Some of you may be familiar with my Montego race car. It started out as a Torino in ’69 (built and raced in Grand National West until the mid-'70's by John Nissen, driven primarily by J.C. Danielson) and was changed to a Montego in ’71 and re-bodied again as a ’71 Montego in the ‘90s, before major changes in 2001. The car has always been a racer and was originally built on the ’65 Galaxy derived frame that most NASCAR racers used for 15 or 20 years.
This year the car has undergone further overhaul, primarily in the interest of weight reduction. Except for the top, all body panels have been re-created in fiberglass (front fenders had been fiberglass since ’01). Because of the major reduction in rear weight from this change, as well as a new frame design, major modification has been implemented to maintain optimum weight bias. The engine has been moved back a further 6” (the rear float bowl screw is now right below where the lower edge of the windshield will be) and the wheelbase has been shortened 10”. The shortening is through the doors and the top, so in effect the c-pillars and rear quarters are just being moved forward. There no meaningful change to the dimensions of the center section of the roll cage, the driver seat and roll hoop are now towards the back of the c-pillars rather than just in front of them. The fiberglass door skins have been made to stock dimensions and are being trimmed to fit. The top is being done in aluminum. All this work is bing done by Hall Fabrication & Racing, www.hallfabracing.com.
With the engine further back, the induction system is changed from cowl induction to nose induction (headlight area). This means switching back to a stock-style hood.
Here’s the punch line for ‘70/’71 Montego/Cylcone owners: The molds were made with the idea of low volume production (as opposed to one-off supply for my car only), so sometime between now and next spring I should be able to offer the following lightweight fiberglass parts:
1) Standard Montego style hood (no scoop)
2) Front and rear fender end caps
3) Rear bumper
4) Rear taillight surround (6-lens style)
5) Door skins
Even though the timeframe for delivery is probably 3-6 months away and I cannot comment on pricing, Mike has given me permission so I thought I’d post now to get a sense for possible interest.
Email me at info@robisonracing.com if you think you might have interest in any of these parts. Images of the overhaul can be seen on the “Underpinnings” page of www.robisonracing.com
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