SKYLARK The Ultimate IMCA Stock Car

[DaveBauerSS6]

Here is my nova sub frame and cage connection from 2004 when I built that car.



Here is the front leaf mount I made which uses the oem front spring cup and oem location for all the mounts.

After the verbal/ mental sparing with IMCA I think I can run the stock pan and be good. No doubt, what you built is stronger. I just don't want a issue with the obvious. I always believe "give them what they want to see" .

I must have miss read your Bio on one of the sites.

[DaveBauerSS6]

Shocks mounted on the uppers on a Nova, that's a first. Always the safest place.

[DaveBauerSS6]

Jeff.. was this a IMCA Nova??

[DaveBauerSS6]

I cut my frame off about the same place a metric is allowed to and this was my rear upper shackle mount.

By Imca rules you can cut out the entire floor, rockers etc.

Love the idea. Bill (?) IMCA said no altering the rear clip area including the shackle hole in frame. His Offer was to cut a hole thru the frame and the bushing hole and run the screw thru them. All dimensions would be off , so I''l just go with stock shackles. I added that over rail to support the stock rear clip.

[DaveBauerSS6]

yes IMCA dirt track car. 2004. I thought I was gonna prove to everyone that leaf cars were better than coil cars!

They say history repeats itself. LOL
Looks like the enforcement of the rules is different now. I knew there was a problem when he said " isn't a Nova a uni-body? "; it went down hill from there.
BUT, that's why I like IMCA, stick to whats the rule and hold.

[DaveBauerSS6]

Here is another pic of the rear frame. The bushing ended up in the oem place after spacing it under the 2x3. By their rules back then and now it couldnt slide it needed to be tack welded or silicone welded...

Looks plenty strong. So where did you mount the fuel cell? Where did you mount the lead?

[DaveBauerSS6]

They dont stick to the rules, they have changed them over and over and over.

This year during the season IMCA changed our cage dimensions because one chassis builder didnt use a tape measure and built a bunch of illegal cars over the winter last year. Same guy was moving upper a arm mounts for years so they finally made that legal after a few years.


roller rockers, no roller rocker, roller tips, back to roller rockers.

Are you referring to the 76" rule, engine to main hoop?

[DaveBauerSS6]

My guess would be that your boy is about racing age?

LoL Blockbuster and dirt racing dont go together!

I understand about leafs going dead. I have a small mfg that Ive been working with and the life has looked good on the cars running them. This Skylark will be a step up and we'll see how they hold up to more punishment.

[Krooser]

My first win was in my first ever oval track race and it was in a chrylser 4 door imperial or something big and green like that. It was a 100 to win 100 lap enduro and you drew from hat for which of the 30 track prepared cars you got to drive. I qualified 3rd fast time and started 27th and was leading on lap two.

Funny.... my first win was in MY first race in a '59 Chrysler we called The Dinosaur circa 1970... darn near won a special Un Ford-Chevy race that same night but the carb sputtered on the last lap and I took 2nd...

[C10]

Unibody must tie rear frame to front frame. Frame may be “X” braced. No Camaros, Firebirds or Mustangs.



Right out of my IMCA rule book. Sean Walker , IMCA tech, Independence Motor Speedway

[DaveBauerSS6]

Unibody must tie rear frame to front frame. Frame may be “X” braced. No Camaros, Firebirds or Mustangs.



Right out of my IMCA rule book. Sean Walker , IMCA tech, Independence Motor Speedway

I've read that. So whats the point you are trying to make?

[sj valley dave]

Hey Dave, I remember we had a Hurricane (Smotherman) chassis built for us back in the early 2000's...he used cage and front hoops to connect front and rear on the Camaro...After running it a season we noticed by jacking up the RF corner it showed a little flex before the RR came up, measured and verified...Johnny cut and then welded in 2x2 from front to rear and the flex was 100% gone...zero...

[DaveBauerSS6]

I would say your front hoop and rear bars meet the criteria of connecting the sub frames..

BUT theres still no reason you cant slit the floor and put in a straight piece of 2x3 like I did to connect them a little better, then you could go from the cage to them and when you feel ambitios ditch the oem floor, firewall, rockers and have a real tube chassis!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I'll consider the 2x3, I just cut the quarters off the pan. I plan on cutting thru the floor to the top of the front leaf spring buckets and support them off the bottom of the cage. Your pictures are the only IMCA Nova I've seen, so I'm stepping carefully.

Hey Dave, I remember we had a Hurricane (Smotherman) chassis built for us back in the early 2000's...he used cage and front hoops to connect front and rear on the Camaro...After running it a season we noticed by jacking up the RF corner it showed a little flex before the RR came up, measured and verified...Johnny cut and then welded in 2x2 from front to rear and the flex was 100% gone...zero...

I remember that car, innovative. Smotherman thinks outside the box.I built my second SS the same with full 2x3. Tech wouldnt let it run untill the Bud Nats due to some issues. They made it legal next season.Who's Hurricane was it that Chad made them cut that connector? His reason was it made it a full frame. The game never changes.

[C10]

My point is you have to tie the front and rear sub frames together with either 2X3 or round, how ever you do it they have to be connected underneath because the car if involved in a bad wreck will bow up compromising the driver area.

[DaveBauerSS6]

My point is you have to tie the front and rear sub frames together with either 2X3 or round, how ever you do it they have to be connected underneath because the car if involved in a bad wreck will bow up compromising the driver area.

I understand where the front clip ends. Where do you think the rear clip begins?

Wondering how many of these uni-bodies you have running at Independence?

Any pics to show where they tied in?

Tx for your help.