. front springs out of the Eibach Pro Kit and the stock upper spring mounts onto two Bilstein shocks (PN B46-1913).
The Tom Henry service department uses a high-dollar, J-tool jig in a hydraulic press to assemble 4th-gen front struts, equipment out-of-reach of most DIYs. You can use ordinary strut compressors if you orient the shock’s lower mounting bar and the upper strut mount in specific positions while tightening the shock absorber nut.

Your “jig” is your garage or shop floor. Each strut mount has two threaded studs and a rubber pin near its front edge. Once the struts are assembled with the springs compressed, the springs’ upper ends seated in the strut mounts and the shock absorber nuts loose, lay the struts with the front edge of each mount flat on the floor. Rotate the left shock so the end of its lower mounting bar is flat on the floor and (looking at the strut top) inclined down to the right (pointed outside the vehicle). Rotate the right shock so the end of its mounting bar is flat on the floor with (looking at the strut top) the crossbar inclined downwards to the left (pointed outside the vehicle). Now, tighten the shock nut and remove the spring compressors and you’re ready to stick your struts back on the car.
Next, we had the Tom Henry Service Department install Global West Del-A-Lum “bushings” in the car's stock uppper control arms. Del-A-Lums are not really bushings but Delrin/Aluminum composite suspension bearings. Swapping the stock rubber bushings for Global's parts eliminate deflection of the front upper arms under cornering loads which makes the car's handling more predictable and consistent. Since the Tom Henry RS is still primarily a street car, the Del-A-Lums in the uppers and the production 1LE rubber bushings we installed in the lower control arms make a great combination. The lower arms take virtually all the impact loads, so keeping rubber in those arms allows us to retain a modest level of compliance to keep impact harshness and noise at an acceptable level. Since we had the upper arms off, once the Del-A-Lums were in place we, also, added new, Moog heavy-duty ball joints (PN K6462) to the arms.


We assembled the arms and the control arm mounting brackets then stuck the refurbished lower arms, the Eibach/Bilstein struts, the mod'ed upper arms, the steering knuckles, a pair of Moog tie rod ends (PN ES3238RL) and all the brake hardware back on the car.


While we're on the subject of doing the job right, let's talk about tools. Marketed by SPX Kent-Moore, GMs supplier of service equipment, specialized tools (Techs at Tom Henry Chevrolet Service call them “J-Tools”) are sometimes needed. J-Tools for bushing installation and strut assembly are not necessary, however, the “Caster/Camber Adjusting Tool” (J-38658) is required. You can’t adjust camber without it because you end-up tightening the bushing bolts with the suspension hanging.

Our front suspension upgrade ended with a stock Z28, 30-mm front stabilizer bar from and Global West polyurethane mounts (PN 19-1146) and links (PN 19-409) from THR.

With suspension mods done for now, we bolted the Goodyear F1 GS-D3s back on and took the Tom Henry RS to Tucker Tire for front end alignment and to center the rear using the GW Track Bar’s adjustment.
Just One More Thing
The final step in Part One of the Tom Henry RS project was to install a set of SLP Performance Parts, 1.8:1-ratio, rocker arms on the car's 3800 V6. These come in a kit that includes .300-in. longer pushrods and new GM rocker arm bolts. Longer pushrods are required because the SLP rocker's pushrod seat is 3/10th of an inch higher than stock and the new bolts are necessary because the O.E. units are "torque-to-yield" fasteners which cannot be reused


The stock rocker ratio is 1.6:1. Higher ratio rocker arms offer more valve lift and duration for a given lobe lift. The stock cam for an unblown 3800 has .256-in. lobe lift. With that cam, valve lift with stock rockers is .410" but with the SLP 1.8s, it's .460". Generally, more valve lift means more air into the engine and more power out.

Another difference between the SLP 1.8s and the stock rockers is 0.5-oz. less weight per rocker. In theory, a lighter rocker taking mass out of the valvetrain should improve the engine's ability to "RPM", however, right now, the engine in the Tom Henry RS peaks at 5000 rpm and we've still got the stock rev. limiter in the ECM calibration so even if the SLPs do offer an advantage at high rpm, at this point; we can't use it.

With the SLP rockers installed, we went back to the chassis dyno at Westech. In a series of six passes on their Superflow 840, three with stock rockers and three with the SLP 1.8s, the results were mixed. At 4900-5000 rpm we saw just a hair less than a 6-hp average increase, but below 3400 rpm, we saw as much as a 3.5-hp loss. This increase up high but a loss down low is typical of adding both lift and duration. Nevertheless, from 3700-up, there's a consistent increase so, in the real world, on the street or the drag strip, you might see a slight decrease in e.t.
This particular 1.8 rocker is not available direct from SLP but is sold by LM Performance. The manufacturer of these rockers was Yella Terra, an Australian company which makes performance products for 3800 Series II V6es (down-under, they call it the "Ecotec 3800") and private-labeled them for SLP. Once LMPerformance sells out of the SLP 1.8s, V6 Camaro DIYs will be able to get to Yella Terra's "second-design" 3.8 rocker which is available in both 1.8:1 and 1.7:1 ratios. Later in this project we'll acquire a set of the Yella Terra 1.8s and test them but, for now, the SLPs work quite well.

We'll be back in about two months with the second installment of the Tom Henry RS built-up in which we'll really roll-up our sleeves and turn some wrenches. We'll start with cylinder head modifications.

Sources:

All the GM parts and most of the aftermarket parts discussed in this article are available from Tom Henry Racing at www.tomhenryracing.com. The products not available from THR are listed below: