One of SLPs 1st test cars. Rumor has it that it was sent back to GM and crushed when done. Anyone have any other information?

Banks catback exhaust on it?





Notice the dynomaxx catback shown separately on this page? and the cool oval tips on the car. 1st design air box is cool but would be hard to open in car.

 

That was an awesome read that took me back in time. I would have devoured that piece of literature, over and over again, if I'd have come across that, back in the day.

It IS funny how uncontrolled many of the "tests" were that resulted in mag articles. For example, the side bar and it's comparison to the SLP package? I mean, come on....just the SLP headers and exhaust would decimate any "free mods" car...that's the same. Something else was obviously going on in that two car comparo; gears, weight....something. Awesome read though...thanks a BUNCH for posting it!

 

I think the other Formula 350 in the sidebar was Project Blue Thunder.

No I got that wrong it was another car. I remember reading the article about the car they talking about in the sidebar back in the day.

Pretty sure the sidebar Formula 350 is the one in the reply I made below.

 

Which magazine ran this article? I recall several SLP articles in Hot Rod back in the day, but don't remember this one.

 

I ordered this package from the dealership's parts counter when I bought my 1992 5.7 Z28 brand new and had them install it. It always sounded great but I didn't think that the EPROM calibration was that good as it had a definite flat spot when accelerating from a stop and when trying to engage the passing gear from a roll. I miss that car

 

Looking back at some of these EPROMs now (I've seen a few from Hypertech, Jet, TPIS, etc)... for the most part they didn't do jack. Even TPIS with their vaunted Stage IV Miniram bin (or whatever they called it) didn't do anything to address the typical driveability issues with that manifold. And for what they charge for it...sheesh.

Back in the day when tuning was such a big mystery, they were able to get away with it.

 

I think you could do more/better with mechanical means of "tuning" than they were doing burning chips back in those days. Nobody knew what they were doing back then.

It looks like it was "Pontiac" magazine.

 

Great article. Not sure if I ever knew Ed Hamburger was a Mopar guy back in the day.

 

Yep; it was the Wild West back then. Lots of chip burners advertising in the car magazines promising big gains while providing little, if any improvement.




That's one I don't recall, but being a Chevy guy (except for a '71 Catalina in had in the mid-'70s), that's probably not one I would have picked up at the news stand.

 

I'm not sure, stumbled on this at a vendor booth at Chicago show. I've been looking for more info on this car for years.

 

I had the same deal with my setup. The SLP chip had a rev limiter @5k and it was slower than stock chip.

 

The author's name kind of rings a bell, but the "Oldham" guy I remember (IIRC, in "Cars" magazine) wrote articles mostly about the cars sold by Motion Performance through Baldwin Chevrolet in NY. But that was so long ago, and memory sometimes fails me.

 

I pretty sure this is the magazine article Formula 350 drag test (vintage) and Formula 350 referred to in the sidebar of the magazine article @TTOP350 posted above. He (TTOP350) also posted this one 6 or so years ago. I had remembered it was an article Tony DeFeo had done back in the day. There are a bunch of good 3rd gen magazine articles in the thread TTOP350 posted back then.

 

I bet that car was owned by Ed at SLP and later sold. I say that because I recall local shops here in Houston buying C5s and 4th gens when the LS1s came out to test bed their parts.

 

The guy that could probably tell you what happened to it is Ed Hamburger. He's 81 years old and still kicking with a sharp mind. Call him up and ask him about it. My friend called him up about his 1997 Camaro SS SLP Convertible he got back earlier this year and Ed told him all about it and either sent or emailed him some info on it. They had a nice chat on the phone and Ed told him all kinds of stuff about what they did to that car back then.

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I've spoke with them many times. Even attended a dinner at sema and they were there

 

It's crazy....and pretty hard to believe that Uncle Tony got any gains at ALL from unplugging the EGR and removing the cowl plate. I'd be curious to see the break outs of the before and after runs, on those 'mods'.

 

I can say, they all add up and do work. I was in to all that really hard on the street back in the day. Those GNs and syclones were viscous..

 

Dub post

 

Disconnecting the EGR probably did nothing. None of the emissions stuff does anything at WOT except the catalytic convertor and A.I.R. pump. The cat on H.O. exhaust cars either single or dual isn't much of a restriction and the A.I.R. pump is about 1.3 HP to 1.5 HP at WOT from the drag it puts on the crank spinning it. I think it's in bypass at WOT. Anyone thinking the factory H.O. cat/cats kill a lot of power just look at the other thread TTOP350 posted of the Lingenfelter Formula 350 running 12.4@104 through a factory GM H.O. "AC" single cat.

Massive amounts of heat will pour out the hood scoop opening sitting still or at low speeds below 35 MPH. The air induction on Firebirds sucks, even more so the 85 to 87 models but the 88+ isn't quite as bad. A 160 stat and the fans jumpered to be on full time would help. TPI induction system is a massive heatsink and as you know gets hotter than a well diggers azz. I put a throttle body on awhile back and was adjusting the minimum idle air bleed and TPS with it warmed up to full operating temps and leaned over and put my forearm across it and jumped off it like it was a burner on a stove. The TB coolant bypass should be a must do on these cars.

The headlight trick I done on a TTA back in the day but on the other headlight and it was worth several tenths.

I think the biggest trick on a stock TBI or TPI is more base timing. It makes a huge difference down low from a dig by the seat of the pants feeling. Most of Uncle Tony's gains came from the timing, then lower temps, then better breathing I think

 

Base timing and cold temps are almost always winners.

 

Some "track only" mods i did plus some all the time mods.
Base timing,
fuel psi bump to 51ish or whatever gets the gain ( people argue about this, but it works more than not)
pressure to cold air ductwork from under front bumper,
tb coolant bypass,
colder t-stat/fan switch,
egr out/off works best with intake port blocked or filled in heads. Less heat to intake.
short belt to bypass airpump, ps, a/c, (had to pull a couple pulleys)
remove front swaybar
45-50 psi in stock size tires (front only)
and of course the bag of ice on intake
there's more i did but that's most of the basics

 

Take the fan off (if mechanical/clutch fan)
Lose the smog pump
UD pulleys, (from old JY Chev trucks, if you've got V-belts)
Tie the air valve open on cowl hoods, if you have one, and plug the underhood inlet w/a rag
No air filter(s)
Cold or no T-stat
DRIVE it!

 

Forgot about my slp UD crank pulley

 

My exhaust stank so bad at 48psi fuel pressure. It was like that for years. The only thing that stopped it is when I told the computer what the fuel pressure was set at in the tune. My heat didn't work between the 160 degree stat and the Jet secondary fan switch that was supposed to be around 180-200 degrees but was really only 143! I didn't know about the fan switch until I datalogged. A lot of these "free mods" or "easy fixes" can have real downsides. Datalogging also revealed I had a bad temp gauge sensor and gauge. Both appeared to be OEM. Bumping base timing without telling the computer where you put it at isn't the end of the world but after you do it the drivability gets better.

I got my car in 1995 and it had all the little tricks from the magazines (the ones you can due to an IROC at least) already except the TB coolant bypass which I performed. I had to really re-think what was done temperature-wise since the period-correct measures have their flaws through a modern lens. I can't argue with their numbers though.

 

Most of those "Tricks" are down and dirty dragstrip only mods to put a number on a timeslip. They aren't for daily driver street use.

 

Eh....just like all "DD" claims, it depends on who's DD'ing it. It's a personal thing. *I* think that the heat works pretty decent at w/a 160 stat. Better than good enough. IME, most of those mods don't hurt drivability at all, some only hurt it when cold...COLD, which never bothered me much....and some free mods make it better (like timing).

 

When you stack them with other mods they cause more drivability issues than on a stock car I suppose. If you add timing through a tune then you won't get the advantages of additional base timing on the top end since the computer will pull timing when you hit 42-44 degrees so if you've already added 6 degrees over the stock 6 then you lose it again at full advance. But people would buy brand new cars and find that they had 0 degrees base timing from the factory and that's how you really get a dog. If you've already done other things to cool the car off you can wind up too cold also. Like running around at 143 degrees except when you're at the track lol

 

Keep in mind, this was with stock programing , before "tuning" was a thing, Had force these cars to run the number best we could

I also forgot, my maf cars i run with knock sensor unhooked, always slower with it