HOSTILETAKEOVER
01-16-2009, 01:59 PM
Project Hawker Hunter has taken a huge leap forward since the last post:
https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28529&highlight=hawker+hunter (https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28529&highlight=hawker+hunter)
Since then I have spent my time doing more planning, changing plans, blowing the car apart and most importantly saving my pennies. I purchased an Art Morrison C6 front subframe, Rockland Standard Gear “Son of Tranzilla” 6 speed T56 transmission and a ton of replacement sheet metal.
About a month ago I took the car and all the new bits and pieces back to Frank, Lisa, Michael and Andrew at Prodigy Customs in Apopka Florida. We thought that the last trip to Prodigy had taken care of all the structural rust issues with the exception of bolt on pieces. Once I blew the car apart Boy was I wrong! The first thing Michael did was sandblast the whole car and I was wrong some more!!
The first order of business was to replace the entire fire wall including lower corners. Michael built a custom smooth firewall and welded up the louvers on the upper cowl panel. These louvers are not needed with the Vintage Air A/C unit. It looks cool and will keep rain out of the cowl. Rust had eaten away the roof at the top of the windshield. It could have been repaired but my plan was to cut off and weld up the drip rail. A quick calculation of time vs. money lead to a whole new roof. A 67-68 gas fill was added between the tail lamps and the trunk lock was deleted.
Andrew painted up the Art Morrison subframe and it was installed with DSE solid bushings and subframe connectors. A mockup LS1 motor was attached to the transmission and dropped in to check for tunnel fit. One of my original plans that changed; was the choice of motor. Initially I wanted a twin turbo small block but settled on an LS7 for drivability reasons. Prodigy didn’t have an extra LS7 for mockup for some reason??? I guess I need to have a long talk with Frank about that.
Frank jumped on the Camaro next. We tweaked the C4 independent rear so the exhausts could be routed out the back of the car. The whole thing was shot with black sealer and the rest of the sheet metal was thrown on temporarily. We measured for backspace and the Forgeline ZX3P wheels are on order. 335’s in the rear and 275’s in the front wrapped in BFG’s. For the first time in this process there is NO MORE RUST. It’s a great feeling and the black sealer makes it look like a real car again.
The car is back in my garage now and I spend hours staring at it. The ball is in my court now and an empty bank account is the only thing holding me back. I have the Wilwood 6 piston 14” fronts and 4 piston 13” rears, but need to wait for my wheels to arrive before installing them.
The rear brakes are a custom kit built by Dean at Hot Rods USA. I wanted to have a parking brake. The C4 corvette rear makes this a real challenge and Dean is one of the only people who offer a solution. His kit takes a stock rotor and machines off the disk creating a hat for a willwood 13” rotor. This allows you to use the stock drum parking brake.
Once again Prodigy did not disappoint. Even with the surprises we found; the price quoted was the price paid. A considerable amount of work was done and the car was in and out in a flash. I also appreciate how amicable the crew is to surprise visits to take pictures and check on progress. I was treated like family. It could be a ploy to get Christmas presents out of me next year! Lisa can expect a lot of GP Superstore business as soon as my bank account is replenished. Thanks Prodigy.
https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28529&highlight=hawker+hunter (https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28529&highlight=hawker+hunter)
Since then I have spent my time doing more planning, changing plans, blowing the car apart and most importantly saving my pennies. I purchased an Art Morrison C6 front subframe, Rockland Standard Gear “Son of Tranzilla” 6 speed T56 transmission and a ton of replacement sheet metal.
About a month ago I took the car and all the new bits and pieces back to Frank, Lisa, Michael and Andrew at Prodigy Customs in Apopka Florida. We thought that the last trip to Prodigy had taken care of all the structural rust issues with the exception of bolt on pieces. Once I blew the car apart Boy was I wrong! The first thing Michael did was sandblast the whole car and I was wrong some more!!
The first order of business was to replace the entire fire wall including lower corners. Michael built a custom smooth firewall and welded up the louvers on the upper cowl panel. These louvers are not needed with the Vintage Air A/C unit. It looks cool and will keep rain out of the cowl. Rust had eaten away the roof at the top of the windshield. It could have been repaired but my plan was to cut off and weld up the drip rail. A quick calculation of time vs. money lead to a whole new roof. A 67-68 gas fill was added between the tail lamps and the trunk lock was deleted.
Andrew painted up the Art Morrison subframe and it was installed with DSE solid bushings and subframe connectors. A mockup LS1 motor was attached to the transmission and dropped in to check for tunnel fit. One of my original plans that changed; was the choice of motor. Initially I wanted a twin turbo small block but settled on an LS7 for drivability reasons. Prodigy didn’t have an extra LS7 for mockup for some reason??? I guess I need to have a long talk with Frank about that.
Frank jumped on the Camaro next. We tweaked the C4 independent rear so the exhausts could be routed out the back of the car. The whole thing was shot with black sealer and the rest of the sheet metal was thrown on temporarily. We measured for backspace and the Forgeline ZX3P wheels are on order. 335’s in the rear and 275’s in the front wrapped in BFG’s. For the first time in this process there is NO MORE RUST. It’s a great feeling and the black sealer makes it look like a real car again.
The car is back in my garage now and I spend hours staring at it. The ball is in my court now and an empty bank account is the only thing holding me back. I have the Wilwood 6 piston 14” fronts and 4 piston 13” rears, but need to wait for my wheels to arrive before installing them.
The rear brakes are a custom kit built by Dean at Hot Rods USA. I wanted to have a parking brake. The C4 corvette rear makes this a real challenge and Dean is one of the only people who offer a solution. His kit takes a stock rotor and machines off the disk creating a hat for a willwood 13” rotor. This allows you to use the stock drum parking brake.
Once again Prodigy did not disappoint. Even with the surprises we found; the price quoted was the price paid. A considerable amount of work was done and the car was in and out in a flash. I also appreciate how amicable the crew is to surprise visits to take pictures and check on progress. I was treated like family. It could be a ploy to get Christmas presents out of me next year! Lisa can expect a lot of GP Superstore business as soon as my bank account is replenished. Thanks Prodigy.