Our friends over at the School of Automotive Machinists have been in the news quite a bit lately – they’re building an LSX engine combination for the popular Engine Masters event to be held next month, and they’re also going to be featured on the CBS Sports network’s popular Power Nation show with their COPO Camaro.
The COPO, which was originally purchased as a 2013 model, underwent a transformation at the school by its students to appear as a 2014 edition of the popular machine. The Gen 5 Camaro has been raced in numerous NHRA events by the school, which has the students earning hands-on experience with a real drag racing program in an effort to teach them the skills they’ll need upon graduation.
“It’s cool to show just how this is an easy conversion, and how you can simply update your car,” said Judson Massingill, Director of Education and co-owner at the SAM. “Running the current-year body is important in NHRA Stock, Super Stock, Pro Stock, and Funny Car, as wins contribute towards the NHRA Manufacturer’s Cup. Our Camaro fits in the BB/S class. It uses a 427 engine and is backed by a manual transmission and makes well over 700 horsepower,” Massingill explained. “The Camaro can run 9.40s at about 140 mph. Of course, the focus of the school is on engine building, but this was a fun project,” he added.
The show will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network tomorrow, Tuesday September 30th, at 4:30PM EDT. Set that DVR to get an inside look at this project!