Targa Truck '71 GMC build - The first truck in Targa Newfoundland

[bovey]

Welcome to my build thread. I will be outlining the upgrades that will be made to my 1971 GMC to compete in the Targa Newfoundland in September 2014. For those of you unfamiliar, the Targa Newfoundland is a 1400 mile race across rural Newfoundland, way up north in Canada.

http://www.targanewfoundland.com/index.php/en/

A little history.



I have owned this truck for over 25 years. My dad gave it to me as a father-son project when I was 14, it was a 100 dollar pile of green... rust. It took 8 years to complete the original build and over the years I have kept upgrading it, mostly for road trips and occasional trips to the drag strip and I land speed raced it a few years ago. You may have seen a small blurb about it in Aug. 2011’s Hot Rod.



I have been trying to find a form of racing that I could compete in, that I enjoyed and fit into my busy life. I started auto crossing the truck with a local Subaru club last year, just for kicks. It is outrageously fun. One thing led to another and I’m now a volunteer to organize events and I fell off the deep-end in February when I signed up to be the first truck to ever compete in the Targa Newfoundland.


Meet the Targa Truck

Most of the work is done by myself, with exception to the 'cage. This garage is at my parents' house - this is where I originally built it many moons ago.



The interior is very simple. A couple of seats out of a Benz, a custom stick to get around the baby seat. Done. This will all be changing as I have to fully cage the truck.



And the crown jewel. My LSX race block based 427, AFR heads, Callies rotating, Big stuff 3, etc, etc. It’s backed by a t56 Magnum and a Spec 3+ clutch. It’s crazy, crazy fun. This I did not build, it’s capable of 8000 rpm, but the current cam is built for torque and runs out of steam in the 7000 rpm area. It pulls like a freight train at any rpm.



Due to timing I have to do this build it two phases.

Phase 1 for September 2014
- upgrade the brakes
- brake cooling
- upgrade the shocks
- new wheels and tires
- 6 or 8 point cage
- fire system
- new seats
- 5 or 6 point racing harnesses.


Phase 2 will be a complete chassis for spring/summer 2015
This has been in development for a couple months. My plan was to complete it for this year, but that will just not work from either timing or financial standpoint. More to come.

Throughout the build, feel free to ask questions. Some of what I’m doing will be great for your trucks, some of the stuff will be purely race safety kinda stuff.

The truck will remain a street vehicle, one that goes like hell, stops and turns. And yes, the baby seat stays too.

I can also share other upgrades I’ve already made, like:
- engine choice
- transmission
- quick ratio steering set-up - AGR 14:1 race box, pump, cooler, etc.
- brakes - simple Wilwood set-up
- my suspension is crazy simple - just a 4-6 drop like everyone runs.

I plan on making it fun, ideally informative. Cool?

bovey

[flashed]

Im in .

[Curtm220]

Sub'd...

[Tom Vogel]

very Awesome!

[bovey]

A good news story.

I had to order my parts online, in the end from both Summit and Jegs. Normally, I'm a shop local kinda guy. But it just did not work this time.

Anyway, both shipments where super fast. But someone went above and beyond at FedEx. A guy named "George" noticed I had a box for pick-up as my other box was going out for delivery. When he saw were the boxes came from he figured I was building a "race car" and gave me a call. He saved me a trip and a couple extra days of waiting.

So...


I'll be installing parts within a couple of days.

P.S. I'm a creative guy, so I'll be making stuff like posted above from time-to-time.

[Shaky]

This is so cool. One thing's for sure, you better have a moose guard on the front for the western side. I've never seen so many moose in my life!

[69GMCLonghorn]

I once took a "tropical" vacation to Newfoundland. Absolutely LOVED it from one end to the other. We went through St John's (George St will never be the same after I left it!), Bonavista, Gander, Twilingate, and who knows where else. The roads were very tight. I've seen that race on TV and about crapped when I saw the course setup! I saw several guys have to throw it in reverse because they missed a turn (not because they were hauling balls, but because the 50 cent piece of tape that told them to turn instead of going into Mabel's diner nose first had come loose!). Anyway, I can't wait to see how something that big will do on a course like that!

[1970 CST Short Wide]

VERY COOL. Would it be possable to get a close up of how you did your throttle cable hook up. I just installed EFI and could use some examples on how to mount it

[bovey]

Originally Posted by 69GMCLonghorn

I once took a "tropical" vacation to Newfoundland. Absolutely LOVED it from one end to the other. We went through St John's (George St will never be the same after I left it!), Bonavista, Gander, Twilingate, and who knows where else. The roads were very tight. I've seen that race on TV and about crapped when I saw the course setup! I saw several guys have to throw it in reverse because they missed a turn (not because they were hauling balls, but because the 50 cent piece of tape that told them to turn instead of going into Mabel's diner nose first had come loose!). Anyway, I can't wait to see how something that big will do on a course like that!

The Targa Truck handles better than you imagine. I actually race with a Subaru club, their courses are super tight and give me a crazy work-out. Here's a photo of use lining up to go.

[bovey]

Originally Posted by 1970 CST Short Wide

VERY COOL. Would it be possable to get a close up of how you did your throttle cable hook up. I just installed EFI and could use some examples on how to mount it

I bought a mount and modified it. I'll take a picture tomorrow for you. I actually need to finish the metal work and paint it. One of those details that never got finished...

[1970 CST Short Wide]

Originally Posted by bovey

I bought a mount and modified it. I'll take a picture tomorrow for you. I actually need to finish the metal work and paint it. One of those details that never got finished...

Thanks I figure I'll have to modify, Its always good to see how others did it

[bovey]

Originally Posted by 1970 CST Short Wide

Thanks I figure I'll have to modify, Its always good to see how others did it

Okay, here is my bracket in all of it's surface rusted glory. Your question totally reminded me that I need to take this off and finish it, as it actually works.

I use a Lokar throttle cable. I had planned on using the stock one, but it kept hanging up due to the stock cable design. I highly recommend buying a aftermarket cable if you do this.



Here is a close up of the bracket. I will be trimming off the holes for the springs as they are too close to my front spring mount to work. I have a discrete bracket mounted on a intake bolt that provides the right stretch. FYI - the throttle return springs are hidden behind the fuel rail.

NOTE: this bracket has a lip the puts pressure on the back of the carb mounting tab so it does not move when you jump on the throttle.



I like my parts simple and small. I had an Edelbrock bracket, but it was like the Eiffel tower coming off my intake. Worked fine, hated the look of it.

When I take it off to finish/paint it. I'll post a photo of the underside.

[bovey]

Quick update. Tore everything apart tonight and am figuring out how to run ducts to cool the brakes.

Did a quick mock-up of the D52s to make sure all the bolts were right and everything moved correctly. It does. The Phase one build is about effectiveness (cost too), not sexiness. Hello stock rotors.



And as I tear everything apart, I remember how everything was once shiny and new as I notice all the dirt, and grease, and grim... I take a time to:



I love form, but function wins. More soon.

P.S. I'll post a parts list soon. I want to double check everything works before doing so.

[2 Far Gone]

Sub'd...

[sparks427]

Very nice truck!

[Low Elco]

This oughta be fun! Nice rig!

[67swb72klb]

looks like a fun project

[c10Dream'n]

Let the good times roll...I'm in

[timmytimm3]

Subscribed. Nice ride

[1970 CST Short Wide]

Originally Posted by bovey

Okay, here is my bracket in all of it's surface rusted glory. Your question totally reminded me that I need to take this off and finish it, as it actually works.

I use a Lokar throttle cable. I had planned on using the stock one, but it kept hanging up due to the stock cable design. I highly recommend buying a aftermarket cable if you do this.

Attachment 1245816

Here is a close up of the bracket. I will be trimming off the holes for the springs as they are too close to my front spring mount to work. I have a discrete bracket mounted on a intake bolt that provides the right stretch. FYI - the throttle return springs are hidden behind the fuel rail.

NOTE: this bracket has a lip the puts pressure on the back of the carb mounting tab so it does not move when you jump on the throttle.

Attachment 1245817

I like my parts simple and small. I had an Edelbrock bracket, but it was like the Eiffel tower coming off my intake. Worked fine, hated the look of it.

When I take it off to finish/paint it. I'll post a photo of the underside.

Simple and affective, I like it. I'll just have to incorporate my Kick down cable with it. Shouldn’t be to hard
Thanks for the pic, Good Luck on your project

[bovey]

Sorry for radio silence. The brakes did not go as smoothly as planned and I was a volunteer driving instructor at a performance driving school. Fun week-end, sadly no truck...

The brakes are on and done. Doing this conversion is no different than any other brake job. It's easy.

The Wilwood part numbers you need are (71-72):



1 - Brake line kit (as long as you need 22" lines) 220-11719
2 - factory rotors
3 - Bolt Kit 230-0619 (pkg of 4)
4 - Front brake pads: 150-9421K
5 - Calipers 120-10936-BK - Qty 2

As mentioned I ran into a few issues:

1) My outer bearing were toast after last years racing.

2) My front fittings were tight and i ended up deforming one. More on that in a moment.

3) the Wilwood frame union is not made for a thick truck frame, I had to grind the frame a bit for them to fit. I'd reco getting a -3AN/7/16th screw in union to avoid this.

Time evaporated, and it took hours longer than expected to get the old stuff apart - this truck always comes apart easy. But then I recalled that my dad and I did these brakes 24 years ago...

To save time, I picked up a new set of rotors and bearings, they were cheap and I needed to get time back on my side.

Around 11:30 Saturday night I went for a Midnight test run. Very fun. Everything seems to be working great. Then I checked for leaks. One fitting. ONE. Was leaking. I worked on it for a couple hours before doing something I hate - admitting defeat. Annoyed, I went to bed as I needed to be up in 4 hours to return to my duties as an instructor. Even a small leak is not safe when your are tossing something around this big and this fast.



There is an upside. When others heard of my misfortune they let me drive their cars. A '79 TA and a special edition 03" Miata. FUN. Waayyyy different from a longbed GM truck. No surprise.

At the moment, the truck is having it's engine primped for the week-end. It needed some regular maintenance like new valve springs, retainers, etc. It's just something you have to do with heavy duty street engine. Dropping a valve due to a fatigued spring is an expensive lesson I hope to avoid.

Otherwise, the brakes are sorted. New custom valved Ride Tech shocks are arriving tomorrow and it goes in for a 'cage next week. I choose a race seat.



These are Momo Daytona Evos, they were made for me (feel great). However, I do plan on getting more streetable that I can swap out. I may put this on the passenger side and get a less racey version so I can swap them from side-to-side for track and autoXing.

[bovey]

Fab'n up some stuff tonight. I am making a track shake down run this week-end no matter what and need this to survive 2 full track days. Full update on this mod soon, any one want to guess?



Some people are welders, other people are grinders. Someday I'll be a good enough welder, so I'm not a grinder. My MIG welder is one of my favourite purchases. Working with metal is fun.

[bovey]

Well, as usual it's been a mad thrash to get ready for a track week-end. Someday I going to nail it, so I'm not up until 2AM the night before. Being tired and trying to hit your marks is a bad combo.

Due to the chaos, I'm a little behind with mods. But basically, the brake package and shocks Ron Sutton Designed are on. Thus far, very happy. Changing the brake pedal ratio is amazing. We were running in the rain today and I was honestly shocked at who well this thing pulled down. The shocks are a custom tuned single adjustable Ride Tech HQ that Ron spec'd. I need more track time to play, but they are much better at this point.

After 3 30 minute track sessions and 3 30 minute driving tech lessons in the rain, the truck is a total disaster. There is dirt everywhere. Too bad today's spring rain did not come a bit sooner.



Tomorrow is day two. And my instructor said he was going to be harder on me. He wants we hitting the apex the same, "within millimetres" which extraordinarily hard. And my corner exits are giving me trouble. Sleep. Now.

[Tropical Snowstorm]

Looks like so much fun! Glad to see an old longbed puttin in work!!! Get some rest, good luck with the race!

[bovey]

Originally Posted by Tropical Snowstorm

Looks like so much fun! Glad to see an old longbed puttin in work!!! Get some rest, good luck with the race!

Thanks! Day two went much better. I found out that part of the exercise for day 1 is to overload the student with info to mess with them. Great. It worked...

However, after a good nights rest we hit the track again. My first session went well, on day one I did not catch anyone in my run group, but during my first session I caught unto a FRS. It felt good. The truck was working great - the brakes were working awesome. So happy and the truck was hooking.

In my second and third sessions - things started to come together and this happened. This is a fb message from a fellow racer.



I had passed a BMW and a Lotus Evora and then a saw the Ferrari 458 in the distance. And then I caught it. I was totally apprehensive about getting to close to it. Then my instructor said: "OMG - the Ferrari is slowing you down - crawl up his @$$."

I said: "WHAT?!?!"

He said: Go, this thing is hooking hard.

So I did, and boy did it feel good when he waved me by.

The best part? I caught him again in 3rd run group. This time he took chase. His instructor found me later to tell me they couldn't catch me. A satisfying day. Obviously, with more training this guy will kill me with a car like that, but man - talk about going from zero to hero with the crowd watching.

In the end, the truck was amazing. Due to the intensity of the day, I had zero time to dial in the Ride Tech Shocks. Here are a few photos. They are just their single adjustable HQs with a custom rebound curve for how I use my truck. Super happy.