In 1975 and 1976 Chevrolet produced the Cosworth Vega. An idea started by John DeLorean, GM’s general manager at the time… only 3,508 were produced. Today these cars are collected for historical significance. We have done reverse assembly to carefully…
The body of our Nostalgia project is an original Della Woods shell, the same as the Budweiser King, Kenny Bernstein ran in the 1981. This is the motor we have planned for this future crowd pleaser. BBC 500 ci, Donavan…
NHRA chassis cert day at Bristol. The inspector checks tubing size and does a sonic test for wall thickness. Once the tubing and welds are inspected…. a PASS sticker is issued. This Mustang is all tied in — frame railed…
This is creative metal fabrication. This car has many options. This Vega is a mild steel car with an NHRA 8.50 cert and has been made to be a winning bracket car… but has that extra boost to be a great heads-up racer.
The chassis had enough weld to be unclamped from the Jig table and flipped over to finish off the TIG welds in those hard to reach places The finished chassis all welded up. Time to panel the sides, put up…
Looking For A Nostalgia Funny Car?
This 1971 Opel 2-door coupe has a full steel body in great shape. The Opel is called the “poor man’s corvette” this is a cool car in a small package. If you are looking to build a drag racing car…
We started this project with an S&W chassis kit. We are trying to keep the funny car cage low. A handmade aluminum seat was required. Currently we are just putting up tubing and tacking up making sure it all fits!
Metal fabrication. . . Chassis fabrication is all in a days work. The project car below would not accept the standard oil tank available. . . so we built a custom one. Since the fuel tank has to match the…
Bead rollers, brakes and benders are just a few of the metal fabrication tools used to create custom sheet metal work. Sheet metal firewalls and racing tunnels are unique to each vehicle. This is another example of the craftsmanship at…
The laundry list for this Vega pro street build includes; S&W 2″ x 3″ Frame Rails with Ladder Bar Suspension, S&W 12-Point Roll Cage, S&W Round Tube Front Half . . . Put it all together and now we have a…
First, get a bundle of tubes. Then cut and tack them up. This set of headers are a Side Exit 2″ Stahl Pattern. A side exit header gets the noise and fumes out the side of the car, and away…
The 16.5″ wide tires were all over the quarter panels due to the low ride height. These quarter panels have seen some serious mods — stretched 2″ forward and 4″ to the rear of centerline. What the hell — let’s do…
This chassis and roll cage example is mild steel. This car will certify for 7.50 ET and live a long life. The photo below shows the drivers floor bar placement as per SFI Foundation specs for 8.49-7.50 ET This funny…
Just a few chassis fabrication tools we use at the shop. If you work around machinists, architects, builders or other craftsmen, you are probably familiar with these tools. Here at the race shop our goal is to build it right the first…
Now that the Vega is off the chassis table – it’s time to mock-up everything. Below we installed an S&W ladder bar kit, and a HUGE S&W diagonal link at 1.25 x .095. Below the back braced 9″ just needs…
The owner wanted to keep his tires planted at the big end — we told him to try this. The side spill plates were kept minimal. The vehicle originally showed up for a rear window replacement and new decklid due…
The fiberglass was hung on the chassis with care. . . Doors hung, swinging and latched. The frontend tree has been built with custom receiver brackets made and applied. The rear of the front end, lower and upper mounts, and…
What came first the Tonneau or the Wing? The only way to make this wing work was to have a tonneau cover to direct air to the wing. This tonneau is in two pieces and Dzus fastened — we call…
Finishing up the sheet metal for the Vega Wagon. All of the aluminum panels as well as the aluminum wheel tubs are DZUS fastened for easy service. The floor pans are steel — and all are welded in. The lower half of rear…
2 1/4″ primaries with 4″ merge collectors, 18 gauge 304 stainless steel. . . A few hours . . . and a dozen “J” bends later. . . Can’t wait to hear them!
Vega Wagon Chassis Painted. Firewall and body extensions completed — can’t wait to see assembled. Dsuz tabs placed and springs applied. Chassis certification will be no problem. Our S&W stretched chassis comes with manufacture chassis tags. Time to get to…
The Vega is nearing completion! The body has been removed for the final time after welding in the firewall. We have flipped the chassis and air panned it. The passenger side could be aluminum, but we made it steel getting ahead of…
T2, as we call it, gets new tin after replacing both rear frame rails, and ladder bar crossmember due to rot and rust. All sheet metal has been replaced. Per NHRA rules the driver floor must be steel, but everything else…
The G-body designation was originally used for 1969–1972 Pontiac Grand Prix and 1970–1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo personal luxury coupes. The term “G-Body Shuffle” became popular in the drag racing community for the vehicle’s side-to-side motion of the rear end after…
This project showed up missing the trans tunnel cover but had the Dzus tabs mounted. Double frame rails were high in the car so overall tunnel height was kept to a minimum so carbon fiber dash can be attached and removed…
We are in the final stages of this “daily driver” build. Currently we are trying to find a body shop to bondo up the 80 year old sheet metal. We have already taken it down to bare metal and applied primer to simply…
