Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Nice! Congrats Scott!  Your wagon deserves to be a feature car.

 What I'm most proud of is that the car is being recognized for its performance, not its looks. I don't know if I'll ever have a real "show car"- it's just not my thing. But I like fast cars and I like the challenge of making a car fast and driving it well. I never thought it would be featured in a magazine because of all its flaws- but it runs so good, they got past that. That makes me smile.

You car is no slouch in the looks department either. Ridler winner? No, but it still looks cool. I totally agree that being recognized for the proven ability of the car is just as important as the styling.

 

Congratulations.

-- Edited by bowtie on Tuesday 4th of October 2011 06:16:34 AM

Well there you are sunshine.

LOLOL Bryan!

OK guys- this is SUPER SECRET info. Keep it under your collective NCC club hats and don't post about it anywhere- please.

Here's the story on my car the way it'll appear in Car Craft:




The Unlikely Hero



Scott Parkhurst’s RSE-Winning ’67 Chevelle Wagon

By Jeff Smith



Photos: Wes Allison, Scott Parkhurst, and Jeff Smith



The Pro Touring movement has come a long way in a short time. Perhaps farther still if you consider that Scott Parkhurst’s extended cab A-body captured the 2011 Car Craft Real Street Eliminator muscle Car class title. Scott and his friend Scott LaPointe calculated their odds and concentrated on the wagon’s strengths, minimized its weaknesses, and managed to take home the trophy. This was also no overnight effort. The story winds back to 2004 when Scott landed this cruiser as part of a trade with fellow magazine writer Jason Walker when Scott was on staff at Popular Hot Rodding magazine. Originally running a mild 350 with a 3.08:1-geared, non-posi 10-bolt, he lowered it and bolted on a set of 17x8-inch Edelbrock wheels and Nitto tires.

Later, the wagon graduated to a 383 stroker small-block intended to make good power with 87 octane fuel, eventually making 545 hp. Scott left PHR magazine not much later and began editing a Minnesota car club magazine. As part of the club effort, Scott slowly upgraded the suspension and dumped the automatic in favor of a Rockland Standard T56 six speed. The idea was to build a car that could compete with the big guns in Pro Touring and yet still be completely functional as a summer daily driver if necessary. All it takes is a quick lap around the car to see that the car’s functionality is its primary focus. Scott admits that while the paint is nice, it’s not a show car. The focus is more on making this car work. His buddy LaPointe has applied his circle track championship-winning knowledge to the quadra-door that clearly delivers a 10 on the functionality scale.

As for RSE, Scott says he knew the car would be challenged on the tight QA1 autocross course because of its’ Queen Mary-like girth, so this dictated they win both the Lucas Oil/E3 Spark Plugs chassis dyno and the Mobil 1 Launch Box contests in order to capture the title. To that end, they bolted on a Wilson Pro-Flow nitrous plate and gunned a 579 rwhp run. Scott claims that this was the first time they hit the button in earnest and they weren’t sure just how well it would work. With the power win, they turned their attention to tuning the suspension for the launch half of the Launch Box test. His first run, for example, appeared rookie-like because he blazed the tires all the way down the track. But in reality, he was heating the tires and laying down rubber to help the second and third launches. Within a couple of runs, Scott was able to knock off a 4.26-second lap that was enough to tie for First and his strong dyno run was the tie-breaker. It was that close. So now Scott can claim the additional point of winning RSE with the longest roof in history of the event.

Egg:

The only car that exceeds Scott’s wagon for wheelbase was Jeff Schwartz’s 2002 RSE-winning ’82 Cadillac Brougham that sported a gargantuan 121.5-inch base. Perhaps that’s a record that’s best left alone.



TECH NOTES

Who: Scott Parkhurst

What: ’67 Malibu station wagon

Where: Belle Plaine, MN the land of lakes and really cold winters

Engine: In classic small-block Chevy fashion, Scott started with a 0.040-over iron block machined by TPIS in Chaska, MN using a Lunati internally balanced forged crank rotating assembly and Compstar 6-inch rods. The Diamond pistons produce 10:1 compression while a Comp Cams XR286R solid roller opens the valves with 0.576/0.582-inch lift at 286/292 degrees of duration. For induction, Scott chose a set of AFR 210cc intake port heads with CNC-finished chambers. There’s an Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap manifold on top with a Holley Ultra HP 750cfm carburetor directing the fuel and assisted with a Wilson Pro-Flow nitrous plate. Doug’s Tri-Y headers feed 1 5/8-inch primaries into a collector that feeds the 2.5-inch exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers. All this work paid off with a superb 579 hp at 5,500 nitrous-assisted run on the chassis dyno. Scott says it has run 12.42 at 114 on the drag strip on the Nitto 555 tires. Scott also chose a Jones Racing Products standard rotation serpentine accessory drive to run the alternator and power steering pump.

Transmission: It’s rare to see a wagon with a manual trans, but Scott knew that to be competitive he had to dump the torque converter. He selected a Rockland Standard T-56 six speed (that required some sheetmetal work to squeeze under the floor) and drives it with a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch that in turn spins a Denny’s driveshaft.

Rearend: Currie makes a Ford 9-inch that will bolt right in place of the old 10-bolt that’s fitted with a set of 3.89:1 gears, a Detroit Tru-Trac, and strong axles.

Front Suspension: While the drivetrain is fairly typical, the suspension is anything but. Early A-body’s are notorious for a poor camber curve, so Scott went with a a Savitske Classic & Custom (SC&C) front suspension kit that starts with a pair of ATS/AFX taller custom spindles followed by a pair of SPC Performance adjustable upper control arms, and QA1 double-adjustable coil-over shocks. Flaming River supplied the 14:1 quick ratio steering box while Hellwig bent the hollow 1 ¼-inch anti-roll bar.

Rear Suspension: Scott used Currie Currectrac upper and lower control arms to position the 9-inch under the car, damped it with a pair of QA1 double adjustable shocks, and a Hellwig chassis-mount tubular 1 1/8-inch adjustable rear bar. Taking it one step further, Scott also added a Fays2 Watts Link assembly to the rear which gives him the ability to adjust the rear roll center.

Brakes: the custom ATS/FX spindle mounts a set of Baer 14-inch rotors and 6-piston calipers to put the whoa to this rather large machine. In the rear, Scott went with a larger Ford Explorer disc brake assembly with 11-inch discs combined with a Baer adjustable brake proportioning valve.

Wheels/Tires: Back in the early days of the wagon buildup, Scott opted for a set of now-discontinued Edelbrock 429-series 17 x 8 inch wheels with 4.5 inches of back spacing front and rear and rounded out with Nitto 555 235/45ZR17 front and 255/50ZR17 rears.

Interior: Not much has been changed inside except for a Grant steering wheel, a set of Auto Meter tach and gauges, and a G-Force five-point harness. There’s even a radio block-off plate because tunes add weight.

Paint/Body: This work started way back in 2001 when previous owner Jason Walker took on the task of replacing a few body panels with new Paddock pieces and then gently massaging the pile of parts back into a decent package including a ’67 SS 396 hood from OPG. Scott liked the gold interior color and decided to blend the stock Harvest Gold over the base factory Cream into a pleasing two-tone presentation. All the trim and logos were shaved and black scallops were added with red pinstripes to complete the package.

Crew: Scott can’t thank his pal Scott LaPointe enough for all the effort he put into the wagon. Sounds like it may be payback time soon since LaPointe is building an even nastier mid-‘70s Malibu wagon with a fully-caged foundation, Vette front suspension goodies, a truck arm rear suspension, LS7 power, and a Laguna style nose. Sounds like crazy fun, doesn’t it?

 

Super cool!

When will it be on newsstands? 

Scott Parkhurst wrote:

---

Right around Christmas or so

---

 They ARE going to send you a case of copies to distribute to your "friends" at the Bow Tie Brunch, right ??

Seriously, that is way cool to see the recognition of all your work and driving skill in a national mag. And to think you were already a famous magazine personality and I didn't know it....   Now I can tell people that I have rear upper control arms that were once on the 2011 RSE car...

 

Congrats Scott, you did it on the low budget plan.

Congrats Scott, you worked hard on a smaller budget then other guys.

Ya the wife bought all the copies they had at the local Barnes & Noble.

So I have 4 (!)

None of the local supermarkets or drugstores carry it anymore. It's only odd to me because I've not looked for it on a newsstand forever. Subscribing really is the way to go, I guess.

I still have to find some more copies of the January issue with the RSE competition coverage in it. It was cool how that all worked out.

My pal Scott's wagon won't be done til next year. Sooo...Derek- this is your year to win. You know Nate will be back with his turbo'ed LS Nova and that guy with the Camaro convertible with the 502 will probably take another crack at it. He couldn't have gotten any closer to winning than he did this year...and if he grows a pair and sprays that big-block a bit more he could be competitive.

Scott's monster Laguna wagon will be ready by 2013. I'm designing a centrfugally-supercharged all-aluminum 440ci LS for it, so it'll be pretty insane. He's already got an LS7 to base the build on. I'm shooting for 800 hp with it all boosted up and angry. A quick pulley swap will civilize it for the street (about 650-700 horses). He's anxious to get started and I really don't want you guys to go head-to-head in this deal.

Pull out the stops and win this thing Derek. We should fire up the countdown clock for YOU alone. LOL!!