'72 Chevelle Track Car

S

sm76

:
2010 Mazda 6s
To stop messing up the Ohio thread I'm going to start posting here. It will be a long time before work is actually done on the car. For now it is all planning and research. The goal is to have a car that will still be street legal and that I can also run in time trials at road courses. I am shooting for under 2900 lbs and over 400 hp and

I have had my Chevelle for 20 years and it currently has a 454 big block and built TH350 auto trans.
Here is its current condition:
chevelle03.jpg


chevelle01.jpg


chevelle05.jpg


Needless to say, the stock suspension is not designed for autocrossing:
chevelle04.jpg



The car that originally put this plan into my head: http://onelapcamaro.com/
phoca_thumb_l_camp_1002_19+1967_chevy_camaro+side_view.jpg


phoca_thumb_l_DSC_0630.JPG
 
sub a dub dub to see how this goes, the Chevelle is one of my favorite cars and seeing one rebuilt/repurposed to race on a track is pretty damned cool
 
Oh look a Summit catalog showed up just in time for my flight today. Guess I'll use the time to figure out an engine plan. Leaning towards the big block plan now. I'd like to get at least 650 lb-ft of torque out of it. I'd still like to attach a 6-speed to it though so I can get decent gearing for the street and still have enough top end for Daytona (probably hit about 150-160 with this car there).
 
That set-up looks similar to NASCAR suspension. I wish I could remember where we bought our used parts from back in the day.
 
I wasn't all that familiar with the ST ruleset, but I figured it was pretty much controlled as far as power to weight and everything else was free. I sat down and read through them last night so I know exactly what I can and can't do before I get too set on one plan and it turns out to be a lot more restrictive than I thought. The hard part for me is section 6.2.3.7 which states:

7) A. Every vehicle must retain its unmodified:
1) OEM frame rails and/or Unibody, and Sub-frames
2) Strut Towers
3) Inner/inboard side of the fender wells
4) Rocker panels
5) Transmission tunnel
6) Floor pan
Click to expand...

So I'm not able to cut up the frame to modify suspension mounting points. Damn. So I'll have to get the modified geometry control arms, taller spindles and find a shock that fits in the stock location. This will limit how low I can run the car. But at least I can have unlimited chassis stiffening (allowed in the roll cage rule as an exception to the above limitation) so I will still have a pretty nice platform to build from.

Something like this as a base:
frame1.jpg

Then a full roll cage on top of it with the body attached as well for added stiffness. I plan on starting out in TT3/ST3 so I am limited to an adjusted weight to power ration of 9:1. I think my best option will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3200 lbs (with driver) and 370 wheel horsepower and 275 Hoosiers all around (tire size goes into the calculation for adjusted weight/power).

I'm bummed about being limited as far as suspension but that is what the class requires and everyone else is also. The bad part is most of the class will be Corvette Z06s with detuned engines so they will have better suspension geometry than me to begin with.
 
I love seeing hefty cars converted into lean, nimble road racers. Was actually gonna reference that GTO but it seems you're already familiar. Good luck with the build.
 
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How funny that I just came across this thread. I'm currently building a '72 as well. It's more for the dragstrip though. Good luck on the project and keep us posted on your progress.
 
Nothing new to report other than a change to the projected class. I will now be building to the American Iron ruleset. AI allows modified suspension mounting points which allows me to reach my handling goal. I still have a 9:1 weight to power limit, and nicely enough cars with ABS have 9.5:1 so it is a little better for me in AI relatve to modern cars. I will now be running against mustangs and camaros instead of Corvettes. Aero is also free in AI so I get to play with spoilers, splitters and air dams.
 
So this has taken a while to get moving, but I now have a fully developed plan for the car and started the slow process that will be building up the car. I will be building for NASA ST3/ST2 rules (depending on how weight and hp wind up) which will also allow me to run in the Outlaw Vintage classes that are now in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. I chose the ST classes over American Iron because the non-production based portion of the rules allow me to build a full tube frame chassis for only a minor penalty which allows me to optimize the suspension and wind up with a much lower overall weight. I am still planning on an LS1/T56 drivetrain because I expect to wind up about 3000 lbs with driver which will limit me to 319 hp at the wheels for ST3. The tube frame chassis will give me a much better shot against the C5 Corvettes in that class. I'm so glad this project is finally started and even though I don't really have any pictures to show now, I will document things as they progress.
 
Awesome to hear! Looking forward to seeing the progression of it.
 
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