The Best HP Rated Car.

[Paul Ceasrine]

Mark and Dwight,
Thank You,
You understood what I meant, when I said 'yesteryear'.
Ken, I did not mean todays re-factored HP ratings. Your correct though, the 350/255 LM1 engine at 280HP (todays NHRA HP rating) is what it should have been.
Those early 1969 350/255HP LM1 engines (in the Camaro's and Nova's (12.00-12.49 wt/hp) and Chevelle's (12.50-12.99 wt/hp), did a number on everyone in J/S, K/S and L/S as well as SS/M and SS/N back-in-the-day 69' thru 73'.
They might not have won all the major events back then, but at local tracks those engine combo's in those cars were always in the "Top" of Stock Eliminator.
Looking back, for stock class that 255HP was way low by yesterdays standards. Properly rated at 275 or 280 horsepower, those 69' Camaro's and Nova's would still have been competitive in the 11.00-11.49 wth/hp bracket, (ie; H/S in 69' and I/S in 70'/71').
If you take a peak at the NHRA blueprint specs, you can see that the 350/255HP engine is closer to the 350/300HP engine specs than the 327/250HP engine specs (which it replaced as Chevrolet's base 4-barrel engine). A 275HP to 285HP rating is more in line.
PC

[K Stubbs]

Originally Posted by Dwight Southerland

I assume you are looking for one that hit the classification guide without a factor when it was first introduced. In yesteryear, it would have to be the 350-255. IIRC it was the first engine to receive a hp factor.

Very good point Dwight. And that was way before the AHFS.

[Paul Ceasrine]

CC'd,
The major difference between the 1969 #LM1 350/255HP engine and the #L48 350/300HP is the compression.
10.25-1 for the 300HP and 9.00-1 for the 255HP.
The 300HP had a 4-bolt main block, and the 255HP had a 2-bolt main.
The Rochester #203 carburetor (750cfm) and #184 spread-bore cast iron intake are the same.
The hydraulic camshafts .390/.410 lift and 258/269 duration, and valve train components are the same.
The cylinder head valves,1.94 intake and 1.50 exhaust valves are the same, but the #L48 350/300HP utilized #041 castings with (63 cc chambers), and the 255HP utilized #441 castings with (76 cc chambers).
Both used flat top pistons with notches.
The #LM1 engine could be ordered in a non-SS car only, the #L48 engine was a SS Package only.
WHEW!!

CC,
Come to think of it, your right. There were alot more guys running the 69' 350/255HP Camaro's with success in 69' thru 73', than the 69' Camaro SS350/300HP.
The 69' SS Camaro's got clobbered in G/S and G/SA (10.00-10.49 wt/hp).
A sneaky class, 69' Camaro 350/255HP convertible automatic in L/SA (70'/71') and/or (SS/NA 1972, National record 12.26; see John Lingenfelter)

[Billy Nees]

And just for the record, the 350/255 Camaro was ONLY available with a FLAT hood!

[Don Whitmore]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

With all the HP changes today, its hard to keep up.
What was the Best HP rated car of yester-year.
In other words, was low-rated by the factory and snuck in under the NHRA radar.
* Chevrolet 1967-1969 (Camaro's & Nova's) 396/375HP
PC

Paul....you don't have to go that far back, let's talk 305 ci combos, sleds on the street but killers on the strip and still got something left, both carb and injected...

[Don Whitmore]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

And just for the record, the 350/255 Camaro was ONLY available with a FLAT hood!

I'm missing something...the 350/255 teched in today have the cowl hood, care to explain???

[RockyJ]

Don he was only being facitious.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Don Whitmore

I'm missing something...the 350/255 teched in today have the cowl hood, care to explain???

The cowl hood was first seen on the Indy Pace cars , which were 300 hp , 350's or 396's. NHRA allows them on any 4bbl Camaro

[James Perrone]

Can I have a cowl hood also ? PLEASE
From what I have been told the Nova should have 5 hp LESS .
Because the Camaro has the cowl hood..

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

And just for the record, the 350/255 Camaro was ONLY available with a FLAT hood!

Not totally correct, Billy. The ZL2 option cowl hood was introduced in the salesman's option book in October 1968 shortly after the introduction of the 1969 model year. It was available on the Z28, which it was designed for, from the beginning. Starting in October, the ZL2 option could be checked if the car was also equipped with the Z29 Super Sport package. Then, central planning released the Pace Car package which was roughly equivalent to an SS and included the hood as part of the "recommended" options. Sales strategies and customer demand dictated that the Pace Car package not be a necessarily performance option, but a visual package that included items that promoted the performance image of the Camaro and the Indy 500, so the base required engine was a four barrel engine so the ZL2 hood could be installed. Hence the 350-255 was the base engine that had to be ordered if a Pace Car package equipped car was purchased. Many Pace Cars were sold with the 350-255. Since the 1969 production year was abnormally long due to the late introduction of the 1970 model and the immense popularity of the 1969 models, by late April of 1969 to the end of the production in September, the lines got really blurred about restrictions of option combinations. The ZL2 hood option became available on any four-barrel equipped Camaro by that time, so 350-255 cars did come with the hood.

As a personal note, I coached a friend of mine in optioning a 1969 Camaro he ordered. He was attending college at the time and was receiving some money from his dad who required "no hot rod". He ordered a base Camaro with an F41 suspension, 350-255, four speed, positraction, spoilers, ZL2 hood, disc brakes, HD rear axle, custom interior and several other comfort features. Nice car. Not too fast, but one that many would covet today.