F-Body Central Feature Car of Spring 2008

Shortly after moving in to our shop in 2004 we spotted Bill’s stock SSR parked across the street. Without meeting Mr. Cole we talked about getting our hands on the truck. Shortly after meeting Bill we talked about what we could do with the truck and decided to get Bill to the track for a few base line passes. His best pass stock was a 15.48 at 89 mph. We decided to weigh the SSR and to our surprise the truck weighed in at 5800 pounds.

First plan of attack was to install a 382 stroker and a set of long tube headers to get the truck moving. After installing the motor and getting a baseline tune in the truck we went back to the track and ran a 13.1 at @105, not bad for 5800 pounds.

Next was a stall converter and some sticky tires, so we put a call in to Jack at Precision Industries and ordered a 3400 stall. We then called Rick and Rich from Bogart racing wheels and had a custom set of wheels made for the truck. Now the SSR is sporting 16x10 rears wrapped in M/T E.T. streets and 17x5’s skinnies, as we well as the new Vigilante stall. After the tires and stall converter were installed we took it back to the track and got a new best of 12.7 @ 106MPH.

Bill wanted more horsepower, so it was dropped back off at the shop over the winter of 07-08. While at the shop this time, we upgraded the fuel system with an aluminum fuel cell with twin in-tank Bosch pumps. One of the pumps is feeding 37 pound fuel injectors, a Victor Jr. intake with aluminum elbow.  The other pump is feeding a Zex nitrous plate kit controlled by an NOS progressor.  We also upgraded the transmission to an ATI turbo 400 with an ATI blown nitrous 9 inch converter.

We should be testing the new found power at Capitol raceway in the next few weeks and will report the outcome. Bill is already talking about more cubic inches and a pair of turbo chargers for the 08-09 winter project. That’s is if we figure out a way to get a roll bar in the truck and still be able to put the top down so Bill can terrorize the street.