The Laguna S-3 is going to be one fun highway hauler when it's finished. The guys at Ricky's Customs & Restorations in Apache Junction, AZ, will be applying the Sherwin-Williams suede black paint for us.
In Dante's Divine Comedy (there's nothing funny about it), there are some characters in this epic poem to whom I can relate. There are these dudes in Purgatory who are wicked thirsty, and they're surrounded by cascades of cool water. But they're not allowed to drink, apparently because they've been gluttonous in their lives, and this is their punishment. Eventually, all the gluttons conclude their penance, and make their way to heaven, where presumably, they may have a well-deserved glass of water.
Life as the editor of Popular Hot Rodding sometimes plays the purgatory card on me. Surrounded at every turn by guys building, driving, and racing the coolest cars in the land, I usually must be content to build magazines. For the most part, I get to watch everything unfold from a front-row seat as an observer.
Sometimes, however, I get to partake, and that's when the fun happens. Example: most of the time I spend at the dragstrip is behind the camera, but once in a while, I get to spend time behind the wheel of the Street Sweeper Chevelle. The camera is fine and has its own rewards, but driving the '68 Chevelle is when I'm in heaven.
Our newest project car-the '75 Laguna S-3 we're calling Project Talladega-is beginning to take shape. Last week, I had another one of those nirvana days, this time on the open road. I broke away from the computer long enough to drive the Laguna out to Apache Junction, Arizona (near Phoenix). That's where Project Talladega will be transformed by the trained hands and eyes of Heath Elmer and Ricky Jackson. In a few months, you'll be able to read about it in our body & paint issue. We're doing things backwards-or forwards, depending on your point of view-we're hitting the paint, graphics, wheels, tires, and all the exterior visual tricks first. This will give Project Talladega maximum visual impact while we tackle the rest of the performance goodies.
The drive to the Phoenix area was a blast. I had been preparing for the worst, though. After all, this is a 33-year-old car-right down to the engine, trans, and cooling system. The trunk was stuffed with tools, spare parts, and fluids, but I needed none of it. The 'Guna ran perfectly through the Mojave Desert in 120-degree heat. (The cover might say November, but this all went down at the end of July.) There's just something extremely gratifying about taking an old car out on the open road, and opening yourself up for whatever life throws your way.
I discovered that I actually prefer the smooth, floaty feel of the A-body's radial tuned suspension (RTS) over that of a buckboard race-tuned suspension. There's a reason RTS is soft, and that's to provide a comfy ride. It's still a tad too floaty for me, but with some judicious shock and spring tuning, Project Talladega will make a nice highway hauler. We don't plan anything radical for the suspension, just sensible, budget-minded tweaking.
During the drive, I was cruising with 7.5 cylinders at 80-plus mph with no overdrive, and still pulling down almost 14 mpg. A change to a healthy small-block and a 700-R4 overdrive will boost economy and performance down the road, but the old factory powertrain still did yeoman's service. The stock 350 will serve us nicely until we can get our 408 small-block from T&L Engine Development. PHR contributor David Vizard is currently working on that 408, and it'll deliver approximately 525 hp on pump gas.
I guess you could say I've arrived in heaven. After driving all day through that thirsty desert, arriving in Phoenix with that old Chevy humming fine was like drinking a cool glass of water! Dante would be proud.
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