Ron Pircey Enterprises

Late Model GTO To Challenge In This Year’s 25th Anniversary Silver State Classic

April 5th, 2013

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According to their official website; the Silver State Classic Challenge: “The State of Nevada closes down 90 miles of Route 318 and more than 200 drivers from around the world converge on the little town of Ely in the central high desert of Nevada. Why do they come? To experience first-hand the adrenaline rush of driving flat-out on a public highway. Not just professional racers, but men and women from all walks of life, pursuing the Walter Mitty dream of speed, horsepower, and high performance. Yes, there’s a place for everyone in the Silver State Classic Challenge”

One of those men is Ardin Scoggs, who’s weapon of “choice” is one of the best of the late model factory Hot Rods; in the form of a 2006 Pontiac GTO. From the factory the car is powered by a 6.0-liter V8 rated at 400 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque along with a limited-slip differential and traction control. Ardin, like many prefer the sounds and performance of the original “old school” Small Block Chevrolet. Although this car will use a highly modified; 358 C.I. Small Block backed by a Richmond 6 speed manual gearbox.
Because of the expected performance and high speeds associated with competition in “The Classic”; safety is a primary concern. To that end Ardin chose Ron Pircey Enterprises to install the proper roll cage, competition legal fuel cell and subframe connectors to tie everything together.

When the car came to Ron’s shop in Federal Way, the interior, engine and most of the wiring and dashboard components had been removed in preparation for installation of the safety components.

Subframe Connectors are used to literally “tie” the factory front and rear subframes together; substantially reinforcing the chassis. The stiffening that is provided by these connectors will improve the already great handling characteristics of the factory GTO.

The roll cage will provide additional stiffness and the obvious safety benefits. Notice the tight fit of the 1 5/8” DOM tubing as it is formed to fit the contours of the GTO and how it is “bent” to the accommodate the stock dash.

Proper mounting at the floor locations and additional bracing will do nothing but add even more stiffness.

Mounting the racing fuel cell required the use of a steel plate “mounting ring” to meet the safety requirements and further stiffen the trunk area after the opening was cut for the cell.

Overall this was a great project and was a break from the street rod and drag racing projects that are obviously more common around here!

Lots of work lies ahead for Ardin and his crew as this the November deadline looms ahead…

Good luck to Ardin at “The Classic” for more information on this year’s 25th Anniversary Silver State Classic Challenge click on the link below:

http://www.sscc.us/default.aspx

Rear End Housings 101

March 21st, 2013

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Oftentimes one of the most overlooked, yet overworked items on any high performance car is the rear end housing and suspension. Whether your interest lies in Drag Racing, Pro Touring or road racing; or even if your car is simply a daily driven performance car or street rod most enthusiasts simply put it together and forget it.

Yet the rigors of racing or performance driving can take its toll on the rear end housing, axles, differential and its related components. It is a good idea to inspect these items once a year especially if your car is raced on a regular basis.

Otherwise something catastrophic like this could happen to you! The next two photos show a broken and twisted axle.

Even if your axles look to be in good shape it is best to have them “magna-fluxed” to check for cracks along with a close visual inspection to look for “twisted splines”

After years of neglect, the rear end housing itself can become bent or twisted. When this occurs it can cause excessive wear on the axles, gear set and their related components. If the situation is neglected for too long; the only choice is to repair or even replace or upgrade the rear end housing.

Once the decision is made to replace a rear end housing critical measurements must be taken to insure that the new housing fits perfectly and all the suspension components will align properly once the new housing is ready to be installed. Ron at Ron Pircey Enterprises is well versed on the repair and fabrication required.

Leading manufacturer’s components are available through Ron Pircey Enterprises at competitive prices to make the repair or replacement process as “cost effective” as possible.

They include:

Strange Engineering and Dutchman Motorsports (Axles and rear end components)

Wilwood Engineering (Brakes and related parts)

Art Morrison Enterprises (Suspension and related components)

Once the measurements are determined and “double checked” the new housing and components can be selected.

Next the new housing is setup on the jig table, leveled and squared so that it can be marked properly with the dimensions taken previously in order to locate all the required suspension mounting brackets.

Once the brackets locations are determined an alignment bar is placed through the housing so that it will ensure that the housing does not warp while all the brackets and housing ends are installed.

Then the lengthy process of welding everything into place gets underway. Care must be taken to insure that everything remains in its correct location during this step.

After the housing is completed you can begin the reassembly process. The housing shown up to this point was for a 9” Ford for a Drag Racing application and had 4-link, coilover, and wheelie bar mounts installed as part of the manufacture of the new rear end.