- Introducing The Wally’s World GTO: Dreams Becoming A Reality. Mullets, Muscle Cars, And More.
- BangShift Sponsors Can’t Resist The Mullet! Holley and Dynatech Sign On As Sponsors For Wally’s World GTO
- Wally’s World GTO Project Update: The New Pedders Suspension Is Installed, And Our Butts Will Be Cool!
- Dyno Video: Watch The Wally’s World GTO Make 450 At The Tire Thanks To COMP, Land Speed, And Dynatech
- Wally’s World GTO Project Update: We Take The Party To The Rear…Suspension That Is
- Wally’s World GTO LSFest Update: It Made It, Hauled Ass, And Broke! It Was NOT Our Fault.
- Wally’s World GTO Project Update: Wilwood Provides Serious Whoooaa! For The GTO
- Project Update: The Wally’s World GTO Is Going To The OPTIMA Batteries Ultimate Street Car Invitational!
- The Wally’s World GTO Gets A New Hurst Shifter And Centerforce DYAD Clutch Setup
- LS Power Improvements: How The Wally’s World GTO Got A Bunch More Ponies
Wally Olczak is one of those dudes in the automotive aftermarket that you may not actually know, but you know everything he’s done. We’ll cover some of that later, but the truth is this isn’t about business. This is about a dude who, like a lot of us, has had to put his car dreams on hold a few times to be a productive adult, and is now getting his dream back. Thanks to Indy Hot Rods and a lot of other great people, this dream is becoming a reality as we speak. And we’ll be covering the entire adventure, including before and after testing, video, photos, tech and more, right here at BangShift.com.
Let us introduce you to Wally. Like we said, he’s one of those guys you “know”, but don’t necesarily “KNOW”. That’s because Wally, with business partner Jimi Day, runs FM3 which is the group that puts on the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI), OUSCI Qualifier Series, Sprectre 341 Challenge, LS Fest, and much much more. But this isn’t a story about Wally’s career, it’s a story about his passion for all things GTO.
Wally is a car guy. He’s a father and a husband. He’s also one of the funniest sons of bitches we have ever met. Seriously, the earth stops spinning when we are all together because of a level of smack talk and adolescent behavior that can’t be described. This is somehow an appropriate way to start this story since as a 19 year old young man with a mullett, Wally purchased his first GTO. It was 1988, and Wally spent ever bit of time and money he had to restore the GTO of his dreams. A 1966 model that anyone would be happy to own. He was a mechanic at a dealership, still lived at home, and was making some real money. Life was great.
Check out the mullet! We are not only jealous of that bad boy, but of the car as well.
Who wouldn’t be happy with a GTO like this one?
Fast forward a few years, and the GTO’s value had gone up considerably. At the same time, Wally was getting ready to purchase his first house and become a grown up. As much as it pains me to say, he did the responsible thing and sold the GTO to buy a house. The tragedy!
Despite not having the car anymore, Wally was a certifiable GTO fan at this point, and he knew it was just a matter of time before he’d end up with another one.
Over the years, Wally became a professional Bass Fisherman, owned a successful powder coating business, and became more and more engrained in the automotive aftermarket. During this time he dreamed of getting another GTO, but with young kids at home and GTO prices going through the roof thanks to Barrett Jackson and the like, Wally’s prospects were not good. He was going to have to be creative.
When the new GTO came out in 2004, Wally was a fan. And when a super clean 2006 model came available back in 2011, Wally knew this was his shot to get back into a GTO and he snapped it up.
His plan was to go out and do some racing at Optima events, track days, and schools. After racing the new GTO a few times, it became apparent that going out and having fun in this car was not a problem. Going out and winning in this car however was going to require some work.
After watching his business partner, Jimi Day, put together a super bitchin AMX over the past couple years, Wally talked to the wife, figured out a budget and decided it was time for the GTO to get some bigger balls, better kicks, and the legs to hold it all up. He’s getting that and a lot more thanks to Bruce Raymond and Mike Norris, who together are Indy Hot Rods. With tons of late model performance experience, this “new” GTO is in good hands. This is what it’s going to look like, and what is getting done to it.
Sexy don’t you think?
In order to be worthy of a killer look like this, the Wally’s World GTO is going to be getting some serious upgrades to the engine, drivetrain, suspension, brakes, wheels, tires, and safety aspects of this car. The craziest thing about it though? The team wants to debut it at Holley’s LSFest which is only 5 weeks away. That’s crazy talk, but we’re in if they are.
Below you’ll find the general rundown on what is going to get done to the car, and each week we’ll be giving you updates, installs, testing and more. That means you’ll be able to follow along on the entire project, learn something along the way, and live through the trials and tribulations of the team as they thrash to put together a GTO worthy of the Wally’s World name.
Indy Hot Rods will be doing a lot of work in the coming weeks, and in our next installment we’ll show you BEFORE on track and dyno testing, measurements, weights, etc. so that we can compare all of this to the AFTER here in a few weeks.
Mike and Bruce will be building more power with camshaft and valvetrain enhancements from Comp Cams, Fuel and Air improvements thanks to FAST, and a few cylinder head flow improvements to take advantage of the new parts. Dynatech stainless headers and mid pipes will get rid of the exhaust, while a Spectre HPR cold air kit will get lots of good clean air in. Holley is going to dress it all up so it’s super sexy of course, since they are the ones that know how to make an LS engine look as good as it performs. Ring Brothers hood pin system will keep the hood closed at big speeds so that all the parts underneath stay, well, underneath.
Pete and the gang at Pedders Supercar Suspension are supplying all the suspension parts, including some custom one off parts that may become available to other late model GTO owners. Brakes will be upgraded with Wilwood Spec 37 GT Rotors and Quicksilver Superlite calipers, Hurst is going to get the shifts made when they are supposed to, and Centerforce’s awesome DYAD clutch is going to get all that LS power to the T56 transmission.
All that power is going to funnel through a trick set of Weld Racing’s new RTS wheels and BFGoodrich tires. The lightweight and ultra strong forged construction of the Weld Racing Wheels will help that Pedders suspension work even better because of the drop in unsprung weight over the stock cast GM wheels.
To keep everyone safe and sound, and to help stiffen the GTO, a Ridetech Tiger Cage is going to be installed along with their camlock 5 point harness system for both the driver and passenger who will be sitting in heated, cooled, and ultra light Recaro bucket seats that cushion you in all the right places. Who drives it at these events is still up in the air, and will probably be determined by coin toss as Bruce and Mike are chomping at the bit to be “the guy”. If one of them can win an Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational Qualifier, like LS Fest, they could be racing in Pahrump after the SEMA show for the big win.
The coolest thing about this project for us is that not only will you be able to follow along while the Wally’s World GTO transforms into this bitchin orange beast, but you will also be able to see your fearless BangShift leader Chad Reynolds driving this car at LSFest in September. For those of you who can’t attend, don’t worry because Scott and Michael from Route2Media will be shooting some cool video for you to check out. Someone should tell BFG that they better send a second set of tires.
Stay tuned for more updates here at BangShift.com and also LIKE the Wally’s World GTO on Facebook by CLICKING HERE.
For more information on the companies already involved in this project, click the links below. If you would like to be involved in this project, please CLICK THIS LINK TO EMAIL WALLY.
Don’t tell Wally about the marbles 😉