From Wheelstanding Wagon to Beautiful Buick - Colin Gee Preps A New Ride for Its Debut at Miles of Mayhem
Despite appearances that things are good on the surface, a racer’s mind can be a hamster wheel of thoughts both good and bad on their next run.
How to approach it, what they can and can’t change, tune up, the track conditions, and of course, the competition.
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In Colin Gee’s case, he started thinking about the 1983 Chevrolet Malibu station wagon he had finished in 2023, and his goals for the future. We saw the turbocharged LS-swapped wagon at the 2023 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive, where Colin competed in the always-tough Rowdy Radial class.
But the car had debuted less than a year earlier in Colin’s homebase, Canada, for Miles of Mayhem in 2022, where he finished first overall, as well as tops in the Small Tire 275 class.
Following his appearance at Sick Week, Colin began to think the wagon might not be the ride he wanted to go to the next step with. “The wagon was heavy. It was 3800 pounds, and wasn’t supposed to go that quick,” said Colin. “It was running out of safety with the 8.50-second certified roll cage and low 5-second eighth-mile times. With the weight and power, it kept putting stress on the stock block, and started to feel less reliable.”
This led Colin to try and find a new canvas to start with, something lighter with more safety that would accept his driveline in that he could go quicker and faster in, without pushing his set-up to the brink of destruction. He found it in the form of a 1981 Buick Regal.
“It was a shell that I bought from a friend,” Colin said. “It already had a 7.50-second certified cage in it. I cut out the rear floor, notched the rear rails, narrowed the differential to get the back end lower, and added bars to the cage.”
He also revamped the rear suspension, completed the sheetmetal for the back half, built the turbo kit, added a 20-pound fire suppression system, built a 25 gallon street tank in the rear, and added a 5 gallon front tank for the methanol.
Although the easy choice was to swap the driveline from the Malibu and head for quick times, Colin decided to put together a 5.3-liter with spare parts he had, along with a single turbocharger. “I have some goals I want to get with it before I put the other engine in,” said Colin.
With the engine in place, Colin converted a BTR equalizer intake to 16 injectors for the methanol use, did up a custom radiator set-up to keep things cool with dual brushless Silverado fans, and wired the car with Holley EFI.
The Buick got wrapped to imitate the look of a Grand National, and unlike the wagon, this one will sport a 275 radial or 28 x 10.5-inch slick on the Billet Specialties Win Lite wheels.
Colin got the Buick out recently for testing, and has a pair of drag-and-drive events on his calendar for the year. “I should be ready for Miles of Mayhem,” he said. “Few things left to do to the car, but mostly everything is ready. It weighs 2880 with me, almost 900 pounds lighter than the wagon.
He’ll compete in Small Tire at Miles of Mayhem, and the Outlaw Street class at Rocky Mountain Race Week 2.0. “I’ll probably have the other motor in for that one,” Colin said. Will he be competitive at either event? We’ll have event results coming in Sick the Mag!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Colin Gee.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com