Garage 56 Le Mans 2023 Camaro

[Phildaupho]

Hendricks Motorsports has entered a modified NASCAR Camaro in the special Garage 56 category in this years 24 Hours of Le Mans. Garage 56 is open to cars not fitting the regular sanctioned classes.

I am an automotive enthusiast liking all genres and periods of the automobile. I am also an auto racing fan and although I appreciate all forms of car racing, I am predominantly interested and follow road racing. That being said, the NexGen NASCAR has intrigued me to the point of wanting to build one of the Salvinos JR kits but the local hobby shop did not bring them in. On a recent trip to California, I purchased one of the 2022 kits with the idea of trying to build it as a reasonable facsimile of the Garage 56 Camaro with the goal of completing it before the June 10 green flag to start the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This project fell off the rails when I was initially unable to get a kit with a useable stock grill and headlights. The AMT full detail 2017 Camaro did not seem available in Canada but I did purchase an AMT Snap 2015 Camaro. It was not much help as the front-end detail was molded in place and the scale difference between the 1/25 of this kit and the 1/24 of the NASCAR kit is huge.

Marshall Pruett’s Racer.com coverage of the Garage 56 Camaro leading up to the race has reignited my interest. Today I managed to acquire a diecast Maisto 1/24 2017 Camaro ZLI which will supply the grills and headlights. If I was not going away camping this week, I might have contemplated trying to do a 24 hour build as one of my available TV channels is telecasting the entire race.

I previously built the prototype version of the Deltawing which eventually raced at Le Mans in a modified configuration under the Garage 56 classification. This is also not the first road race version of a current century Camaro I have built. Back in 2008 I modified the Revell Concept Camaro into a phantom Great Recession Canadian GT racer.

I have also built five other American cars that raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

1966 – Chaparral 2D [converted from Daytona configuration]

1967 – Ford GT MKIV [MPC]

1969 – NART Corvette

1996 – Viper [development car]

2000 – Corvette C5R [before kit available]

Edited June 6, 2023 by Phildaupho

[absmiami]

Its a pricey curbside - but profil24 has finally issued one of the first American cars to enter Lemans - the Cunningham C4r-k. -  maybe for next year’s race …

[vintagerpm]

7 hours ago, absmiami said:

Its a pricey curbside - but profil24 has finally issued one of the first American cars to enter Lemans - the Cunningham C4r-k. -  maybe for next year’s race …

They also produce 2 kits of the Glickenhaus LMH, a present day American race car.

[Gramps46]

Thank you Phil for this post.  I had wanted to bring up Garage 56 but do not have a kit to illustrate the post with.

[Phildaupho]

10 hours ago, absmiami said:

Its a pricey curbside - but profil24 has finally issued one of the first American cars to enter Lemans - the Cunningham C4r-k. -  maybe for next year’s race …

 

2 hours ago, vintagerpm said:

They also produce 2 kits of the Glickenhaus LMH, a present day American race car.

 

2 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

Thank you Phil for this post.  I had wanted to bring up Garage 56 but do not have a kit to illustrate the post with.

I managed to free up the grill and headlight assembly from the diecast now the challenge is fitting it. The bowtie emblem was part of the metal body but I was able to cut it away. I will not be able to get back to this project until next week after the race is history.

[absmiami]

Having a good run ! …

[Gramps46]

6 hours ago, absmiami said:

Having a good run ! …

And finished the race!

[Gramps46]

The announcers seem to have forgotten or never knew about 1976 and the NASCAR Dodge and Ford Torino.  Probably still in short pants and sandals back then.

[wrenchr]

I'm sure someone with a 3D printer is already at work making a kit for this. Salvino it should be a no brainer.  

[absmiami]

Yup

[Phildaupho]

On 6/11/2023 at 11:57 AM, Gramps46 said:

The announcers seem to have forgotten or never knew about 1976 and the NASCAR Dodge and Ford Torino.  Probably still in short pants and sandals back then.

Both of those cars were at Le Mans this year in a Garage 56 museum. Check out the video on Racer.com

[Phildaupho]

On 6/11/2023 at 12:04 PM, wrenchr said:

I'm sure someone with a 3D printer is already at work making a kit for this. Salvino it should be a no brainer.  

Totally agree. A number of times in the past I have tried doing my own conversions only to have a proper kit become available. Like I said in the opener I am just trying for a reasonable facsimile with my build but it should be a fun challenge

[Phildaupho]

On 6/11/2023 at 11:53 AM, Gramps46 said:

And finished the race!

Yes bravo. It was a great accomplishment for all involved. 

[Gramps46]

9 hours ago, Phildaupho said:

Both of those cars were at Le Mans this year in a Garage 56 museum. Check out the video on Racer.com

Thanks for the link Phil.

[Phildaupho]

I have started the modification and it looks like I will only be using the grills from the diecast although its underbody provides a demo rolling chassis. I have got an idea of how to represent the distinctive multi element LED  headlights. Below the photo is a list of additional modifications I will be attempting.

Extend front splitter

Add front dive planes

Add side mirrors

Add rear canards

Fill fuel filler on left rear fender

Add fuel filler to right side rear window

Add more strakes to rear diffuser

Replace steering wheel with one more rectangular with control buttons

Add paddle shifters eliminating stick shift

Edited June 20, 2023 by Phildaupho

[iamsuperdan]

Very cool project!
 

[Phildaupho]

On 6/14/2023 at 6:23 PM, iamsuperdan said:

Very cool project!
 

Thanks Dan - I knew the livery was going to be a challenge with this model so today I decided to see if I could manipulate the images I downloaded from the internet to work as decals.  What you see is my first attempt printed on paper and stuck on with Scotch Tape. Looks promising I think

[absmiami]

Yup

[Phildaupho]

The headlights on the Garage 56 Camaro are very cool looking multi element LEDs. My solution to try to represent them was to use the grills from 3 Ala Kart kits I had been using for spare parts.

The solid pieces will be painted satin black and only a selected number of the clear bits will be visible backed by chrome foil, The four headlight areas will be covered with clear plastic.

[Phildaupho]

I had a very productive day at the bench yesterday so in addition to getting the headlights started I also made modifications to the undertray. I extended the front splitter a scale 2 inches. I n back I extended the rear diffuser a scale three inches and added two additional strakes

[64Comet404]

On 6/11/2023 at 3:04 PM, wrenchr said:

I'm sure someone with a 3D printer is already at work making a kit for this. Salvino it should be a no brainer.  

Jim Rogers already has a conversion set available for the Garage 56 car. Includes the winglets, mirrors, quarter windows, and other bits. He can be contacted at jim@salvino.us. No decals yet, but one of the companies is bound to make them soon.

 

[Phildaupho]

1 hour ago, 64Comet404 said:

Jim Rogers already has a conversion set available for the Garage 56 car. Includes the winglets, mirrors, quarter windows, and other bits. He can be contacted at jim@salvino.us. No decals yet, but one of the companies is bound to make them soon.

 

Thanks Ken for the information. It was bound to happen. I was just doing some more work on my model and thought of checking out the Salvino website to see what was new. I have done a number of projects in the past when a kit or conversion was released before I completed my build. Had and am having fun though.

[Phildaupho]

I have found it very interesting and often frustrating finding details on the differences between the Garage 56 Camaro and a regular NASCAR Cup Camaro. I have moved the fuel filler to right side rear window and in doing so wanted to find out more about the fuel tank location. I have scoured the internet for information and photos. I did find this at Car & Driver - Safety regulations required Hendrick Motorsports to mount the fuel tank—normally in the rear of a Cup car—amidships in a horseshoe configuration around the gearbox and encased in carbon fiber. The tank holds 32.0 gallons, 12.0 more than a Cup car. This sounds sort of like the fuel tanks in the rear drive R-Corvettes.

I eventually found a video with some views behind the passenger compartment bulkhead but could not make out any real details. The trunk was open in this video and there definitely is not a fuel tank like in a CUP car but there is this interesting looking device which appears to be a cooler probably for the transaxle which ended up being the weak link on the Garage 56. The transaxle had to be replaced  during the race and it sure would have been interesting to see how they did it.

[Phildaupho]

The latest mods I have done are cutting in openings for the rear tow ring, rear warning light and rear fender NACA ducts. I have also ordered conversion parts developed by Jim Rogers - the JR at Salvinos JR. These include parts  I was having difficulty replicating myself such as the front dive planes, the rear canards, the lower side valance rear deflectors, the unique steering wheel and a better rendition  of fuel filler on the side windows. The conversion kit also includes the windshield wiper. In addition I ordered rain tires and the dash with electronics panel. I received quick and super service when I contacted Jim at Salvino JR. While waiting for the parts to arrive I will start work on the chassis and drive train.

[Phildaupho]

I was not able to find out the exact dimensions of the Garage 56  fuel tank other than it was 12 gallons larger than the Cup car and mounted amidships in a horseshoe configuration around the gearbox. Even though the fuel tank will not be visible when the model is fully assembled learning about this significant difference made me want to make this modification. First I removed the sides and bottom on the rear mounted Cup fuel tank which are molded into the rear frame structure. Next I fabricated a new tank from Evergreen sheet styrene.