79 Olds Cutlass Wagon school project...

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Since my son's Coppertop '78 Cutlass wagon got wasted by a negligent driver who crashed into him, we've decided to yank Pumkinator's complete chassis and slide it under his car to replace his bent frame. I'm picking up a spare frame this weekend and will start a fresh build for Pumk. Part of the plan is I have some ideas for new frame bracing designs and I will do a little more tweaking to the frame to tuck 315s all around on the car. All coming soon...

[Dr. Jekyll]

Originally Posted by SRD Art

Man. so much has happened since I last updated the thread. After 17 years and 100K + of faithful service getting abused in 3 different cars of mine, That 406 grenaded drag racing a year ago this past November. My 11 sec street strip Nova donated it's fresh 406 for Pumkinator and I've since slowly been in the middle of the serious motor swap, weight reduction and interior and exterior upgrade. here's a rendering I did to give you an idea of where it's headed. I'll get around to posting updates and pics at some point...

WOW what an awesome rendering! A little nod to the 80's yes?

[SRD Art]

Back in the early 90s someone did a salt flat Syclone that has a similar paint design. I've always wanted to do that to a car but it never really fit. I think it works on this one.

The body color wheel hoops and blah blah all over the car leans a bit towards the drifter crowd. I'm a marketing guy so I aim to build a car that appeals to all car crowds. well, maybe the old street rod guys might not like it too much but I think most others will.

I also like overcoming big challenges and going places most haven't so since I had planned on using a burnt orange metallic vinyl wrap for the top half I get to show it can be done by cutting it on a plotter.

[SRD Art]

I finally had a few minutes over the weekend to try the new 315-30-18 sneakers on Pumkinator, man I'm stoked to have that much rubber on the ground. Pictured ride stance is a little high, I've been shooting to lighten it up 250 lbs and once I get the new frame in the car the tires should barely tuck at the fender lips. Traction for days! Yeah! This new set up is the first of lots of changes coming up.

[SSLance]

That's two G bodys now with 315s... That thing is gonna stick...

[SRD Art]

That's the plan! My new frame will have a few new ideas too so hopefully it'll perform noticeably better than before.

I'm not so sure a G-body can really compete with say an F-body with an aftermarket subframe and full suspension but you (Lance) and a small handful of others have been really pushing the limits and have set a pace for G-bodies to become well respected in the pro touring/ autoX world. I hope my unique wagon will add to that reputation too and lead the way for more G-body folks to get involved in the community.

[WSSix]

Nice, Ben! Wish I could say I have 315s on all four corners.

[SRD Art]

Between my full time day job, doing project renderings on the side, writing a book and making time for family I find I'm so busy sleep is now getting neglected and I'm averaging about 4-5 hours per night lately. Sound familiar to anyone? lol!

Well with all that going on Pumkinator project time has slacked off, or rather has been somewhat non existent for a while. I did get a few minutes with it this last weekend and snapped a few photos. Updates shown here are the new engine in place as well as the 315 tires. Still have to wire all the electronics and then plumb the fuel system. Pictured here is my "street" carb, a 750 vac Summit carb. This one's nice because you take the whole top off to change jets and tuning will go a little easier. I also bought a quick change spring kit for the secondaries. This carb also has the jets in the bottom of the float bowl which may be better for autoX. For drag racing I have an 850 double pumper to swap on. On the firewall next to the 6AL is my MSD timing control which will allow me to adjust it on the fly. I won't drive it daily anymore but a couple times a week to work is in order, and with 12.5:1 compression this control along with a water/meth kit will help make running on pump gas a little more realistic. More coming soon...

[malibu795]

Very nice

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Thanks Adam!