In the latest Ridetech blog update, USCA competitors Tom and Deb Farrington install one of Ridetech’s MOMENTUM chassis under their 1966 Chevelle.
The Farrington name is not unfamiliar in the world of pro-touring. Tom and his wife Deb have made the pro-touring hobby a family affair, having competed in various pro-touring events over the decades in multiple vehicles. Tom’s wife, Deb, campaigns a modified 1964 Chevelle station wagon. And Sam, their son, regularly competes in his own 1967 Chevelle. But one of their longstanding and most campaigned vehicles is the gray 1966 Chevelle you see here.
Not long after acquiring it out of California in 2002, the Chevelle began undergoing upgrades as the family started taking it out to various car shows and automotive events around the country. The mantra of ‘build, break, repeat’ is no stranger to the Farrington family. And over a ten-year span, they’ve identified and eliminated as many weak spots in their Chevelle’s armor as possible. The car has evolved through several painstaking iterations in the quest for lower lap times and improved performance. For instance, while the car started out with a big block 454, a bearing soon exited the chat, necessitating an upgrade. It now features a 416 C.I. Black Label LSX engine from Mast Motorsports. That GM LS-based engine is capable of generating 630 horsepower and 550 lb-ft of torque.
Recently, Tom Farrington learned that Ridetech was working toward a new chassis system for the early Chevelle and Malibu models of the GM A-Body. While their car has evolved into an extremely sorted machine for the intended use case, there is only so much you can do with a factory chassis when it comes to the factory pick-up points and frame rigidity. To the Farrington’s credit, they fully boxed the OE frame, along with installing essentially every conceivable adjustable bolt-on component available for the platform.
But as we all tend to do when we focus on one given hobby, we often find ourselves wanting a bit more. More performance. Faster lap times. If the Farrington’s were going to take things to the next level, it was becoming clear that a full performance chassis would be required. And that is the upgrade they recently completed onsite at Ridetech as they continue literally and figuratively adding more MOMENTUM to their Chevelle program.
The 1964-1967 Chevelle chassis is the second chassis to come from the Jasper, Indiana based performance suspension manufacturer. In early August we launched our first MOMENTUM chassis for the 1968-1972 GM A-Body platform. The early chassis is the next in the pipeline (coming soon!). With these innovative, large platform based projects coming from Ridetech, it’s certainly an exciting time at the company, and we look forward to being able to continue servicing not only customers who seek to improve upon their factory chassis, but also to those who are shopping for a clean sheet performance chassis design.
Tom and Deb traveled down to Jasper and spent a few days at Ridetech HQ working with engineering techs Josh and Dylan and the rest of the Ridetech team. Their factory chassis was out in no time with the drivetrain swap over taking place shortly thereafter. The Farrington’s son Sam also dropped in to turn some wrenches and it wasn’t long before it was time to lower the Chevelle body down onto the brand-new MOMENTUM chassis and start marrying the two together.
After completing the installation Tom spent next couple of weekends at the track with the primary goal of getting refamiliarized with the car now that it had a completely new foundation. Shortly thereafter was the Barber Motorsports Park USCA event, where Tom piloted the MOMENTUM equipped Chevelle to a 3rd in class podium finish, 4th overall. Tom competes in USCA’s GTV class. That class centers around vintage racing and is limited to rear-wheel-drive vehicles 1989 and older with a minimum weight of 3,200 pounds.
Next up for Tom and Deb Farrington is the OUSCI, or Optima Batteries Ultimate Street Car Invitational, an event designed to put a car through its paces on both a road course and an autocross, but that’s not all. A design and engineering evaluation review, along with a Peak Performance Challenge taking place onsite at SEMA will be the final test that Tom puts the Chevelle through to see how things shake out on the leaderboard with a new chassis under the car.
While not expecting an all-out win, we do look forward to seeing Tom and his Chevelle evolve together as they become more familiar with each other on track. We intend to document Tom’s week of competition and look forward to sharing a recap with you post-SEMA.
You’ve reached the end of the article but keep scrolling down for a full build spec sheet of Tom’s 1966 Chevelle, and an image gallery from the MOMENTUM install.
Build Specifications
- Color | 2004 Audi Gray
- Chassis Mods | Ridetech MOMENTUM 1964-1967 Chevelle Chassis, AFX Tall Hub Spindles
- Suspension | Ridetech TQ Triple Adjustable Coil-overs
- Wheels | Forgeline GA3R 18×10.5” front and x 11” in rear
- Tires | Front = 295/30/18 Hoosier Track Attack Pro | Rear=315/30/18 Yokohama A052
- Engine | Mast Motorsports Black Label 416 CI stroker GM LS engine
- Transmission | Bowler T-56 Tremec built by Bowler Transmission
- Clutch/Flywheel | GM LS7 Clutch & Fidanza aluminum flywheel
- Exhaust | Hooker BlackHeart LS Swap Headers and 3” stainless dual exhaust
- Steering | Turn One Power Steering Pump | Flaming River Quick Ratio Rack-&-Pinion
- Rear end | Moser 12-bolt w/ 3.73 gears, Eaton Tru-Trac and Baer floater w/ Moser axles
- EFI | Holley Terminator EFI Self-Tuning EFI system
- Brakes | Baer Extreme+ XTR w/ 14” rotors front and rear
- Safety | Six-point custom roll cage
- Interior Mods | Vintage Air Custom A/C
- Seats | MOMO Racing Bucket Seats
- Other Interior Mods | Dakota Digital VHX Instrumentation, Daytona black weave carpet | Full interior
That’s it for today #ridetechnation. We’ll catch you on the next one!
MOMENTUM Chassis Install Gallery
