1973 Laguna, Project: Brutus

I guess it's about time I started a project thread here since good weather is right around the corner, the garage won't be frozen anymore and I should be able to get regular updates up here from now on.

I also have a blog that will be a collection of more in-depth stories and technical details than here which will be mostly pictures and interaction about the car. See the blog here: http://lagunatour73.blogspot.com/

This is my 1973 Chevelle Laguna, I'm going ot call it Project "Brutus" for no particular reason other than the name just seems to fit my car.
Side view of the car sitting at the local gas station.

The current Gen1 355 CID engine, this is the engine that will stay in the car until the rest of the car is basically finished. Haven't dynoed it but I suspect its puts out somewhere in the 350-375 HP range, maybe 305-330 at the wheels.

March Performance Serpentine belt system

Quick Fuel Technology 650 CFM w/ mechanical secondaries, not a good carb for this application but it'll have to work for now.

in the garage, GoPro pictures.





-Josh

nice  

at first i thought there was an outline of a body under your guna.

lol

Thanks 1973montec. Haha, the tape on the floor is the track outline from the mini RC races me and my buds would have when we were out in the garage drinking, we had a bunch of those Radio Shack mini RC cars. Childish, yes, but damn fun lol.

Very nice! Are those front tires as close to the fenders as they look?????? Looks as if they would rub when turning.

switchbiker wrote:Thanks 1973montec. Haha, the tape on the floor is the track outline from the mini RC races me and my buds would have when we were out in the garage drinking, we had a bunch of those Radio Shack mini RC cars. Childish, yes, but damn fun lol.

Sometimes you gotta play, otherwise what's the point of life? I still miss my slot cars and keep telling myself someday I'm gonna set up a track again.

Awesome ride. Can't wait to see more. Do you know what the drop is for the front and rear?

Very Nice !! The early Laguna front end is the one I like best    Nice job on the engine set-up.

Bill

thatfnthing wrote:

switchbiker wrote:Thanks 1973montec. Haha, the tape on the floor is the track outline from the mini RC races me and my buds would have when we were out in the garage drinking, we had a bunch of those Radio Shack mini RC cars. Childish, yes, but damn fun lol.

Sometimes you gotta play, otherwise what's the point of life?  I still miss my slot cars and keep telling myself someday I'm gonna set up a track again.

WOW you still have the track! I have all the cars lining a shelve in the garage but no track.

Ghost Rider wrote:

thatfnthing wrote:

switchbiker wrote:Thanks 1973montec. Haha, the tape on the floor is the track outline from the mini RC races me and my buds would have when we were out in the garage drinking, we had a bunch of those Radio Shack mini RC cars. Childish, yes, but damn fun lol.

Sometimes you gotta play, otherwise what's the point of life?  I still miss my slot cars and keep telling myself someday I'm gonna set up a track again.

WOW you still have the track! I have all the cars lining a shelve in the garage but no track.

Oh, yeah, and it's the old style with the metal pins and plastic joining clips. None of that later snap-together nonsense!

thatfnthing wrote:

Ghost Rider wrote:

thatfnthing wrote:

switchbiker wrote:Thanks 1973montec. Haha, the tape on the floor is the track outline from the mini RC races me and my buds would have when we were out in the garage drinking, we had a bunch of those Radio Shack mini RC cars. Childish, yes, but damn fun lol.

Sometimes you gotta play, otherwise what's the point of life?  I still miss my slot cars and keep telling myself someday I'm gonna set up a track again.

WOW you still have the track! I have all the cars lining a shelve in the garage but no track.

Oh, yeah, and it's the old style with the metal pins and plastic joining clips.  None of that later snap-together nonsense!

Same one I had. Cant remember what happend to the track.

Ghost Rider wrote:Very nice! Are those front tires as close to the fenders as they look?????? Looks as if they would rub when turning.

They do rub and aren't a good fit. Once I get the new suspension and brakes installed and take some accurate measurements I will buy some wheels/tires that fit properly without the rub.

driveit wrote:Awesome ride.  Can't wait to see more.  Do you know what the drop is for the front and rear?

front is about 2.5" rear is about 2". I'd love to get it 3.5" front and rear but I'm afraid I'd get hung up on too many things just driving around, plus it would be fairly complicated moving suspension points to keep the geometry correct, camber gain on the front A arms would be too high without moving the mounting points higher on the frame, more work than I want to do and likely wouldnt like dragging frame on every speedbump.

Update:
Today I had some time, so I began measuring for tire fitment in the rear. I'm not doing the front until I get my tubular control arms and brakes installed because the track width is going to change slightly.

Not wanting to spend money or wait for delivery on a tire fitment tool like this :  

Jegs.com/percy's tire fitment tool

I took specifications off the tires I was looking at and made these cutouts from cardboard and glued them all together leaving the tire profile to slide in and out:


I can get a good fitment with a 18X10 1/2" wheel with a 5 1/2" backspace. The tire still has 1/2" clearance at the closest point on the frame which I feel will be enough. Because of the inside shape of the rear outer wheel wells, I wouldnt want to run any more than 5" outset due to tire interference. A 5" outset gives me about 3/8" clearence at full suspension compression with this tire height. If I lower the car more and change the amount the wheel can tuck the outer wheel wells will need to be bulged to clear the tire.

This template is for a 295-35-18 tires, as I'm sure you all know there are people who have installed up to 315-30-18 tires. After doing these measurements I believe that size would have interference issues on my car since it will be lower. I like the little extra sidewall on the 35 series tire also.

I'll have some steel wheels made in these sizes until I get the rest of the modifications done. I am still considering moving the rear frame section in by 2" per side so I can fit wider rear tires, 345-30-18 for race days, I'll still run the 295's on the street because they are affordable from several different manufacturers.

I love this Budnik wheel and it can be made in custom sizing:
Remington Titanium coated (but will probably be the last thing added to the car  )

http://www.budnikwheels.com/


I'll be running this Continental tire:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/continental

I also ordered my front suspension today from Detroit Speed:

http://www.detroitspeed.com/1973-1977-A-Body

That's gonna be slick when done...  

Take lots of pics!

dynchel wrote:That's gonna be slick when done...  

I just hope I can keep doing overtime and stay single this year to keep the progress up!

-Josh

I'm pretty nooby when it comes to making over a car in photoshop, but here's mine in progress. Cut'n pasted wheels lol, I will have a complete render in a few days and a few variations. The wheel size is correct for 19" and so is the tire height of 26", I streched out the picture on a fullsize canvas with the wheel centers at 110" so I could get accurate measurements, it also allows for much finer detail work. The PSD file is 14,444 pixels wide.

it was made on top of the crappy picture below:

Hey you can NOT go wrong with Lime Green paint LOVE IT      

Nice. I like it. That graphic across the bottom sets it off. Let me know if you want a rendering of it like that. I am a little backed up right now, but I would love to do it.

I like how it brings focus to the center of the car and causes the car to seem shorter than it is. A CF hood would look awesome with this color combo I think. By rendering, do you mean a 3D model rendering? I would love to have a blend file for a G3 to play with.

I just really like the look of your car. I am really considering find a 73 Laguna front end for mine.

driveit wrote:I just really like the look of your car.  I am really considering find a 73 Laguna front end for mine.

thanks man, $700 you can have that US body glass nose, and a ton of work installing it. I can't wait until I can really start tearing into my car. I'm still waiting on parts shipments. Proper panel/door alignments will make this car look way better. Still not sure if I want to go with Kawasaki green though, looks cool in the photoshop pics but not really the color of car I can see myself driving around in.

I think I would rather find a cheap original and hope the it works. I have never even saw a Laguna of any year in person though so this could be difficult.

driveit wrote:I think I would rather find a cheap original and hope the it works.  I have never even saw a Laguna of any year in person though so this could be difficult.

Yeah, I was suprised when I ran across mine on Craigslist. It's the real thing too not a converted base model. I've wanted one for years but never saw any around much less, one for sale. I kinda feel like I found my Unicorn after all these years of keeping my feelers out for one. I might have paid a little too much up front @$5800 but I knew I wouldn't come across another that was running and driving for quite some time.