Wangers Edition '69 GTO Buildup - Carousel Rad

Here's Prototype No. 1 in the early stages of the build, prior to the fitting of the front valance and spoiler. Note the door-lock holes, antenna hole, and rear-quarter marker lights were filled to further smooth the body. The wheels and tires shown are to check the fit, as the HRE custom wheels weren't done yet.

This is the race car of the three prototypes-note the rollbar. It began life as a clean 40,000-mile West Coast '69 Tempest post car with an OHC-6. The Roadster shop converted it into a hardtop.

The convertible was rough to begin with, so the Roadster Shop installed all new sheetmetal on the passenger side, and a new fender and quarter on the driver side, as well as new floors and cowl side panels. Note the wheeltubs are sized to fit the huge wheel/tire package. Coincidentally, all three of the A-bodies that were destined to become Jim Wangers Signature Edition GTOs began life with gold exterior paint. (The race car and convertible are still under construction as of this writing.)

Dramatically increased structural rigidity and 21st century handling characteristics are courtesy of the Roadster Shop's Performance A-body chassis. It's fully boxed steel mainrails are made from 10-gauge (0.1406-inch) steel, and the crossmembers are 1.625-inch-diameter DOM tubing with a 0.120-inch wall thickness. This frame is designed to be stronger than stock, and to accept modern suspension and steering components, while retaining the stock body, radiator core, and bumper mount locations. It also features a tubular center crossmember with an adjustable drop-out trans mount, a mid-brace crossmember with exhaust ports to fit up to 3-inch pipes, and it provides a lower ride height and center of gravity to further improve handling.

Other features include a DSE front suspension system utilizing C6 Corvette geometry, adjustable AFCO remote reservoir coilovers, and a splined 1.25-inch front sway bar. The GTO can fit up to 10.75-inch-wide tires in front, and a set of 14-inch Wilwood disc brakes with six-piston calipers handle the stopping duties.

The rear suspension is comprised of a triangulated four-bar setup and double-adjustable AFCO coilovers, and features three-position ride-height adjustment. A Ford nodular-iron-case, 9-inch rear and 31-spline axles puts the power to the ground. Up to 13.5-inch-wide tires will fit in the rear thanks to the 3-inch frame narrowing on each side. Rear brakes are 13-inch Wilwood discs. (Note this photo is of the convertible chassis, so some parts, like the mufflers, may be different than Prototype No. 1 that HPP tested.)

Unlike the tubs used in the convertible, the rear wheelwells of Prototype No. 1 were widened to fit the larger tires by cutting them down the middle, moving the inner well inward and rewelding it, and welding in a 3-inch-wide piece of sheetmetal.

Note the custom mounts to accept the Pontiac engine, as the chassis is normally built for SB or BB Chevy or optional LS mounts. The smooth 18-gauge-steel, hand-crafted firewall and fender-filler panels have been welded in, and metal was reshaped on the fenderwells to integrate better with the new suspension system.

The filler panel between the bumper and radiator was custom-made from steel, as was the enclosure for the aftermarket aluminum radiator. Unlike the body parts, which were fabricated in steel but will be molded in carbon-fiber in production models, these will be steel in the production cars as well.

Phil says, "Copying the rendering in metal for the body parts always creates issues with the actual proportions of the car. We draw on the body to rough out the dimensions, and then do a mockup with metal and start hand-fabricating." Here, the front spoiler is in the early stages of metal development. The pieces have been tack-welded together and the driver-side corner is marked for cutting; the passenger side is cut.

Upon completion of the metalwork, a light coat of filler is applied, followed by shaping and block-sanding with 36-, 80-, 220-, 320-, and 400-grit paper. In order to make the carbon-fiber pieces, a special primer is applied that allows the molds to be pulled from the parts without sticking to them. Here, Jon York (left) and Jim Taylor are test-fitting the lower front valance and spoiler. Care has to be taken to ensure all the other front-end sheetmetal is perfectly aligned prior to test fitting, as decisions made here to alter the parts will affect final production.

Notice how the original scoops were cut and metal was added to widen them, while retaining similar styling cues to stock.