Re: I know.. I know.. Im nuts!
 

Jeff its good to know costs will be high! haha Racing is important but I have had a few sabatacles (sp?) in my racing past, this year is a no go, next season? who knows. As long as I can dream I am still alive :)

As I read the documents I got from Gm yesterday it seems the 195 horse 283 ,and the 250 AND 300 horse 327 were available in these cars. GM gave me a full options sheet for the car. So as long as I can get some one with an available ear I cant see any reason why there wont be an Acadian Invader running as a stocker hehe.

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Just give Pat Cvengros @ NHRA Tech in Glendora, CA a call on Monday. He's the Stock / Superstock Committee Chairman.

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Yup I have spoken with Pat a few times, hes a good guy.

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Update
-Scored a 300 horse 327 intake cheap, when I went to pick it up I also gathered a set of "power pack" sbc heads even cheaper!
-Working on the fuel system got it 75% installed
-Working on brake lines......might have to pull the engine to get them installed..:(
-PPP shifter showed up can do final fabrication of the mount
-got an alternator belt figured....only took 3 trips to the parts store.....stupid v belts!

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Update
-Installed brake lines....only had to remove the headers. Nice kit... routes like the L79 novas would ,ordered as a stainless steel construction
-received the hardware to mount the switch panel and shifter
-Next up will be enough wiring to fire up this beast and then finish up the roll bar, after which things will really start to get exciting as prep and paint are next on the agenda.

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Dion, since you didn`t mention removing 2 feet of mud from your shop, I`m assuming last weeks big flood didn`t hit you.Any idea how some of the other Calgary area racers got thru that?

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Yes Rory I was very fortunate I had zero flooding at home or at work. I have spoken to Art Congdon , and he lives up the street from me and he is dry. I was also talking the Bob Gullet and they were dry also, I haven't spoken with Allan Marcial but he lives in high river so hopefully he is okay. As far as other people I am not sure, but the damages were crazy and the city of Calgary sure got some of the infrastructure fixed fast...the stampede is going and it was submerged only 2 weeks before.

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Jus' making parts......
This is the start of what will become the ignition rack

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Hello Dion

We are up on the hill and fine where we are. We are in Okotoks and not High River. Most of H/R was under in one way or another.
All it did in our city was take out the train bridge,the baseball diamonds/campground and the river has a new path through town.

Allan

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Update - I have been working on the car , little bits here and there.
- Currently doing engine bay wiring and enough temporary ignition wiring to enable the car to run.
- Getting the brake lines run and mounted....sounds easy. I am putting stainless braided AN for the flex lines and finding some of the proper adapters has been a challenge to say the least
- Going to prime the engine hopefully this weekend and once we have ignition it is time to wrap up the roll bar installation, then finish up the fuel cell and weight box mounts, paint the roll bar and onto suspension and final prep of the exterior.

As far as repainting the roll bar I am going to try something a little different. I have been calling this a "Ghetto Restoration" as I am not painting the interior pieces. The interior has that well worn patina look and I am going to try and replicate that on the new roll bar. I will try and document this in photos once the time comes

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Tonight is the night that we "MAKE SOME NOISE"!!
- primed the engine
-ran the valves
-ran all the needed wiring in the engine compartment and the temporary stuff inside the car
-got the fuel system operational

things sure drag out when you only get an hour or so a night to get things done.
I am getting close enough that I figure end of april I should have the car completed

p.s. I emailed Pat C. and I will have to contact a Roger Allen at General Motors....does any one happen to have his contact information?

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Update - So I got the Acadian running the other day, I used to think this engine sounded bad azz....nothing sounds as good as a well tuned stocker or super stocker!
-The first picture is the ignition rack ,it will be removable with 1 weatherpack plug,1 cotter pin, the whole unit drops into a tubular receiver
-The second pic is the "command center" switched, circuit breakers, power bar - also quickly removable for maintenance
-The 3rd pic is the completed shifter mount , for the Precision Products shifter
-The 4th photo is showing the potential layout of the fuel cell, weight box, fuel pump and filter, and rear roll bar stringers
-This last picture is for a question? I have had these traction bars for quite awhile and got them second hand, does anyone recognize what brand they are?

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Dion the bars look like low profile cal tracks, I have a set on my Street Nova. Hopefully you have rearend housing brackets if not call Cal Tracs direct. When I was putting my Nova together for the street I got lucky I did not want slapper bars and I called Cal Tracks and they told me these were available, for a street car it just looks better, Nice build by the way. Go on Cal tracs site they show both styles.

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Dion, Looks like you are having a lot of fun with a tubing bender. High marks for the effort of doing it yourself. Every time you build something, you will find something that you could have done different and/or better. That combined with research leads to evolution by way of experience. Two things I learned about wiring many years ago, A) solder all connections and shrink tape, and B) use terminals with an eye/hole and a small machine screw with stop nut when securing a wire to a switch or other components. If your switch does'nt have a hole in the blade, make one..carefully! This is especially important in situations where possible shaking and/or excessive vibration could occur. You will notice, all of the racing electronic devices i.e. ignitions, delay boxes, throttle stop boxes etc. all have screw connections....there is a reason for that! LOL

Oh yea....you will receive such a feeling of accomplishment when you get it done and on the track. It's a win just for getting there, having done it yourself! And please continue to share the photos as you go, they are very helpful to folks that may want to jump in the racing thing and try like you!

Wade Mahaffey

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Sorry....double posted

Wade Mahaffey

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Thanks , Bob I thought they could be Caltracs just wasn't sure!
Thanks for the kind words Wade, I hear what you are saying I have built plenty of cars over the years including my stocker, and no matter how much attention I pay to any particular area there is always something that could have been done better.
-as for the rats nest inside the car that is just so I can get the car fired, I have to do most everything myself and pushing this car sucks! I intend to solder and screw all connections once I lay out the proper wire routing.

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Update - The roll bar is starting to take shape...the original plan was to get a friend of mine to custom bend and weld up the remainder of the tubes, as there was fitment issues. Well a week before this was to happen his shops tube bender was inop with no immediate plans for repair. Awesome! so plan b was started, I had another fabricator friend bend some pipe for me after plenty of careful measurement (wing and a prayer as car was offsite). At this point I have all bars in place and all plates bent and formed.....just waiting on space to get it all burned in.
- Car runs, needs to be tuned.
- Radiator and fans are in place ,wired, and plumbed
- All Engine bay wiring is complete, soldered, heat shrinked and restrained

Once the roll bar is welded it will be time to figure out fuel cell, fuel pump, weight box location and mounting.....Then we can paint all that tubing.

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-Update
-The roll bar is in and fit, just needs to be final welded in place. I think plan c or d is where we are at this point as my go to guy can no longer be gone too. Most times when an outside source is relied upon there is an element of let down...so I will weld it up myself. Only a couple of hurdles here, there is snow on the ground so my bodyshop is BUSY...I don't have a smaller enclosed trailer anymore...our 46 foot trailer is in getting hail repaired as we speak...starting in January...So I will complete all other fabrication first
-first photo is the main hoop and the rear trailing bar
-this is the front drivers side bar
-the front lower side bar mount off the frame connector
-the main hoop mount also off the frame connector
I went this route for the bar mounts rather than the sandwhiched plates for more structural integrity (stiffer car) ,plus I figured in a serious event this will endure more torture.
-in the last photo my "screw up" is visible and that was that I had originally placed the main hoop too far back, this caused a number of problems most of which being the arm rests were totally in the way and the side bars were too short.

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-And more
-I had been struggling with the fuel cell, weight box, fuel pump and fuel filter mount.and there isn't a lot of photographic examples around for comparision....so what does a guy do?
-I studied the rule books of both sanctioning bodies and came up with what I think is an acceptable solution.....we will eventually find out. The tubing is 3/4 inch with a good wall thickness, where any bolt goes through it is sleeved, I have some gusseting left to do yet
-The fuel filter will be moved as it seemed a good place while mocking up the unit, upon completion I don't like it at all. 90degree turns and short runs of plumbing spell It Is Going To Be Changed!!
-The unit mounts to the roll bar plate area ,that uses 1/2 inch bolts which is overkill according to the rules. The bolts run through the rear frame rail and are sleeved to prevent crushing of the frame and plated where the bolts run through the floor pan only.

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Looking at that driver-side door tube I hope you are contemplating a quick disconnect steering wheel...one of the first things I added to the Camaro and it sure made it a lot easier on my old bones. :p

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The photo is deceiving, it is actually easy to get in. I am 6'3" 185 and it is no problem for me, my dear old dad is a senior at 5'11" 210 and he has no problem. The previous door bars were more difficult to negotiate, they were longer and located higher.

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I think an update is in order...work has progressed, I have completed all the fab work, and we will be moving on to the suspension and brakes.

However it is that time of year to pull out the chevelle stocker and get it ready for the upcoming season......that's right momma has given the green light for another season of popping wheelies :)

The stocker is getting a gear change, header updates, all ready had some carb work done, some new slicks and a whole lot of lovin that it has been lacking over the last year.

The Acadian will still have progress it is just that I have run out of parts and need to do some more gathering, So I have been doing some research and have talked to some very informative sources.

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What gear ratio are you changing to?

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changing the first gear planetary to a lower ratio in the metric 200. The rear gears will stay at the 5:38's I have been running

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It is time to get back onto this project, the chevelle is running and all together, time to test and see how much further under it can go :)

I have been slowly collecting parts for the Acadian, but it is time to dive into the suspension and brakes. I was hoping originally to have this car out this season......but realistically I don't think so. I have been fortunate to get my stocker operational as it is, so the Acadian will slowly plod along. Funny part is it wont be the suspension , brakes , or remaining tidbits that are going to slow me down, it will be the body and paint. My shop is busy and quite frankly ....I want to race!!

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update- well lets see where to begin....the stocker had two (2) engine failures and a trans issue at two separate races. so not much racing has happened. I did manage to get some very respectable times out of the chevelle, I was really wanting to run at sea level and let it all hang out and maybe get a HP hit :).

-The Acadian has been collecting dust only in that I have been doing some finishing up of the house renos in preparation of a sale...go figure my family has outgrown a 5 bedroom home.. There has been parts showing up and contacts being made so when I do start twisting wrenches again I will be prepared. Basically it is time to square away the suspension and brakes, and finish weld the rollbar, do the interior and body and paint.

I have been toying with the idea of a super stock combo with this car, and some possibilities have popped up. Before I do anything of a class nature I want to see what this car will do with modern underpinnings with the "ole reliable" bracket engine. This car ran mid 11's and truthfully I don't know how. My dad built this car in the late 70's by copying the alston catalog components and although it did well, it wasn't efficient.