Project S10 - The Start!

As a confirmed road racer I never could see the attraction of drag racing, that is not until I started 1:25 scale slot car drag racing at Family Hobbies in Oakville, ON. I liked the fact that bracket racing meant everyone was equal, anyone cheating was only beating themselves. It was here that I met some real drag racers wanting to keep sharp on the tree through the long cold Canadian winters. Once the good weather arrived it was out the dragstrip to see what all the noise was about. Our fellow slot car competitors were involved with a Pro Mod team and did I ever get my eyes opened when I saw my first Pro Mod navigate the 1320. At that time the fledgling Canadian Pro Mod series was starting to make an impact and we followed the series over Southern Ontario watching some of the greatest Pro Mod racers in the world ply their trade. They always say a racer makes the worst spectator and that was true in my case. A trip to Columbus for our first NHRA national event exposed my wife and I to the Pro Stock truck class. The fact that the trucks were different and there was an Art Morrison Pro Truck ad in the National Dragster a few weeks later shaped our path for the next few years. I had decided to go the route of building a car rather than buying one to ensure I knew what I had. I had previously built some road race cars in my native Scotland and was not intimidated by the task. I had checked out the other component manufacturers that offered chassis kits and liked the fact that Morrison had a tie up with GTS Fiberglass who had a full fiberglass body available for our truck of choice, a Chevrolet S-10. I was lucky enough to talk to Dave Jones the first time I called Art Morrison Enterprises and he became my contact. Jones is the consummate professional and made the whole process a lot easier than I thought it would be. We talked about the class of racing the S-10 would be used for and the spec for the truck evolved from there. I have to admit our initial thoughts of a 600 hp big block have gone by the wayside but Morrison's chassis is more than up to the 900+hp bullet Pat Musi is building for us. Chris from RPM Classifieds and I got talking about building our own racecar and feel a series of articles featuring our buildup could help other racers contemplating such a project. The articles will be duplicated on HeadsUpRacer.com for those with access to the World Wide Web. Before you decide on undertaking a project of such a huge magnitude you have to ask yourself some serious questions. Art Morrison told me a large percentage of kits sold never see completion by the original purchaser, they end up half finished in someone's garage. Do you have the space to complete the project? do you have the tools? Are you a competent welder or have access to one? Are you prepared to dedicate a LOT of time to the project? Once you have answered those questions you have to decide on the spec of the car. What class are you going to run? How fast? Is it going to be a fiberglass panel car or use a unibody as the base? Four link or ladder bar? Struts or A-arms? These are all things you can talk to the manufacturer's rep about. In most cases these guys are drag racers and they have the knowledge to point you in the right direction. Take time to make your decision. This is not shopping at Wal-Mart. Talk to people who have done something like this before. Realize you are undertaking a major project. The advantage of buying a kit car over building your own design is getting all the blueprints to build a vehicle with all the components set up with the correct geometry. The Morrison kit was impressive, good blueprints and a manual taking you through the project step by step. Next issue we start work! SOURCES Art Morrison Enterprises 5301 8th Street East Fife, WA 98424 (800) 929-7188 www.artmorrison.com GTS Fiberglass 1675 W. Pearce Blvd, Wentzville, MO, 63385 (636) 639-6724 www.gtsfiberglass.com

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