Maier Racing Frank Stagnaro's Car

YouTube - Maier Racing Frank Stagnaro's Car

Check out this video.

11/09/09

Bad news: the distributor for RRS (front strut system) no longer sells them. Now that I put all the time and money into the notch kit I have to figure out what to do. Any ideas would be appreciated. I have to stay with a strut system because of the notched shock towers. Not sure if RRS is in financial trouble or what?

11/06/09

My opinion it turned out nice.

Should have lots of room now for the engine.

Put a little filler around the edge to get a really nice finished look.

10/30/09

Just about ready for primer.

All welded now grinding. Should turn out nice.

10/16/09

After doing a reverse template to get the best fit to cut down on grind time they are finally welded in.

Minor grinding to do.

This is a good photo to show the extra tower support that was welded in prior to the new engine .

9/4/09

Getting the fit right so the weld is good.

I am extremely slow at this stuff. The extra support on the bottom was difficult to deal with for fit.

8/14/09

It's been a while since I have been able to post more pictures. Did some traveling with the family.

Finally got the notch kit fitted. Not as simple as RRS suggests.

Should be able to weld next time.

7/24/09

Finally have the towers cut out. The extra bracing was a real issue with the plasma cutter I used. I have a lot of grinding to do to fit the new notched kit steel. What should have taken 1 hour took 6.

The tower support braces are going to be a pain to cut through.

Start of the day, trace template that was provided.

7/3/09

I was able to get the brake and clutch assembly apart. I media blasted them along with the gas pedal and bracket. I also ordered the shock tower notching kit from RRS. Looks like more welding in my future. Camera had dead battery.

6/26/09

Along with the good comes the bad. The engine is now too big for the shock towers. The money I spent on the tower braces was wasted. Now I have to get a RRS notch kit, which will change the front suspension to a strut system. (Great! More time and money.)

Opportunity knocks. Below is picture of the Losito heads on the RDI aluminum block.

Ron was able to get me a great deal on a Kinsler fuel injection system, Lunati crankshaft, carrillo rods, comp cam, cam trigger, titanium valves, stacks for the injection (set of carbon fiber and aluminum).

6/19/09

Above are my Don Losito billet cylinder heads.

Above my son came to the shop to help out media blasting.

My dad was able to come and help with some priming.

Both vents are blasted and primed.

My son Zack blasting pieces for me. (Thanks Zack)

6/5/09

Above Ron grinding weld on patch on drip rail.

After grinding a little filler to smooth it out.

Front view of patch with a little filler.

Used blast cabinet on quarter vents to clean them up. I like the way the vents look instead of the quarter windows.

5/29/09

Blast cabinet working again. Blasted and primed quarter panel vent.

Things moving slowly but steady.

Going with Total Control Suspenion Coilovers. I haven't heard anything negative about them.

5-15-09

Just found out that putting the roll bar in created a lot more work. I get to fabricate interior pieces to go around the roll bar. I was going to use the blast cabinet but, my luck the nozzle was broken. Once again progress slows. I will be taking up other interior panels soon to mock up the new interior.

5/8/09

The bracket I fabricated, now garbage because I found them new at CJPonyparts.com.

New bracket from CJPonyparts.com. The picture shows the cowl on the right, fender on the left. Taken inside front wheel well.

4/24/09

Above father-in-law's shop is packed with some nice cars, and some really exotic engines.

Front shot of roll cage. Not welded in yet just getting it in position. R-model style - ordered it from NPD.

Rear shot of placement of R-model roll cage. More welding ahead.

4/17/09

No new pictures, just worked on brackets for lower fender to rocker panel.

3-27-09

Finally getting the gaps right. I wish I knew what I was doing.

3-20-09

I lost brackets in the move, so I had to fab new ones. I have no fabrication skills at all. What should have taken 1/2 hour ended up taking 6 hours and wasted a bunch of steel on screw-ups. Bracket is for cowl to fender.

Feb. 27

Day went very well. I was able to get the majority of the panels on for first fit. Starting to look like a car again. Forgot L bracket for the inner cowl to fender bolt. Progress stops again. Now I have to learn how to do body work. Filler and Blocking after final adjustments.
I am starting to think about front suspension not sure yet either TOTAL CONTROL or GLOBAL WEST. Does anyone have any advice?

Looks like grind and re-weld edge to open up gap a little.


Deck lid sucks wish NOS was cheaper. Have a lot of work to do for final fit.

My dumb ass welded the holes for the valance screws, had to re-drill.

February 26

Have gap just about right. Taking twice as long as I thought it would.

I have a little work to do with fit on the apron.

Trying to work on gaps while bolting things together.

Shelby style hood and R-Model apron. Not fitting like it did before media not sure what happened?

Putting front end together again!!

2/19/09

Hurt my back last week, all progress on the car is on hold for a while. But I did buy a new RDI aluminum 427 small block with 9.2 deck height, and crank and rods. Should be at least 250 hp when done.