[1]When it comes to building project cars, do you see yourself ever calling it quits? Do you ever see a time when you will not be working on classic cars for one reason or another? If you’re Fred Kobasiuk, you don’t. Fred sent us an email talking about his latest project, which is going to be a kickass Pro Street Chevrolet [2] S10.
[3]A humble beginning.
According to Fred, “I’m 60-years-old, married, and have three children. I have been working on cars since I was a kid, and have a passion for drag racing. I’m now in the process of working on an LS-powered Pro Street conversion project: a 1995 S10.”
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While at work one day in 2009, Fred saw this S10 pickup sitting in the parking lot. He learned that it belonged to a Physicist. It had some mechanical issues which he did not want to repair, so he offered it to Fred. The repairs were made, and Fred used it for the next six years as daily transportation.
[6]Mock up of the rear suspension.
In 2011, Fred and his friend, Ted Dzus, were at S&W Racecars [7] to pick up some chassis parts for a Vega that Fred was building. According to Fred, “Ted and I drove the S10, and while we were talking to Scott at S&W, he saw the truck and said they had a back-half kit for the S10 that was easy to install. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, since I was deep into the Vega project.”
[8]Garage time with friends.
A few years later, Fred figured it was time to build the S10 since it would take less time, and he put the Vega project on hold for a while. Fred stated, “Right now my plan is to build a Pro Street truck that will be NHRA legal. It will be back-halved with a full rollcage, four link, have rack-and-pinion steering, tubular control arms, disc brakes, dropped spindles, and even A/C for cruising. I’m using a supercharged LS engine with a 4L80E transmission and a 9-inch rear.”
So far, the truck has been disassembled and the bed is at the body shop for repairs and modifications. With the help of a few friends, Fred has fabricated new body mounts and installed the S&W rearend components.
[9]Fred’s son working on the fuel cell.
A major task was the fabrication of the fuel tank. After a lot of cutting, welding, and pressure testing, the tank fits with plenty of clearance for the 31-inch tires. Fred has also fabricated an aluminum mid-plate for the engine, and a crossmember.
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Fred finished by telling us, “Next up is fitting the cab back on chassis to check clearances, layout the seat mounts, install the QA1 [11] control arms, Baer [12] brakes, and the Unisteer [13] rack-and-pinion to see if there are any issues that have to be addressed.” Stay tuned for updates.
Do you want to read about other Reader’s Hardcore Projects? All you need to do is click here [14]. If you’re working on a project, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the Hardcore Project series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we still want to see more, as we can never get enough. Send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected] [15].