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

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Hi Peter,

I printed the oil posters today (Tuesday, Feb 10th). I printed them in my garage, the same place I built the truck - only it was -6°C today... brrrrrr.... They need to dry a few days, then I need to seal, sign and number them. Then they ship out to the kickstarter peeps!

Attachment 108823

These posters are printed from the used engine oil drained from the Targa Truck's 427LSX after competing in the 2014 Targa Newfoundland. It has taken forever to nail all the details, but printing today went well.

Awesome! So where is the truck now? Still at PI? Will you have the new frame in it this year?

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Slow dry time on the oil Mark? Too cold? Brrrrr ha ha Any updates?

[bovey]

Slow dry time on the oil Mark? Too cold? Brrrrr ha ha Any updates?

Hi Peter, they are dry, they are sealed. As you can imagine printing in oil has a smell, it just takes a matter of time for it to pass. They are taking a little longer to "air out" than my tests for some reason. I am researching enzyme treatments to speed up the process.


And yes, it is freaking cold. Wow.

[s.thomason55]

Thanks. I'm going to have fun with this. And yes, I have a big history with this truck and plan on making it bigger.



I run a CPP front spindle, drop coils and a CCP sway bar. Which I discovered tonight has been hitting the steering linkage. Joy.

Rear is a bone stock truck arm with 4" drop coils, 2" blocks and ECE shock relocates and a CCP pan hard bar.

Are the front spindles stock height? Big fan of the truck!

[bovey]

Are the front spindles stock height? Big fan of the truck!

Thank you.

and no, I run CCP drop spindles. But mine are the original design. I believe the ones they sell now narrow the track width a bit - don't quote me on that...

I run CCP drop coils and their sway bar. Nothing fancy.

It looks like I am going to be changing the spindles this year to open up my brake options.

[bovey]

Are the front spindles stock height? Big fan of the truck!

Actually, this article just came out that has more detail in it. Fair warning, it's long with loads of new photos.

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...RGA-TRUCK.aspx

Also, I was going through my video of the truck as was struck by how much things changed in 1 year. I volunteer for a local car group the SPDA, they originally were the way I got into autoX/road racing. So, I made this video for the upcoming Advanced Driver Clinic (for beginners) they put on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2j8asLChzQ

[brawls43]

Great article! Love the Motoiq guys.

[bovey]

If you are in the Toronto area this week-end. The Motorama Motorsport Expo is on. The Targa Truck is there, I'll be there chatting with people and handing out the poster below and a new magazine article.

Please say hello, the truck is in the Performance Improvement's booth, right at the front entrance of the show. Super cool.

Poster I'll be handing out.


Performance in Motion Magazine


Always über weird seeing it on a trailer.


Here are a few shots of the badassery there, these were taken during set-up today. The show opens on Friday.





Very curious to see the Lutz car up close.




These people spend waaaaayyyyy more time cleaning than I do.

[bovey]

A few photos from Toronto's Motorama Show last week-end. If you want to see the full album check out Targa Truck's Facebook page.

We had a great spot right inside the entrance doors.

I don't like barriers, people were really careful.

We gave out posters and magazines as fast as we could roll them. That's my dad.



This thing got a lot of attention. LSA. Airbag'd. Patina to die for.




No shortage of amazing Mustangs, Blizzard is a Ring Brothers car.



I love this year of Celica, and a Rover V8 is a cool swap.


This. IMHO there is a lot of wrong here, that makes a lot of right.


This Merc truck was awesome.

[xpander343]

Can't believe I forgot about Motorama, I usually go. Woulda been cool to have seen your truck actually in person. Looks like a big turnout.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Any idea how many cars were there Mark?

[bovey]

Can't believe I forgot about Motorama, I usually go. Woulda been cool to have seen your truck actually in person. Looks like a big turnout.

The turnout on Saturday was crazy. It was swamped. We had fun, and a little funny because people kept telling me about the '65 with an LSA and when I explained mine as a LSX based race engine they seemed confused. I tried to hide the engine when we built it, and apparently we did - even when the hood is open. lol.

Any idea how many cars were there Mark?

Not sure. A lot. I'm still seeing photos of cars I missed. AND I met the Wolfman from Hilarious House of Frankenstein. All round awesome. The show was 2 halls smaller. But that is because they didn't have many Imports, which I personally did not like. The tradition car scene needs new blood. But not everyone sees it that way.

On the subject of the truck, I'm about to do measurements for the next version of the chassis. Anyone want to know anything while I'm under it?

[bovey]

So, spring is here and I'm cleaning. Found my old rotors - below. Let's consider it a nice reminder that those fancy drilled rotors seem like a good idea until you do a track day. I destroyed (cracked) them during a testing day last year. Now I know better.

I present a rusty expensive lesson sitting in a pile for my local scrappers to pick-up.

[bovey]

Planning. Planning. Planning. Reading. Researching. That has been the last few months.

This is the beginning of stage 2. The chassis. Sadly, money and time are not on my side this year, so I need to take a mid-step.

As you know I work with Ron Sutton. His advice last year made the truck work really great, keep in mind it's still mostly stock underneath. We've been talking the last while and the basic plan is a floater 9", some tougher spindles, bigger tougher brakes, etc. My needs changed last year after the Targa Newfoundland - I want to do more endurance runs. It's was addictive. Ideally, these new bits will move onto the new chassis and not end up a pile of extra parts. I'm tired of that. My garage is to full for that.

I'm also installing a Quicktime scatter shield, maybe swap in my spare new Spec3+, a new shifter, and a few other odds and ends that did not happen last year. But first winter needs to end and it needs to end soon - I have a track day in early May.

At the moment, I need to take measurements. A few to order parts and a few to see how things are currently bolted together. I'm curious to see of square the truck actually is, etc. I'm hoping doing some measurements might give me some insight into possible issues, before they become issues.

Again, my sponsors come to my aid. Performance Improvements has a large wearhouse, a building that once was a printing company, hence the floors are really level for the giant presses that once sat in here.


Tools. I made the hands free square out of a $1 set square and a scrape piece of wood. I figured only having 2 hands would be an issue.


Right or wrong, I'm not sure yet... I laid paper out to record all of my measurements. I don't like the flex and am going to put control measurements on the paper and also take a few hard measurements from body to compare and control the notes recorded on the paper.


Here's that hands-free square doing it's thing, in this case finding chassis centre point or what I'm calling centre between the 2 lower control arm bushings. There is not a lot of space to work under this thing.


And here are a few of the notes starting to take shape. I really only need track width and wheel base. But I'm going to mark out all of the wheel openings and major body parts just to see where things are in relation to the centre of the chassis. Hights of these points will be marked too.


Tomorrow the wheels come off and I'll complete this little exercise. Then fun parts can arrive. These parts will not make it faster, but it will be safer and ideally more consistent.

[bovey]

So, the stud spun. The knurl is fubar.

I have to double check, but I doubt I can get the caliper off to remove the rotor and wheel as one. I may be able to grind off the back of the stud, I can touch the head with my finger, so I think I can fit a burr and die grinder in there.

The head is rounded so it's tough to get vice grips on.

As an added bonus, the threads seem to be the culprit, so the nut does not turn easily.

Normally, I use hand tools. But today I had an impact. Should have known better. My fault.

Ideas?

Big thanks.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

You could remove the spindle nut and take the whole assembly out as one piece (wheel, rotor, caliper, may be tricky with the wheel clearance) and either grind the head of the lug off from the back side and drive it through or weld the head of the stud to the rotor and unbolt the lug nut. Don't know if the heat will bother the rim though?

[bovey]

You could remove the spindle nut and take the whole assembly out as one piece (wheel, rotor, caliper, may be tricky with the wheel clearance) and either grind the head of the lug off from the back side and drive it through or weld the head of the stud to the rotor and unbolt the lug nut. Don't know if the heat will bother the rim though?

Agreed. I think I can get at the head of the stud with a burr and a die grinder. Or I may try drilling the nut, by working my way up from smaller to larger drill bits and split off the nut.

Based on how hot I've had the brakes, I think the wheels will be okay with a bit of heat!

[bovey]

A guy on the Targa Truck's facebook page suggested drilling the nut and splitting it. Never thought of that approach. So I tried it. Sacrificed a few drill bits, 4 to be exact, but the nut was off in about 45 minutes. Once you get the hang of drilling along the edge of the threads, it quick.

The problem arrises when you break through the beveled back side of the nut, the drill bit catches, the stud spins and breaks the drill bit. 2nd and 4th time where the charms. After that I just wedged a cheap small screw driver between the nut and the stud and the nut broke in two.

Done and it's not 5AM AND I'm not bleeding. Amazing.

[brawls43]

The not bleeding part is really amazing! Congrats!

[bovey]

Spring! WOO HOO

https://youtu.be/elw_ZA0cFg4