Words: Tommy Parry
Lance’s Barney, a pristine ‘85 Monte Carlo, started off as a mostly original garage-kept car he picked up at a Mecum Auction in Kansas City. He spent a lot of time and effort in the first few years restoring the underside and upgrading the mechanicals, since the goal was better performance while retaining an original look.
The powerplant was simple but quite punchy: a GMP HT383 motor with the original CCC carburetor and distributor. Lance kept it there for the first couple of years, as it suited his needs, and started improving the interior.
In order to keep the classic aesthetic while sprucing up the interior with a few modern touches, Lance found a set of late model GTO seats and had them covered to match the rest of the interior. Next came a Retrosound Head unit that fit in the twin shaft dash plate, but offered much improved sound, and a digital tuner and connections for a USB stick and MP3.
It suited his needs for a few years, but after one eye-opening venture to a track day at Heartland Park Topeka’s road course, he changed his direction. Once he realized the limitations of the stock suspension, he added Detroit Speed’s front upper control arms and DSE 2″ drop springs at both ends.
It started Lance on a charge to attend as many track days and autocrosses as possible, which showed just how much his 200R4 needed replacing. Soon, he’d acquired the parts needed to swap a T-56 gearbox in the car, which also seemed to help the motor spin a bit faster.
The UMI rear upper and lower control arms came next, then a front swaybar from a third-generation Camaro and a tailor-made UMI rear swaybar. Lastly, Hypercoil springs at the rear helped facilitate some rotation into the corner. Once Ron Sutton Race Technology helped him tune the suspension to provide a few more degrees of caster and better geometry, he was rewarded with a completely new car which was neutral and highly adjustable, cornered flat and had an athletic stance as well.
Getting the 3,500-pound car to a stop quickly and repeatedly came in the form of larger Afco metric calipers with the 2.75″ piston and some EBC YellowstuffR pads, as well as 9.5”-wide Falken Azenis. In the rear, he went for a slightly unconventional but well-packaged upgrade: a Ford Racing Explorer rear disc brake kit.
Though Lance had many wins in his class with the SCCA autocross, a Street Modified championship, and a third place trophy in its debut at the SCCA Solo Nationals, he was still getting beaten soundly by some of the LS-powered cars. To help him tune some more power into the upper RPM range, he added a new carburetor, distributor and ignition system. He pulled the 1985 factory CCC computer system and started working on a new mechanical Quadrajet, an MSD programmable ignition boxdistributor and a wideband 02 meter. With a mild tune, he netted 298 horsepower and 399 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. Even better, the powerband was broadened. Lance now had a genuine stump-puller at his disposal.
As he was growing more competitive, Lance broke with his original aim and added a set of Recaro Profi SGP seats for added bolster. Along with these, he added a four-point rollcage and five-point Simpson harnesses to keep him completely planted in the middle of a corner or under braking.
To keep the front end flat and maximize the front tires’ contact patches, Lance went with a Ridetech MonsterBar up front and Ridetech TQ Triple adjustable coil over shocks. After the suspension was largely sorted, he wanted to show the competition his heels and opted for a new top end from a 604 crate engine. After sourcing some GM fastburn heads and a custom grind Comp cam, the new motor made an astounding 574 lb-ft and 489 horsepower, which he sent through a McLeod Street Extreme clutch on to a Detroit Locker differential.
That power went through to Forgeline wheels wrapped in Potenza RE71 tires, and while that certainly added to the glitz factor, the six-piston Stoptech brakes and 14” rotors underneath were the real head turners. Next, ATS spindles and reversed steering arms improved the steering geometry slightly. With a little tweaking, he had mitigated some of the wheelspin issues he had at the corner exit.
With the ride height, roll and contact patches improved, he finally had the handling balance he was after. No longer was the car nervous at the corner exit; the car was neutral balanced and a well-sorted machine that will carry him much further – but because of his incredibly high standards, it’s safe to say he’s far from finished.
