On the dyno, using smaller headers, the 383 cid small block Chevy engine produced 565 horsepower and 570 ft.-lbs. “I used that stuff back when it was Kendall GT1. I didn’t want to take away from the original Z look.”įor final touches on this 383 build, Capps went with an E3 ignition system – a billet distributor and spark plugs, as well as PennGrade1 for oil. With the 383 having so much stroke, a lot of times it’ll have windage, so that’s why I went with that particular pan. I used high-pressure oil pump and a Champ oil pan, which has a stock look, but has a windage tray and trap doors on the inside. “For valvetrain components, I used a Manley intake, PSI springs, Xceldyne titanium retainers and locks, and a T&D shaft rocker system. As far as dyno numbers, that really made this engine great. “It’s got a really trick camshaft in it, which is a dual pattern cam with a dual-plane intake. “I didn’t spare any expense as far as the cylinder head and camshaft package,” he says. The 383 cid Chevy engine also features Brodix heads, a Scat rotating assembly, Wiseco pistons, gas-ported rings from Total Seal, a street manifold, and a QuickFuel carburetor. Aligning all that up really made a difference in terms of freeing up horsepower.” I had the cam tunnel done and put in Dura Bond cam bearings. “From there it got line honed and bored using torque plates. I put billet splayed four-bolt caps on them because the two-bolt blocks have more main webbing at the bottom, but have a weaker two-bolt cap. As far as block work, I actually took a stock, two-bolt block because I like the two-bolt foundations better. I did a high-end 383 and it turned out really, really nice. “It’s a super, super nice car and it’s really turned out well. What we tried to do was make the car look all original, but took all the performance parts of the car – the engine, transmission and rear end – and upgraded those areas without taking away from the originality of the Z28. “It’s a ‘73 Z/28 Camaro and it’s all originally. “He bought the car when he was 16 years old,” Capps says. Recently, Robbie restored a ‘73 Z/28 Camaro and built a 383 cid small block Chevy engine for the customer who is also one of Robbie’s high school friends. Helping Robbie and Capps Performance Engineering get to the point where CNC machines can be added to the shop are paying customers. I don’t want to be in that predicament again.” “I’m trying to do it slowly without being $1 million in debt. “In the next two years, I’m planning to look at some CNC machines,” Capps says. Robbie has the capability and know-how to do machine work of all sorts, but his shop currently isn’t set up with all the necessary machines, so he sends out machine work to other shops such as Newcomb Performance. I decided not to do that ever again, so I’ll do whatever comes in the door.” “I don’t really have a niche because I got burned by that before when the economy turned south. I’m a big Ford guy, so I really like the Coyote stuff. I’ve done everything from Hondas to LS engines. We build high-end street car stuff and drag race engines. I kept building it up and building it up. “I had a small garage and I started buying equipment. “That didn’t turn out well, so I came back to, North Carolina and started Capps Performance Engineering just a couple years ago,” he says. He moved to Tennessee in 2008 to do so, however, when the economy crashed, Capps’ new engine shop couldn’t make do. It was that experience that gave Robbie the confidence to start his own shop. It was just two of us, so I had really good, hands-on learning from that.” This 383 SBC features a two-bolt block, Rollmaster timing set and a Scat rotating assembly. That was the first facility I worked at that had flow benches and dynos and really good equipment. “That’s where my race engine passion really started. “I worked there for about 12 years,” Capps says. It wasn’t long before Robbie was being recruited to work at another shop called Cox Race Engines, which focused on late model stock builds and even called Denny Hamlin a customer early in his driving career. “It became a passion at that point.” Robbie Capps of Capps Performance Engineering “The shop owner raced circle track, so I got into doing those engines and helped with that car, and it bloomed from there,” Robbie Capps says. To ensure he set himself up for success, he started working at his local machine shop during high school. At just 13 or 14 years old, Robbie knew he wanted to turn his passion for this industry into a career. Working on everything from trucks to street rods and race cars, Robbie Capps learned to love cars and engines at an early age from his father.
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