1968 Chevy Camaro One Of The First Ls Swaps

The 1968 Chevy Camaro is ONE OF THE FIRST LS SWAPS IN SA.

Owner: Nick Vernon

By Joe van Zyl

This feature is from way back in 2012. Butthis is in fact one of the first LS swaps done in South Africa. Nick bought the 1968 Chevy Camaro about four years ago fromCustom Classics Cape Town. However, they were not responsible for this beauty.For the story on how this baby came to be, we have to go toKwa-Zulu Natal tomeet up with the master himself, Mike Egan.

Anyone in SA that has shivered with happinesswhen experiencing serious horsepower V8 will have met, or at least heard of,Mike Egan from Pinetown Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Well, that is where the story of this 68 Camarostarted. Mike picked up the shell for R6 500 (where have those days gone?) andstarted the process of rebuilding the car from the ground up. Itwas just ashell and Mike had to import new doors and front panels for the car.

First was a full roll cage and not like thecheap scaffolding bolt on crap you can buy off the net. This one is bolted andwelded to the sub frame of the car. Next came the suspension upgrade;with a 9inch diff and coil over springs, sub frame stiffeners and Bilstein shocks. Mikehad big plans for the motor so he had to go big on the brakes. Corvetteventilated and slotted disc brakesall round.

Gus Panelbeaters in Westmead were responsiblefor changing the car from yellow and green to the black and silver we are now accustomedto. However, Martin from Custom Classics didhave the car re-sprayed, slightlytweaking the overall look of the car.

Mike turned his attention to the nuclear powerplant he had planned for the front. A 5.7 Chevy LS1 Motor was taken from arecently crippled Chevy Lumina. This was to be the base for Mikessupervillain world domination plans. Mike decided to stoke it to a 383 cubic inch.(6.3 liters) because it gives you more torque and torque give you acceleration.He used a Lunati stroker kitthat consists of replacement steel crank andforged steel connecting rods with a set of ceramic coated forged pistons.

Mikealso put in stainless steel roller rockers with updated valve springs andpushrods. He had the heads gas-flowed and put in a Competition Cams camshaft.All that power was then pushedto the rear wheel by a Tremec T56 6-speedgearbox. The one thing Mike decided the car still needed was an airconditioner. There are just some comforts you cant live without.

Back then Mike put the car on the dyno but theycouldnt get an accurate reading because the car kept losing traction. Evenwith it being hooked up to a Range Rover and two people in theboot, they stillhad issues with wheel spin. So at 5000 rpm the motor was pushing out 411 hp(306kw) on the rear wheels. Mike built it to do 500hp (373kw) at 6500rpm.

Nick had to replace the cam and valve springslast year after it ate the previous cam. He took it to Ferrolli Performance tosee what it can do on the dyno and the best reading was (336kw) atonly5300rpm. Nicks goal is to get it to -/+ 500hp.

Mike originally had a set of 17 inch five spokeSimmons Racing wheels on the car which Nick then replaced with a set ofAmerican Racing Shelby wheels. The same wheels you see onmillions of AC Cobrasand every Elennor Mustang look alike in the world. However, they kept catchingunder heavy cornering and knowing Nick, there was a lot of heavy cornering. Nickdecided to change to a set of American Racing 5 Spoke Running 817245/40/17 in the front and 1017 305/35/17 on the back. You will have to lookfar and wide to find a better-looking set ofwheels.

The Camaro has a hard life, Nick takes it toevery track day he can get to and ensures that this baby does what she has beenbuilt for. It goes sideways at the drop of a hat and drives like abat out ofhell. Its almost like it soaks up every moment and loves every minute of it.

Driving a Camaro is always a special occasion.This one even more so. The torque is insane. This really is a put your footdown (when the car is sort of going straight) and hold on for all youareworth. If you get it wrong, good luck explaining to the nurse at the emergencyroom how your ass bit a hole in the seat and the owner needs his upholsteryback.

Thanks to Nick for the early morning run. Thereis no better way to start the day than doing elevens while watching the suncome up.