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

[bovey]

What's with the distributor?

Well, the short story is back in 2010, there were very few way to hide the look of an LS. My truck was a sleeper then, that I drag raced. I still run it because I can't afford to change it. That and I like it, people think it's a Pontiac engine for some reason. A number of people did not understand why I was at LS Fest...

[Centerforce]

Here is what we opened up...

Attachment 134746

That is one pretty engine! We can't wait to see it all tucked in.

[bovey]

Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday. Lots going on in the land of the Targa Truck, sorry for being a little behind with an update. Life is busy.

We did the major hacking and mocked-in the LS engine.


Ended up ditching the factory trans mount for weight saving and the engine is lower than stock, so this was just easier. It turned out really nice.


The Speedway 9" floater is in. Super happy to have this kind of security under the truck.


We did a test fit on my driving position and petal placement. These cabs are a little short on space, so we are caging and boxing the foot well to add about 8" more room.


The RSRT spindles, Howe ball joints and Wilwood brakes were all bolt on to the stock parts. The only thing that was a pain was the 11/16" steering linkage, it had to mate to the 5/8" helm joints. In typical fashion I headed straight to the circle track parts guys and they have a sleeve to solve this. I'll do a more in-depth post on this later. I need to find the photos I took.


I'm super happy with the Forgeline wheels, the build quality is amazing. The camera lens makes the brakes look small, they are 13.06" x 1.25"


And this should give you an idea of the engine set-back. It's almost 18" back. Let's put it this way, there is roughly enough space to put a second engine in front of it.


I spend yesterday re-measuring the rear suspension. Weighed it, and have to come up with a plan to keep the weight under control. The rear spring set-up is going to get interesting. Originally I thought it would be easier, but I had some mis-information... nothing a cut-off wheel and a welder can't solve.

The t56 is out for a re-fresh and I'm figuring out the shifter location - it'll have to bend forward to be useful or do a remote set-up like the Viper people do. I've also started designing the wiring system, I'm going to a modern PDM set-up. My tuner is a Motec dealer, so he going to aid the design and set-up.

More soon, the engine is just in the chassis as of a couple days ago and we are figuring out the new headers and exhaust.

[smbrouss70]

Wow! Keep the pictures coming!

[hotrod56]

Hey Bovey

Looks good. That is a lot of engine set back. How much room are you going to have for your feet? Any pics of the inside?

[bovey]

Looks good. That is a lot of engine set back. How much room are you going to have for your feet? Any pics of the inside?

Lot's of people ask about space for me feet. It's similar to a Viper or an AC Cobra. The throttle is roughly where the brake pedal once was, and the brake pedal and clutch are not that much further left than the factory set-up. Final seating placement has yet to be set, we've pushed the throttle as far right as we can. There is plenty of room for headers, more than in the factory location because the frame is wider here.

[Mtrhd329]

looks familiar! Mine is about the same. I had enough room to lay my radiator down almost flat and still have room in front of the motor. I had to move my brake pedal to the other side of the column amd make a new gas pedal and pedal mount. Its still very tight in there. Trans tunnel JUST clears the dash also. Looks good. Interested to see what else you do with it

[Dr G]

The Speedway 9" floater is in. Super happy to have this kind of security under the truck.

I love it. Floaters are the way to go. And Speedway Engineering makes great stuff.

We did a test fit on my driving position and petal placement. These cabs are a little short on space, so we are caging and boxing the foot well to add about 8" more room.

I sort of figured you'd end up doing something like that.

I'm super happy with the Forgeline wheels, the build quality is amazing. The camera lens makes the brakes look small, they are 13.06" x 1.25"

Awesome. This would probably be the wheel I'd choose for myself.

And this should give you an idea of the engine set-back. It's almost 18" back. Let's put it this way, there is roughly enough space to put a second engine in front of it.

Wow! Very cool.

[Ethereal]

On wheels/tires, is there a way to determine from a performance perspective the optimal wheel and tire size?

[bovey]

looks familiar! Mine is about the same. I had enough room to lay my radiator down almost flat and still have room in front of the motor. I had to move my brake pedal to the other side of the column amd make a new gas pedal and pedal mount. Its still very tight in there. Trans tunnel JUST clears the dash also. Looks good. Interested to see what else you do with it

The space is crazy. There's enough room for an extra engine. My final landing place puts the back side of the head/block just behind the dash. The doghouse will be a little funkier than I wanted. The only other side affect I did not think about was the driver position getting pushed to the left. I was only worried about the shifter going back, I forgot about it getting to far away as it is in the centre of the the truck.

On wheels/tires, is there a way to determine from a performance perspective the optimal wheel and tire size?

The short answer is yes. The easy answer is as you are in a forum where we are trying to make giant North American cars handle, you generally need all the tire you can fit/afford to make fit. If this were a Miata forum (for example) we'd be having a different conversation. With less mass and power, you need less tire. Too much tire on a car like a Miata will slow it down.

[Ethereal]

The space is crazy. There's enough room for an extra engine. My final landing place puts the back side of the head/block just behind the dash. The doghouse will be a little funkier than I wanted. The only other side affect I did not think about was the driver position getting pushed to the left. I was only worried about the shifter going back, I forgot about it getting to far away as it is in the centre of the the truck.




The short answer is yes. The easy answer is as you are in a forum where we are trying to make giant North American cars handle, you generally need all the tire you can fit/afford to make fit. If this were a Miata forum (for example) we'd be having a different conversation. With less mass and power, you need less tire. Too much tire on a car like a Miata will slow it down.

That makes sense wrt width but what about wheel diameter vs. tire height?

Could you have moved the engine/trans to the passenger side at all, or would that cause a weight inbalance?

[Dr G]

That makes sense wrt width but what about wheel diameter vs. tire height?

Could you have moved the engine/trans to the passenger side at all, or would that cause a weight inbalance?

That's what they do in Pro-2 and Pro-4 short track trucks (dirt racing with jumps). Unlike desert racers, they do not carry a passenger, and so can afford to move the engine way over to the right and way back. They might do it for balance during long hang time as much as for any handling benefits.

[bovey]

While we are on the topic of moving weight around, I might as well share this.

These are not exact, but they do illustrate the plan of attack. The engine/t56 weights are based on online research, everything else I have personally scaled.

First up, the original layout. The parts noted are the engine, t56, clutch/flywheel, battery, mufflers, BS3/MSD, and heater assembly



The idea is to move the inside the footprint, the help calm down the pendulum affect. The other job is to move what can be moved to the back. The only thing under the dash with be the heater and well, the engine.

All of the electronics and wiring harness will be moved to the rear of the cab, I'm getting too old to crawl under the dash. As a matter of fact, I've always hated crawling under the dash. This is long overdue.

Based on my original weight, I need to move 200 lbs to the back and ideally loose 200 lbs over all. I'm aiming to subtract the 200 lbs from the middle and front only. With a steel body, achieving 50/50 is going to be a challenge, but we all knew that.



I have yet to figure out the new fuel cell. Fuel Safe's product selection is massive and I don't understand the differences between their various tanks yet.

More soon.

[Mtrhd329]

The biggest issue i am running into is designing a removable engine and trans cover that still seals to the floor. Right now i have an aluminum frame skinned with .032 aluminum but i think it looks hideous. That coupled with moving the brske pedal over and rebuilding the gas pedal setup its cramped and ugly in there.

[Dr G]

I have yet to figure out the new fuel cell. Fuel Safe's product selection is massive and I don't understand the differences between their various tanks yet.

More soon.

ATL is another fuel cell manufacturer to consider. They provide bladders only with provided plans for how to make your own housing out of steel or aluminum (for those so inclined).

http://atlinc.com/racing.html

[bovey]

The biggest issue i am running into is designing a removable engine and trans cover that still seals to the floor. Right now i have an aluminum frame skinned with .032 aluminum but i think it looks hideous. That coupled with moving the brske pedal over and rebuilding the gas pedal setup its cramped and ugly in there.

You might want to consider making it out of steel and skipping the frame. You can put an "L" channel around the perimeter of the floor and sandwich a fireproof weather strip, or just seam seal it lightly. I'm working through this very problem right now as well - fire needs to be treated with respect. Make sure to protect yourself from your transmission, now that you sit beside it.

You might want to consider hunting down a floor mount pedal set-up, that would solve your space problem. That, or go scavenge something out of an import RWD manual car get something from Datsun or a Toyota or maybe a Miata? Something that has solid race aftermarket support so you can get the MCs that will work with your brakes. Just a thought.

ATL is another fuel cell manufacturer to consider. They provide bladders only with provided plans for how to make your own housing out of steel or aluminum (for those so inclined). http://atlinc.com/racing.html

Ah yes, I had looked at them too. Thanks!

[bovey]

The engine and t56 are in. The amount of set-back was a little deceiving until the firewall started to get formed.


With the firewall complete I can fit a 14"x3" filter, but I will need to get fresh air to it. I'm dreaming up some cowl snorkel ideas nows. More to come. The inside is super cool. the entire doghouse is pieces that overlap together to seal it and it all comes out for service and inspections.


At this point I scaled it, just to see where we were at. It's 2915 lbs and 49.1/50.1. As mentioned above, it'll be tough to hit my 50/50 with a steel body, but I'm going to proceed with the factory body plan, for now. I have a few tricks, but to be honest I was hoping for a little better.


This view gives you the best idea of where the engine landed.The back air cleaner reaches all the way under the dash.


And finally, it's on the ground with an engine for the first time in 11 months. Ride height looks like it's going to work out nicely. I need to figure out a way to lighten the doors, full dress they are 81 lbs each.

[Mtrhd329]

I gutted my doors and then started cutting the inner metal so everything inside where the panel would be is gone. I kept the handle and used a cable in olace of the rod. Factory wings will be replaced with lexan version i will make and a lexan side window will ride up and down the factory track with a leather strap as a pull to raise and lower. With the metal cut from the door and the window junk gone i lost like 40# each. I have been brainstorming of trying to lake some fiber glass ones.

Lookin good. Once i had my firewall in place i started getting scared about the first time i would need to work on the rear of the engine. Yours looks like its in the same spot as mine. Scary

[Ethereal]

What are you using as a crossmember to mount the motor? Something fabbed or off the shelf?

[bovey]

What are you using as a crossmember to mount the motor? Something fabbed or off the shelf?

Fabricated. And fair warning, almost everything on this truck at this point has be altered. There are a few things like the Tilton pedal box, or the Wilwood rotors or calipers, and small stuff, but basically anything that happens after post #314 is more than likely hand made, custom orderd or a modified off-the self piece. A bunch of the parts to "bolt-on", but that is because effort has been made to order them to do that. Cool?