Time for a public thank you
Its been many years that I wanted a car that could handle and drive well but still be in the body of an old hot rod. It started with a 65 Elcamino I had in the mid 90's. A divorce caused be to get rid of it and several years later ended up with a 64 Lemans convertible that was too rough to build and later a clean 67 Malibu wagon that ended up having to sell to pay the bills. In the mean time I built several budget straight line street / strip toys but always still wanted the 64-67 A-body handling cruiser.
A couple years ago I picked up the 66 Cutlass I have now and as most of you know its basically complete. I've been a few trips in my car but the trip I took tonight sealed the deal for me. I took 2 neighbors who are not car people at all, my wife and my daughter on about a 60 mile trip on some curvy 2 lane farm roads. Many long sweeping curves and some tighter ones were rated 30-45 MPH. There was not a curve I did not take 15-20 MPH over the recommended speed. The car fully loaded with people did not even flinch pushing that fast around the curves. Both my neighbors just could not imagine an old car could ride and drive so well. My mission is accomplished.
I turned all the wenches but I did not even get close to building this car myself. I have been updating my progress on Chevelles.com the first message board I ever joined, Pro-touring.com, Lateral-g.net and a few Olds specific boards. I read about almost every car being built on these sites. If it was not for my E-friends some of which have become or will become real friends I could never have ended up with such a nice finished product. There is not one particular thread that comes to mind but I have learned from everyone that has posted about that they are building. I want to thank you all.
In addition I would like to bring up 3 specific vendors that have helped me along the way.
The first is Tobin at Kore3. I spent very little with him only getting hoses and front caliper brackets but I got service like I had spent thousands. Tobin answered many of my questions designing my brake system both on line and on the phone. Thanks a ton Tobin!
The second is Frank at Prodigy. I bought my transmission and several misc items from him. Had a few snags getting my parts and Frank bent over backward making things right. Sometimes its what a company does when there is a problem that shows what they are all about. Frank never ducked my calls and either answers his cell or called me back shortly after leaving a message. I will use him again in the future. Thank you Frank!
Last but certainty not least come Marcus at SC&C. I told him what I wanted out of my car. He told me what I needed on several occasions even down selling me or telling me to buy something someone else carried because it would fit my needs better even though he carried a competing product. I followed all his suggestions and ended up with a car that is even more than my expectations. Thank you so much Marcus!!! You have a customer for life.
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Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
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