Targa Truck '71 GMC build - The first truck in Targa Newfoundland

[bovey]

Interior is mostly gutted to start the 'Cage fab work. I'm getting pros do do this as safety stuff needs to be done by accomplished fabricators.

It feels like I just put the Benz seats in, but their time is up after 2ish years. Never imagined I'd be going to full containment race seats, but there it is. And after my track day on Sunday - I need seats the tie me safely. I was bending my steering wheel holding myself in place. Still have to sort out harnesses.

[mcbassin]

Very cool truck. A bunch of nice parts you have upgraded too. I'm going to follow along too.

[bovey]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very cool truck. A bunch of nice parts you have upgraded too. I'm going to follow along too.

Yes, please follow along! When I first tracked the truck, I used simpler parts. However, as I became a better driver - I found the limitation of the parts, thus making the truck unpredictable/dangerous as I hit the performance limit of my brakes and shocks (for example).

Due to the competition I have entered, the rule book states SFI or FIA approved parts ONLY. For track days SFI equipment has to be upgraded every 2 years, FIA every 5 years. In this case FIA is the better bargain. But that all boils down to where you drive, how you run/drive, and the rules you have to follow.

As for the rest of the truck. I drive it to the track, run hard, and drive it home. Long ago I decide not to use a tow vehicle and trailer and put that money into making the truck tough as nails. To build it tough, I use proven/custom parts so the truck survives and in turn and most importantly - I survive.

[bovey]

A quick update. The truck is out getting 'caged at the moment. Hoping to have photos to share. It took a few discussions with tech to get some agreement on the design. More on that to come.

One of the purchases I ended up making was wheels. Was hoping to avoid it, but more tire is always handy, and to be honest the weight of my current wheels is killing me - not as young as I once was.

These comps are not done - the illustrator did me a few quickies so I could pick a wheel colour. AND the truck will not be this low with my current suspension set-up, but you get the idea.



I'm not going to "murder" the truck out as that's not my deal. And let's face it, so many people are build this era that being unique is not gonna happen. So, I'm just going to get what I like. Really digging the all copper/tan colour (7), maybe with silver hoops (2).

[bovey]

A video from the week-end. I owe some updates. The 'cage is in. Everything is working well. I need to get valve spring done, I'm limiting my rpm in this video as I don't want to huge anything. Still a fun day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAGU...ature=youtu.be

[Shaky]

Sounds great. Need some footage from the sidelines to see the truck in action!

[JustCallMeDrew]

Im completely in love with your truck...im tuned in!

[mcbassin]

Love the video! Makes me want to drive fast.
thanks for sharing

[bovey]

Originally Posted by Shaky

Sounds great. Need some footage from the sidelines to see the truck in action!

Yes! Agreed. I'm working on getting someone to come shoot it when I get it dialled in a little better. I have some great video from a car chasing me(and passing, he drives a race car), but the owner of the videos does not release his videos publicly.

Originally Posted by JustCallMeDrew

Im completely in love with your truck...im tuned in!

Thank you! Feel free to follow the Targa Truck on fb and twitter too! I try to vary the content to keep it fun.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Love the video! Makes me want to drive fast.
thanks for sharing

Take your truck to the track. Or AutoX is. SO. MUCH. FUN.

This past week-end was a beginner lapping day with a group of performance drivers I volunteer with. Found myself in the instructing role again, which is fun. As this track is new, I've had more time on it than most, so it was fun helping others make their cars get around the track better.



Then it was my turn. My first time getting fully strapped in with proper seats, harnesses and a 'cage.



My lapping went okay/well, it was hard to tell. I was a bit off my marks AND I had been put in the advance group with very experienced drivers and all out race cars. Clearly not the fastest, but not the slowest either!



All round a fun day. More soon.

[bonuts]

Very cool. We have been planning on building a car for targa Newfoundland since we stopped running circle track. Just not nearly enough time lately, will probably be a couple years yet.


bonuts

[bovey]

Originally Posted by bonuts

Very cool. We have been planning on building a car for targa Newfoundland since we stopped running circle track. Just not nearly enough time lately, will probably be a couple years yet.

Thanks. Having time... so rare. Gawd. This years was a good of a chance as I've had in the past decade so I went for it. Thank goodness my wife is cool with my habit. It takes up a lot of time to do this. The build, the practice, the preparation.

[bovey]

Also, here. Not only does it haul @ss, it also hauls decks.



Turns out the roll cage didn't mess with the payload much.

Because Race Truck.

[Shaky]

Originally Posted by bovey

Also, here. Not only does it haul @ss, it also hauls decks.

After you're done racing, maybe you can open a business and haul stuff to people who need it REAL FAST!

[bovey]

The cage is in. These photos were taken while at the fab shop. It is now finished with solid door bars.



Fortunately, it wasn't to hard to make the cage work for both my Targa Newfoundland tech and my ECTA Land Speed Racing tech. I was going to do fancier door bars. But the opening is small enough that a diagonal bar is best. It also leave expansion room should I need to "x" it in the future.

Went out to test fit seats. Everything barely fits. Make sure you measure race seats, I did and it's still tight. Of course you may not need to incorporate a child's seat seat. But most race seats are around 21-24" wide, they are bigger than you think. These trucks are 65" door to door. Add a Roll Cage. Some room to move and boom - no space in the middle.



Have had to work with tech, like a lot. With the truck being heavier, they wanted larger bar and gussets. However, once they saw these photos and the fitment and quality of the welds, they said the extra bars, gussets (and weight) was not needed. The Corbeau Seats are my street seats. We are making mounts for swapping out the Momo Containments seats for track days.

The floor is padded with 6"x6" steel plate sandwich both top and bottom. It's bolted together so I can pull the body off when I do new chassis for Phase 2. The pads on the bottom are tied directly to the frame.


My little guy seems to like the new jungle gym. Overall, very happy. The guys have build it so it can be added too as I further the build. Eventually, it will reach into the engine bay and I'll put a couple extra bars in the bed for rigidity.

[bovey]

Tires arrived! 295 BFG Rivals. After talking to a few people and doing some homework, these seem like a good starting point. Our climate is different and these seem to heat up quickly.



Old 255. New 295.




Just waiting for the wheels. The fires in Cali have slowed down production. Thankfully the business are fine and re-opened. Just behind. No biggie.

[bovey]

Originally Posted by Shaky

After you're done racing, maybe you can open a business and haul stuff to people who need it REAL FAST!

Yup. Wonder if people would pay a premium??? It also does dump runs, I have a photo somewhere....

In other news. My comps are done. I originally did these so I could figure out the wheels and wheel colour. Mascoll Designs did them for me. I made the layouts and designed the background, but he did a killer job on the truck.



My buddies joke that it has the aerodynamics of tool shed with a pool out back. So here.



Work has been busy, so I'm a little behind with work. Hope to catch up this week-end.

[bovey]

Happy Monday,

I'm a Roadkill fan And they have a few extra trucks they seem to want viewers to give their opinion on what do do with them.

So, I made a Roadkill Challenge up. If any of you want to be total rockstars, go to their Facebook page and share the link. You do that, and I'll bring the 67-72 GM truck noisefest. Thanks in advance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdENii-GXVc

[CanadianK10]

Awesome truck, I'm following on Facebook as well. Was at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park this weekend to check out the big race on Sunday and to cheer on the legendary yellow corvettes. The autocross track next to the main circuit looks super fun, which circuit did you have the truck on?

- Adam

[bovey]

Originally Posted by CanadianK10

Awesome truck, I'm following on Facebook as well. Was at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park this weekend to check out the big race on Sunday and to cheer on the legendary yellow corvettes. The autocross track next to the main circuit looks super fun, which circuit did you have the truck on?

- Adam

Awesome. You can't beat the sound of the big V8s on a track like CTMP. I have only run the DDT track. The big track is not something a person should take lightly. I'm building up my talent before hitting that, it's fast. There is a reason it's regarded as one of the best tracks in the world.

[bovey]

Hey everyone,

This is a update of different kind. I've decided the try a kickstarter, a bunch of people have asked for t-shirts and stuff, some even want to sponsor the truck now. I know. crazy. Never expected this.

I made a kickstarter. Check it out. Follow along and try one. It's a lot of work, but also a very interesting process to do.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...targa-newfound

Now I'm heading back to the garage to get some real work done.

[CanadianK10]

Awesome, looking forward to my shirt and poster

[flashed]

How much is an open edition poster ?

[bovey]

Originally Posted by CanadianK10

Awesome, looking forward to my shirt and poster

Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by flashed

How much is an open edition poster ?

The open edition is $55. They are silk screened hand printed posters on high quality stock. They will be signed. The posters will be shipped in a box to keep them safe. It was a lot of work to figure out the printing, shipping and so on, it adds up quick.

You can see and read about everything in the like above. I don't want to SPAM you with it.

[flashed]

I checked out the link before just overlooked the prices .

[bovey]

Originally Posted by flashed

I checked out the link before just overlooked the prices .

No worries. You are not the first one to have that issue. I'm trying to figure it out if it's a problem or not. I have a bunch of people going "awesome video" and when I ask them about the stuff we designed, they have no idea it's there.