Monday, August 10, 2009
My 1976 Chevelle Laguna S3
I always wanted a Laguna and found mine less than a 1/4 mile from home. I purchased my 46,000 mile 1976 Laguna S3 in March 1995 in Ottawa Ont Canada. It was black with gold stripes, and had a junkyard 283 small block. It had 8 previous owners, and I was lucky numer 9. The first week I owned it, I swapped in a mildly built 350 small block I had in my daily driver 75 malibu four door. Originally, the Laguna was burgundy with a white stripe, non vinyl roof, black carpet, console, and dash, white swivel bucket seats, headliner, and panels. I made as many upgrades as I could without a garage to work in at the time, and had to have the car up and running by Monday morning to go to work.I repainted the car black, twice, since I've owned it. It still has the original interior, other than the recovered dash with Autometer pro comp liquid filled gauges inset into the dash. At the time no one made a cowl hood so I made my own. I grafted a 2" 67-69 Camaro style fiberglass cowl induction hood scoop on the factory steel hood. With a 15" hole cut out of the flat hood, the 14x6" K&N filter sits inside nicely. To make it handle like it was on rails I boxed the front lower control arms as well as the upper and lower rears, and installed PST polyurethane bushings throughout. Front and rear sway bars limit the body roll. I upgraded the stock 9" drums with 11" rear drums, and cross drilled my own front 12" rotors. The rear end is a 10 bolt 8.5 with posi, and 3.42 gears. Cut coils in the front dropped the nose 4". BF Goodrich Radial Ta's 295 50 16" rears and 265 50 16" up front on Iroc Z wheels. 
During the cold Canadian winter I built a 4 bolt main 350 small block bored .030 over, forged hyperutectic TRW pistons, .250" dome, 12:1 comp. stock crank, stock rods, 74 cc seriously ported and gasket matched iron heads, Crane cams 280 duration, .530 lift, with Harland Sharp 1.6 aluminum roller rockers. Gasket matched Edelbrock Performer RPM manifold, Holley 750 vacuum secondary, milled choke horn, trimmed throttle shaft. Melling high volume oil pump Aeroquip stainless steel braided lines throughout. 14"x 6" K&N air filter, Heddman super competition headers 1 5/8" primaries, Flowmaster Scavenger series collectors, dumping into 3" pipe, and Flowmaster mufflers. No tails. Sound loud?... you bet! The only thing I had built was the TH350 by LenTech Automatics with a modified custom valvebody. Thanks Lenny! I remember when you started out in the garage out back! Check out his automatic overdrives! http://www.lentechautomotive.com/
I met my understanding wife in 1997, proposed to her in the car in Septmber 1999 and moved to Pittsburgh Pa. in 2001. The car was stored outside for two years before I could finally retrive it and bring it down to Pittsburgh.
Two long cold winters took its toll on the body. Finally after 6 years I can take my time and start rebuilding the car from the ground up. Most everything is already ironed out and just needs refreshed/painted and powdercoated. Disassembly has begun, the body will be removed, the frame will get blasted and painted a PPG champagne pearl metallic. The body will get new quarters, firewall will be filled, marker lights are shaved and it'll all get slathered in a dark cherry pearl metallic red. The suspension pieces will be powdercoated gloss black. There are tons of suspension upgrades for these cars now, of course! So if money will allow, some upgraded suspension pieces would be really nice.
