BUILD THREAD Street/AutoX/HPDE 78-79 Cutlass build!

[78cutlass406]

Figured I browse this forum quite a bit for info, I might as well post up a build thread as well.

This will be a multi-purpose car, driven on the street but will see plenty of AutoX events as well as HPDE track days.

Right, now it's a frame that I'm working on getting to a roller.

Current Details:
Full UMI Suspension
Vi-king Crusader Double Adjustable Shocks
36mm Hollow Front Sway bar from Iroc Camaro
Classic Performance C5/C6 G-Body spindles with SKF C6 Hub Assemblies
Stock C5 Brakes Front/Rear
9" Ford Trac-Loc 31-spline, 3.50:1 Gears
Tremec T56 Magnum Close-Ratio Transmission
275/35-18 Rival S Tires on 18x9.5 wheels with a 5.300" backspace

Planned Engine:
Aluminum LM4 5.3 engine w/ Summit Pro LS Stage 2 Turbo Cam
VS Racing NextGen 7875 turbo with .96 A/R

I have the motor still in my old Envoy to go in just gotta pull it. Hopefully I'll have the rear end in the chassis in the next couple weeks and the motor pulled and in the garage in the next few weeks as well.

Here's some pics of current progress!

 

[Streetbu]

Looks like an awesome start! Keep us updated, especially with pics of your progress 😎

 

[mclellan83]

Def looking forward to seeing this come together

 

[liquidh8]

Looking good so far, keep us updated, we all like pics!

 

[Supercharged111]

A turbo G-body with C5 brakes would be fine for a street/auto-x car, but would definitely come up short at an HPDE. If you're serious about the latter, I implore you to budget sooner than later for real brakes. And cooling too, that's going to be your other biggest challenge. The rest sounds just fine though, should be a fun car.

 

[78cutlass406]

A turbo G-body with C5 brakes would be fine for a street/auto-x car, but would definitely come up short at an HPDE. If you're serious about the latter, I implore you to budget sooner than later for real brakes. And cooling too, that's going to be your other biggest challenge. The rest sounds just fine though, should be a fun car.

Yeah, so the C5 brakes should do fine to get me started with a good pad. I tend to employ a slow in fast out style on track, so I'm easier on brakes that most. My braking is an earlier, more of a gentle squeze to get the entry speed I want and letting the car settle for the turn-in and back on the throttle.
That being said, Part of the reason I went with this setup is the upgrade path is easy. Since it adapts the factory c5 abutments and calipers/rotors there are plenty of bolt on kits that will just work. Most likely when I get the car going and get some seat time to enjoy it, I'll end up with AERO6 front calipers and the matching 4 piston rears from Wilwood.

I haven't quite figured out cooling yet, but that should be simple enough when the time comes.

 

[78cutlass406]

Oh yeah, also going with the close ratio T56 Mag trans. I'll keep the main post of this thread updated with those kinda details.

 

[Tony1968]

I'm in for this one. Sounds like a good start.

 

[Supercharged111]

Yeah, so the C5 brakes should do fine to get me started with a good pad. I tend to employ a slow in fast out style on track, so I'm easier on brakes that most. My braking is an earlier, more of a gentle squeze to get the entry speed I want and letting the car settle for the turn-in and back on the throttle.
That being said, Part of the reason I went with this setup is the upgrade path is easy. Since it adapts the factory c5 abutments and calipers/rotors there are plenty of bolt on kits that will just work. Most likely when I get the car going and get some seat time to enjoy it, I'll end up with AERO6 front calipers and the matching 4 piston rears from Wilwood.

I haven't quite figured out cooling yet, but that should be simple enough when the time comes.

Dragging the brakes longer and gentler makes them hotter than threshold braking for a shorter time. I ran them for years on my Camaro. The pedal can get really long and inconsistent when the brakes get hot, so you're never sure what's waiting for you when you go for the brakes. I also ran them on my C5 Corvette and had the same result. This is with racing fluid, pads, and cooler ducting. They're fine street and autocross brakes, but they absolutely fall short on track. The Camaro makes 260whp and weighs 3250-3300# with driver after a session, Corvette weighed about the same with 100hp more. Yours is going to be substantially heavier and more powerful than that and trying to drive around them is not going to mask their crappiness. No matter what brake setup you go with, absolutely show up with racing fluid and road racing pads, not aggressive street pads.

 

[scoti]

In for the build updates. Nice collection of stuff so far.