Few experiences are more unnerving than a sneak attack, when the thing you think is most benign turns to bite you. Street-machine builders and drag racers have used this tactic to their advantage for decades-make your ride look stock or worn out on the outside, but hide the power within. Some go to extremes, leaving the rust and the primer on the outside and painting the engine black, if at all.
Paint has never won a drag race, but lulling the unsuspecting competitor into a false sense of security by leaving off the shine and the decals that call out your speed parts certainly has.
Jim Lauer appreciates the sleeper theme but revised it to suit his taste for his '64 LeMans. He painted the body, but in a subtle hue, and provided a clean yet low-key interior, but under the hood, all bets were off. The engine compartment and its inhabitant follow a more Pro-Touring/Street Rod path. Here's how it all came to be.
Don't expect it to be fast,...
Don't expect it to be fast, as it warns that it's "No Goat"... sucker.
Living in Wisconsin, solid '60s Pontiacs don't pop up everyday, but in 2003, when Jim's friend Dave Hefty had gotten bored with his rust-free Texas-bought '64 LeMans, Jim purchased it. "We have always been a General Motors family," Jim says. "My wife, Lisa, worked at the GM plant in Janesville for 15 years, and both my daughters drive Pontiacs. I've been an auto technician my whole life and love to work on cars, so my spare time is spent (working) in my garage."
Once the Aquamarine factory-A/C, power-window, tilt-column LeMans-less the engine and trans-came home, Jim got to work. His plan called for gray paint and retaining the flat hood, poverty caps, and column-mounted shifter to express civility. Rage would be revealed in the aluminum EFI 541ci engine, built Turbo 400 trans, and 12-bolt rear.
Engine And Drivetrain
Said engine was built by KRE using one of its MR-1 aluminum blocks. The company stuffed it with a Crower billet 4.50-inch-stroke crank; GRP 6.700-inch, aluminum rods; and Ross 4.375-inch, forged, dished pistons fitted with Total-Seal rings. Melling's high-volume pumps draws oil through a Moroso pickup from an 8-quart Moroso pan. A Comp Cam 50mm roller with a 4/7 swap features 268/280-degrees duration at 0.050 and 0.802/0.773 lift using 1.70:1-ratio, T&D shaft-mounted rockers; it has a 110-degree LSA.
Owner Jim Lauer replaced the...
Owner Jim Lauer replaced the entire Dark Aqua factory interior with a reproduction black version using parts from Original Parts Group (OPG). The column-mounted shifter, stock steering wheel, and power windows were retained; the factory A/C and radio were removed.
Kauffman High-Port heads feature 2.20/1.70 valves, Comp Cams springs, and Smith Brothers 3/8-inch-diameter pushrods. They flow 403/302 cfm at 0.800 lift and 28 inches of pressure. The compression ratio checks in at 11:1.
A speed-density-controlled FAST XFI system, featuring a 2,000-cfm throttle body and 72-lb/hr injectors on a Victor intake, mix and meter the fuel and air. A Rick's Hotrods-built gas tank contains the Aeromotive A1000 pump, which delivers E85 to the Aeromotive five-port fuel-pressure regulator (set to 36 psi) via -10 lines.
Why did Jim decide to run the engine on E85? "It helps cool the motor to ward off detonation, and allows for a more aggressive tune than traditional pump gas to make more power." XFI tuning was performed by Bob Kurgan of Kurgan Motorsports in Byron, Illinois. Jim says the engine produced an earth-moving, 603 rwhp at 6,000 rpm and 555 lb-ft of torque at 5,500 rpm on the chassis dyno.
The ignition is mostly MSD, from the crank trigger and Pro-Billet distributor, to the 6AL box, Blaster coil, and 8.5mm Superconductor wires. The plugs are NGK V-Power 9. To exhaust the beast, Jim made a set of custom 2.125-inch primary headers with 3.5-inch collectors, and a 3.5-inch-diameter exhaust system with a pair of Flowmasters for a serious growl.