Matt Briley’s All-Steel, Eight-Second Camaro: It’s Da Kine, Man!

In the Hawaiian vernacular, anything that’s locally grown is “da kine, man!” Kona, Hawaii, air-conditioning contractor Matt Briley races this Steve Perreira-Street & Strip Performance Fabrication’s (SSPF) built (Hilo, Hawaii) ’68 Chevrolet Camaro SS at Hilo Raceway Park, where the 3,000-pound all-steel doorslammer competes in the 8.90 bracket. To date, Matt’s gasoline-burning 540-ci Scott Shaffiroff Racing Engines Stage III Dart big-block has powered the Camaro to a best of 8.60 seconds at 156 mph. 

A 108-inch wheelbase SSPF Pro Mod/Top Sportsman-style chrome-moly chassis serves as the Camaro’s foundation. It deploys Chris Alston Chassisworks components, including a Koni-Alston coil-over A-arm front suspension, Flaming River rack-and-pinion steering and Wilwood four-piston front disc brakes. Rear suspension consists of a Koni-Alston double-adjustable coil-over 4-link setup with a 4.10:1 Strange Engineering axle and geared Fab-9 live sheet metal housing equipped with four-piston Wilwood disc brakes. Wheels and tires are 15×15-inch Weld Racing rear and 15×3.5-inch Weld Racing fronts, respectively, wrapped with Goodyear and M/T racing rubber. The wheelie bars were built by Jack Ass Race Chassis, a subsidiary of SSPF.

The Shaffiroff 540-inch blower motor uses a Dart Big M reproduction 427 Chevrolet big-block (at 4.500×4.258 inches) as its foundation. Crammed inside are Clevite 77 engine bearings, a Callies Dragon Slayer stroker crank and 8.5:1-compression JE forged-aluminum pistons equipped with Hell Fire piston rings swinging on a set of 6.835-inch heavy-duty Oliver billet connecting rods. The heartbeat of this repro-rat is a proprietary grind COMP/SSRE blower cam. Support equipment includes a Cloyes Tru Roller timing chain, Chevrolet Performance Parts front cover, Moroso high-volume oil pump and 7-quart oil pan circulating 5W30 Castrol Syntec racing oil. Clamping power comes from ARP and Dart fasteners using Cometic MLS gaskets. Bolted up top is a set of Dart 355cc Pro-1 cylinder heads outfitted with 2.300-inch-diameter intake and 1.880-inch-diameter Manley stainless steel valves pumping Manley Nex Tel dual roller springs with COMP titanium retainers. Rocker arms are from Harland and Sharp and are capped off by a set of tall-deck Shaffiroff valve covers. Bolted in between the lifter valley is a Blower Shop intake topped off with a pair of calibrated Quick Fuel Technologies 950s riding on top of a 10.71 Blower Shop billet supercharger. The ignition system is a Pro Billet unit from MSD firing NGK spark plugs through MSD wires, while the headers are from JARC. Engine cooling is handled by a CSR Performance Products water pump and lightweight JEGS aluminum racing radiator. Backing it all up is a TCI Pro 1 Glide with 5,000 stall-speed TCI torque converter. The final link in the Camaro’s drivetrain is a Strange Engineering steel billet driveshaft.

Although this Camaro’s hood may be made by Harwood Fiberglass, the remainder of its body is real GM steel, and it isn’t acid dipped. Credit for the outstanding jet black paint goes to Henry at Kona’s Hank’s Auto body, and credit for the bodywork goes to Frankie Bobo. Inside we see more of car builder Perreira’s metal-shaping handiwork featuring a fully equipped Auto Meter dash, TCI shifter and Simpson-equipped Kirkey race seat. In the trunk you’ll find a Harwood fuel cell, a single battery and the car’s fuel system, and let’s not forget the Camaro’s 8-foot Impact parachute just in case.

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