I still have memories, as a kid in the 70's, of these long wheelbase beasts doing battle at Daytona and Talladega. My first car, at age 16, was a 1969 Camaro. It had an original 302 DZ small block in it with a Powerglide and a non-posi rearend. I was still learning about cars and didn't realize at the time that the engine alone was worth something. My Dad taught me a lot about cars when I was youn
g and helped me do a lot of work on the cars I owned back then. My '69 Camaro spun a crank bearing the first year I had it and my Dad showed me how to fix it. When my friends saw that Camaro...man...they thought it was the coolest car ever. After that a few of them started buying muscle cars and before we knew it...there was about 6 of us that were driving around in late sixties/early seventies street warriors. My '69 Camaro, Rob's crazy-ass '76 Monza that used to do wheelies, Jamie's '71 Z28, Terry's '70 Chevelle, Dave's '72 big block GTO, Sonny's Monte Carlo, Steve's LeMans, Eddie's Buick and Steve's collection of Mopars, Marc's Camaro, Raj's 442...what a time we had. I sold the Camaro to another friend and picked up a 1969 Chevy Impala SS convertible. That car was a boat and I had a lot of fun with it. These cars were thrown together on a teenager's budget. No high-dollar parts, just the basics to keep them running strong. I always liked Nascar, from the time I was a kid, and Donnie Alison's Hawaiian Tropic Laguna was always in the back of my mind. One of my oldest memories is of the famous 1979 Daytona 500 when Donnie Alison and Cale Yarborough battled down the backstretch, both crashing, and then getting into a fist fight. Although Donnie's Hawaiian Tropic car was a '79 Olds...I always loved the Laguna. Purpose built by Chevrolet to compete in Nascar to try to de-throne the wing cars that were dominating in the early 70's. And it succeeded...so much so that Nascar banned the body style after only 3 years. My best friend Rob suggested years ago that I should build a replica. Initially I built a Nascar replica of Dale Earnhardt's Monte Carlo SS. Ok...mine was a 1984 Buick Regal...but with some creative bodywork...it looked like a Monte Carlo SS. Lagunas were rare but in 2008, after 10 years of keeping my eyes open for one, I caught a break. I was actually about to purchase a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am...yeah...the Bandit car...when I came across an ad for a 1975 Laguna S3. I couldn't believe my luck and 4 hours later I was driving the car home. It had just received a frame off restoration and was pretty much in stock showroom condition except for the Cragar SS mags. And so the journey began...and with help from Rob, and Andrew Libbey at MF Chassisworks, I now have the car that I always dreamed of. Some details for you gear heads out there who can appreciate good gear;
Car was freshly restored and originally had a 350 small block, TH350 console shifted automatic and a stock 10 bolt non-posi rearend. She now sports the following;
Moser Engineering M9 Fabricated 9" with 35 spline gun-drilled axles, 3.73:1 gear running a spool and 6 piston Willwood brakes on 5 X 5 Nascar spec hubs. Speedtech Road Assault complete tubular front suspension with fully adjustable coil over shocks and chromoly sway bar. Energy Suspension Polyurathane Bushings throughout wth Fab3 Racing Chromoly upper and lower rear control arms. QA1 adjustable coil overs on all 4 corners (this car is tight). Custom built lightweight driveshaft with loop. Bassett Nascar spec 15" wheels with either L60-15 Goodyear Polyglass Gt's or Vintage Eagle Nascar slicks...I have both sets mounted. Transmission sits on a custom G-Force Chromoly crossmember and is a Hurst Drivelines Tremec TKO 600 with a McLeod Twin disc hydraulic clutch. Willwood 6 piston brakes up front with 11" discs on Nascar 5 X 5 hubs. Previously I had run Gen 1 small block Chevys but they fell victim to parts failures that prompted me to switch to a Gen 4 LS based engine. This new engine has a GMPP iron block, forged and balanced S**t crank, S**t H-beam rods, Mahle pistons, Comp Cams roller, Cloyes billet true roller timings set, Moroso high volume oil pump, GMPP heads that have been ported and polished, Edelbrock LS3 carb'd intake and a Quick Fuel 850 CFM. This engine dyno'd 625 HP @ 7000 RPM and 540 FT. LBS @ 5300 RPM and was built by Canada Engines Performance in Surrey, British Columbia. CR Racing 5 pass Nascar radiator with integrated oil cooler, Stewarts water pump with KRC front drive and a KRC Power Steering pump hooked to an AGR quick ratio steering box. Aeroquip fittings and hoses throughout along with an Aeromotive Phantom Stealth fuel tank and pump along with ceramic coated headers which feed into a custom exhaust system with Quicktime Performance electric cutouts. The exhaust comes out underneath the doors and can either be run through custom Flowmaster mufflers or straight out at the flick of a switch. The interior is basically stock with full factory gauges and swivel bucket seats. The console has been deleted and now a Hurst shifter with custom tunnel access patch and fireproof SFI shifter boot that came from Carl Edwards' Sprint Cup car sits in its' place. I will be adding pictures of the build process as well as the finished car over then next little while. I'd like to thank Rob for all the help and inspiration, Steven Shumey at Canada Engines Performance, Andrew at MF Chassisworks for the phenomenal custom work, Derek and Seth at Federal Performance, Rick at Performance Improvements, Michael at Tuboquip, Everyone at Competition Products, The Gang at Canton Auto Parts and many others who helped make my dream a reality.
