Punky Manor - Vintage Stock Car - Tribute Build

Build Exploration...Part 5

In the 5th installation of the Design Exploration of the Punky Manor - Tribute stock car build, I would like to discuss the remaining elements of the project. I'm sure I will touch on many other design aspects during the build, but I can expand on those when I get to each element.

I would like to talk a little bit about vintage stock car aesthetics past and present and what is driving me to make certain design decisions. 

Back in the early 70's dirt track racing was a lot less complex then it is now. You could go out and get a full frame 2-door car and weld in a set of roll bars and tweak the chassis a bit. Then drop in a high torque big block engine, a 3 or 4-speed transmission, and a low-gear rearend and you were pretty much ready to race. There was a few dedicated race car builders back in the day, but a lot of people built their own cars back then.

The cars were usually built on a tight budget and the finishes were usually not very high-end. Wheel wells were cut larger by hand and not always all that straight. Rectangular tire-rub tubing was often used to keep the body panels in place. By the end of the year, the bodies usually looked like they had seen a lot of tight racing!

I have seen vintage race car builds that use elements or finishes that are too modern and end up taking away from the overall vintage appeal. When vinyl lettering is installed on a vintage race car it places the car in the present because vinyl was not used on any 70's race cars! The same happens with modern wheels and tires. I know some of these parts are very hard to find but some builders go to the extra trouble, and it shows in the end.

Everyone builds their cars to the best of their abilities, and I am not trying to say what I am doing here is the best approach. I am just hoping that when people see this particular completed dirt track race car, that it transports them back to that era.

Here are a few more areas I am exploring design direction on...

Engine

Back in the era when Punky drove race cars, most people were running Big Block engines. Most modern dirt track race cars run Small Block engines. It would be much easier to find and build a small block for this Tribute car but I would prefer a large cubic inch engine. In this case, something with a "four" in it's name....427, 428, 429, or 460 cubic inches.

Exhaust

 

One of the things I remember most about Punky's Torino Late Model was the exhaust system. He used what were called back then "180 degree" headers. They are also referred to as crossover headers. Basically, it is a set of exhaust headers that wrap up over the back of the engine and go through the firewall and run down and out the lower bottom of the passenger side door. I might have to build my own set, but I will be using this exhaust set-up on the Tribute Car!

Wheels

I am still trying to decide what wheels I would like to use. Back in the early 70's it seems like there was a wide variety of different steel and aluminum wheels being used. Sometime truck hubs were used, "wide 5" style hubs were also used back then. A quite a few cars back then started using aluminum slot style wheels. I will most likely have two sets of tires, so I think I will just buy a different style wheel for each set of tires.

Tires

I remember Punky and several other drivers running McCreary brand tires back in the day. However, in 1992 McCreary changed it's name to Specialty Tires of America. In 1994 Specialty Tires of America introduced the American Racer brand. I thought that I would be forced to buy a set of "new" tires which I felt would greatly affect the overall vintage appeal. Luckily I was able to locate 7 vintage McCreary racing tires and will be using them on the race car and the tire rack of the hauler.

Interior

There are a couple of things I need to do in the interior of the car to replicate Punky's original Torino race car. One is to close off the rear seat area with sheet metal or more likely aluminum. The other is to fabricate and install a black vinyl cover that snaps into place over the entire passenger side seating area. I remember this cover having chrome snaps so that it could be easily removable in order to have easy access to that area.

This is a scale stock car model chassis which shows the area I am looking to cover...

  

I would like to use a vintage seat but may need to use a more modern one in case I want to compete in the Vintage race car series. 

I will also need to find a set of vintage looking gauges. I am still trying to decide on using the black or white faced gauges. The older ones were mostly black but the white ones are more visible. I guess it depends on whether I do much actual racing with the car?

Differential

One other thing I would like to find and install in the Torino Tribute car is a Quick-change rearend. These types of differentials have an easy to access set of gears that allow you to quickly change gear ratios. I remember pulling the back plate off from Punky's Quick-Change a few times and filling it back up with 80-90W gear lube.

So that rounds out the 5 part series on design and build exploration. There are a lot more decisions to be made along the way and I'm sure there will be changes to the above menu list.

These types of projects kind of take on a life of their own once you get rolling. I will try and document things in greater detail once I get to each specific area of the build.

Next up we will look at some new parts that I have purchased. More prep work ahead!

Take care, Thanks.