Protouring style street car.

by Greenmachine Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:04 pm

This is my first time ever doing a build thread so please don’t expect too much. My plans for this car is to build a car similar in spirit to Lucky Costas 66 Chevelle. By that I mean a car that I could drive to the track in some manor of mild comfort thrash and then drive home. Notice I didn’t say win... lol

I’ve had this car for a bit over a year now and my plans going forward are an L33 swap a fully built “x spec” T5 a full QA1 suspension and C5 brakes. So far I’ve bought a running and driving 06 Silverado with the L33, a word class Ford T5 and the brakes are what I’m going to cover in this first post.

For my C5 brake swap I bought the spindles from CPP, rear axle plates from eBay and everything else came from A&A Auto my local speed shop. Everything in the brake system except the proportioning valve is of a C5 corvette. The booster was the only thing that gave me any trouble mounting. You can see in the pics below I cut the factory bracket off the original booster this is when I unfortunately stopped taking pictures, the bracket was not a direct fit. I took a rotatory file and slotted the holes so it would line up with the corvette booster. Next I made a 1/4 spacer out of a section of plate a plasma cutter and a few other tools. The spacer was needed to fully clear the lip on the booster. Then it was just a matter of making the rod for the pedal adjustable. After that the new lines were ran new hose installed everything was bled and the car was back down the road. Including new cragar rally II’s and a new set of nitto NT555 G2’s the whole swap ran about $3000. I don’t think I could be happier with the brakes either, lots of stopping power and great feel.

by S3TPI Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:13 am

Did you grind the heads off the rivets on the booster bracket? That's a good idea for a way to swap boosters, I never thought of that.

by Greenmachine Sat Jul 31, 2021 9:44 am

Yea just used a 4 inch angle grinder. Truth be told I originally bought a “universal” bracket off summit that was meant for an older gm car. That one was two pieces and I fought with it a bit making extra holes and trying to figure out how to seal the firewall. That went in the garbage and I decided to try and make the factory bracket work. It was surprisingly easy to make happen.

by S3TPI Sat Jul 31, 2021 10:38 am

Stock replacement boosters are getting hard to find. I have a dead one I may cut the bracket off and try that.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sat Jul 31, 2021 12:28 pm

Hey. Looks good so far. Here are a couple of pictures of the frame that I built for my project and the brakes that I used. I guess, without really knowing, did a similar build like you are doing. I will try to answer any questions that I can. Good luck!

by Greenmachine Sat Jul 31, 2021 3:29 pm

What made you decide to stick with the coil springs? And what are you running up front? The other advantage of the CPP spindles is they’re not actually spindles, they’re uprights. They use the C5 hub assembly.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sat Jul 31, 2021 3:54 pm

On this car I purchased everything that Global West makes for this application. I liked how the ride height looks. The kit came with the spring. It also has Viking 20 way adjustable shocks. I have Viking coil overs on my 2001 SS Camaro. I just like how simple the Laguna is.

by Greenmachine Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:38 pm

You just going to run their rear frame braces? From my experience under this car the frames a joke. I’m looking to run the control arm braces, either make a beefy trans cross member or buy the g force and put a 6 point cage in the car.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:04 pm

Here is what I did. And yes, I also used their frame braces. It does make it a little tight getting the exhaust to fit. For the exhaust I used a Spintech universal 3” oval X-Pipe kit with dumps.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:07 pm

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:19 pm

A couple of neat pictures. Zoom in on this and you can see how it turned out.

by Greenmachine Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:46 pm

Not gonna lie I’m just going to flat out copy you on that bracing lol. Is that a tko you’re running?

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:51 pm

That’s funny. As for the transmission, it’s a TREMEC T56 Magnum. Long story short, I was going to build my 1970 Camaro into a Pro-Touring car. A guy came by and bought everything but the engine (600+HP LS7), transmission, and brakes. The brakes and transmission are on the Laguna now and the LS7 is in my 2001 SLP SS.

by fasrnur Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:48 pm

Revinkevin I have to tip my hat to you sir. It's great to see more people finally giving these cars the attention they deserve. I haven't looked back on your build in awhile, and it gives me motivation when I need it. Thanks
I hope one day mine will be 1/4 as nice as yours.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:38 pm

You know, coming from you that makes me very proud. Thank you for the kind words. I have always thought that these cars could be taken to a different level. A big thanks goes out to g3chevy as well. He makes that incredible drive across the jungle that we call Houston to help out when he can. Did you see the video that I made of the first drive? It was an epic 5mph drive around a circle but it meant the world to me.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GNMXWLsQVBk

by fasrnur Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:27 pm

Nice short video RevinKevin. I'm not sure if I would have had that much will power. I probably would've headed down the street to see what it has. Very Happy

by fasrnur Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:56 pm

Nice brake swap Greenmachine. I'm going down the same road as you and RevinKevin. Mine is driven most every single day during the summer season here in Minnesota. I average just shy of 6000 miles a summer, and this is my 6th summer with it. I plan on doing the same thing with mine. Drive it during the week, and go do some autocross on the weekends. Driving it to and from the track.
For the suspension, I have an 1 1/4" front sway bar from a 76-78 or so Trans Am with the WS6 suspension. The rear bar is 1" and off a 94-96 Impala SS. For the springs, I also used the springs on all 4 corners from the same years of Impala SS.
I love the use of GM parts that you used. Makes it easier to find parts most part stores that way. I too did an all GM parts 4 wheel disc brake swap. Here's a link to it. It's some what of a long read, but I haven't heard any bad reviews of the post. haha
https://www.g3gm.com/t12589-my-four-wheel-disc-brake-swap

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:13 pm

Your car looks awesome. As for that short drive, maybe Thursday afternoon. We are going to work on it some more and venture out a little further. That was the first time my new dual disc clutch was ever used. I put one in the Laguna and one in my Camaro. They are a little different from a dead stop. I am surprised that I didn’t stall it out. Let’s get these cars up and running. Let’s bring some G3’s out into the forefront of the car hobby. I watched some of the Optima Challenge the other night. All Camaro’s and older Chevelles. I want to try my hand at that next summer.

by Greenmachine Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:47 pm

The optima challenge would be awesome! I want to do something like that once my car is farther along. I’ve been wanting to do the power tour for years too. More so just to get out there and do it and have fun.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:25 pm

Hey. One thing a little off topic. Check out the bumpers on fastnur’s car. Read his build thread. His car is real nice.

by fasrnur Thu Aug 05, 2021 8:36 pm

Thanks Revin. Means a lot to me, to have someone that has built a car like yours say that.
This is a shot that you don't get everyday by a professional at speed. I really like the picture.

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Thu Aug 05, 2021 8:40 pm

If I were a caliber I would be a.22. That is the shot that makes your car look so good.

by fasrnur Sat Aug 07, 2021 3:14 pm

I like the reference to the ammo. This shot to me, show just how much a couple of small changes to the bumpers can change the overall look of these cars. The wheels and tires kind of help too. haha

by REVINKEVIN / Mr. 600+HP Sat Aug 07, 2021 3:33 pm

The bumper mods do so much for these cars. And to think, they didn’t even have to do it in the first place. They were trying to stay ahead of government regulations that never came.

by S3TPI Sun Aug 08, 2021 8:20 am

Can you explain more about the regulations that never came? Just curious about what happened.

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