Moving the
Engine Back Six Inches Precipitated Some Interesting
Changes.
To
improve the weight balance and handling characteristics
of the Camaro, the engine and transmission were set
back six inches from the normal location. This also
provided extra room in front of the engine for the
high-capacity radiator, the air conditioning condenser,
and the dual turbocharger intercoolers and associated
ducting. Of course, moving the engine back required
new engine mounts to the frame, but it also required
modifying the firewall. As shown in the photos, the
firewall was cut and reshaped to provide an alcove
for the engine. This required fabricating the alcove
sheetmetal and welding it into place. This is a difficult
job, but Rick "Speed" Lefever discovered
a great trick to make a professional-looking firewall
alcove with a minimum of work.
Years
ago, while doing street rod body fabrication, Speed
spotted a stamped steel wheelbarrow in a hardware store.
The back two-thirds of the tub was exactly the right
shape for the firewall alcove on a street rod, and
it was heavy gauge steel. It featured nice rounded
corners that are difficult to fabricate. Speed applied
this trick to the Camaro firewall too, although the
increased engine width due to use of the splayed-valve
Chevrolet aluminum heads required him to section the
wheelbarrow pan, adding a panel in the middle for extra
width — neat idea!
The modification of the firewall essentially eliminated
the fresh air ducting from the cowl. This won’t
be a problem, as the Camaro will be fitted with a Vintage
Air® air conditioning system. It also meant there
was no longer a need for the air vent openings in the
cowl. Speed filled the vent openings with sheetmetal
to provide a clean unbroken look to the hood lines. Closing
off the vents also prevents water or dirt from entering
the modified cowl/firewall area. This is one of those
subtle modifications that tends to go unnoticed until
someone points it out.
When
the firewall was cut out to permit engine relocation,
the portion of the firewall that supported the windshield
wiper motor was removed. As there was no way to utilize
the stock wiper motor after the firewall was modified,
Speed selected a compact Ford Mustang wiper motor and
mounted it beneath the cowl panel on the passenger
side. He then fabricated all new wiper linkage, complete
with spherical rod ends for precise and quiet wiper
action. Out of sight and out of mind!
To
further improve the weight balance of the car, aluminum
cylinder heads help reduce front-end weight. And because
the engine, transmission and firewall are moved back
six inches, the driver is moved back six inches too,
which required a six-inch extension of the Ididit® steering
column. It may not seem like a lot, but moving such
heavy components as the engine, transmission and driver
back six inches makes a substantial difference
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