Wally Logan’s C10
This truck was built with one thing in mind, winning races. “I don’t want it to win the Truck Class, I want it to be the fastest thing on the property” says Barry White from Barry’s Speed Shop out of Corona, CA. The owner of the truck, Wally Logan is no stranger to incredible builds. Barry has helped Wally with some pretty wild projects over the years. When Wally set out to have Barry build this 1970 C10 he didn’t realize how far down the rabbit hole they’d go. They are now 2 years in to a process that seemingly continues to evolve. The old story of two steps forward and one step back. Barry confesses that each time he or Wally have an HBI (Hair Brained Idea) the project escalates. Currently, they find themselves nearing a point where the truck can be considered “ready”. Don’t get us wrong, if it weren’t for all the bad (good) ideas this truck may not have ended up so far over the top.
The crazy story begins when they tried to place the LT5 crate engine into their new Total Cost Involved Pro-Touring chassis. In an effort to move some weight rearward Barry ordered the TCI Engineering chassis for Wally’s truck with the engine mounts moved back from the normal location. They were planning on modifying the firewall and cowl anyway so they didn’t mind a ‘little’ extra work. The exact dimension of engine set back might be a little fuzzy but it wasn’t enough for these guys. So some finagling of the chassis center section and driveshaft loop allowed Barry to land on a position that made him happy. Firewall and foot space are taking a back seat to engine placement in this scenario.
LT5 in a C10
Let’s not gloss over the fact that this truck has a now discontinued LT5 engine under the hood. This is the 755hp & 715lb-ft of torque that motivated the C7 ZR1 Corvette. GM is pretty serious about the warranty on these engines so Wally & Barry left the engine alone. In completely stock form with full stock exhaust including cats these engines have made north of 650whp. Considering that in this pre-smog California application it should free up even more horsepower. It has long tube headers provided by Ultimate Headers, a full 3″ exhaust, & a custom ram air intake with K&N filters. This combination should make way more power than it truly needs. Like many of you crazies out there, we like excessive and it’s fitting to the overall theme of the build. We can’t imagine the power potential with a simple pulley change and retune. Even though the crate engine was received with a 8L90 transmission that was swapped out for a proper Bowler built T56. All transmission internals have been upgraded to make shifts flawless with aggressive driving and handle however much power they throw at it.
While Wally wanted to do as much of the truck in Carbon Fiber as possible Barry cautioned him about fire hazards. So they chose to keep the main parts of the cab sheet metal. Not only is Barry capable of building some killer creations he has decades of racing experience that helps guide him. The best part of this picture, besides all of the safety equipment is the pedal box. The 67-72 cab is very short which makes the seating position terribly uncomfortable. So even though the engine and firewall were both pushed back they still found a way to push the pedals forward.
As the build progressed Barry would periodically set the truck down on digital scales to see where the weight bias was. This continued to snowball as they kept adding more items to the bed. The dry sump oil reservoir is just forward of the radiator. There are coolers placed in areas such that it helps offset the driver’s weight. The bedsides are carbon, as are the inner fenders, front fenders, dash, core support, grill, cowl, and hood. All of which help to make the truck lighter and closer to 50/50 weight bias. If need be weight can be added in the rear where it might actually do some good (down low).
Hidden underneath is the Currie Fab9 housing with full floater ends poking up showing off our Torque Arm tabs. This Currie rearend utilizes 35 spline axles so it should handle however much power this engine is capable of making. The original rear gearing for the 8L90 remains, which is 3.25. This means that with the new T56 installed the truck will be capable of going 90ish mph in 2nd gear. Which honestly might help calm down the aggressive power delivery of the LT5.
Barry happens to have a close friend that dabbles with aerodynamics and custom composite manufacturing. While a C10 isn’t exactly close to being air efficient they’ve made some important changes that will help this brick slip through the air and maybe even create a little downforce in the process. The front of the truck has been modified such that the side profile has more slope from the grill to the hood. This was accomplished by clocking the front fenders down. The bedsides were shortened behind the axle and also tucked in. The bedsides are cone magnets so this will help gain those precious inches which can equate to reduced lap times. The rear wing was still under construction during our time at Barry’s so we’ll have to wait and see that wild creation. With the radiator mounted in the rear it left room for a custom ram air grill up front that feeds the engine. It also allowed ducting to route the air entering the grill to exit the hood. Rear mounted radiators are tough to make work. So once again Barry’s buddy was enlisted to design some large carbon naca ducts to feed the radiator.
Speaking of placing the weight down low. Barry came up with a quick and easy way to install or remove lead ballast bars. While the truck can technically make weight at a Goodguys event the thought of actually tempting fate against a K-Rail is pretty scary. Not to fret though, Wally and Barry are both ALL-IN with getting this truck on bigger courses to see what it is capable of.
The weight bars will mount underneath the Currie Fab9″. This is a great view of the TCI Engineering Torque Arm rear suspension & Ridetech TQ coilovers. The TCI Engineering chassis utilizes a long panhard bar. Which makes packaging the desired roll center height much easier than a Watts Link. Due to the high lateral forces that will be exerted on these chassis there is a secondary bar that ties the opposing frame rail and bracket together.
Squared 19×12 Jongbleod wheels were used. Wally & Barry both agreed that the 19″ diameter would fill the wheel wells better than more commonly used 18’s would. These lightweight and strong 3 piece wheels were an easy choice. Luckily, both Falken (315) and Nankang (325) make class legal 200TW tires for this width/diameter. Wilwood’s new Pro C10 Billet spindles were used with our custom steering arms. This ensures full steering angle and proper Ackerman. 6 piston front and 4 piston rear Aero calipers were used with 14″ rotors. Barry admits that the addition of ABS has been considered. “As more and more adapted systems become popular it is a very real option”.
Wally is set to debut his C10 at the 2024 C10 Nationals at Texas Motor Speedway May 10th & 11th. One look at the truck and expectations are pretty high. Wally & Barry are fully prepared to do what it takes to ensure this truck performs as well as it looks. With a little luck Wally will shake it down at a local event before C10 Nats. They also have plans to attend LS Fest Texas and maybe even some West Coast Goodguys events.
