Project Sabre, a 1971 Cutlass Pro-Touring car for the average Joe

[Shawn01754]

It's more than that. I built the car to be able to drive to and from long events, autocross all day, run through the curvy mountain roads, and generally beat the snot out of. Knowing what I was going to use it for, I knew that there is the very likely possibility of breaking parts. Rather than spend 3k on an axle and have it break, then have to get a tow home that could be from several hundred miles away, I can now break an axle shaft and go to any local bone yard / pull-a-part / craigslist, and within a VERY short amount of time, find a used matching Ford Explorer 8.8 axle shaft that will slide right in, have no modifications required, and everything I have will bolt right up. Can't do that with a Moser / Strange / etc. axle. Now I do realize that each big-buck axle has it's own advantages, and those companies make some GREAT products. But it wasn't what I wanted on this build. I wanted something I could find easily anywhere I go, find it for cheap, and not have to do any mods to get me back on the road quickly. As for making it easier to sell the wheels.....with what those wheels cost, and how much I LOVE them, they will never be sold. Having two different lug patterns front to rear doesn't matter at all to me


Dory Blue. Maybe Muppet Mauve ;) It's a factory brown from a mid-teen's Ford. 100% a factory color, no special mixing or codes. The yellow on the hood and the wheels is a early to mid 2000's Toyota Venza factory color as well. Again, very easy to fix / replicate if needed, and no funky color codes & mixture percentages to have to remember.

Very cool. I hired a guy that makes custom colors for House of Kolor. He did 5 spray outs for $150. I think it was worth it. I was suprised to learn they were all a simple 2 stage, base then clear. Yours Looks good!

[SparkyRnD]

Thanks, I appreciate it. It's about time to blow off the dust and set up another ride in the mountains with it.

[SparkyRnD]

Finally got her out of storage and hit a show & a cruise last weekend. As I drive off (and with a little spirited driving), I realized the temp was climbing up so I pulled over, and looks like the shop that finished up the install had a slight error on the wiring for the fans. They wired both the Spal HD 12" fans in series and used a common ground with a 16ga wire. Needless to say, two fans that pull 60a each at start up were more than that tiny single wire could handle. I nursed it home and installed two separate grounds temporarily with 12ga wire (all I had available) which is better, but will fix them correctly with dual 10ga or 8ga grounds with Weatherpak ends on them. Other than that little hiccup, just an absolute blast to drive!

[Sasha]

Sparky, any pictures of the finished build? Also, all the previous pics in this thread are now gone! Bring them back, lol!!

[SparkyRnD]

I just got it back from interior and have to do a little cleaning, then i'll post up some new pics. I think I have copies of all the previous pics, so I may create an album that can be shared (will take a bit to sort through and set it up, but shouldn't be a big issue).

[Sasha]

I just got it back from interior and have to do a little cleaning, then i'll post up some new pics. I think I have copies of all the previous pics, so I may create an album that can be shared (will take a bit to sort through and set it up, but shouldn't be a big issue).

Nice! Been waiting for updates to this thread. Reminds me to make a major update to mine as well... ))))

[SparkyRnD]

Been a while since I've updated, and darn it, still need to get those pics taken and uploaded. I'll try to do that in the next week or so as the car is currently in storage.

[David Sloan]

Storage you should be driving the wheels off of it!:}

[SRD art]

Yep lets see it Sparky!!

[SparkyRnD]

Ran out of the room at the house and have a bunch of other projects I'm trying to work on, so I had to store it elsewhere temporarily. As soon as the storms blow through in the next week or two I'll pull it back out for a couple days and do some driving

[SparkyRnD]

finally got some pics to upload, and will be putting the car up for sale in the next few days. Just don't have the time to enjoy it like I had thought I would, and can't stand to see it sit.













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[tommycomfort]

Looks awesome Sparky, hate to see you sell it!

[SparkyRnD]

thanks. Me too, but a car that just sits is a waste, and it looks like I won't have time for some time.

[SparkyRnD]

it's now listed for sale here:
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...g-car-for-sale