By Dave Chapman

TAYLOR — Ray Hood Jr. has always been a fan of early American muscle cars and wanted one of his own.

He did own a 1971 Chevrolet Nova. However, seeing as the Nova was powered by a six-cylinder engine, there wasn’t enough muscle for him and the car didn’t stick around very long.

About six years ago, Hood found his muscle car, a 1972 Chevrolet Camaro RS complete with a rare split bumper. The car is powered by a small-block Chevrolet engine that was recently rebuilt with some updates to add a little more muscle. Hood estimates that after the updates and tweaks, his car now has around 400 horsepower.

A turbo 350 transmission with a shift kit sends the power to a posi-traction rear end with a 373 gear.

While Hood has updated the drivetrain of his classic Camaro, he has kept the exterior of his car pretty much as it came from the showroom floor. The only notable difference is a set of B.F. Goodrich tires on the Camaro’s stock wheels.

As with the exterior, the interior is pretty much stock except for the addition of an aftermarket sound system. Hood added a set of Sun Pro gauges so that he can keep an eye on the how well the car’s power plant is running.