MOTOR SWAPPING IN COLLINS' GARAGE
On Friday October 5th, 2001, Dan Collins and his friend Mike remove the 396 Chevy motor in Leah's '69 Camaro. The motor sat in Leah's car for over 4 years and was a consistent runner in the 12.30's average. Mid-season for Team Firebird, Leah made the mistake(?) of telling Dan she wanted to go faster, tired of always being chased. Being the giving husband, Dan gave Leah the 454 Chevy motor he was building.  After the 454 motor sat in the garage for the summer, Dan was now determined to debut the 454 and the return of his Stepside for a November Super Chevy race in Tucson.  On October 20th, 2001, the 454 Chevy was placed in Leah's Camaro by Dan, Lonnie Garcia, Ryan and Cole Smith.  Pam and Leah were parts runners for the weekend  It ended up taking three full weeks of work to get the Camaro ready as troubles arose with the replacement of the rear end with a new Mark Williams spool and axles.  This task ended up more lengthy than the motor changing. Dan's brother Travis graciously stepped in to help Dan get the truck done while Dan labored over the Camaro. The 454 finally fired up the weekend prior to Super Chevy, the truck with 396 installed first fired the day prior to Super Chevy. Dan plans to make Leah's old 396 a stronger motor by adding different heads, cam and intake.

Dan prepares to remove the 396	The slow process	Turbo 350 tranny comes out also
Dan inspects	Engine compartment empty	Next morning, 396 is readied to punch in the '67 Stepside
Pam helps Dan drop it, literally	The 396 resting in it's new engine compartment	The 454 is ready to install
Ride 'um cowboy! Cole Smith hops a ride	"Need help Lonnie?" Cole Smith- future mechanic	Dan readies the motor mounts
Lonnie lowers the 454 while Dan holds the turbo 400	Dan makes the first two check out passes- First pass with the 454 - 12.03	A little jet change and the second pass yields the first 11 second pass-11.93
Smoky burnout on new slicks!	After another jet change, Leah gets to drive her car with new motor, Her first shot is an 11.87 in Tucson with higher elevation!  We suspect an 11.60 run at Firebird.  The Camaro then runs 12.01 four times in a row-a hugely successful project for Dan, Lonnie, Darryl, Ray, Ryan, Mike, Mom and Leah-the hard work is much appreciated-Thank You!	Dan had troubles throughout the first weekend with the 396, mostly ignition problems. The truck ran 13.0's when it was running ok.  Dan plans to work on that with a few improvements.  Dan says a huge thanks to his brother Travis Collins for preparing the truck for Super Chevy.