about2break1128

i searched for this topic but didnt find that much. i wanna turn my camaro into a sleeper. wanna know some good ideas to do this...i've found a tip here n there...but thought it would be a good idea to make one post for all the tips.

PhAnToMs

iTrader: (2)

well the
#1 thing is that it has to be fast not stock
#2 dont get a flowmaster or tips sticking out the back keep it stock look with the pipes hidden with a quiete flowing exhuast
#3 keep the exterior look as stock as possible
#4 old paint wont hurt
#5 dont get gauges that you dont need
#6 stock rims work wonders also dirty even better
#7 take badges off that say z28 ho

Air_Adam

Primer!! A muscle car painted in flat black or primer is the ultimate sleeper look!! You can't tell if it junk, or a single-digit time-slip-car

Teal91rs

He got most of it down but you forgot the RS GFX's

nick418

:werd: ive seen those

TBI92Camaro

My cousin OWNED one of those! Lol, he worked for 3 years on building an 87 IROC T-tops. It was originally a V6 car and bought 2 other 3rd Gens to build this one. He put a 396 BB in it with a TH400, 3:73 gears, racing tach above the heater controls, 145MPh speedo....under the hood it was a 396 ported and polished heads, some high rise looking Edelbrock intake, Edelbrock 750cfm carb (best carb ive EVER seen, not one problem EVER!), a 3000 or so stall, and a decently tall cam. It was black primer and super fast. He had dual Hooker headers with dual electric cutouts going into 2 1/2 in. Cherry Bombs.

Anyways, when i was 16, i was driving an 84 t-bird on its last leg and I was in town and I saw that car and fell in love. I mean, he was dropping the motor in and it was just so sweet. At that point I KNEW I had to have a Camaro, preferably a Third Gen, I just liked the looks. So, the next summer I moved up here and he had it running. I rode in it once but he wasnt a racer type. So, after I got my 92 RS, he was gonna sell his Big Block Camaro. He told me my 92 and $1000...my 92 needed bodywork and is only a 305. Anyways, he told me to take it home for the weekend, in which I did. I took it out to the local cruise area, cruised around and no one really did anything. So, I parked it and kinda stood around till one of my buddies came up and asked where I had gotten the ride and I refused to pop the hood. So, this punk in a wanna be F&F Eclipse comes up and wants a race. I smile and accept and me, him and about 8 other cars head out to run. We get lined up and I hit the switch for the electric exhaust cutouts and the whole tune changed...Guy had his system going with his "groupies" but once i hit the cutouts, that guy looked over with eyes the size of golfballs. My buddy lined us up and flagged us and I punched it. I got thrown back in the seat as the motor roared and was spinning big time even though he had like 295's (I think they were M/T's) on the back. We were even and I finally caught, slammed into 2nd gear and left him like he was sitting. I dont remember how bad I beat him all I remember was how awesome it was to drive that car. I kicked the cutouts again and it went back to the cherry bombs. The dude was ecstatic how bad i smoked him. I didnt ever buy that car and it never got ran at the track......I wish I had traded it, because that would have been one bad car. I gurantee it was a 13's or lower car, definately.

BTW, Black Primer is becoming the "*****" color. They seem to think its cool to primer them black. Ive got my t-top primered black now but Im going to primer it along with my RS grey...though the RS is going to a paint shop soon afterwards.

87tpi

iTrader: (5)

Keep stock exhaust on it but put in a cutout.

FbodTrek

Yup cutouts, preferably one behind each header (or one at the Y pipe before the cat). False advertising works well too, get you a 2.8L Multi Port decal for the back. Run a single tail pipe out the back, or tuck the twins under the bumper facing downwards (with a factory muffler or somthing equally quiet). Don't ever wash the car, dirty cas are always slow... If you have an L98, ditch the Fuel injection setup and opt for a factory TBI airclear above a spraypainted Weiand manifold with a nice carb on top. Leave the engine bay stock looking, no shiny chrome or that sort of thing. If you use nitrous, tuck the feedlines under the manifold and position the noids inside the firewall. Get a 5 lb bottle and stash it in the spare tire compartment. No roll cages...rollcages mean racecar . Keep the wheels, stereo and everything in the dash, FACTORY. Therre you have it, a slow appearing car that is fast....assuming you have the right motor.

1981z28

.i go with the primer i deal my trucks grey primer .its no single digit time slip but its 13 or 12s not bad for a mild build.


ps. why has this nt been locked it has nothing to do with street raceing?

stu

Is there really such a thing as a Sleeper Camaro? I don't think that there is.

CaysE

Sure there is. Get an early model Sport Coupe with no ground effects and 14" steel rims. I'm against the primer idea, just make it look like a daily driver. Exhaust should turn down behind the rear bumper, and just go nuts in the engine bay.

Hell, go with a stock catback and weld in a remote cutoff behind your 1.75" headers.

Plenty of car guys know most Sport Coupes came with a dog of a V6. And a few knowledgeable racers might think you have the even slower inline 4.

25thmustang

I think a good way to do it is the way I did. Keep the car looking stock with the hood open or closed. Hood closed, people wonder about it, hood open people laugh at it... This is easier done with a carbed car, but can be done with FI!

about2break1128

i didnt know where else to put it. and since this relates to what i'm talkin about most...i put it in here. building a sleeper doesnt JUST deal with the engine. or JUST the body. i wanna build a sleeper for STREET RACING! sorry...but if you have a better place for me to put this...just ask

Teal91rs

Yes stu there is a such thing as a sleeper camaro take our 69 Z/28 for example. Stock 69 Z exterior minus the draglites shaved mirriors antena and whipers and slap on a 2.5 inch exaust into oem muffers and people automaticly asume its a 14 second 302. But unknown to them a 600hp into an M22 with 4.10's crateld in a 12 bolt lunk under thoes unconspicous pannels. But in reailty every thirdgen is a sleeper i mean how many people think our cars are fast? In my just outa highschool world every hotshot in his stang or ecplise thinks your a 150hp 305 with a catback so go as wild as you want but keep the lope low and the exaust mellow
*edit* No offence 25th but you know how these kids with there v6's and GT's that daddy bought them are they are simply put uneducated in automotive perfomance

slim84maro

right now my car looks completly stock like a 6er. but my exhaust is too loud right now to be a sleeper. interoir is stock. only badge is a f41 on the back and a badge that says camaro.

stu

That doesn't matter I noticed. I run into V8's that always sound really burly but are slow as hell. From a roll, you can't really hear a lope, well, not that I know of.

bulletboy29

Vtec emblem

Cali Z

Depending upon what type of people happen to notice your car on the street, your definition of a sleeper changes dramatically. Some think that primered paint, cut-outs bolted to stock exhaust make a sleeper, but it could be others. Some people think that no matter how the car looks, a thirdgen is slow, and some think that stock looking iroc-z's are fast, etc. My experiences tell me that alot of people think that any thirdgen no matter how it looks is slow because it was from the 80's.

My brother owns an 89 GTA that has been rebuilt. It has decent black paint, along with the Trans Am GTA badges on the side, including the stock 16'' gold laced rims. Body's nice, and on the outside it looks stock, but in good condition.
The engine was rebuilt with a 355 with a cam, afr heads, full intake, and exhuast. The exhaust is an slp TOL with insn't polished and the exits are 21/4 inch? about that, and it's relatively quite unless you get on it. Stock grey interior, stock guages, and you wouldn't be able to tell that it was modded at ALL except for the exhaust, but that doesn't even seek attention like a 3.5'' polished flowmaster might.
One night he comes up to a 4th gen ls1, and the guy seeing no shiny exhuast, no large tach, no cutout, no hi-rise hood, or lopy cam, no lowered suspension, just a stock gta trans am body. He says, " you know you'll lose right?" That brings about the definition of a sleeper. This person couldn't tell that the ENGINE was making just as much hp and more torque than his car in a lighter body. And just when the guy thought he had a thirdgen roasted, he gets taken out of the hole and couldn't do nothing but get pulled on.

I think the most important part of a sleeper is to make the car look stock(stock height, stock body, no special paint job, no shiny exhaust) and just let his intelligence do the rest. What's funny about a thirdgen sleeper is that the face on those people is just priceless. I'm not saying you can't a different car that's a sleeper, just thirdgens are almost ALWAYS profiled as being ratted out and slow as crap.

unknown_host

iTrader: (1)

The sleeper look in my opinion is a thing of the past. There are so many slow cars with aftermarket parts on them nowadays, wings, wheels, hoods, etc.

305q_ta86

iTrader: (1)

Well, my car was repainted a while ago, and they did a really crappy job, so I will leave that, no decals, no badging, and only that subtle brake light cover to indicate it's a TA.

Further, the rear spoiler has some chips on it, and I dont ever intend to fix it. Oh, and dont forget about the ram air from down under.

FbodTrek

Inverse sleeper:
1 ft tall Carbon Fiber wing, 3000$ worth of paint, 4000$ worth of wheels and tires, 1200 for a SYSTEM, Carbon Fiber muffler, 1000$ for a WIngs west bodykit and neon lights. You just KNOW that that is a racecar. It's a sleeper when you put 5 on him out the hole and have a few more by th time you hit the next light, that's an Inverse sleeper, looks fast (to sombody, somewhere), but is slow as a fart in the wind.

CaysE

This would probably work the best. The other guy would have to think you're an idiot.
It's a sleeper cause you fall asleep watching the thing disappear in your rear view.

IROCaholic

I have found that the thirdgen itself is a sleeper. I people always laugh at my car and think its a slow RS and so I go along with them and say "it has to be fast its a V8 man" and then they find out the hard way that its not a stock RS with just an exhaust. Man the look on all the mustang guys faces is great. It helps that my car looks like a piece: the front bumber is a diffrent color than the rest of the car becuase it used to have a bra, I have a little rust hear and there, I am missing the drivers side back ground effect. Basically my car looks as though it may fall apart driving down the road because I chose to fix up the motor first. It also helps that 90% of thirdens on the road are in crappy condition and have slow 305's or V6's in them. That just means I have to earn there respect by smoking them instead of every one suckin my ballz like they do for people who drive Ls1 cars.

305q_ta86

iTrader: (1)

Ok, I just remembered a pretty good tip. You can remove your hood, and then put it back on, but use longer bolts, and put a bunch of washers in there so the hood sits higher up in the back, and then it'll have a cowl effect, but still be the stock hood.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

take the car in the pic, (or preferably a RS not an Iroc) and add forged internal motor built for nitrous and add a under the manifold 200-300 shot and hide the bottles under the seats somewhere. its hard to tell its there and you wont see the nitrous stuff on the motor.

just do suspension mods, add drag radials, an exhaust cutout, no interior mods other than necessary guages, and you will be ultimate sleeper

people will think its a stock Iroc Z or better yet, a stock RS LMAO Should shock alot of vettes and vipers and those fast imports.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

make this a 11 second or so car and keep its appearance and bam, a sleeper is born

Gunny Highway

iTrader: (1)

A nice quiet exhaust is the Dynomax cat-back. It looks stock, yet is 3" and isn't loud.

Mine just looks like a clean lookin' RS, but I've got a 350 with Trick Flow heads and a non-lopey Crane Cam. However, when the 17" IROC's show up, any sleeper capablity will go out the window, except by the definitions of the car rags, who say anything short of a blower sticking through the hood is a "sleeper."

unknown_host

iTrader: (1)

You realize there is no way in hell a nitrous bottle is going to fit under any seat in a thirdgen?

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

i am talking small bottles and alot of custom work

like carving it into the back of the rear seats, like how people put amps and stuff back there.

305q_ta86

iTrader: (1)

I'd just toss it in the trunk. REally now, who's gonna see your trunk before yo go?


"Hey dude, wanna go? That Camaro looks like junk! I bet it's all stock under there! ....oh..wait.. lemme just look in your trunk before I race you, just to be sure..."

They'll probably see under the hood before they see in the trunk anyway.

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

Besides the exhaust and the 3 inch cowl hood on my car, no one would be the wiser that it can run in the 11's... I could put the stock hood back on if I were to take out a carb spacer

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

true, but just in case its at a gas station or some meet somewhere, and they look over the car. thats a true sleeper!

check this out. this is a sleeper nitrous system LOL

http://www.heavy.com/index.php?video...tNights/nitros

unknown_host

iTrader: (1)

Ok just dont fry any piston rings, you know how the mad scientist gets when he has to replace them.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

dont worry, i aint gonna run the nitrous in my motor

just a suggestion for sleeper ideas, and i did mention that the motor is suppose to be built for nitrous shots. LOL so blowing pistons and rings wont be a problem


sleepers are like most LS1 f bodies. some are 13.5 second stockers and some are 10 second 600+hp monsters. you would never know the difference untill it was way to late LOL as most have stock body lines and rims LOL

FndmntlsOfPimpn

that was one of the sweetest vids ever n tlak about a trick nos install

92 Formula

iTrader: (2)

Does this look like an 11 second car to most people? It is. IMO this was well thought out by Tim. In truth, quite a few have raced me in this car thinking it was just another slow IROC...even after they must have heard the cam! So, it's my definition of a sleeper.

fastfbody

iTrader: (4)

hi everyone im new here .


that was a awsome video also any early model 3rd gen is a sleeper noone around here thinks my car can do anything.

93 SHO

Get my car (of course i havent done much.....the person who had it before me had borla exhaust & an intake put on thats it)

z28kindaguy

Put Type -R next to IROC-Z and you'll surely look like you don't know what you're doing and are easy to beat.

Raider9170

See, sleepers are a tricky thing and one that I always try to emulate with my builds.
First off the primer thing is cool but it is almost to be expected these days, worn out factory paint or the MAaco special are way more convincing.
Second the exhaust as everyone has said needs turned down and I recommend the newer Hushpower mufflers with electric cutouts. Gives a great/quiet sound while driving then open up the cut outs when it comes time to get nasty.
Third with the huge tach and everything, BAD IDEA. If you absolutely need it I guess work around it but if you just need to know your shift points I recommend the Proform shiftlight that you can put anywhere, I personally have mine stashed in the center vent with the vent blocked off so when it comes time to shift it makes that vent just glow and I go with it.
Fourth, the Nitrous question, I love it, use it if you want, but make sure the fuel system can keep up. But for sleepers if you don't need a lot (150 or under) I definately recommend the NOS Topshot because it hides under the aircleaner out of sight where the under manifold ones everyone keeps talking about are pricey and a pain in the butt. However if you want hardcore sleeper for big money races I guess its an option.
Last but not least wheels and tires got with factory, there are a lot of factory rims that will fit some good size meats and are a great deal. The factory Iroc rims for example work great as do many others, its all about looking around.

I say for the sleeper look be sneaky, if you have an iroc hood, trade it for a flat one. If you have the badging all over, take it off. Less is more.

cgb

I grew up in an area with alot of street racing...of course "Street" is a loose term, since I grew up in the "sticks"...and racing in traffic wasn't a problem, since there never was any traffic. Not to mention we had several unofficial strips ( old runways etc ) to run on...back then it was ALL about how slow your car looked...and hopefully you could talk your opponent into giving a few car and the brake, etc...

Some of the best "tricks" I've seen over the years ( and used a few myself )..

Using a GM washer pump setup to have VHT ready to soak the rear tires...easy enough by drilling some holes over the rear wheelwells....


Hiding the nitrous system by actually having TWO nitrous systems. One visible bottle in the trunk, with it UNHOOKED. This usually worked great. The real bottle was either INSIDE the backseat ( I did this in my old Chevelle ) or under the seat etc. You can hide the solednoids under the heater box, and run the lines inside heater hose...you can even disguise the plate and the feed line...

MAke the engine look CRAPPY. Use some steel wool to scratch up the valve covers to make 'em look rusty...make a new dist cap look like crap with some rubbed on dirt / grease. Always use black plug wires....even better if they look mismatched. Bench seats ( lighter and look like Grand ma's car ). DON'T use a tach, use a shift light installed in the dash so it's not visible...

Mismatched wheels....Skinny tires in the back that are actually cheater slicks + the mentioned VHT....

Use exhaust manifolds if you want to get serious...I've seen some guys running REALLY fast times w/ home ported exhaust manifolds....

Give the car a NASTY exhaust leak...it helps to hide the sound of a big cam, and just makes the car sound like crap.

OR... give the car a really nasty squeeling belt to help hide the motor sounds.

Primer is overdone to me...I love primer cars...but back then Primer meant look out...what's better is a CRAPPY paint job...maybe a spray can job...or a REALLY nasty color like that dark green that almost every Dodge Dart came with from the factory...green interior would help too.

HTH

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

yeah, i am wary of primer cars. seen way too many fast primered cars from 12 second neons to 10 second S10, to a 11-12 second buick regal, 80's monte carlos, etc.

Tobias05

i like the sound of this

my sc doesn't seem like anything special, until i start it up...

MrDude_1

sleeper formula:


goes fast.

doesnt look like it should go fast.




so its simple... all the crap people put on their car so it looks fast, dont put on.

that dual plane alum intake? dont leave it shiny alum. paint it stock black.
thoes shiny triple chrome plated, embossed with some company name valve covers? ditch them for stockers. if the stockers dont clear, mod them so they appear stock and do clear.
that billet MSD distrib?
ditch the red cap for stock black (but keep it brass) and dirty up the billet base so it looks like a old stocker.

strategicly placed grease and oil can hide alot of stuff.

dont make it obvious that you changed anything. or if its nowhere near stock, make it obvious that you dont know what the hell you're doing, and its jerry-rigged.




its all in the act really. you **** someone off the right way, they'll race you even if it says MOTOWN 454 on the immaculate valvecovers.
power, stock look and no "look at me" parts make it a sleeper.

Air_Adam

Sleeper look (except the hood is a bit of a giveaway )

305q_ta86

iTrader: (1)

I like the idea of the unhooked nitrous. I REALLY like the washer pump to wet the rear tires. I knew a guy that had Mercury Cyclone Spoiler, and that was a factory option. I should see if I can set something like that up..

92 Formula

iTrader: (2)

Oh yeah, that's a sleeper. I wouldn't expect a thing.

jocww

yea dont put a hood scoop or side exit exhaust or a cage or skinnys up front i can never get a race. keeps away the ricers tho

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

the amount of races i could possibly get now that i installed my cage has gone to zero unless it's single digit cars in chitown now.

[VU]Juan

I am with PhAnToMs on this one... here are the top 10 i applied myself...

#1 Primer or Flat Black (currently primer, soon flat black)
#2 No 12" Gauges on your dash, keep them stock or where they can't be seen from outside fron a car at the same height.
#3 Dumps, don't get the 3" exhausts sticking out the sides or really long chrome pipes on the rear. Nothing too loud either.
#4 No stickers, no badges, I removed all my TRANS AM bages and the birds, all smooth
#5 14" Stock Rims on decent tires, nothing too obvious of course.
#6 No extra "racing" crap, don't get the race car gas tank lid and such.
#7 Windows, no tint, I know it sounds stupid, but we are trying to go for a simple stock look here.
#8 No "racing" seat covers or Type S crap kinda seats. No seat belt harness pads either.
#9 No flames, duh.
#10 Yourself, don't look too cool LOL. Don't wear your "i am fast" sun glasses with your NASCAR jacket and Summit Racing trucker hat. Look "normal" I guess.

Those are the ones I mostly apply...