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. I will also be AutoXing and doing track days. http://www.targanewfoundland.com/index.php/en/ A little history from 1989. 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. One of these is not like the other. Actually, the Subaru crowd has been super supportive and hard to beat... Meet the beginning of the Targa Truck. Most of the work will done by myself, with exception of serious fabrication work. This garage is at my parents' house - this is where I originally built it when I was a kid - painted it here too. This Targa upgrade will be done in my home garage, which is far less nice... The current 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 in two phases. I have hired Ron Sutton to advise the project, both Phases and for Phase 2. I have been working/designing with an amazing fabricator, but have not inked that deal yet. More to come. Phase 1 for September 2014 - upgrade the brakes - brake cooling - upgrade the shocks - new wheels and tires - 6 or 8 point cage - design and fab - fire system - new race seats - 5 or 6 point racing harnesses - track time practicing Phase 2 will be a complete chassis for spring/summer 2015 This has been in development for a couple months with Ron Sutton and a fabricator/chassis designer. My plan was to complete it for this year, but that will just not work from either a timing or financial standpoint. More to come on this. The basic plan is a monster custom chassis as this thing is a long bed, 18/315s all the way around, engine set-back, etc, etc. Something that will withstand everything from daily driving in city rush hour to a 5500 mile round trip with a 1400 road race in the middle, like the Targa Newfoundland. 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 plan on making this build fun and ideally, informative. Cool? In addition to this build thread, I am going to start a thread on preparing for the Targa Newfoundland. I know many have an interest in doing it, as it's a bucket list kinda deal. I'm going to share my experience openly, because the more of us out there racing - the better. bovey