Re: Short and Dirty Rod Length Discussion Starter

["Tom Harais" <tjhemh@domain.elided>]

John:

I happen to own one of those little 302s from Chevrolet. It's in my '69
Z/28 Camaro, the only car it was installed in ('67, '68 & '69 Z/28s) and
was very limited production (500, 4000+, 20,000 - respectively and
approximately). I used to be a real "Camaro freak". That racing class you
refer to was known as Trans Am racing (yes, Pontiac has to pay the owner of
that name for it's use on that variant of it's own F-body, even though
there are no more Trans Am series races - just rumors of it returning).
There was a 5.0 liter restriction put on engine size in Trans Am racing so
Vince Piggins at Chevrolet (the factory used to race back then) is rumored
to have gone to the "parts bin" and put a 283 crank (3" stroke) in a 327
block (4" bore) and created that engine. And, there is some truth to that
rumor as the '67 302s used a small journal crank but by '68, it was a
one-off large journal diameter item.

Hey, I could go on and on. This is almost as much fun as IHs. But, that
word "almost" is important.

I actually find my Scout more fun than my Camaro restoration days. Camaro's
had to be stock (as all muscle cars) to the point of putting the factory
paint "line checking" marks on the suspension. With my Scout, I can cut and
paste and build it anyway I want and still get respect. That's what makes
it so much fun!

Tom H.

P.S. I still love your sig file.