Since the last time we posted an article on Teacher’s Pet there have been a lot of updates. The last article talked about the FAST EFI course held at West Bend Dyno Tuning. Shortly after that Teacher’s Pet had a once over before it hit the road to go to the epic Car Craft Summer Nationals at State Fair Park in Milwaukee, WI.

Like most car builds you never have enough time to prepare for a large event, same goes for teacher’s pet. Just a few days before the Car Craft Summer Nationals the car was sent out for its track alignment. Like any father, we were worried about the first drive on the road to and from the alignment shop. We were relieved to see when Brian (West Bend Dyno Tuner) came back with the car in one piece and a smile that shined from ear to ear. He loved the car! That means a lot coming from a guy that drives performance minded cars daily. So, with some minor adjustments the car was ready to hit the road and track.

Gerald Sorce (Automotive Teacher) took the car home to clean and prepare it for the big weekend ahead. He said, “It was just like having a new born baby in the house. I was up every couple of hours over the night to check up on the car to make sure everything was ok and ready to go.” Soon enough the sun rose and headed towards State Fair Park. When we arrived we were presented with a remarkable opportunity to have the 1979 Z28 on local television to promote the autocross and car show. Gerald Sorce was nervous to suddenly be on TV with a Car that he only had driven for less than 50 miles. Everything ended up going well and we were able to showcase the car for a second time on local TV!

Mid-day Friday, teacher’s pet hit the QA1 autocross with Instructor Gerald Sorce behind the wheel. His times were nothing spectacular but they were improving every time he went out. During one of the autocross thrashes the car handled wonderfully, but stripped a sway bar bolt out of the frame. The students quickly got the car up on jack stands and fixed the problem and did a once over on the car. Also, some minor adjustments to compression and rebound were needed on the double adjustable QA1 Coilovers.

Day 2 (Saturday) was the day the car will be pushed to its limits. Dennis Prunty our local Slinger Speedway driver will be testing ever bit of the car to see if the students finished their homework correctly. Round one with Dennis behind the wheel the car threw down its best time yet! The students did a phenomenal job of crewing the car. When Dennis asked for suspension modifications they were there willing to help. By the end of the day the car was performing excellent, only a couple of seconds off of the leading professionally built car. During the day Teacher’s Pet also needed to compete in the Speed Stop Challenge. The car did an impressive job stopping thanks to the massive Wilwood 6 piston front and 4 piston rear brakes.

https://youtu.be/liKSn63XQC8

Day 3 (Sunday) was the final day for the 2016 Car Craft Summer Nationals. With the smell of raw fuel and freshly brewed coffee in the air Teacher’s Pet rolls up on to the West Bend Dyno Sponsored Chassis Dyno. The Wegner/Student built 416 LS3 belted out a roar that echoed off of the grandstands making people turn and look at what made that mean sound. By the time the car was winding up for its second and final pull people started to gather around wanting to know more about this blacked out kind of a sleeper Z28. We got the numbers and the car peaked power of 547 hp at 6000 rpm! Awesome power for an NA 416 LS3.

The Car Craft Summer Nationals was a great way for the students to unveil the Teacher’s Pet car they built to the public and test it for its weaknesses. As with any custom built car you are going to have some challenges, but it was assuring to know the car was put to the test by an experienced driver and only one bolt broke. That is a big credit to the student’s time and attention to detail. We want to thank our Sponsors for all of the help they have given us over this entire project! As with any build it is never done just more refined. Check out West Bend High School on Facebook for more up to date information on what the students are working on!