Hello all!

If you tuned in late, I've been working for about a year and a half with my good friends in the Northwest Houston Vette-Rods and Gun Club to take a supposedly restored 71 roadster and turn it into a firebreathing show/drag car. I would NEVER have attempted this project without the support of my friends and besides mechanical expertise, they have provided buckets of moral support when I got discouraged or overwhelmed. One needs a financial plan and many friends before ever starting down this path.

How it all began: I bought a supposedly completely restored numbers matching roadster in March of 2008 from a CF member who will go unnamed but many of you know. In our group, we call him the Creep.

Here is how the car looked when we started:



Then the motor crapped out and the tranny crapped out so out of the car they came.



leaving an ugly kind of dirty hole



thus began Phase One: Dismantling

We pulled out the old A/C, decided to replace all the gauges so tore the entire interior out



We decided to build a 555 cu inch screamer to replace the old motor which, it turns out was filled with Chinese no name parts and thus a ruined block (so the NCRS people aren't so upset with me). I asked The Great Temptor Jim Moore if the TKO600 tranny would hold the power after we got it fixed (bad install) and he just smiled and said "for a while." And as for the stock BB rear end, another smile and "for a while." So dismantling continued and out came the entire rear end, trailing arms, the whole bidnez.



Some say fiberglass cars are lighter than air. Don't you believe it for a minute! But all stripped down, it did look like it a bit eh? End Phase One.



Phase Two was building a stout drivetrain that could handle upwards of 800hp in case we built for that much so we set the mark at 1000hp for a bit of a fudge factor.

Son of Tranzilla T56 tranny.



Tom's rear end. I could NEVER have pulled off getting this all done without the help of Chad Rhodes and Mike Dyer. Chad got the stuff to me and Mike did the entire truing up and install while we held wrenches and followed instructions. This took months but the final result was awesome! We intend to do an article in Corvette Enthusiast to outline the steps and choices in that part of the build.



Phase Three was the motor build, captained by Jim Moore and supported by the rest of us as deck hands. The journey here is documented in a 3 part series in Corvette Enthusiast in the Nov2009, Dec2009 and Jan2010 issues.







Some miracle body work and flares by Stan Chorianopoulos and Tim Bishop from Boston (also to be an article in CE at some point after we're done) and we were ready to go to the race track for a "spin".
The body work was a whole saga in itself in a story to be told later. During this time, we discovered that the car wasn't "restored" after all. It had been wrecked by the previous owner in a DUI infused evening where he went through a fence and into a tree. The frame is good, has an entirely new front clip and the car has now been completely straighted out by Stan and Tim and is better than when it was new.






At this point though, it just had some basic work done, mainly the flares.





We got the car running late the night before beginning the trek to BG for the Cruisein and spent Wednesday afternoon and evening putting the rest of the car together so we could run at the track.



We did well at the track, ran 10.946@129 as best run. Car went straight and it was obvious we had a lot of work left to do with suspension, carburetor linkage, hydraulic clutch slave, and other tricks. But Bruiser went straight and got it done.



And a bit of gratuitous celebration back at the hotel.



First run was a test run given Bruiser only had single digit miles on him. White helmet runs have me as the driver. My code name is Jack in the Box for obvious reasons. The black helmet ones (the really good ones) have Jim Moore, the Great Temptor as the driver.

This first run, we weren't completely sure it would drive straight so I took it a little easy. (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

http://www.fototime.com/D8B0202F69D7AD7/convx264.mp4

Then after some adjustments (lowering tire pressures significantly being one), Jim took the wheel. We have some in car shots as well as out of car shots.

http://www.fototime.com/2EAB4B0D866ED98/convx264.mp4

http://www.fototime.com/46C80DF4CB761B4/convx264.mp4


And one run in Jim's 66 to show us how it is supposed to be done. His friend Doug in the Nova works for Holley and comes out every year to race him. Notice the playful banter before the run then it's all business.

http://www.fototime.com/679DE25440ED3A2/convx264.mp4


Came back to Texas, tranny out, clutch master and slave replaced with correct parts. Had to move the tranny back half an inch, recut and rebalanced drive shaft but now all is well down below except 3rd gear synchros got crunched in BG so eventually tranny will have to come back out and be sent back for repairs.

Phase Four: Complete the basic body work and get the entire car to primer

This will be represented by one photograph for now. The story will be told later but here is an interim step. Car completely stripped to the glass, major work done to fix front clip, rear which was drooping, the doors, full gelcoat, lots of sanding ending in primer.














Okay that is where we stand at the moment! Whew!

Doug

 

Next task is getting completed this week...putting in a 6-point roll cage. Even for the street, is better to have a little more safety and will likely make the car stiffer which can't hurt eithere.

I am due to pick up the car tomorrow. More pics then.

In Phase Five, we will drive the car as close to being done as we can before Christmas. Stan and Tim are coming down after Thanksgiving to really hit it and get the car in paint before the holidays. We are going to paint the car C6 Lemans Blue Metallic with a metallic silver modified Baldwin Motion stripe and rear end. I have bought a hardtop and will have that painted and striped at the same time.

Mike Dyer and I are going to put in a few days right after Thanksgiving to clear off as many electrical, plumbing and interior issues that we can before Stan and Tim come to paint. Hopefully we'll be pretty far along before they get here.

I have a new white soft top, cut pile carpet on order, leather covered seats, installed tilt/tele wheel, hot rod air, all autometer cobalt gauges.

In paint by Christmas is the goal.

Doug

 

Nice recap Doug Will be looking forward to ongoing build. Always great photos and content. So much substance, makes for great read!

Dave.

 

Your 555 ain't shabby either Dave! Ever had a use for that chute on the back? What's it like when it deploys?

DP

 

Doug

Great stuff and have enjoyed following along. Talk about a case of "whileyouratititis" (ha ha). That is going to be one terriffic car in the end and will make the ultimate C3 in my mind. How long though before Jim has you convinced to stick that solid roller in there. Keep the info and the pics coming and congratulations as the end of the tunnel is in sight now.

Bill

PS I somehow missed that this was once a forum members car and was not what you thought you were buying. I would call this the ulltimate revenge though for sure.

 

Looks Great Doug. can't wait to see it in person one day.

 

Excellent read and beeeaaautiful car! I see now from my question last night, you have it set up right to handle the few extra ponies coming out of the engine bay. Again, looking forward to see it featured in the mags. Superb job Doug.

Terry

 

I have been wondering what has been going on with Bruiser. Last time I remember seeing it had black primer on the fenders like in the pics. I see now it looks like it is one color. From the articles Jim wrote it sounds like you guys had a good time at the dyno and made some huge numbers. Even with the setup you chose, those are huge numbers. Hope to catch you guys out in the car up in BG next summer. Til then, keep the pics coming. It is going to be one sweet car.

 

Man....Bruiser has come a LOONNNGGG way!!

This is going to be an incredible C-3 for sure!

The rollbar is going to be a sweet addition and I can vouch for the fact they do stiffen up convertibles a lot. Plus Rick does a fantastic job creating them!

So....when we get it all pretty......are you going to take it back to the track with a throttle that opens all the way and a hood that lets air in? That dude can run low 10's@132+ easily! Might ask Stan if he can add some *rubber repellent* to the paint mix behind the tires!!!

Can't wait to see it all in paint and with all the other new parts added!

Thanks for letting me be a part of the build!


JIM

 

Rubber repellent???

HMMMM....

I have the perfect solution to protect the new paint and bodywork.

A nice wood block to sit right behind the gas pedal!!!!

You can get one at Lowes for a few bucks. then you dont have to bother with the expensive 3M clear mask!!!!!

Performance might suffer a bit, but think of all the $$$ you'll be saving on costly paint repairs!!!!

Hey Jim, at some point you and I have to meet.

 

We already sorta had that. The pedal setup would only open throttle partially due to some flexing. We could adjust it up for one push on it...then let off and it was right back to 3/4 at best.

Then I nearly died when I sat in car at the starting line and realized the hood hadn't been cut open in the rear yet. That poor 'ole Holley was wheezing like crazy with 555" pulling against it!

So just think how much fun we can have now that all of that stuff is taken care of????

Are you adding a flex agent to allow for some rebound after the wheelies???

Yep...we need to meet up...either in Houston or when I'm up in New Hampshire visiting Mark (ML67).

Take some good pics of whatever you do with the deck lid cutouts....I need to do the same on my car!

JIM

 

We will be in Houston on the 6th of Dec. Maybe you can swing by during those couple of weeks. NH would be bad either. Then you could come by and check out the shop. We are only 45 minutes from the NH/MA border.

As far as the cutouts, we will see what they look like when we get there. Usualy we instal the bar,and then very carefuly keep trimming little by little till we have just enough clearance for the lid to shut properly.

 

I think the cutouts are already done. Mine are too. Rick spends a lot of time making sure he fits them tight. Just wondering about how to make them look *finished*?


JIM

 

He didn't ante up one bit. Claimed car was restored and said no to my question had the car ever been wrecked.

He particularly didn't want me to put sidepipes on the car. I wanted them anyway but that put the mod high on the list!

Doug

 

The one color is primer. Stan and Tim came back down, stripped all the paint off the car, spent countless hours sanding and filling...then full body gelcoat, more sanding then primer. When they return, will look to see if any body panels have moved while the car has been baking, fix anything they don't like, then wetsand the car to a mirror finish.

I'm looking forward to it too!

Doug

 

The lid has been cut, did it EXACTLY the way I told him, shuts well. He left final sanding to the experts but did a great job. Even measured the width of the stripe to be coming off the hood and made sure the vertical posts were outside the stripe. Everything symmetrical, everything right.

DP

 

Rick and I crawled under the car to admire the rear end, he likes the cross member that we fabricated, he liked the work done on the front including coil overs, Steeriods steering, he was struck by how much work had been done stem to stern.

Here is the only pic I took so far. Just was admiring Bruiser's stance now and Stan's bodywork and had to take one. Bad lighting, crooked, but beautiful anyway. You can see the roll bar inside the soft top.

More pics tomorrow.

 

Now the bad news.

Starter has been clattering a bit lately, solenoid sometimes doesn't work. Today I got the car started once to put on the trailer. When I rolled it off, we had to gather neighbors to push it back on the lift in the garage.

The starter is one of the very few things left that came from the original car. Allen bolts had backed out from the machined block which secures the starter to the engine block. Took it off, tightened it all up, put it back on the car, but still no bueno.

Will order a new starter from Summit Racing this week. Any recommendations, please let me know.

Doug

 

I used a Powermaster PMGR on mine. Fit perfect right out of the box. the original starter brace won't reach so I made my own. I know that's not a problem for you guys Project is coming along nicely, can't waint to see it finished

Jim

 

Doug,
Instead of using that modified Mazda starter just get one like is on your truck, Factory GM mini starter.
Mike