These parts saved us from the valve float problems we experienced during previous parts of this project. At one time we were unable to get the engine to run hard above 5700 rpm or so because of that. A little less valvetrain mass in the Yella Terra Ultralite rockers and Katech titanium retainers and a little more spring pressure from Katech valve springs and the valve float was eliminated. The engine pulls safely to it's 6200 rpm rev limiter. Image: CHpg Staff.

           A goal of this project was to have a 250-hp engine and pass an exhaust emissions test–not just any old "sniffer" test, either. It had to be the stringent "Enhanced Smog Check" required in the State of California's urban areas. Similar tests may be required in a few other states. We took the Camaro to Quality Auto Service in Pomona, California to see if the engine would pass with the modifications to date. Owner, Mike Garibay, is well-versed in emissions testing and service work. His shop is one of our favorite general repair facilities because of its good customer service.

           The Enhanced test combines inspection of emissions parts with an exhaust gas test taken while the car runs on a moderately-loaded chassis dyno at both 15 and 25 mph. We easily passed the test. In fact, Garibay commented that he didn't see very many mod'ed cars that ran so clean.

            Like some racing-derived  performance enhancements, this one has compromises for road cars. When it comes to noise, TracLink is not for the faint-hearted because, since it dispenses with the large rubber isolator at the front end of the torque beam, powertrain noise and vibration in the interior increases. We totally want the Global West TracLink's positive affect on acceleration and handing, so we'll take the noise, however, those expecting Camaros with modified suspensions to have interior noise-and-vibes levels the same as or close to stock should carefully consider this product.

           The TracLink installation was done by Global West's technicians at its factory in San Bernardino, California and included the addition of "Rear Anti-Squat Brackets" (PN VTC-27). These brackets must be welded to the rear axle housing. Once in place, they compliment the TracLink by further improving traction exiting turns. Additionally, they are ideal for a lowered car because they further alter rear suspension geometry such that its instantaneous center moves to a point more appropriate when ride height is reduced.  That change increases the rear suspension's percentage of anti-squat such that that car tends to hook better during hard acceleration.

          Lastly, these brackets have two positions for the rear control arm pivots allowing drag racers to adjust the car's bite for track conditions or changes in ride height. With the TracLink and Anti-Squat Bracket installations complete, we bid all the good people at Global West farewell and headed back to our shop.

          The Fikse (it's "fick-sea" not "fis-ski", by the way) Profils are awesome-looking wheels. Because Fikses are so light for a street wheel, we could go from a 16x8 to a 17x9.5 yet not increase unsprung weight, but we expected this, considering their racing pedigree–cars on Fikses have won both the World's preeminent endurance races, the 24 Hours of Daytona (4 times!) and the 24 Hours of LeMans.

          The Fikse Profil 5S is a modular design with a rotary-forged, CNC-machined, clear powder-coated, aluminum center. The rims are forged, heat-treated aluminum. "TechniPolish" is Fikse‘s standard finish and features a robust, liquid-cured clearcoat on the diamond-turned center section. The mirror-polished rims are left polished and uncoated to allow for touch-ups as needed in case of minor scrapes.

While brothers Matt and Jim Fikse (yep, it's a family operation with their name on the building) couldn't share specific manufacturing secrets with us, they did reveal that, unlike most wheel companies, Fikse USA manufactures its own centers and rim halves. Having done that since 1992, makes Fikse one of the few companies in the U.S. that controls the wheel-making process from start to finish. Doing that enables it to maintain a high level of quality few manufacturers can equal and none exceed. Fikse builds 4th Gen. Camaro wheels in two offsets, 38mm and 51mm. We chose the 38s because they slightly widen the car's track for a better look.

Needless to say, Fikses are not cheap, so wheel locks are manditory to deter theft. Initially, we reused the stock Camaro wheel locks but they didn't look very good. The Profils come with high-quality, McGard wheel nuts so we went looking for a set of McGard's locks, figuring they'd better match the nuts' appearance.

McGard makes perhaps the best wheel lock in the industry. They're made of hardened steel...not just "case-hardened," but hardened throughout and tempered. Like most locks, they require a special "key tool" and the design of the key and the pattern in the lock allow a virtually unlimited number of computer-generated combinations.
 

To install or remove the lock, the key's collar, aligns the key to the lock. All you need to is gently push the key over the lock then turn the key until the patterns engage. McGard locks are nickel-chrome plated. Basically, these locks will probably outlast the car. The simple function, outstanding security and excellent durability of the McGard design might be why they're OE on some 30 car lines, worldwide.

Jumping from the F1 GS-D3 to Goodyear's ultimate, dry traction tire, the wider, more grippy, F1 Supercar; improved straight line bite, cornering power and steering response. The Supercar, in 265/40ZR17, was originally developed for the C5 Corvette Z06 and is one of only a few tires which bridges the gap between all-round, ultraperformance tires, such as the "D3", and DOT-approved, radial road race tires which are not acceptable for general street use because of short tread life and almost nonexistent, wet traction. While the F1 Supercar is more sticky than what we took off, admittedly it's not the drag race tire that a "drag radial" from Goodrich, Nitto or Goodyear might be. Perhaps we'll try one of them in the future.

The main advantages to the Tom Henry RS with the F1 Supercars are improved at-limit handling due to more traction coming from a wider tread, more aggressive rubber compound and a tread block design skewed towards handling. Additionally, the F1 Supercar casing is designed to improve steering feel and response.

Where the Supercar gives-up a little to the F1 GS-D3 is in 1) wet traction--the D3's tread design is superior when it comes to channeling water away from the contact patch 2) tread life--because the Supercar has softer rubber and more shallow grooves--and 3) noise and harshness.

We hauled the Fikses and Goodyears over to Covina, California's Tucker Tire Service Co, where they were mounted and balanced. On return to our shop, we stuck the THRS up on jacks and swapped the tires and wheels then torqued the McGard nuts and locks. Man...those Fikses and F1 Supercars are just so damn pretty!

Some failure caused by our mods? Hardly!

After doing the "cranks but won't run" diagnosis in the Camaro Service Manual, we figured the fuel pump was bad. We pulled the exhaust–potentially a nightmare job made easier with Eastwood's "EZ-Pull" exhaust joint separating tool (PN 43583)–drained the fuel, got the gas tank out, pulled the pump "bucket" and bench-tested it.

          The THRS needed better headlights–not cute, blue bulbs, either. We wanted lighting which works, so we installed Harrison-Toshiba, Halogen Infrared Reflective (HIR) bulbs (PNs 9011, 9012) from Daniel Stern Lighting, a performance lighting components distributor. Not "over-wattage", blue-tinted stockers, Harrison-Toshiba bulbs' critical dimensions are the same as O.E., so they fit right into the stock Camaro light assemblies. They use HIR technology which eliminates the short life, greater heat production and higher current draw of over-wattage bulbs. Their power consumption is the same as stock, yet the low beam produces 87% more light and the high-beam, 50% more light. Stern's HIRs enhanced our nighttime driving safety.

An HIR bulb (right) must be modified by trimming the tab in the areas shown inside the arrows. The resulting tab is shorter and more narrow. Trimming is easy with a pair of wire cutters. Image: CHpg Staff

About the time we finished the headlight bulb installation, our Mac Tools truck stopped out in front–perfect on a day which was slow out in the shop and the day after pay day. We spent some more money with the Mac man and acquired additional tools to make our project less tedious. Ratcheting combination wrenches are the rage these days and we'd been slow to get hip to that sitch, but not any longer. From Mac Tools, we picked up two sets of them for SAE (PN SRW27K) and metric (PN SRWM212K)  fasteners. These wrenches are in the "Mac Edge" line, all of which use some unique "socket" technology which makes using a combination wrench use easier.

          The original thermal insulation on the engine's fuel hoses needed replacement and we wanted to insulate other fuel system parts near the engine, too. We cut the tattered O.E. stuff away and replaced it with Design Engineering's Heat Sheath (PN 010419), using longer lengths to insulate more of the hoses. We used DEI Cool Tape (PN 010413) to bond the Sheaths to the hoses. We cut a 7x10" square of DEI Floor and Tunnel Shield (PN 050503) to cover the ends of the hard fuel lines adjacent to the left exhaust manifold. All this was to keep the fuel cooler. More Cool Tape repaired insulation on crankshaft and camshaft position sensor wiring where it passes through a very hot area adjacent to the EGR valve. Lastly, in preparation for our header installation, we added DEI Protect-a-Boots to our MSD plug wires.

          To date, since the THRS is also a daily driver, we racked-up a lot of miles doing this project, so it was time for an oil change. We drained the oil, changed filters–we use the LT1 V8's larger, PF52–then poured-in five quarts of Red Line 10W30 synthetic engine oil. Since our V6 has no oil cooler, we're running it to higher rpm and we're making more power, 225° F oil temperature is not unusual and we see 250° on hot days at high speed. Red Line gives us a needed durability enhancement at those high temperature levels.

RPM data for the DPSS came from the ignition module's low-resolution, engine speed output, circuit #430, a purple/white wire going to pin #8 of the ECM's blue connector. This is a critical circuit. If there's a problem with it; the engine will not run, so the splice needs to be soldered and properly sealed.

          We passed on oil pan mounting for the oil temperature sensor because it required pan removal and welding. It was easier to remove the oil filter mount, drill into its output side and install the sensor there. Plus, that gave us a chance to use a Standard Abrasives Porting Kit (PN 260001) to deburr and polish inside of the passage which runs from the filter to the block's main oil feed. 

          Our next THRS work session occurred right after FeEx Ground kicked our Racetronix shipment off the back of their truck. Since we're eventually going to add nitrous to the Tom Henry RS, we needed a pump upgrade, anyway. The Racetronix High-Performance Fuel System (PN W1-FPK-2) for '99-up V6 Camaros fits the bill. It consists of a high-volume pump assembly, the core of which is a Walbro 255 gerotor pump, and an auxiliary wiring harness. The Racetronix's up-to-67 gal/hr. flow meets a nitrous-injected engine's greater fuel requirement with ease.

Some batteries provide enormous cranking power–others, deep cycle reserve power. EnerSys designs its products to do both. How so? One reason are flat plates made of pure lead rather than lead alloy. Pure lead plates can be made thinner, so more of them fit into the battery. Lots of plates mean more surface area and that means more power, up to two times that of some conventional batteries.

Odysseys are capable of providing five-second cranking pulses far in excess of their CCA ratings and that's often, two-to-three times the pulse rating of equally-sized conventional batteries, even at low temperatures. Odyssey's can handle deep cycles, too--as many as 400 charge-discharge cycles to 80% discharge.

The particular Odyssey (PN PC1230DT) we put in the Tom Henry RS is a dual terminal unit which EnerSys calls a "Group 75/86 battery". It has top terminals (typical of a 75) and the side terminals (typical of an 86) used in GM cars from the late-'60s to the mid-'00s. It's rated at 730 cold (30-sec. at 0°F) cranking amps and 1230 "starting pulse" amps (5-sec. at 68°F). This unit weighs 45.5 lbs, 10.2 lbs more than the O.E. Delco we took out. There are no free lunches. The Odyssey's extra plates cost some mass, but...we'll "loose it back" when we exchange the car's stock, cast iron manifolds for headers.

          Looking at our Fikse Profil 5S wheels, we decided the car's front view needed more visual accent, so we ordered SLP Performance Part's Replacement Grille (PN 50388). It's injection-molded, has a gloss black finish and carries a red Chevy Bowtie. It looks a heck of a lot better than the stock piece.

          First, we researched off-shelf headers for the V6 4th Gen F-car. RK Sport lists a header for the 3800 but at the time we were preparing this story, RK Sport told us that sales of that part had not been real good and that once stock ran out, it probably discontinue the product. Faced with testing and covering a product which, going forward, might not be available to readers; we moved on. Pacesetter also markets a shorty header for 3800s in Camaros, however, one part number covers all '95s to '02s and we read enough anecdotal accounts on the Internet of 98-02 V6 owners having difficulty with the EGR connection on the left header that we decided that product wasn't for us, either.

          Clear Image Automotive makes a shorty header for F-car 3800s that comes highly-recommended by anecdotal accounts on the Internet, however, in the pictures we saw on its web site, the left header has the same problem as do the Pacesetters–they won't bolt up to the 98-02 EGR. An email inquiry to Clear Image for more information went unanswered.

Confronted with one header which will be discontinued and three others which would require us to supply some level of fabrication and/or modification to get them to fit the car, we decided to accept an offer from Dawson Racing Headers to prototype a set of bolt-on, shorty headers for 3800 Series IIs in '98-'02 Camaros using our project car.

With the Whisper Lid in place, at the rear wheels, the Tom Henry RS peaked at 219.1 SAE horsepower at 5700 rpm and 214.0 pound/feet torque at 4600 rpm. Figuring 18% driveline loss that's 267-hp SAE at the flywheel, 17-hp more than our original goal of 250 and 70-hp more than stock. Not only is that an improvement–13-hp–over the last test in Pt. 3 (to see that data, click here), but that peak moved higher and the power curve extended to about 200-hp@6100 rpm whereas before, it dropped-off past 5500. From a drivability standpoint, for a V6, the Tom Henry RS is a stump puller on the street with a fat torque curve which is above 190 lbs/ft from 1900-6200 rpm. No doubt–Dawson Racing Headers along with all our other mods work very well!