Customer Reviews

How to Tune and Modify Your Camaro, 1982-1998 (Motorbooks Workshop)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've got both this book and Shelby's, and I like both a lot. Another reviewer mentioned they thought this book was too general, but I've found that to actually be helpful, and the author explained that the modifications you need to make depend on your specific needs, situation and budget.

Shelby's book may be more specific, but many of the items he recommends are way out of my price range.

Scott's book recommends some low-buck methods of making some really worthwhile improvements, especially to the suspension, brakes and engine. And there are plenty how-to tips that have probably saved me hours of mistakes.

If you can only afford one of these books, then this one will help more because it'll tell you how to save money on your build-up, too. Or you can do what I did: get both. Their both worth reading.

I found that the HP book titled, "Camaro Performance Handbook" by David Shelby is much more detailed in giving correct information. It is obvious that the author has hands-on experience in building the car. Our car club has talked to him personally. That's his actual car on the cover in which many components were actually tested. I also purchased the "How to Tune" book by Motorbooks and found them both to be very useful.

A much better book than David Shelby's on 82-92 Camaro performance modifications. Although years other than the third gen are covered, the book focuses mainly on 82-92 Camaros. Depending on your need (hard street, autocross, drag racing, or road racing) the book explains what you should modify. Also the book gives good explanations of what the stock part does and why the aftermarket upgrade is needed.

I have read both books and found that the HP Book, by David Shelby had more detailed information than this one. Shelby gives exact camshaft recomendations with different cylinder head configurations as well as an in-depth look at the ECM programming.

The information in this book is dated and contains some inaccuracies. Several of the modifications the author suggests are known in the 3rd gen community to be a waste of time and money. In my opinion, this book is not very useful, unless you are a total beginner and need a basic primer on these cars. Far better information is available on the web.

I won't make a long review like the others and those other reviews are really old too. I bought this book once back in the winter of 2009 off of here and when I got the book, I spent alot of time going over it. I thought it was written very well and thought out well. The book is targeted mainly to 3rd Generation F-Body's or Camaro's and Firebird's but there's stuff in there about LT1's and some early 98 LS1 cars. There also info in there that pertains to Corvette's from the mid-late 1980's into the mid-1990's. The book is very informative on TPI and LT1's and the pictures help alot too. When this was written not alot was known about LS1's then so some folks don't like it because of that. This is a very helpful book for any guy who wants to modify his SBC 305 or more so the 350 L98 TPI. It gives insight into the bolt-on's, engine mods, exhaust mods, suspension and chassis, history on our cars, etc. It's an awesome book and I just bought a 2nd copy last night since my original book was ruined by spilled coolant.

The 82-92 Camaro or third gen this book will be tuff for you. Because the only engine they will tell you to go with is the 350. It tries to explain the other engines in a positive note, but its honest. So if you have a six, four cylinder or a 305 this book will seem to exclude you. Except the 3800 series 6.
This book furtherd my knowledge of what to do next to my 97. Like body strengthening and transmission knowledge. So if you're building a 350TPI 86-92 or have a 93-97 camaro this is a good choice. If you have a 98 look on. This book is dated, so keep this in mind. Its a good book, but I thought how to tune a 5.0 Mustang was better put together. But this book has to deal with the fact that the Z28 is a great car to start and it only reinforces that.

Although this book does have good information on '82-92 Camaros, the performance tips are very general. It lacks in-depth specifics on parts and why some performance items work on these cars.

The pressures facing the teenage and early 20's male have remained the same throughout history: the primordial need to express one's independence from the family unit while simultaneously attracting a mate.

The pressures are exerted in the same manner from one generation to the next, each one contextualizing objects and methods to best suit their era. At first glance the objects of a young man's world appear to be different -- the horse, the pirate ship, the chariot. But in reality they all serve the same function.

In late 20th century North America, the automobile crystallizes much of the young man's primal dilemma. It serves the multiple functions of phallic/status symbol, fortress, and bedroom.

Perhaps no other vehicle embodied these multiple functions as well as the Chevrolet Camaro. When the Camaro was introduced in 1967 it was the sporty option for affluent 25-35 year old businessmen. It was not until the mid 70's that is it had depreciated in value enough to become accessible to paper-route financing.

The most money and effort then went into customizing the car, a reflection of the desperate need to display virility. Oversized rear tires, phallic blowers and exposed engines, and other sexualized modifications were far more over-the-top than the car's designers had ever imagined.

The Camaro's lengthy reign as the quintessential high school cruising car lasted from approximately 1975 until the late 80's, it's redefined relevance exhausted. Inevitably, the Camaro lost it's cultural currency, developing a stigma that was just as likely to repel the chicks as attract them.

The Acura Integra, arriving in 1986, was again too expensive for the young consumer. More significantly, it was completely out-of-sync with the metallurgic sensibilities of the hard rock youth of that era. Thus the Acura was fated to mellow innocuously in graphic designer's townhouse driveways for seven years or so. Then as it lost Yuppie prestige in the early 90's, it was handed down to the high school man, who redefined it's purpose to reflect upon his world.

The late 80's saw the evolution of a more subtle visual spectacle and the elaboration of the aural, as the giant sub woofer replaced the blower, the 'No Fear' sticker replacing the air-brushed 'Valkyrie vs. Dragon' hood scene. Perhaps sonic barrage has replaced spectacle as the new means of drawing sexual attention.

Who knows if the Integra will become as full-blown an icon for the teenage zeitgeist that the Camaro did, but we do know that somewhere is a vehicle that will be dormant for years until it is called forth to be the new steed of the 21st century high school man.