Saturday Night Buildup - Build An Entry Level Stock Car

At the front, Patrick begins his lessons in body panel removal. The front fenders are held to the body with four bolts on each side. The front core support has two bolts. There are seemingly hundreds of other small bolts and screws to remove. It was here that Patrick earned his nickname, "The Torch." Once I showed him how to use the cutting torch, the only way I could get him to put it down was to turn off the bottles. At least he did make short work of any fastener that didn't have to be re-used. The use of gloves and goggles is strongly recommended during cutting torch operations. There is a lot of splatter, popping, and back flashing when doing this rough work.

The front assembly was carried off to one side so one or more of our younger helpers could learn the nuances of removing small fasteners. A handful of nut drivers and Torx head screwdrivers kept them busy. All we want to keep is the exterior fender sheetmetal and the front core support itself.

The engine should be exposed now. You did take the car to the car wash, didn't you? Patrick didn't. He borrowed a pressure washer from a friend. We spent as much time cleaning the concrete as we did cleaning the car. A good suggestion would be to have the car up on four jackstands by now. Jackstands are safer than working with only a jack, plus with four of them you can control leveling of the chassis.

With working room underneath, remove the rear transmission mount bolts, the driveshaft, and anything else hanging on the transmission. On top again, use an engine hoist, attaching the chain about two-thirds of the way toward the back of the engine. With all the mounts loose, the engine/transmission will come out as a unit, forward and up. Now you can wash the car again!

Since our car came with a V-6 and a TH200 transmission, we kept neither. Stashed out of the way, a salvage operator will soon be made the proud owner of our grease pile, which will also include things such as the stock steering column.

Auburndale Speedway's rules say: "If it burns, take it out." Seats, door panels, and the headliner are the easy parts. A factor here is that even with a minimum weight rule, lighten the car as much as possible in order to place weight where it is needed. All plastic, fabric, and wiring must be removed. Some of these items can be removed with a torch; sometimes the torch makes a mess. Little of the body sheetmetal can be removed. Only if the metal is in the way of the rollcage can it be torched out, so be careful. We even saved a few pieces that could be questioned by tech later on.

The dirtiest part of a project of this nature is stripping out everything not necessary to the race car. Tar-like adhesives used for sealants and rubber parts are the most difficult parts. Rubber parts are a good source of acrid black smoke when using the torch. An air chisel (we didn't have one, remember: no air compressor) will work on some of these, or take the time to unbolt everything. Alas, the torch is faster but messier; still Patrick loved it.

During this process, we found a glass man who likes race cars. Rather than knock out the glass like I have done, and pick up the pieces for a month, Tim Johnson of Highland City Glass Co. came to the rescue. He brought a few tools made for glass removal in these cars. The glass came loose in one piece. Even the tar-like adhesive was left smooth. We will be able to paint right on over it. Having used several methods to remove glass from cars I've built, this is by far the best. Tools are available to do this job, but they often require a bit of practice.

There is one last thing to do to the car at this time: Remove the body mounting bolts. It is a bit of work but it will add some necessary stiffness to the chassis. Not counting the ones under the front core support, there are six rubber mounting biscuits on each side, each with a bolt in its center. Remove these bolts and biscuits.

This done, get two 2x4-inch boards about 6 feet long. Using an engine hoist, lift the body one end at a time. Place the boards between the body and frame. With the body in the air, use the torch to make a large hole (1 1/2x3 inches) through the body where each biscuit was located. This will allow welding the body back on to the frame. Brush the frame clean. Lower the body onto the frame and push it rearward as far as possible. Don't weld the body on yet. That comes next month with some oldie but goodie tricks.

Note: Go to www.auburndalespeedway.com to get a copy of the rules for the V-8 Bomber class. You can e-mail Sleepy at: sleepy.gomez@prodigy.net.

We're still putting the finishing touches on our Project Mini Stock, so look for that buildup to continue in the next issue. We'll show you what it took to wrap up work on our marvelous Mustang. Stay tuned!