I came out of a store the other day and found this. Someone had sloshed something onto my Vette. Not sure what it was – maybe some kind of juice. I don’t know what the thinking was behind this, but it’s not right to mess with another person’s property.
The car was fairly dirty, so I went and cleaned it. The juice washed right off, so it wasn’t the end of the world. I guess I should be glad my car didn’t get keyed.
Posted by Cam
One of my guilty pleasures is iPhone games. I’m not a big gamer (there are no console games I play), but every once in awhile I get smitten by something on the iPhone. But being smitten by a game pales in comparison to actually making a game. I thought I’d throw a quick shout out to Steve Middleton over at Lab 51 Games. I’ve know Steve since we were kids. He was always up to something interesting and his latest venture is an iPhone game company. So far he has a couple releases.
One of his current releases is a game called Water Logged. It’ a throwback to the water games popular in the 80’s. The nostalgia is worth a buck. Coming later this month is a new game called Flip the Bird. Be sure to check it out.
And just in case anyone is wondering what I’m playing – other than Lab 51 games – checkout Kingdom Rush and My Town 2 on the iPhone and iPad.
Posted by Cam, July 8, 2012
Fran has been busy packing to get ready for her trip to Reunion. She’ll be gone about three weeks and Cam will have to hold the fort down on his own (he seems pretty excited). Still a fairly busy week though!
Fran and the kids went to a Symphony at the Scera Sheel Outdoor theater. Too soon for culture? The kids seemed to have a hard time paying attention… until they played some of the music from Star Wars!
After running a few miles at the Lehi Legacy Center (no picture) Cam & Fran went to Sushi House to replenish their depleted energy reserves. Cam was sick most of the week but said he could “almost taste the sushi.”
Chloe’s teeth started coming in this week! They are hard to see, but just below her tongue there are two bottom teeth just starting to poke through. Teething babies probably don’t make good travel buddies. Wish Fran luck!
Claire and her friend decided that they should get jobs. No doubt inspired by their fathers they decided to take the entrepreneurial route and open a lemonade stand. They did all the work themselves! Milestone # 17 complete.
Saturday was a busy day! Cam & Fran ran the Lehi Round Up 5K. This time Fran edged Cam out for the win (crushed him really- but to be fair Cam was still fairly sick).
A couple of hours later the family (minus Cam- he fell asleep after the run) went to the Lehi Round Up parade. The kids got to walk next to the Ward float in the parade and throw candy to the onlookers.
In the afternoon Cam went to the baptisms of Rachel and Wesley (two students in the church class he teaches). Fran and the kids went to Legacy Center for kid’s swimming lessons. When everyone got back Cam played with the kids and Fran worked on trip preparations.
Later that night Cam represented the Hughes Family solo at Rachel‘s birthday party (Fran and the kids went to bed early). Rachel & Jason invited thirty people to play “Laser Tag” with Frontline Tactical in Provo. They always throw awesome birthday bashes!
Tomorrow Fran and the kids will be off! Stay tuned next week for updates from the Island
I know, I know- I said I wasn’t going to post here for awhile. But the other night I had to go pick up some area rugs. They are five feet long when rolled and there were quite a few of them. This is where the subwoofer design I picked really paid off.
I brought the rugs to the car, flipped the back seat down and popped all the rugs into the trunk utilizing the pass-through. I really don’t understand why the OEM subwoofer would remove this critical functionality. Anyway- glad I still have it (the functionality). I bought the Camaro thinking it would be a more practical car and it really is!
Posted by Cam, June 30, 2012
I haven’t quite figured out how comprehensive to be on this blog. This post has some silly things like an outing to Dollar Tree and Walmart (but to be fair the kids are so cute when they push a shopping cart). After some experimenting I’ve decided to do most of the text as captions. I’ve also opted to write everything from a third person point of view (to keep things consistent when other start adding posts).
Gabe celebrated his 5th birthday! In the morning he opened his presents. He got a bunch of cool stuff from his parents, siblings, grandparents and greatgrandma! In the afternoon he had a party with his friends. Gabe really likes being five.
On Friday Cam went to Premier Performance to dyno test his car in preparation for his upcoming Corvette adventures. 635rwhp- less than expected. But there’s nowhere to go but up!
Cam went to Bubs’ LAN party on Friday evening (Bubs works with Cam at Blade HQ). Now that a lot of the guys have wives there was a wonderful assortment of food! Cam was sad he had to leave early, but he had a Father and son activity that night.
Instead of going on a Father & Son camping trip Michael & Cam decided to go see Avengers at 9:45! (Gabe got to go too, but didn’t make it through the movie).
Meanwhile the girls were at home having a teas party with real tea & desserts.
A couple times a month the Hughes Family goes to the Asian Buffet in American Fork. Who gets fries at a Chinese restaurant? Our kids!
Cam got out his special markers and spent some time drawing with Claire. What a nice flamingo! Maybe Claire will grow up and become an artist.
Later Cam set up a Mini LAN game of Quake 3 and taught Michael how to play. A creative way to combat the withdrawal from earlier in the week, but Mike will need some extra practice to beat Dad.
Shopping with kids is always some weird kind of adorable nightmare. How can so much junk be so important? To be fair, some of the junk in the second picture is Mom’s.
The end of the week also brought some sickness- everyone came down with a cold. But there were still things to do! Ian Watson got back from his mission and had his homecoming today. We went to his church to hear him speak & then went to his family’s house afterwards to catch up. Welcome back Ian!
Ever the fighters Dad and the kids used what remained of their energy to play a few rounds of Bomberman (on a TurboGrafx 16 Emulator- Nerdy!)
Hopefully next week will be a little slower- we could all use some rest!
So the first step in this project was to get a baseline dyno from the shop where the car will be tuned. On Friday I took the car up to Premier. I had the opportunity to meet Brock and Heath and see the shop- great guys with a great setup.
We put the car on the Dyno and did a couple of pulls and the numbers came back around 600rwhp which seemed too low (it appeared that the boost controller & meth might not have been coming on initially). Heath let the car cool down and bit and then we did a run where we verified the car was using the meth tune.
On the best run the Vette put down 635rwhp. Better than before, but still way less than I was expecting (or had gotten using other Dynos). There are lots of factors to consider (heat, air quality, bigger alternator, car’s mood, etc), but truthfully 635 feels more correct to me. On the quarter I trap at 121mph and run a low 12’s. And in, ah… other venues similar horsepower cars and I are about the same speed (similar hp assuming my car is actually closer to 635rwhp).
Anyway- lower numbers are always disappointing, but it would explain a lot of things. And hey, the lower I start the higher I have to to go, right? Next step… sit here on my butt and wait for things to start showing up.
For the time being I don’t have any more plans for the Camaro. I don’t think there will be many updates on this website for awhile (possibly one more post in the next few months since I’m planning to dyno the Camaro). But check out UtahCorvette.com for my 1000rwhp Vette Project. I’ll be documenting everything as we go. Should be fun!
The time has come for a serious project. I’m on a quest for 1000 rear wheel horsepower! That’s right, ladies & gentlemen, 700 horses to the rear wheels just isn’t enough anymore. I’ve got the items ordered and hope to do the install & tuning in late July. Here’s what I’m doing:
Engine: I’m having a new engine built by LME. They speced out a 427 LSX based engine specifically designed for forced induction and capable of rock solid performance at 1200rwhp. You can check out some of the engine specs below. While the engine is out I’m going to get the headers ceramic coated and stream clean the engine bay. That will feel soooo good.
Transmission: I’m going to do a transmission swap and upgrade the stock T-56 with an RPM level VII TR6060 (should be good for 1000 ft/lbs torque). I want to stick w/ a manual 6 speed and this seems like best option.
Differential: For the rear end I’m going with the C6 Z06 RPM Level III w/ a Quaife differential and the stock gear ratios. I’m also going to upgrade the drive shaft & axles.
Boost Controller: I think I’m going to go with the AMS-1000. Looks like it can do everything I need and then some.
Suspension: In order to get more power to the ground I’m planning to upgrade the suspension as well. I think I’ll go with something from PFADT.
Clutch: Unfortunately my ACT clutch isn’t going to hold the power I intend to make so I’ll have to find an upgrade. No idea what kind I’ll get yet. It needs to hold a lot of power but still be streetable.
Forced Induction & Fuel: I’m going to stick w/ my APS kit for the time being. I’m going to try and max it out and see where we get. If I end up needing to I’ll upgrade the fuel system and put in larger turbos, but that may be a 2013 project.
My goal with this project is to be as personally involved as possible (and do as much work as possible myself). I’m having Vince over at Lung Automotive do the install (he’s going to love having me over at his shop all day “helping”). Vince has been instrumental in assisting me with picking parts, getting things ordered and destroying my comfort zone. Per several recommendations I’ll have the testing and tuning done by Premier Performance.
So why the upgrades? Believe it or not out of the people I know (and sometimes drive around with) I’m the slowest guy! Last year Rob raced his 1200rwhp Underground Racing modified Lamborghini at RMR and it was inspiring. And seeing his 10 second pass made me want a 10 second pass too. And I get what I want 😉
Anyway, really excited about this project. Parts are ordered and now I just have to sit back and wait. Once everything is here it will probably take a couple of weeks to get things swapped out, installed and ready to go. I’ll post all of the progress here on the blog as things unfold!
Engine Specs:
427″ LSX/LS7 Twin Turbo Engine Build w/ 9.8-10:0:1 Compression for 1200+ RWHP
+ Balance, blueprint & assemble shortblock: fully deburr block, line hone block w/ ARP main studs deck, deck block to desired deck height w/ BHJ deck true fixture, bore block on 3 axis CNC, hone block w/ torque plates, balance crankshaft to 1/4 oz. in. tolerance, hang pistons on rods, check bearing clearances, file fit rings, assemble shortblock.
+ Assemble longblock & dyno test engine: degree cam, check piston to valve clearance, adjust valve train geometry & lifter pre load, install oil pump & heads.
+ GM Bow Tie LSX race block. Features: priority main oiling, billet main caps, increased cylinder wall & deck thickness, 6 bolts per cylinder (for added improved head gasket sealing). Block comes w/ cam plate, rear cover, all plugs & dowel pins.
+ Callies Dragon Slayer 4340 forged 4.0″ stroke crankshaft 58X-LS7 long post w/ indexed & trued journals.
+ Callies Ultra Billet 6.125″ H beam rods w/ ARP 2000 7/16 bolts (good to 1500 RWHP turbo applications).
+ Wiseco forged turbo duty pistons w/ tool steel wrist pins & anti friction coating on skirts: Includes stainless chrome top ring (for high heat applications), napier 2nd (improved oil control), 3mm oil rings (reduced friction & improved oil control).
+ Upgraded tool steel wrist pins .210″ wall thickness.
+ Clevite MS 2199 H mains, Clevite CB 663 H rods, Dura Bond CH-23 cam bearnnings
+ ARP Pro Series 12pt. main stud kit.
+ GM LS7X LS7 6 bolt CNC ported cylinder heads. Parts: REV titanium 2.200″ intake valves, REV Inconell exhaust valves (for high heat applications), PAC dual hyd. roller valve springs (good to .675″ life), titanium retainers, machined locks, machined locators, Viton valve seals-Heads flow 400+ CFM.
+ Cam Motion custom LSX turbo camshaft
+ Cloyes LS7 4x single roller w/ extended crank drive for dry sumpt oil pump.
+ Morel tie bar high RPM hyd. roller lifters.
+ Manly one piece chhromoly 3/8″ x 7.8xx x .120″ wall LS7
+ ARP 2000 Pro Series 12 pt. head studs for LSX 6 bolt block (offers 40% more clamping force than the standard ARP 8740 chromoly material).
+ GM LS7 oil pump ported w/ thicker scavenge G rotar for 30% increase in scavenge side flow. Pump also has a billet front cover to accept the thicker gear.