Thanks Guys. This car was a ton of fun. For a few reasons, The customer is a good guy. Not only did I get to build him a cool car, but I also gained a new Friend. 2nd is that he has pretty good taste.
This new project we are cranking on is going to be pretty awesome.
Lets try this again. I put up all these pictures a few weeks ago then due to what ever malfunction we lost like 8 days of posts.
The Fairway Chevrolet 1970 Chevelle has been all over the magazines lately. We got a cover spot on Popular Hot Rodding this month, Maximun Drive ran a feature on the car and a few weeks ago we were invited to do the Hot Rod Magazine Flog test for the vehicle. More on the flog test next.
Here are a few pics from the photoshoot I found on the internet.
Some pics of the Maximun Drive article. This magazinec an be found where they sell Street Trucks. It's pretty cool. Sorry for the crappy pictures but these were taken by my cell phone in my back yard to show the customer when he was in Detroit a few weeks ago.
In September of last year when the Goodguys road tour came through town Jesse Kiser of Hot rod Magazine saw the car and invited us to participate in the flog test. He thought the car had the perfect stance but wanted to know if it worked at that ride height. I assured him it did.
Well fast forward to March when they finally got the dates and time nailed down. The Flog test would cover 3 days all over California. Monday of the test week would be at the Westech Dyno out in Fontana/Pomona area. Tuesday would be run at Willow Springs on the road course and skid pad. Thursday we would run the car down the drag strip in Fontana.
So on Monday I got in the cat at 4am to leave Bakersfield. I drove the car straight down I5 to the 210 all the way out to Westech. Its very had to do the speed limit or less in this car but I still managed 20 mpg at 80mph.
The car managed to put 570 hp and torque down to the ground on the dyno. I was expecting 470 to the ground but apparently GM under rates this crate engine just a little. They had to drop the air pressure on the rear tires to get the power to hold on the big rollers at the low RPM roll in. That blower gets going pretty fast.
On Tueaday I did not have to get up at O'dark thirty like I did the day before but I still left the shop at 5:45 for the 80 mile cruise to Willow Springs. I was the first to arrive in hopes of getting the early morning feature photos out of the way. I had never been to Willow Springs but that is a very nice facility.
Some over the shoulder Feature shots from Wes Alison.
The flog test was not a race as much as just 10 different articles comparing 9 cars against a base line set but an 850 hp Mustang Super Snake. There was a very broad variety of cars, 32 fords, 70 cuda, 67 firebird convertible, Newman Car Creations 57 Chevrolet with L.L. green wheels and a C-10 truck. It was funny the cars that drove to the event performed the best and the trailer queens had a few issues. I think Kyle Newman and I were the only ones to not do a thing to our cars.
Micheal Essa who is a Drifting super star did all the driving comparison for every ones car on the skid pad, slalom, and road course.
I was more then pleased with the results of our car. This car is not intended to be a race car super star but just an actual pro-touring car. It hauls ass and gets great mileage and handles great for a car that has zero testing beyond the seat of the pants adjustments to the Ridetech Triple adjustable coilovers. There was a fully prepped new body style mustang and I hope for his sake he was not out performed by any of the OLD IRON.
On Thursday we did not have to be to Fontana until 12 noon so I got some much needed sleep and got some work done before driving the car south thru LA Fontana to run it down the strip. I knew the car would do pretty well at this event since it had the 2nd highest horsepower rating.
The car wound up running a best pass of 3 at a 12.50 at 115 mph. The Super Snake with 850 hp only managed a 12.00. Every other car was in the 13's. I did not change the tire pressure and after the passes I got back in the car and drove it home. Knocking down 20mpg.
Man I love this car. Its so much fun to drive and gets so much attention. Thank you to Fairway Chevrolet for letting us work on a 2nd car for you and we are excited about the progress going on the 3rd.
Here is a sneak peak at what we currently have going.
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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