MOORE POWER

There are still people who enjoy taking the road less travelled.

Let’s face it, it’s no secret that going really quick in your street car at the drags (we’re talking 7-second quarter mile hits) is tough enough that most people go with the much easier choice, an automatic transmission. There are a bunch of big power stick shifted cars out there, but turning that power into quick elapsed times is often a different story. Stick cars are just that much harder to figure out and to get consistent, but Chris Moore wouldn’t trade bangin’ gears for anything.

Over the years Chris and his father Chuck always toyed with anything that had wheels, trying to make it go faster. Naturally, that carried over into his teens once he started driving and he learned a hard lesson early on, “I got my license at 16 and I’m sure you can guess what happened. Yep, a speeding ticket for 90 in a 60. I won the race, but I also got the ticket, too. The guy I was racing didn’t get stopped,

quarter-mile passes, something only a hand full of people in the world can say they’ve accomplished. However, to complete this daunting task, every area of the Camaro needed attention, especially when it came to safety.

Initially, the car debuted with a twin turbo’d LS3 with the standard trans. Chris logged some wins but tossed a rod out of the block, and, being a small budget racer he sat out the next few years. Determined to compete at the highest level of

The Camaro needed attention, especially when it came to safety...

The body of the Camaro SS is all GM except for the VFN fiberglass Sunoco style bolt-on hood. A single parachute works with Strange brakes on all 4 corners to slow the heavyweight (3,300 pounds) down after a full pass nearing 200mph!

Moore kept the factory Camaro dash and trim panels but axed the backseat. An owner built cage protects the driver and a Holley digital dash relays vitals, but the most interesting item inside is the stick shift that actuates the gears of a standard transmission. You don’t see many of those in legit mid 7-second real street cars!

stick drags, Chris knew he’d need all the power he could make but also be able to control it with precision, so he started collecting parts during the downtime.

The big boy LS NEXT block by Dart is the foundation of the build. A Dart 4 inch billet CCW crank spins Molnar 6.125 Power Adder Plus rods pinned to 10.5 compression forged

pistons. A Cam Motions custom ground solid roller cam completes the short block, and since big cubes require big air; Chris chose a set of Dart Pro 1 LS3 heads with CNC port work done by Borowski. The heads sport Victory titanium intake and Inconel exhaust valves, PAC Racing springs and T&D rocker arms with Cam Motion solid roller lifters and

Trend pushrods rounding out the valvetrain. Topping off the Dart 427ci is a Tick Performance custom billet intake, while air is forced through the big mill via twin VS Racing 7875 turbochargers. Chris and his brother-

in-law Steve built the supporting equipment along with an air to air intercooler. Immense power requires lots of fuel, and the 15 gallon fuel cell (enough for a nice Sunday drive) is filled with E-85 pumped through a 7-GPM

The 427 inch LS started with a Dart LS Next block and is capped with Dart Pro1 LS3 heads and a custom billet intake. Twin turbos provide the boost and the package is backed by a tricked out T56 transmission and built 9-inch rearend.

fuel pump and Bosch 210lb injectors. Holley’s Dominator standalone ECU controls the entire system.

The bread and butter of this build are in the suspension and drivetrain. Without the proper setup, the 1700whp twin-turbo 427 is power wasted. Stuck between the 427 and a Tick P erformance face plated T-56 transmission is a Black Magic Nexgen clutch; Chris can fine-tune how he leaves and shifts with complete adjustability. A Ford 9-inch rear end stuffed with a Strange Engineering third member, 35 spline axles and a 3.40 gear replaces the factory limp 10bolt. Suspension upgrades consists of a K-member, up-

Video of Chris Moore as he shifts his way to a 7 second pass... only to be followed by a trip into town for ice cream!

per and lower control arms from Burkart suspended by Afco coilovers up front. The rear had a custom touch by Chris himself, coming up with a torque arm setup of his own. Afco coilovers and an Enemies Everywhere anti-roll bar keep the rear end under control.

The Super Sport rolls on RC Component Fusion-S wheels; 17-inch skinnies in the front, and bead locked 15x10s out back, while stopping power comes from Strange drag brakes and a single parachute. Not much changed esthetically, aside from a VFN Sunoco bolton hood and Chris had his friend Ryan Thompson repaint the car its factory silver

Chris Moore’s Street/Strip 2000 Chevrolet Camaro SS

Body & Paint:

Ryan Thompson of Waynesville painted the entire car this past April after my wreck at TX2K in March.

Chassis & Suspension: Burkhart front k-member, along with upper and lower control arms. Afco coilovers on all 4 corners. Owner built custom torque arm, Enemies Everywhere anti-roll bar.

Engine:

Dart LS Next block 427CI, 10.5:1 compression ratio. Dart Billet CCW 4in crank, Molnar Power Adder Plus rods 6.125 length, Diamond pistons. Cam Motion custom grind solid roller camshaft.

Cylinder Heads:

Dart Pro1 LS3 heads, CNC work was done by Borowski. Victory Titanium intake valves, Inconel exhaust valves, PAC springs, Trend Pushrods, T&D rocker arms, Cam Motion solid roller lifters.

Induction & Fuel Delivery:

Tick Performance custom billet intake. Custom air to air intercooler (built by owner and his brother in law). Runs on pump E85 (Spinx gas station). 15 gallon fuel cell with a 7gpm brushless fuel pump, Bosch 210 injectors, Motion Raceworks C02 system.

Electronics:

Holley Dominator

Power Adder: Twin turbo, VS racing 7875s.

Transmission:

Tick Performance Faceplated T56, Black Magic Nexgen clutch, MGW shifter.

Rear Differential:

Ford 9-inch, Strange 3rd member, 3.40 US Gear, Strange 35 spline axles.

Brakes:

Strange brakes on all 4 corners.

Tires & Wheels:

RC Components Fusion S front and rear wheels, 17x4 front, 15x10 beadlocked rears. Mickey Thompson 28x10.5 Pro Bracket Radial rear tires.

Interior:

Factory dash and center console. Holley 7in digital dash and power windows! Kirkey seats, RJS 5 point harness, Ozite black carpet.

ET & MPH:

The car has been a best ET of 7.48 @ 191mph during round 1 of qualifying at TX2K this past March. The car has been 194mph at FL2K last fall.

Miscellaneous:

The car is still tagged and insured. In the field of cars that I race in, very few of them are driven to and from the staging lanes, most of them have a fuel cell that will hold just enough fuel to make a pass, and have to be pushed back to the trailer. My car may not be the fastest car in the field, but for a 3300lb street car to be competitive in a field of big name shop cars, is a win in my book! I drive this car to church on Sundays! (when the weather is nice)

Thanks To:

Big thanks to my brother in law (Stephen Plemmons) for helping me build the car from scratch. I might have been able to do it without him, but the welds would not have looked nearly as pretty! Haha

Also a big thank you to Ryan Thompson for the paint work!

color.

Safety is always the most critical part of any build, and with a goal of going seven’s, no stone was left unturned. Chris and Steven built the certified cage themselves, and installed an aluminum race seat along with an RJS 5-point safety harness to keep Chris secured in place during those hard stick car launches. The factory dash and center console remain intact, and vitals are monitored via a Holley 7-inch LCD screen. Even the Camaro’s factory power windows are still functional!

Although the fourth-gen makes a staggering 1700whp, it is still very much a street car. Once making it to this level of speed with any setup, let alone a stick-shifted car, the majority are cut-up race cars that need to be pushed to the starting line and back from the end of the track. They run cells large enough to make a few passes to save weight, and of course, any part of the factory interior is long gone. In contrast, this Camaro still weighs 3300lbs and gets driven to and from church on Sundays.

Chris Moore took his 30-hour

road trip to pick up a slipping clutch LS1 2000 Camaro and built it into this monster with the help of Steven Plemmons, and they did it over the span of about two years. They did all the work themselves, from building the motor to fabrication work and making more miscellaneous pieces than they can count. They are troopers, to say the least; unfortunately though, right after a record-breaking pass during a large event, a crosswind took hold of the parachute, picking the rear end up off the ground and sending the car into the wall. Chris was the

It’s tough enough to get a full weight street car to hit seven seconds in the quarter mile, let alone a legit manually shifted one, but Chris Moore has reached his goal; 7.48 @ 191mph!

number one qualifier on a Friday night, which allowed him a pass through Saturday before Sunday’s eliminations. The racing community is often the best family one can have and a local race shop, Late Model Racecraft, was eager to help get Moore back in the ring. Steve explains; “The owner of Late Model Racecraft said that I could take whatever parts I needed off of their shop car. So we loaded up and headed to their shop at midnight to get what parts we needed. We got back to the race track around 2am Sunday morning, and by about 3am I had the car back on the ground moving under its own power again. We obviously had no time to take it somewhere to get a proper alignment, so we pulled out the string and tape measure and did the best we could on getting the front wheels straight. Long story short, I made it all the way to the finals of the stick shift class when broken parts from the accident finally caught up with me. The car was beat up and wore out, and we just could not manage to get it down the track straight, so I lifted and coasted to the finish line.”

That record breaking run was an insane 7.48 at 191 mph, though, crowning him with the LS/ Stick Shift record! How many people can say their tagged and insured street car can do that? Now how many of those can say they manual shift gears on a standard trans to get them there?

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