78 Cutlass Wagon- "CopperTop"

[SRD art]

Hey All-

It's Ben from Speedtech Performance. A lot of you have seen my Pro Touring Pumkinator '79 Cutlass wagon build, link in my signature. Because of changes and updates in plans along the way I have several leftover parts boxed up in the garage. My 15 year old son and I have been collecting parts for a 73 Nova I picked up for him a while back, but since it's a full frame off pro touring build it's evident it's going to be a while to build it. He's turning 16 over the summer and really wants to drive to school next year so we've kept our eyes open for something cheap, complete and running that he could drive. As fate would have it a great opportunity fell into our laps recently...

I first saw this car at a local grocery store. The family driving it looked like they didn't have much $, and the car was loaded like a storage unit. I felt prompted to chat with them about it, but I didn't want to bother them so that was that. A couple weeks later I saw the car parked in an apartment complex not far from our house. It sat in the same place for a couple weeks and I was half tempted to go ask the owners if they'd sell it, but again left it alone. Then after about a month the car was gone. I figured I missed out on a good opportunity, but such is life. About 3 months later I saw it parked in local store parking lot, with a for sale sign on it! This was right after Christmas and money wasn't all there so I just drove past it several times on the way home from work wondering if I should stop and look at it. After two weeks it was still there, so I figured what could it hurt to ask, and called and made arrangements for the next evening for my son and I to go drive it.

The owners owned a title loan type place and said they got it from a family that was having problems and needed cash to move out of state. They informed me it was original miles, just over 89,940! Everything worked on it, except the A/C belt was missing. Turns out it's an L code Chevy 350 backed by a TH350, fairly rare for a G body, especially a wagon. Almost everything under the hood looks original, even has the original hose clamps on the lower radiator hose! It had a few minor door dings and a decent dent in the tailgate, but there is no rust anywhere except for a small patch of surface rust where the paint is gone near the rear window. Judging by the sand/dust everywhere and lack of rust I'd say pretty good chance this car spent most of it's life in the south western states. I gave it a pretty good check over and found a lot of little quirky things that need to be fixed, but the engine and trans worked fine. I told them we were interested but was concerned about the cost of fixing everything to make it safe and driveable and asked if the price was negotiable. They said they were sick of looking at it parked in front of their house and if they knocked $300 off the asking price would I take it away? I seriously would've paid their original asking price but this was an even better deal, so we jumped on it and brought it home. My son was ear to ear smiles all the way home, he totally digs it.

More to come...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/02/IMG_2346_zps16bff597-1.jpg

[SS PUNISHER]

SCORE! So is this one gonna look like a Duracell battery? Lol

[deejai35]

So you bought a grocery getter sitting in front of a grocery store? Cool. Great story can' t wait to see what you do with this one. By the way, what is that color? Looks like my saddle bronze metallic.

[rawrods]

Great Score!

[SRD art]

That's it, takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. ;)

My son is 15 and no one local will let him race yet. He's pretty anxious, so we should have the car mostly set up by the time he's 16 in July. We plan on doing some local drag racing and autocross with it. It'll also be his transportation for school and so he can get a part time job and pay me back for what I spend on parts, lol! ;)

[SRD art]

So, first thing we did was some planning of what needed to be done, what we wanted to do, and an inventory of what parts I have left over from my car. As far as appearance goes, I had the painter I work with at Speedtech Performance look it over and he thinks the factory copper color should buff out fairly nicely. With that in mind I went to work on a concept rendering. The car definitely needs some visual upgrades to get rid of the grandpa look. Black always does that pretty well but I don't want to go overboard and duplicate my car. Just the right amount should do the trick...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/02/01Coppertop_zpse562cf16-1.jpg

With it being copper and black and trying to achieve a tough guy look what better to call it than CopperTop. My son came up with the angry CopperTop dude so I just had to throw it in the rendering.

Eventually I would like to fix the door dings, get the body smooth and repaint it, but for now we'll go with a bit of the roughed up Street Fighter look. All the chrome is in surprisingly decent shape so we're going to use black PlastiDip so it's not permanent just yet. Later on we'll decide whether to powdercoat it or not. The lower stainless body trim is coming off and I'll have to grind down the rivets, so from the lower body line down will get semi gloss black paint. All other trim like the wheel openings and such will either be removed or painted black. Window frames, B and C pillars will go semi gloss black. The stripes will also be semi gloss black and will match the styling of mine. Eventually a cowl scoop will get put on and I have a spare set of single rib Salon grilles like the ones on my car that will replace the stock 3 bar wagon/442 grilles. The stock grilles are in great shape so they will be for sale on ebay soon. My son wants fender vents like mine, but I designed his to open vertically to be a little different. A ride height adjustment via some performance suspension parts and my old GTA wheels wrapped in 245-50-16s will finish the look off.

[EastEnder]

What a lucky kid! Good for you guys. Glad to see another one of these beauties go to a good home and not the scrap pile. I've been looking for one of my own for a while... hopefully one day soon.

[howehot]

Twins! Every body loves twins..

[SRD art]

Lol! Not unlike you Dan!

We took a bunch of "Before" pics to document changes. We took some with my car to compare stock to the pro touring changes I made to mine. I think his car should be as low as mine when we're done. :)

Overall the body isn't too bad. The worst part is the dent in the tailgate, but I can work most of that out and then bodywork finish it later on when I have more time.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/02/04Coppertop_zpscac05b13-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/02/06Coppertop_zps984dc87d-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/02/05Coppertop_zps68a3fd04-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/02/07Coppertop_zpsf56293ad-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/02/08Coppertop_zpsf3d33347-1.jpg

[liquidh8]

Ben, it's about time you posted it here,:woot:

[cornfedbill]

Ben,

Looking good. I have been up to my eyeballs in other projects and have scarcely looked at my Nova or Brook's Belair. :(

I am getting a hunch you like wagons. When are you going to build a phantom '73 Nova (Nova-mad) wagon? Combine the best of both...

[SRD art]

I understand Bill!

I've always liked wagons, I had a 65 Nova wagon when I was in my early 20's, but I ended up selling it to help finance a church mission I served. I wanted to get another Nova wagon when I got home but I went to college and that was the end of building cars for a while. By the time I was in a position to buy another the Novas were out of my budget range. I like Impala and Chevelle based wagons but the nice thing about the Novas is they're smaller and don't feel/drive like a big ol boat. The G bodys are smaller too and the price is right for them so it all worked out. The coolest thing about them is you can build a street and track car, and you have a cargo area like a small truck. It's like the ultimate "sport" utility. :)

[SRD art]

Man this thing looks grandpa-y. Only whitewalls could make it worse, lol! At least the color is a little aggressive.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/03Coppertop_zps9a16e9a6-1.jpg

Looks like something was spilled on the car. Our painter at work said he thinks it will buff out, hopefully so. The white specs look and feel like house paint spatter, that or grandma's biscuit mix got splashed on it and never washed off. All that stainless on the rockers and the side door trim is coming off.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/09Coppertop_zps18923abe-1.jpg

I was thinking to leave the roof rack on this one but my son insisted it needed to come off. We're keeping it just in case we want to throw junk up there for a road trip. That's just dust on the roof.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/10Coppertop_zps7b6378c0-1.jpg

[SRD art]

Here's the biggest (maybe only) redeeming quality of the interior. Surprisingly, along with the 350 rather than the typical generic 305 most G bodies get, this car also came with a Rally Gauge pack and factory Tachometer! What a weird combination for a wagon. This car was a great investment, I figure if I parted it out I could just about sell the dash on ebay for half of what I paid for the whole car! Lol!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/11Coppertop_zps323f021b-1.jpg

Now on to the ugly. The interior is really gross. The seats are in fairly good shape for being upholstered in cloth and as old as they are. Unfortunately everything else is just nasty dirty.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/12Coppertop_zps7e097cf1-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/13Coppertop_zpsa6dce7cf-1.jpg

Not sure what this is, but it smells like barf. There's more of it on the rear interior panels and floor. Eeew. :puke:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/14Coppertop_zps7f927f98-1.jpg

Nice steering wheel, eh? We'll be changing it out as well as replacing the key cylinder with a black one. We're looking into doing a floor shifter and stubby floor console so the factory column shifter will likely come off too.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/15Coppertop_zpsb52bfcd2-1.jpg

We'll be needing a glove box lock as soon I can figure out how to get this one open. Probably have to drill it out. The wood grain look will be going away, as will the pillow top door panels.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/16Coppertop_zpsc5c44bc6-1.jpg

More nastiness. Can someone pass the hand sanitizer please?

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/17Coppertop_zps96287fb0-1.jpg

Not even going to comment on this.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/18Coppertop_zps97fa0638-1.jpg

This headliner shot should explain all the other issues with the interior. I'm surprised the car was void of duct tape anywhere.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/19Coppertop_zps0675d476-1.jpg

We'll be turning the interior black so this carpet will be replaced. We'll keep the factory panels back here but probably cover them with some sort of material.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/20Coppertop_zpsab6f24fb-1.jpg

[SRD art]

This was a nice surprise when I first saw the car up close. I had never heard of a G body that came with a Chevy 350, I thought the only V8 options were a Chevy 305 and some cars got the Olds 350 or 350 diesel. Thanks to the great guys at gbodyforum.com the "L" code engine option sticker, vin code and engine cast number were verified as the original 350 Chevy. Some folks said they've had G body El Caminos with a 350 but apparently a wagon with one is pretty rare. Every other car I've had got a 400 small block Chevy built for it, so this is my first 350 I've owned. Although I have another spare 400 waiting to be rebuilt for something, considering the originality of it, the 350 will stay with the car unless at some point we decide to convert to LS.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/21Coppertop_zps92b22c40-1.jpg

The air filter looks new as does the plug wires and plugs. Best I can tell the upper radiator hose and heater hoses are the only other things that have obviously been replaced along the way. Every wire, hose, and connection is intact. A/C belt is gone but the compressor isn't locked up and there is a little pressure in the system. I plan to get it working again, it gets mighty hot here in the summer. Since the car isn't registered or insured yet we haven't have a chance to get out on the freeway to test the cruise control yet.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/22Coppertop_zpsbd285dbb-1.jpg

The air pump was making an awful noise so we pulled the pulled it out and put a shorter belt on. Problem solved. Unfortunately it looks like the power steering pump is on it's last legs too so we'll be replacing that. The motor is pretty caked with dust and grease. The plan is to pull the engine and trans, clean 'em up and do a reseal. I will be replacing the intake with an airgap dual plane. While we have the timing cover off I will be installing a new timing chain and trying out a Summit cam to keep the car at a high school salary budget. The one I want is the 1103, I've heard lots of folks have had good success with it, and it's mild enough for a kid's daily driver. Plus it sounds good at idle which he hopes will earn him some big coolness points in the school parking lot. Here's a link to one in a 350 in an old truck- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K-XV3Yum8k

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/23Coppertop_zpsda236e87-1.jpg

Original radiator hose still has the tower clamps on it!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/24Coppertop_zps7b39fe0b-1.jpg

Underneath is pretty ugly. Here you can see the factory triangulation brace and larger sway bar. Upper ball joints are original, I suspect the rest of the front suspension is too. Most of that is coming out and will be replaced.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/25Coppertop_zps1a99d35f-1.jpg

This car also has the engine bay fender braces. My wagon didn't have them so I think they're pretty cool. That'll help a bit, my son plans on autocrossing with me. We'll also be installing a 6 pt cage in this car to help stiffen things up a bit.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/27Coppertop_zps25215330-1.jpg

[ent72olds]

Damn Ben! Cool score! That has to be pretty rare with that motor? You should post the question at classicoldsmobile.com. As usual, the rendering gets the juices flowing, awesome build name and cool character. He needs to be visible on the car somewhere, kind of like Plymouth with the Roadrunner cartoon, or Dodge with the Superbee! Now I want one of those wagons!

[cornfedbill]

Wow, looks like you found a pretty nice builder. Aside from the nasties on the interior, it looks real solid.

[SRD art]

It really is pretty solid. Honestly I'm jealous, my wagon was a beatr when I bought it, and still needs many things (like all new weatherstrip) to make it a comfortable driver. Cool thing is when we get his Nova done one day I get the wagon back. :)

ENT- I like your idea. I have a Pumkinator sticker in the corner of each rear window on my car and we were thinking to do the same with the battery guy for his car. Now that you mention it I'll take a look at maybe putting him in the stripe. Hmmmm...

[SRD art]

The first order of business was to spend some time cleaning the interior. We didn't mess with the carpet, I don't think there's any hope for it. Then we took it to the spray wash and hit the outside and engine bay. Hopefully we can buff the paint to look almost like this. :)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/28Coppertop_zps26c90d16-1.jpg

The engine cleaned up ok, there's that GM corporate blue paint. We've got some cool plans for engine bay colors and details. We don't have emissions testing here so all the smog equip will be removed. I'll be adding headers and a 3" single exhaust through a Flowmaster to replace the manifolds, huge cat and factory muffler. I plan to split the exhaust at the back side as my son wants the dual exhaust look. We're hoping the car will see low 15s/ high 14's at the track up here at 2800 ft altitude. A lot of that will have to do with what gears the rear has, I'll be checking that as soon as I can get it down to work and on the lift. At the end of the month is the first drag race day of the year, so we're hoping to run a few passes as it is to get a baseline before all the changes. My guess is maybe in the 17's.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/29Coppertop_zpsb788e4b5-1.jpg

[SRD art]

Well my son has been spending a little spare time on the wagon. He's got the 16x8 GTA wheels on now and he's been working on blacking out the trim. I have a new set of grilles for my wagon so I gave him my old Cutlass Salon grilles. We both like these better because they have only one verticle bar as opposed to 3 on the standard grilles. They're also a little more deep set in. He cleaned and prepped and shot them semi gloss black along with the head light bezels. Next up is the bumpers...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/Coppertop00b_zps5aff6306-1.jpg

We've decided to black out the pillars and window frames, and later on window tint will give it a nice subtle look.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/Coppertop00a_zps6887915b-1.jpg

More pics coming soon...

[driveit]

Keep the pics coming. You are inspiring me to get to work on my 82 malibu. My interior on it is much worse than yours unfortunately. Mine headliner looks like it was shot with a machine gun. I need a windshield and a set of 15 inch tires to get it on the road. Should be a lot better on gas than my 74 Chevelle which is my current daily.

Get a pic of it without the masking paper and tape. I want to see that blacked out trim!

[Jake]

Looking good Ben. How's that Nova coming along? What was the name... Trogdor Burninator?

[mc84_zz4]

Nice wagon Ben!
I can see it's already shedding the grandpa style.
x2 on posting pics of the car with blacked out trim & the wheels.
I'm sure it has much more attitude.

[85coupe50]

Very cool project...

[SRD art]

Thanks fellas. Trogdor is buried in the garage under a bunch of boxes that we still need to unpack. Truthfully I'm thinking of selling it. I have enough projects to deal with and it'll likely be a long time before I get to it. For now it's tucked away, only the future will tell if he sticks around or goes to someone that has the liquid $ and time to fix him up. Thanks for askin'.

Roman has been continuing with the painting of the trim. I'm pretty busy with work and trying to spend time with all the kids so he's pretty much doing this on his own with occasional advice from me. I'm impressed, he's doing a great job. Every day I come home from work and see his car and am a bit jealous, I think it looks better than mine! I'm really growing bored of the rattle can black paint on my car and like the vibrance and color of his. He finished up the front windshield and rear glass trim this evening but it was too dark to photograph. I think next is clean and repaint the wheels, and I need to get a new buffer so we can work the paint.

Here are his latest pics he's taken. He also took some time to Photoshop a couple of the pics to get a vision for where we're headed with the car, so I'm posting them too...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/34Coppertop_zps18e43069-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/33Coppertop_zps1c99503b-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/31Coppertop_zps268fe9d2-1.jpg

Photoshopped- shined up, lowered, blacked out rockers and bumpers...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/35Coppertop_zpsa908107b-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/32Coppertop_zps4af814fd-1.jpg

Photoshopped- lowered and blacked out. I plan to narrow the bumper and I think we'll be grafting in some driving lights to be a little unique and continue with the pro touring look...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/36Coppertop_zpsf56af171-1.jpg

More coming soon...

[SS PUNISHER]

The black trim looks great

[liquidh8]

Looking good!

[acegto]

Cool...i want one!

[cornfedbill]

I like the black trim too.

I just got my wagon back on the road, but a 100 horsepower ice box white first gen Saturn wagon is not really eye candy.

But now I have more room to work on the Scope Creep Nova inside the garage!

Kudos to Roman for his good work!

[atam]

Looking Good!!

[cornfedbill]

Any updates?

[SRD art]

Not much on updates, Roman's got the front windshield trim and rear tailgate glass trim blacked out. He's been spending some time putting together a game plan to earn some money to start buying parts. He's 15 and around here you can't work for someone else until you're 16, so he's got an idea for working for himself. He should be posting it on the forum here soon, and we'll put a link here he's ready to turn it loose.

He's also been researching online about the possibility of running an LS motor. It may take a while to save his pennies for one but he's getting pretty serious about it. Who knows, his car may have one before mine!

[cornfedbill]

LS motors are like bellybuttons - everyone has one. Go for a new LT1!

I know it is not as cool as an LS7/T56 combo, but my son put together a real budget setup with an old 350 and a 5 speed Getrag from a mid 90's full size pick-up. The trans with integral bellhousing and the shifter set him back $375 at the local boneyard. The same transmission was used on S10's, but with a different shifter location.

LS motors have a lot of potential and can be light if you get an all aluminum LQ9 or car motor, but they will set you back. If Roman has access to a small block, I would suggest building it and putting the extra money into the suspension.

I finally got my Saturn wagon on the road and freed up a stall in the garage. It's slow, but at 35 mpg, I am not complaining too loudly. I will be moving my Nova to a more open area to begin modifying the subframe and installing the suspension parts I have collected.

Keep up the good work.

[turner-nova]

Are you running spacers to get the GTA wheels to fit? I'm having problems getting a set of GTA wheels to fit on my sons 85 cutlass. If I use a 1/2" space the studs don't seem to be long enough.

[SRD art]

Yes, the offset on the wheels is all wrong. I had these wheels on my wagon before I put the 17s on and this is what I came up with-

For it to "look" right you put the GTA REAR wheels on the front of the cutlass, and GTA Front wheels on the rear. On the front I run a 3/4" billet spacer, which requires extended studs, both of which I bought from Summit. You can also run a thin spacer in the rear that will kick the tires out a bit, got those from the local auto parts store. I don't remember the thickness, but it worked with the factory studs. The safety rule of thumb is to have AT LEAST 5 complete turns on your lugnuts before they're tight.

With the "universal" spacers they don't stay centered when you put them on. I always had a vibration in the car at speed, even with 2 different sets of tires and several going back to rebalance them sessions. After a while it occurred to me that the spacers being offset may be throwing the balance off. I worked out a way to hold the spacers centered on the hubs and rear drums before the wheel went on and that helped quite a bit. If you have the coin, there are a couple machine shops that make custom hub and wheel centric spacers, and ideally that's the way to do it right. There's one in Nevada, he's very busy and like 3 weeks out to build them when I needed them. There's another in SoCal who charges a few bucks more but when I had the custom spacers for my 17s built he made them the day I called and they shipped out the next day. I got both names from this forum by searching custom wheel spacers. If you want to go that route let me know and I'll try to help track them down again.

[csouth]

He wants http://www.motorsport-tech.com/ they make hubcentric wheel spacers.

[SRD art]

He wants http://www.motorsport-tech.com/ they make hubcentric wheel spacers.

That's the Nevada dude. Thanks Chris!

[CoppertopWagon]

Yes! Finally some more updates and hopefully we'll get updates on here more regularly now.

First off, we've taken the car to a couple races; we have taken it both, drag racing and autocrossing so far.
I was actually surprised with how the car handled both the different racing styles.

First off is the drag racing... The car ran an insanely lightning fast quarter mile of 17.2 Seconds at 79mph with a reaction time of .655 seconds.
However, the car did pull surprisingly strong and the motor stayed together. The only issues it really had was, it was pretty dang hot down here in St. George and the car was getting vapor lock and the fuel was burning up before it got to the motor so the car would slouch down and completely quit making power towards the end of the 1/4.

The same type of thing happened during the autocross towards the end of the day.

But honestly I can say I'm completely surprised with the way the motor took all of that abuse. I felt like I was beating the absolute crap out of it because I always would think to myself "This is an Oldsmobile Station wagon from 1978, it's not made to perform like this" so I really couldn't help but smile when it took all of that abuse without any complaints.

Changing subjects to the autocross, one of the funniest parts about it was where I thought I was doing pretty good and felt like I was really pushing the car and then traded off with my dad and let him take a quick run in it and he actually knocked off a few seconds from my best time. After seeing that though, I realized I could actually push the car more than I already was (because before, I was sure I was pushing it to it's limits) so I pushed it a LOT harder the last couple times and got really close to my dad's time, even with it vapor locking and slowing down. So I was kinda proud lol.

As for the suspension on the autocross, well... I can say for sure this car was not made from the factory to do that kind of racing hahaha. There was a ton of body roll and over all the car didn't take the beating in the best way possible.
Basically the day before the race, we put my dads old rear lower control arms and shocks on the rear of the car (since he upgraded to full on Speedtech suspension) and I noticed a difference right away in how the car drove. But it still wasn't enough to overcome the rest of the suspension all working together.
The car did actually stick really well, most likely thanks to the semi-wide and sticky tires it has on it currently. I went in thinking the car was going to get both ridiculous understeer and oversteer but I really didn't have an issue whatsoever with either one. There was one run that we experimented with the air pressure in the tire. We pumped it up to probably around 40 pounds and that run I got extreme understeer and went off the track, so as soon as I finished that run we lowered the pressure back down and it stuck great the next time. Also another thing was the interior. The bench seat had no lateral support at all and while this would normally be a con for professional racing I couldn't stop laughing with the way the car threw me around in there, it was so much fun. But after it all, I can absolutely say for sure, that it was an indescribable amount of fun taking the car out there and just driving the thing. I really cannot wait to do it again :D

Here's an example of that insane body roll:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

In comparison, here is my dad's car coming out of the same turn (just taken at a different camera angle)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Here's some more pictures from the same day
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Another one
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Also I think we may have some videos of the drag racing so I'll see if I can dig them up and get them uploaded soon.
Thanks for reading! I'm so excited to really start doing stuff to the car to make it more race ready!!

[85coupe50]

Great job... Looks good.

[driveit]

Love the look and the renderings.

[howehot]

I would buy Dad a large lunch box so each day he could bring home a new Speedtech piece, "one piece at a time" since he's too cheap to buy them for you.

[SRD art]

Ouch! If I had your salary Dan I would buy my kid's parts. Lol! :)

The bright side of all this is he's inheriting all my old suspension parts, we just wanted to try the car out in stock form to get a baseline and by next season he will have a decent suspension set up.

For next season I think we're both going to have to start donating blood plasma to cover race entrance fees...

[cornfedbill]

Looking good Roman.

[CoppertopWagon]

Thread revive!! So a ton has happened to Coppertop since our last posts. Some good but a lot was bad.

I'll start off with the good; right before some crazy events Coppertop was looking pretty mean. Had just barely gotten brand new wheels and tires on, I was purchasing tons of parts for my LS swap,
progress was going at a great steady pace. Obviously needed some touch up work but this is the meanest it had looked in it's entire life.

140369

140370

Then for the bad; one day on the way to work driving like I normally would at the speed limit, an old lady decided not to see me and pulled out right in front of me trying to get to the other side of the
road. I had probably 0.3 seconds to react so I slammed the factory original single piston caliper brakes and tried to drive around her hoping she'd see my car and slam her brakes as well. I had never hit my brakes that hard, I
heard the tires lock up. Needless to say, she slammed right into my car and caused substantial damage.

140367

140368

Obviously this was devastating to me. This car has been the only thing I've been focused on since I got it. 98% of every paycheck I've gotten over the past 3 years has gone into this thing and I never got to see it
at it's highest potential. Didn't even get close.

However, I decided that because of the sentimental attachment, I wanted to rebuild my car. It might sound crazy to some, but this was my first car and I planned on keeping it forever.
I still want to see it at it's highest potential. I want to drive it in it's racecar form. So that is what we're going to do.

I've started posting consistent updates on it on my YouTube channel. I've got a full damage assessment, and a few other things out now. I plan on continuously updating it as the build progresses. So if you'd like to keep
up with my videos, subscribe to my channel! I'd really appreciate it. We will still likely post on the forums but my YouTube channel is going to be updated far more often than here. Making videos is kind of my thing,
I really enjoy doing it.

So check it out and let me know what you guys think! Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJiXALMZevYYukFdamgKBZg

[badolds]

Oh how badly that SUCKS!!!!

[CoppertopWagon]

Yeah it's been extremely rough. Only recently have I really pulled myself out of mentally feeling like crap because of it. I'm really hoping for a somewhat quick rebuild so I can start driving this thing again.
It's going to be nasty when it's back up and runnning.

[malibulvr]

What size wheel and tire combo was on the car, looked mean.

[nelzturingwagin]

I love wagons and recently posted a build thread on the on-going saga that is my Daddywagon. Sorry to hear about yours and I hope you get it up and running again. At least you made it to the running and driving project stage. Mine hasn't hit the road yet, but I am hopeful for this summer.
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/124979-Pro-touring-foxbody-wagon

[focused313]

I hate what happened to your car. It's one of the scary things to me about spending thousands on my paint job...only to potentially have it hit.

[CoppertopWagon]

Making some progress on my build! Just posted a new video on the wagon. We finally pulled out the 350 which takes us one step closer to getting the car rebuilt and LS powered. Also a big step on my little s10 project to hold me over till the wagon is done lol.

Check out the video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guwvz9u9x2U

[CoppertopWagon]

The wheels/tires were 18"x9.5's all the way around on 275-35-18 tires. And yeah it's scary having something you've put so much time, effort, money, and love into knowing that anytime you take it out could be the last time. Gotta watch out for those bad drivers :/