By Tommy Parry
After a long history of modding cars, Mark eventually went the down the Pro Touring route. His choice of stallion was not conventional, but perhaps that’s the sensible, stylish way to go. As he had two kids in college and was first a family man, he established a strict budget which, thankfully, allowed for the purchase of a ‘64 Skylark.
Mark’s original intention was to purchase a nice stock car and transplant a Grand National drivetrain but this would change. Shortly after the purchase, he began to collect the parts and acquired a 87′ GN engine and transmission, but promised himself not to tear into the car until he had the engine package and all the ancillaries ready.
The first modifications Mark made were to the footwork. The car was suffering from sagging coils that also looked as if they had been heated with a torch at one time, so he added Hotchkis 1″ drop coils to all four corners, KYB gas shocks, and some new bushings. After lots of measuring and hours of looking at wheel designs he selected 17″ Intro Vista Wheels and Nitto tires.
With these modifications in place, he was comfortable taking the car for a cruise or two, on which he grew fond of the factory 300ci V8. This prompted him to scrap his Grand National plans, stick with the original powerplant, and convert the 300ST two-speed to a T10 four-speed.
With a factory four-speed and a Hurst shifter in place, he then turned to his next concern: the brakes. As the factory drums were less than reassuring, he decided to give himself and his passengers some peace of mind with a new Delco booster and Baer calipers to clamp onto front disc brakes.
Once the chassis was stripped down, sandblasted, and coated in several coats of POR-15, Mark went ahead and used his hydraulic punch to cut some weight out of the equation.
For more spirited driving, he opted for a sportier rear end. A nine inch Mosier housing with a Strange nodular center section, 31-spline axles, a Truetrac differential and 3.70 gears. The rear is slightly narrowed. While back there, he set up the rear for coilovers and had the adapter plates machined to accept Kore3’s disc brake conversion with the 330mm C5 Corvette rotors with integral parking brakes in the hats.
Spurred on by an eventful autocross and a few tips from forum friends, Mark picked up the pieces which would make his Skylark handle like a modern sports car. The front end enjoyed a slew of upgrades from Detroit Speed, including their 1 ½” taller forged spindles with 2”drop, as well as their upper and lower tubular control arms with delrin bushings. Hotchkis 1” drop coil springs and Viking double adjustable shocks gave the right ride height and damping, a RideTech Muscle bar 1.5” tubular sway bar minimized roll, and Pro Forged tie rods, idler arm, center link and billet adjusters finished off the package.
In the rear, Mark added Detroit Speed’s swivel link upper and lower rear control arms, 1 ⅛” tubular sway bar, and their chassis brace kit. Lastly, he added RideTech coilovers for great wheel control and the stiffness a sports car ought to have.
With the modern footwork in place, it was serendipitous that he was talked into an L92 motor the following week. With LS3 heads, a 2012 Camaro’s LS3 intake, throttle body, fuel rails, and injectors, and BRP mid-length headers, he squeezed a few more horsepower out of the mixture. Lastly, a Holley oil pan, a Tanks Inc. fuel injection tank with the built in fuel tray, and a Walbro in tank pump helped supply the new mill with the necessary fluids.
Of course, the T56 transmission is considerably larger than the T-10, the unwelcome tunnelectomy came next. Unhappy he had to chop so much out of the clean body, Mark gritted his teeth, made the appropriate incisions, and covered the gap in sheetmetal with surgical precision. This, without question, was the most frustrating portion of the build.
In the engine bay, a slew of fitment issues plagued him until he finally fitted the motor, which he painted a tasteful shade of Buick green for a few retro points. Despite the confines of the engine’s new home, he squeezed a Griffen dual-pass radiator with two Spal fans as well. Talk about a shoehorn job.
Next came the interior. He added a Momo steering wheel using a B & B Classics adapter, then some Clayton Machine Works pedals covers for the brake and clutch pedals, as well as their shifter handle on the Pro 5.0 shifter. For a bit of retro feel, he grabbed the gauges from Dakota Digital, and for some added lateral support when cornering, he grabbed a set of Hyundai Genesis, and saved a load of cash in the process.
Soon, he’ll finish this ambitious build, which has taken a decade and a move from North Carolina to Illinois to complete. With a few more months, Mark will and show everyone at the local autocross what a Skylark, given access to the gym and a ketogenic diet, can do.
