Greetings everyone,
I joined Lateral-G.net in 2005. Since then I have had the good fortune of meeting a bunch of wonderful folks and have learned quite a lot from a number of people. In that time much has changed in my life. I got married, changed jobs (twice), moved twice, built a house and we are currently in the process of selling another. Finally, life has begun to settle into a situation in which I can move my project from the planning stages to an active project.
I joined with a rather general plan in mind based on an experience gained nearly 30 years ago. Sometime around 1976-77 my father took me to a race at Laguna Seca. I distinctly recall box-fender flared BMW 3-series cars, Datsun 510's & 240-Z's, FIA bodied Corvettes and those wild Chevy Monza's. But what struck me the most was not these high-dollar pro racers but the cars in some of the support races being run by local SCCA members. Particularly if I recall correctly the A-sedan group.
This group was populated by hobby road-racers driving cars that were slightly older. Much like what you'd see at an SCCA or NASA event today. But instead of Miata's, Bimmers and CMC cars, these were late 1960's Musclecars. Mustangs, a few Mopars and Camaros. I was totally blown away. At the tender age of 10 or so I'd seen enough copies of Hot-Rod that I was aware that these cars were frequently used for drag racing. But the fact that they could be road-raced was entirely new to me. The cars were as amazing to me at the time as they are now. Pared down to their base elements, nothing there except what absolutely HAD to be there. Low, loud and mean looking with FOUR instead of two fat tires! Many of them had the "bubble" type fender flares that you can see on David Pozzi's old T/A car
Heck, David's car may have even been out on the track that day, who knows? I knew then that someday I wanted to have a car like one of those. And, I knew just where to start.
In July of 1969 my Grandparents purchased a 1968 Camaro that had been sitting a while on the lot at Courtesy Chevrolet in Santa Clara, CA. They needed a new car to drive to Arizona where I was to be born in a couple of months and since the car had been slow to sell the price was right. The car was a bit different in that it was a special order that wound up not being delivered to the customer it was originally intended for. Playboy had placed an order through COPO for 50 pink 1968 Camaros to be distributed to playmates through the year. They only took delivery of about 30-40 of them. The rest wound up being sent to dealers. This was one of them....and yes, I said it was pink. This was my Grandmothers car for close to 35 years. They drove it all over CA on vacations and fishing trips. In fact, to this day there are bait shops and mountain lodges that I go to and when I mention my Grandparents people say, "Oh the couple with the pink Camaro!" The car was nothing special other than by virtue of it's color. A basic 327 coupe with a powerglide. But it was cool and I knew that eventually this car would be the basis for my Camaro road-racer project.
Fast forward to the year 2000. I was getting out of the Coast Guard after eleven years and moving back home to the Bay Area. My grandparents at that point decided to give me the car. A couple of years earlier some redneck had yelled something vulgar to my Grandfather while he was driving it and it scared him so he had a cheapo Earl Schieb spray-job done on it so it was now blue rather than pink.
The gifting of the Camaro roughly coincided with the "rise" of Pro-Touring. Jeff Smith and Mark Stielow had finally put a name to what had been in my head for years. A classic Musclecar with an updated suspension and drivetrain. Finally, I didn't feel like such a geek for wanting a corner-carving Camaro! And, with websites like this one popping up, magazine coverage for PT builds becoming more common and increased aftermarket support for this type of car it was going to be a whole lot easier than I had originally imagined!!!!
So essentially I have spent the last few years in "planning mode" speaking with various vendors about different suspension configurations. Considering a number of different powertrain options. Asking countless questions of people like David Pozzi, Steve Chryssos, Mark Magers, Steve Rupp, Carl Cassanova, Frank Serafine, Tom Holt, Tyler @ ATS and many others. Weighing my intentions for the car and how that impacts parts selections, build style and how much to spend and where? Further, there has been the debate of the style of build. Street car vs. race car vs. Streetfighter. All of which has brought me to this. A finalized plan for and an opportunity to build the car I have dreamt of for nearly 3/4 of my life.
Introducing:
The car will have a decidedly "Streetfighter" vibe to it and that is by design. I intend to drive the heck out of this thing. It will see auto-x action in and around the Bay Area whenever I get the chance and it will be taken to the many fine tracks (Sears Pt. Thunderhill, Buttonwillow and Laguna Seca) around the area as well. The money will be spent on performance first and appearance second as I care far more about how the car negotiates a corner than about what some judge at a Goodguys event thinks.
Project 1/2 TRAK will feature the following:
Drivetrain:
- LS based EFI engine, target HP - 450
- TK0-600 transmission (unless a T-56 drops in my lap for a good price)
- 9" Strange diff with 3.90 gears
Chassis:
- Fully welded factory subframe modifed for coilovers
- DSE body mounts
- DSE subframe connectors
- DSE mini-tubs
- TC Design-Fab 10pt SCCA legal cage
Rear Suspension:
- Lateral Dynamics 3-link
- Afco Coilover shocks (~250lb springs)
Front Suspension:
- ATS Spindles
- ATS Coilover conversion
- Speed-Tech upper/lower A-arms
- 1-1/8 swaybar
- Afco Coilover shocks (~650lb springs)
Steering:
- Recirc Ball ATS steering gear
- Lee PS pump
- Moog steering system components
- Ididit Column
- Steering wheel quick release
- Sparco wheel
Wheels & Tires:
- Team III, LT-III wheels (minilite replica)
- 17x9.5 front 17x11 rear
- 275-40-17 front 315-35-17 rear
- BFG KD or similar
Interior:
- Cobra Imola FIA legal fiberglass racing seats
- No rear seat
- Factory carpet
- Welded/sealed/carpeted rear bulkhead/package tray
- Combination of spray-on sound damping material and strategically placed mat material for minimal weight contribution
- Custom center gauge panel with Stewart Warner guages
- No AC
Body:
- Weld & fill badge holes and side marker light holes
- Fiberglass decklid
- Fiberglass "stock-flat" hood
- Fiberglass front inner fenders
- "Vanzuuk" front air-dam
- Twist Machine rear decklid spoiler
- Flanks - Subaru WRC Blue
- Hood, roof & decklid - flat black
- Low gloss (~50%) powder coat on all metalic trim, door handles etc
Many of the items on the list above are still open to change based on new product releases, pricing changes etc therefore, any vendor wishing to discuss partnership in this project is welcome to contact me via Private Message here at PT.com
Pretty damned excited. I can't wait to get started on this thing.
First order of business will be to rip the front end off of it so I can finish the welds on the front sub and install the body mounts. Then subframe connectors, then tubs, then the 3-link rear. All of which I have the parts for on hand.
By the time that is done I hope to have purchased enough of the front suspension bits so I can put the car back on the ground so I can roll it onto a tow truck and take it to TC Design-Fab for the cage install.
I should be able to get crackin in about a month or so. Once the garage is organized a bit better. I will do my best to update this build thread every two weeks or so and look forward to sharing this build with the membership here at
www.Lateral-g.net
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Introducing: Project 1/2-TRAK
Nice that you can finally get started on the car when life gives you some space. 
Have fun and keep us posted. 
Linear Mode
