Car Craft - May 2008 - Vintage Wheel Works

his '88 Camaro was Mike Bighley's
first car. Unlike those of us
T who spend our lives in pursuit of
our true love-our first car-he kept his,
building it up to the wolf-in-sheep'sclothing
twin-turbo monster you see here.
Mike bought it in 1997, just around the
time he tumed 16. It was a base coupe
model equipped with the optional L03 TBI
305. Churning out 170 hp, it was an OK
car for a 16-year-old. At 17, he got wise
and began working on it, mostly adding
bolt-ons. He did the typical cam/heads/
exhaust stuff for several years, enjoying
the building and driving experience. When
he reached the limits of the 305 block, he
upgraded to a TPI setup on top of a GM
ZZ4 crate engine. That might be where
many of us would have left it alone. But
the motor oil really hit the fan when Mike,
at age 23, decided he wanted turbos.
Mark foul1d a deal on a strong reciprocating
assembly and got to work. He did
a lot of research on the Internet and
some experimenting with different
combinations in his own car before
coming up with the iteration we came
across at last year's Summer Nationals in
St. Paul. Here's the condensed version: a
pair of Master Power T70 turbochargers,
two intercoolers, custom headers, an
Edelbrock Victor-E intake, Fast Burn
heads, 150-pound injectors, and four
fuel pumps.
He dialed everything in using a FAST
XFI engine-management system. How
much power, you ask Running on E85
fuel with 20 psi of boost, how does 854

Cooler still is the story Mike
tell$ abQutthetime he
cranked up the bOQst that hig
'The clutch welded itself to th
flywheel. had to separate
thernWitb a pry bar;" St
He's stiU messing with the
settings, I.ltimately §hooting
for 1,000 hp at the wheels at
24 psi.
I
All along the way, Mike
steadily i rnproved the drivetrain
and chassis as well. He
swapped out the stock trans iO
favor of a stronger T56,
replaced the smalilO-bolt rear
with a Moser 9-ineh, and added
a rolleage and subframe connectors
to take most of the wet
nood le out of the Camara's unibody,
In addition to all the
mechanical work, Mike, a bodyman
by trade, painted the car
himself. Control freak!

Who: Mike Bighley
What: '88 Chevrolet Camaro
Where: Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. The
wind chill was 10.4 degrees F there at the
time this was written.
Engine: Mike runs a GM Performance
Parts ZZ4 block. It's heavily reinforced to
cope with more than 20 psi of boost. He
uses billet main caps and ARP studs, a
forged Scat crank and Carrillo rods, and JE
Extreme Duty 8.5:1 pistons. He ported his
GMPP Fast Burn cylinder heads keeping
the stock valves but adding Comp beehive
springs and titanium retainers.
Aaron's Machine in St. Paul did
the block prep.
Turbochargers and plumbing: Hours
of research led Mike to Brazil's Master
Power, prompting him to pick up a pair of
T70 turbos. They blow a compressed
intake charge through a pair of air-to-liquid
intercoolers that Mike painted black
and hid in the grille openings behind the
foglights.
Intake: Air enters the engine via a Wilson
90mm throttle body and into an Edelbrock
Victor E manifold.
Exhaust: Willing to try anything once,
Mike made his own exhaust system starting
with a set of PI.' headers. From the
turbine side, Mike made the 3-inch downtubes
leading to a single 4-inch exhaust
through a Borla XR-l muffler exiting at the
rear of the car.
Fuel: Mike keeps his engine well fed with
a steady flow of E85 sprayed by a set of
Ford Racing 150-lb/hr injectors. To keep
up with demand, he sumped the stock
gas tank and installed four Walbro fuel
pumps. The car normally runs on two
pumps, but the computer switches
on the extra two based on load and
engine speed.
Engine management: Originally, Mike
was running a MegaSquirt computer, but
recently switched to a FAST XFI box.
Ignition: If you can take your eyes off
Mike's cool turbo setup you'll eventually
notice his MSD Pro Billet distributor and
HVC II coil.
Transmission: The T56 Mike swapped
in several years ago is still holding up
despite the massive jump in power. He
upgraded to a McLeod twin-disc clutch,
though.
Rearend: Worried about broken housings
and snapped axles, Mike installed a Moser
9-inch with 3.25:1 gears and 31-spline
axles. Can you blame him
Suspension: Up front, you'll see a PA
Racing K-frame and control arms. In back
are a BMR torque arm, control arms, and
a Panhard bar. Eibach's and Koni's are at
all four corners.
Chassis: Mike built his six-point 'cage
from a weld-up kit purchased from Competition
Engineering, welding it in on a
95-degree day. He said he's never
sweated so much in his life.
Brakes: All that power under the hood
will easily overwhelm a stock braking system.
Mike wisely upgraded to Baer's
Track kit that included 13-inch rotors up
front and 12-inchers out back.
Wheels/Tires: Five spokes are the way
to go, and Mike's got a set of 17-inch V45s
by Vintage Wheel Works. He rolls on
Nitto tires, sizes 274/45R17 front and
315/35R17 rear.
Paint and body: Mike sprayed the '69
Hugger Orange himself, adding the cool
rally stripes in the process. END