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The Stutz is built on a Pontiac Grand Prix chassis, chosen for the GP’s engine placement far back on the frame. In 1969 GM introduced a new "A-special" platform with an exclusive 118 inch wheelbase which was later named the G-body. Luckily for us the Stutz’s suspension components are same as the ubiquitous A Body (Chevelle, GTO etc.)
Hotchkis sent us their TVS System for the Stutz, a complete suspension package that is designed and tested to work as a system. The TVS includes Sport Coils, Sport Sway Bars,
Heavy Duty Tie Rod Sleeves, and an Adjustable Rear Suspension Package. We also installed Hotckis tubular A arms and their 12 inch brake upgrade.
Rob Neely at Neely Auto Service in beautiful Halton Hills, TV capital of Milton did an excellent job installing the Hotchkis suspension package burning much midnight oil. Anyone with an A-Body, G-Body, Grand Prix or even another Stutz should invest in a TVS system for their car.
This should be the best handling Stutz Blackhawk ever!
Rob’s shop is always full of modern and vintage cars and is very busy, which tells you something about his reputation for quality work. He can be reached at 905-876-9487.
Our old friend Paul Fix from Classic Tube sent us their prebent stainless steel brake and fuel lines. Classic Tube has helped us out with countless projects over the years on both Sports Car Revolution and Dream Car Garage. This season they supplied the stainless steel lines for DCG’s 1970 El Camino SS restoration as well as the Blackhawk.
Although the Stutz is a rare car Classic Tube had all the brake, fuel and transmission lines in stock as they are the same as a 1971 Pontiac Grand Prix, the basis for the Stutz chassis.
Check out their on line catalog to see the vast selection of pre bent tube parts for a large selection of vintage cars. http://www.classictube.com/
If you having something really obscure Classic Tube will still come to your rescue. As long as you have the decayed original Classic Tube will make you up a stainless steel copy.
The benefits of stainless steel lines for your restoration, hot rod or race car are obvious, they will last as long as you own the car, look good and safer because they will stand up to moisture and salt.
The second most frequently asked questions of Stutz owners after, what’s that? is, are those real? A reference to the side pipes that are an important part of the neo-classic styling of the car.
The stock pipes certainly look as if they could be the real deal. The side exhaust are heavily chromed and attached to stainless steel flex pipes which fit into a hole in the front fender. Unfortunately when you lift the hood and look closely at the inner fender well you can see where the flex pipes are bolted to the fender. A look underneath reveals a stock GM exhaust system.
No Stutz not even the prototype had functional side pipes. Stutz guru Peter Madle recently learned from Virgil Exner Jr. that the side exhaust were supposed to be real in keeping with the car’s thirties revival image.
The task then was clear, make the side pipes functional, just as the original designers intended. Plus it should sound real cool at the traffic light. The next step was to Sav Mitas at Noyzboyz to seek some expert advice about how to make it happen.
To give credit where credit is due the first functional side pipe conversion was engineered by Jim Rittenhouse, a long time Stutz fan who first fell in love with these cars while working in Saudi Arabia. Jim converted his 72, 75 and 81 and Blackhawks using Patriot’s chrome Shielded Side Exhaust as a starting point. Patriot exhaust products are brought to you by Petronix the same guys who make the electronic ignition conversions.
The Petronix package consists of a long baffled muffler, chromed inlet and outlet pipes as well as a chrome expanded metal shroud. The pipes come in lengths 50-80 inches in length. We used the 70 inch set which is the approximately the same length as the stock set up. Patriot also offers a universal side pipe hook up kit to help with installation.
The Stutz was brought to Noyzboyz Performance Exhaust in Toronto to perform the delicate surgery. The faux pipes were removed as was the stock dual exhaust system. Noyzboyz experience with custom systems came in handy as there was a fair amount fabrication necessary to adapt the Patriot system to the Stutz.
Instead of the pipes curving under the front fenders like on a Corvette, the Stutz pipes must pass through the front fenders then curve down under the frame to connect to the Ram Air III exhaust manifolds.
The Patriot muffler was mated to new stainless steel flex pipe as the original chrome pieces were rusted beyond repair. In order to prevent bubbling paint and singed pedestrians a solid stainless pipe was run inside of the flex pipes. Some custom bent pieces needed to be made by the team at Noyboyz to connect the flex pipe once it passed through the fender opening to the exhaust manifold.
To really tax the skills of the craftsmen at Noyzboyz the pipes had to be made removable as the bodywork and paint were not yet complete. To finish the car the side pipes would have to be removed and then reinstalled. John’s fabrication is a thing of beauty, using woven flex pipe some artful bends and a three bolt flange to allow the side pipes to be taken on and off.
The conversion was a great success thanks to Sav and John at Noyzboyz, the Patriot side pipes look very similar to the stock system but now the Stutz has a commanding exhaust note to match its extravagant looks. Now if anyone asks if they are real…. go ahead and touch them.
We knew from day one of the restoration project that new glass would have to be cut for the passenger side of the Stutz’s two piece windshield. The two piece split windshield was used only in 1971, the first year of production. In 1972 Stutz switched to a factory GM windshield.
Once again we were privileged find amazingly talented craftsmen in our midst. Gary and his team at Apple Auto Glass in Milton, Ontario agreed to cut a new windshield. At first glance the glass looks flat, however once we had the cameras rolling, the original windshield was carefully placed on a flat piece of safety glass, it was obvious the windshield had a gentle but definite curve to it.
Apple head office came to the rescue matching up the curvature of the Stutz windshield to a 1960’s cab over GMC truck. Now for the hard part, using the old windshield as a template new passenger side glass for the Stutz was cut from the much larger truck glass.
Gary carefully used a simple hand held glass cutter and glass pliers to cut out the Stutz’s new windshield. Alcohol was used to soften the plastic laminate between the safety glass and a razor blade cut it apart. If the alcohol did not soften the plastic enough Gary set it on fire, which quickly melts the laminate. It certainly looked cool.
The side glass originally supplied by Maserati is in good shape so luckily no more fabrication was required.
The interior of Blackhawk #26 was in poor shape and smelled like someone had expired inside. The aim of this stage of the restoration was to preserve as much of the original interior as possible. To completely replace all the interior soft trim would rob the car of its soul, I have always preferred a degree of patina in my old cars.
The restoration of the Stutz’s interior would also give us the opportunity to make a few changes, in seats, colors and audio. Unfortunately the rich tan mouton carpeting was beyond saving and had to be torn out. The “shag” carpeting will be replaced with tightly woven black automotive carpet for the sake of durability. My old 76 Blackhawk had very deep sheared sheep’s wool carpeting that meant you had to drive barefoot in order to prevent soiling the fur. The 71 like the 76 Stutz has mink carpeting in the trunk, this will be retained.
The 1971 models are all two seaters with a small jump seat in the back that folds down to accept matching luggage (which was missing of course). Maserati Indy seats, as used in the first five cars of the line will replace the original GM buckets for a more exotic look. The Maserati seats will remain tan but have a black leather center section similar to the 1969 prototype, which was finished in black and red leather.
The black center section of the seats will use a perforated black leather material to allow for the installation of a Webasto Seat Ventilation System. It might be a little while until we get the Stutz’s air conditioning working so we called our connection at Webasto, they helped us out with the Mustang project car last year.
The Webasto aftermarket system circulates cabin air throughout the seat, removing moisture and keeping the occupant cool. A heating element is integrated making this an option for all seasons. The system has high/low settings for seat cooling and seat heating.
Apple Auto Glass, Milton
781 Main St. E. Unit 1&2
905-876-4785
905-876-3566
gdunley@bellnet.ca
http://www.appleautoglass.com/
http://www.webastoshowroom.com/seatcomfort
The original radio for the 71 is a Lear Jet AM/FM 8-track, snigger if you want to but this was the best in car audio money could buy back in the day. The original radio from #26 had been replaced by a high send Sony cassette system sometimes in the late seventies.
An exhaustive search finally turned up the correct Lear Jet radio in Texas, which will be restored to preserve the original look of the Stutz.
Since Elvis 8-tracks are getting harder and harder to find these days we contacted John at Kicker to help us hear the radio over the sound of the Pro-Formance built 450h.p. engine and functional side pipes. The Kicker install on the Hemi Charger cars was covered in episode 11 of Dream Car Garage this season.
Kicker supplied a pair of 10 inch sub woofers, six speakers, and two 550 watt amplifiers, one for the speakers and the other for the sub woofers.
To avoid cutting up the interior the huge subwoofers will be install in matching suitcases that duplicate the original matching luggage.
http://www.kicker.com |
