modracer

When I originally went to look at this car I thought it may have been our Iroc that we raced in the Firestone Firehawk series with Jack Baldwin and Gene Felton driving but after getting there was only about 40% sure and had more questions than answers. I went ahead and made a deal for the car anyway and had no idea what I had really bought. The week or so wait for the transporter to bring me the car was excruciating to say the least.

Once it was dropped off and I started going over the car in a lot more detail I determined it wasnt our Firehawk car but what was it? Searching and searching online I came across the auction on BAT a couple years back for another Morrison Cook car that had been sold and with 300 plus pictures in that listing I started seeing lots of similarities yet the cage in mine had a couple differences. The car was now hot rod black but could tell it was originally white. The guy 2 owners prior to me had passed away but had been preparing the car to run at Bonneville. A title search showed that the car had not been titled until 2005 and then it was to Matt of GMMG. Nobody has talked to him in years so another dead end. I talked some with John Heinricy to see what he remembered about the cars and he was very helpful.

At that point I was pretty sure I had one of the Morrison Cook cars but initially thought it was the #97 since the car marked as #98 had already surfaced. A couple weeks and we finally got the copy of the original dealer invoice from Chevrolet and was blown away. The car had been special ordered by Morrison Cook Motor Sports and turned out to be 1 of the first 2 they ordered. At that point I started sanding through the black paint on it and found the original white with red and blue stripes and gray/silver bottom.

Through more research I figured out this was the actual #98 car that won the championship in 88 and then the car was raced as both #97 and #98 in 89. The original #97 car was rolled at the first race in 88 and my car went on to win the race. When we pulled the tank out we discovered it still had the tech writing with Sear Point and car 98 written on top from where it went through post race tech. The SCCA log book number on the cage also correlates into that first race.

Current plans are to do a cosmetic and mechanical restoration on it putting it back as close to how it raced in 88 however not a full restoration as I want to leave as much of any original areas that we can. We've done a little to it and started accumulating parts but it will prob be next Summer before it gets a space in my shop and we really get started on it.

modracer

As a side not the car that finished the 1989 season as #97 has also been accounted for so as far as I'm aware all 3 surviving cars that were raced in 88/89 are accounted for now. My car was raced under numbers 97 and 98, the bat sold car was raced under numbers 97,98 and 99 and the car that finished the 1989 season as #97 was raced under numbers 97 and 98. The original #97 that was rolled at the first race in 1988 was used for parts to build the replacement car and then late in 1988 GM gave Morrison Cook 2 production line damaged car and 1 of those was turned into a race car and the other was a t-top car used for parts best we can tell so far.

Abubaca

iTrader: (3)

Very cool! ....hoping to see pictures as your work progresses! As a fan of these cars during their production run, then through the lean times when they had no value and rotted away, it's great seeing them finally getting their due respect, I love all aspects of these cars, and the people that own them. I'm glad there's guys who buy the under 1000 mile cars, and keep them pristine in a museum collection. I'm glad guys restore them, and guys that keep the survivors running. I'm glad guys mod the heck out of 'em and street drive 'em. ....and I'm glad there's people who were a part of, and appreciate the racing heritage enough to undertake projects like what you've got going on here. Good work!

modracer

Thanks, although we were only in Firehawk a few years it was with 2 different cars and to this day I'm still on the lookout for them. The first car will be the hardest because we returned it back to a street car and was sold off the dealers used car lot. The second car supposedly was wrecked 2 races after the team was sold and never resurfaced. I've been involved in all sorts of racing both professionally and as a hobby but the old SCCA Showroom Stock, Escort Endurance and IMSA Firehawk racing were and are still my favorites. I've also got a 2500 mile SCCA Saturn put back that had been a factory backed deal and I saved it from being crushed after Saturn no longer existed. Prior to all that though I helped Gene Felton bring a couple of his early vintage racers back to life so its in my blood, lol.

I'm just glad that even though the bat car was misrepresented in the listing that there were so many good pictures of it to use as a base reference. I think the history on that car is just as important as mine and the other plus it played an overall part of the team winning championships back to back years and was the only car to carry all 3 numbers best we can tell. It is by far a better survivor than mine however the surviving #97 looks to be the most pristine of the 3 however we havent had much luck in getting information from its owner. I would love to compare it to the bat car and then would really have a good reference in putting mine back.

Tuned Performance

iTrader: (92)

Very cool car, I have the computer chip for the 88 tpi 305 t5 scca car.

Big&BadGTA

iTrader: (1)

keep posting. good start to the story. Thanks

modracer

Pretty cool. There were 2 cars in 88 so it was either from mine or the one sold on bat.

modracer

Here are a few pics.

Original GM invoice copy from GM Historical.

Orginal key tag still in the car showing it was #98.


11100 miles.

Waiting its turn to get into my shop.

Sanding through the black to reveal the original paint as.raced

modracer

The door bar and cross bar behind the seat in my car are unique to it and the first #97 that was rolled so in some of the pics it makes it easier to pick out. In the picture from the 88 SCCA magazine you can see the bar pretty clear.

modracer

Mosport in 1989 my car raced as the number #97 and the bat car raced as #98. The third Morrison Cook Camaro can be seen during the pit interview however in looking at the standings sheet for that race it does not appear they used it at that race.

modracer

Found this written on top of the tank when we pulled it to replace. Appears to be from post race tech after winning the first race of 88 at Sears Point. It says " Sears Point 98 Car" .

modracer

We haven't started on the engine yet but I have been cleaning up and refinishing some of the parts that will be bolted on. We are taking a few liberties with the engine all while leaving it as stock and original looking however it will have an Edelbrock lower. Internally we are trying something different and using the L99 4.3 v8 crank and 6 inch rod in a late 5.7 block which makes 302 inches rather than 305. I'm hoping once everything heat cycles a little that it will favor the 11100 original miles on the car rather than looking fresh.

amlv20

woa!!! that is awesome! great find!

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Did you ever see what the tune is? I'm sure more ignition and fuel, but anything else?

modracer

I'd be curious as well but the factory parameters are on the extremely safe side and I know with our Firehawk car we had a prom burned that dealt with that but even more importantly was fuel conservation when not in the throttle iirc.

I'm pretty sure on my car I will end up getting somebody to burn a prom but theres a lot of changes I need over a stock one. That one would be a cool piece of history however..

modracer

I had replaced all the fuel and brake lines to the back with repop ones and just was not happy with the quality and fit so pulled them all back off the car today.


Repop lines out and laying beside the car.

Taking stuff loose to get the lines out.

Nos Scca dash plaque from the 88 Sears Point race that was its first time out and first win. These were originally given to all the race entries.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

That Escort plaque is SWEET!

modracer

I need a set of NNN tagged rear springs to go back under it to be correct but put a set of BMR's under it today just to set it back on the pavement.

modracer

A couple of interesting finds this weekend while working under the dash of the Morrison Cook Camaro.

The accelerator pedal has 2 slots cut in it with a zip tie ran through it and around the metal hanger rod. It limits the pedal from rocking on the mount as much as a stock one. The other thing was an aluminum plate over the hole in the upper passenger firewall where the vent used to be. It has the same white tape around it found elsewhere in the car and the writing looks the same type as we found on the gas tank.
Modified accelerator pedal.


Working on getting the firewall stripped so underhood can be sanded and repainted due to peeling paint.

No factory seam sealer as is the same with the rest of the car.

amlv20

so cool

modracer

A very early picture of my car that was sent to me today that was in the SCCA archives.

modracer

Still working on the car outdoors but trying to get all the peeling paint stripped from the engine bay and may be able to put it in epoxy next week.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

A job that seems to last forever, but once you turn the corner and start to apply coatings it's a lot more fun (my opinion).

modracer

Agreed, I just spent 7 years rebuilding a big block 69 Pace Car from the ground up that is in the paint shop now but have already painted the bottom side jambs and under hood 0n it. Once they start looking like a car again it seems to go quicker. Have my 74 Z in my shop now that I took the car to a bare shell and starting on the body work now so it will be mid to later next year before I get back on this one for the most part but should have the engine bay in epoxy tomorrow and then paint it first of next week, weather permitting so I can at least put the wiring back in it, fuel lines, etc whenever I'm held up on the 74.

I did take a drill with a wire brush to it today and tried to get in as many cracks , crevices and panel overlaps as I could.

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

Very cool! Looking forward to watching your progress

modracer

Sprayed the gray SPI epoxy on the engine bay today and went to order the paint only to find out my normal source is having supply line issues and didnt have the mixers needed to make it so going to check with a couple others here in town.

modracer

After the SCCA Archives sent me the picture of my car with the Hella lights in the parking light location i started looking for a set of 550's and they came in today so I took an old junk bumper cover and did some cutting on the park light mount area to see what it would take to replicate that.

My car has a replacement cover on it so it still had parking lights [we think whoever raced it after Morrison Cook sold it did that] , the car sold on BAT just has that area cut out for brake vents and I'm not sure what the #97 car has there that Hawks has as only a couple pics of it are out there.

The relay was still on my car for them and the bumper reinforcement drilled for them but I've not seen any other pictures of either car with them other than the one I posted from early 88. Most of the pics out there just show that area taped over.

Still working on fitment but have a general idea.

Cutting the park lamp reinforcement and trimming the inside lip back.

The originals were 550's and only have the 550 on the covers but these have Comet 550. I'll eventually find the correct covers once the fitment is figured out.

dagwood

iTrader: (5)

Soooooooo AWESOME!!!!

modracer

I wasnt really happy with my spray out on the gray epoxy so sanded it and then resprayed it in white epoxy today. The gray made a good base and pretty happy with todays spray out. Keep in mind the epoxy is just the primer. I may try to spray the actual paint first of next week.

Not too shabby for primer. I've had pretty good luck with the SPI epoxies over bare metal but typically use the black.

modracer

Broke out my good hvlp gun today and sprayed the engine bay on it. I think it came out pretty decent but was a little difficult spraying white single stage urethane over white epoxy especially with the sun shining right on it. Can be compared to snow blindness with all the white. I have just a little bit of tape to get off the strut mounts but didnt want to chance it until it fully cures. I'll go back in after it cures and spray the k member and suspension parts properly. I'm not a painter by trade plus painting this one outdoors I was a little surprised. Next year I'll have shop space hopefully and can start on the exterior.

91banditt2

iTrader: (1)

Did you spray the strut towers before putting on the new upper strut mounts?

modracer

Those are the originals that I repainted but no, did not pull them at this time. The car still has the alignment it was last raced with that I want to document before having it realigned for street use. The plan is to pull them after that and once running and aligned and then repaint just the strut tower tops. There is a perfect edge all the way around them to blend and not have a tape line when I do.

The main objective at the moment was to get everything painted so I can put the fuel lines and harness back in and then eventually the drive train.

modracer

Btw, I went through several shades and several brands of black to find one that looked factory in both color and sheen.

modracer

Haven't done anything else on it lately but did pick up a complete original suspension over the weekend that a guy pulled from an Iroc. Really only needed the torque arm and the wonder bar bolts but it was cheap and figured it doesnt hurt to have spares. This will also let me compare stock parts to those under my car and see what was modified by Morrison Cook.

I got home and checked the tag on the rear springs and it was NNN which my car is supposed to have but were missing so got a little lucky there as I had been on the lookout for a set.

modracer

Sprayed the top of the cowl back in black today as it was originally.

modracer

With multiple projects going just bouncing around between them but did manage to get a spare long block drug into the basement and on an engine stand to use for a mock up. Just started setting some of the larger bolt on pieces in place so I can see what all I have and what I need to find for it. This way when the actual engine is done I wont be spending months looking for the little stuff and can just transfer it all over.

Nos valve cover, yeah I know its backwards but was just setting stuff on it.

I have a box of original bolts and small pieces I need to dig out plus a few other bolt on parts. Still need injectors, a regulator and other items though.

modracer

Warmed back up after our cold snap so have spent the last couple of afternoons stripping out 2 pairs of parts doors. Had 1 set off an 82 and another off a 92. Interesting to see the differences between these years in some of the window track parts and even the inner door stampings.

At some point of my car being raced the doors had been gutted so am in the process of putting it back as it was first raced.

modracer

It's been a few months since I did anything on it other than juggle it between shops but have it in my main shop now and up in the air to start back getting fuel and brake lines back under it for the second time. The new repop lines I bought were not even close to the originals so I pulled them back out and am repairing the originals.

Pulled a complete 9 Bolt with PBR's out from under one of my other cars to have as a spare and getting ready to take the short blocks to my engine guy. I still have the 74 I'm working on plus picked up another vintage IMSA car so will just be bouncing back and forth between multiple cars this Summer.

modracer

I'm still trying to track history on this car from after 1989 when MC sold it until 2005 when Matt of SLP and then GMMG had it and made an interesting observation today when moving parts between shops. I recently had eye surgeries but when I bought this car had no vision in 1 eye and limited in the other and thought the bumper cover had been changed out as it had yellow areas showing through.

Today I noticed it was white originally, then yellow and then a dark metallic purple, not black as I orig thought. The car itself is black now and the lower spoiler was white and then silver and then black but gives me some new leads to chase for race cars around that time in those colors.

modracer

The high gloss under the hood has been bothering me ever since I sprayed it and on any other car it would be great but in trying to keep this car looking as close to original as raced I've started stripping the dog house again and will be attempting to duplicate the original no gloss paint found on these under the hood. I have a thread posted in the body section looking for ideas on how that was and seems the consensus was they were painted with the base but no clear.

I tried some new paint stripping discs today on my angle grinder and was definitely surprised at how well they worked and cut through 6 thick coats of epoxy and urethanes.

Top disc is the flap disc used for grinding welds, bottom is the new stripping disc.

Pretty good progress for just a couple hours work.

I'll have to use my small air grinder to get into the places the larger angle grinder couldnt. I'll be stripping and refinishing all the visible suspension parts, k member, brake lines, etc also.

modracer

Picked up my fresh epoxy today and if all goes well hope to have the gray epoxy on it by weeks end and then spraying the white base next week.

skinny z

Off topic for a second.
Do you recall a racer named Eric Nummelin? I think in one of the Mustangs?
Mosport was almost home to me in my early years. Eric went on to get a national sponsorship IIRC. Raced in: Castrol Sprints, CASC Solo 1 Championship, CASC National Class Karting Championship, NTN Bearings National Championship, Firestone Firehawk Endurance Championship, Michelin Enduroseries, Canada Challange Cup, CASC Ontario Challenge Cup, Touring GT Championship, Castrol Touring Car Championship through the early 80's and beyond.

Like the car. Keep the updates coming.

modracer

We ran IMSA Firehawk here in the states with an Iroc from 87-89 with Gene Felton and Jack Baldwin driving so I'm part of a IMSA group and Eric is in that group and posts from time to time. I also recently picked up a as raced 92 Eagle Talon TSI that ran Firehawk starting in 92 and was a factory backed car. It was raced by 2 different teams over 4 years or so and iirc only has 5000 miles on it.

skinny z

Small world I guess.
Eric and I grew up together and raced our parents station wagons all around the countryside.
After technical college, he went on to race. I got married.
Thanks for posting that.
Good luck with your projects. I've only got the one on the go and it's been in pieces for what seems like forever.
Thanks again.

modracer

I've got a big block 69 Pace Car project like that as I spent 7 years building and have it at the paint shop now and parts for it are still in my basement and shop, lol. I've got way too many projects going but hoping to have the Iroc at least roadworthy by the end of next Summer.

modracer

Looks like it will be next week now before I spray the epoxy on the dog house but I'm down to stripping the nooks and crannies and my little compressor cant keep up so I run the big electric grinder while waiting on the air to build and back and forth. I'm out of places under the hood to use the big grinder on so started stripping the doors and fenders while the air builds.

This appears to be a nos fender someone put on the car a long, long time ago and never painted it. It had a "nice" note written on it possibly with a paint marker, lol.

Revealing more of the Morrison Cook livery before stripping the door. White with silver bottom and then the red and blue stripes.

Silver bottom.

Both doors have been repaired by different shops based on how the stripe sequences were painted. Passenger door had the entire door painted in red and blue and then the white and silver back painted to the stripe edge,

Starting to strip the surface rust on the fender.

Drivers door slap full of bondo and had the red, blue and silver painted over the white.

Bondo was 3/8 thick in areas but no major damage to warrant it.

3 strange holes drilled under the mirror but no crease or damage in that area.

Dont want to strip any further back on the doors until I measure the end of the stripes.

modracer

Under hood area so far.

modracer

Went ahead and sprayed the gray SPI epoxy on it today as it looked to be the best window in the next few days coming up. Next week sometime I'll spray the white base with hardener in it in an attempt to duplicate the factory under hood look.

modracer

It was right at 100 heat index here today so my little metal shop is like a baking oven,lol. Took a few more pics today with it dried and it looks like it flowed out real nice.

modracer

Ok, with the concerns it was actually too flat in color looking and the unprotected base I've spent the last 3 days playing chemist, running between paint stores/reps, having issues with products not working as intended and several spray outs I'm dont to the point where I'm happy with it.

I ended up spraying what was supposed to be a matte clear however I think the manufacturer either packaged it wrong or did not add the right amount of flattening agent as 2 different spray outs it dried glossy as I've ever sprayed.

Ran by yesterday and talked to my buddy who does my higher end paint jobs for me and he sent me home with plan B for if it was still glossy this morning. That was a quart of flattening agent only. I added 30% to what was supposed to already be matte clear and sprayed one more light coat. I could see instant results and these pictures are 4 hours afterwards with it dry already.

With the inconsistencies I've seen in looking at pictures of other low mileage white 88's under the hood I think its as close to factory as I can get it. I'll add 2 groups of pictures, one set under the shop led lights and another with only sunlight and flash.