High School Hot Rod: Rick Hornback And His Open Comp ’69 Chevelle

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Not many of us can say we still own the car we bought at age 16. Most wouldn’t want their first car, because it was more than likely a cheap junk box. It was probably rusty, slow, and just something to get us from home to whatever entry-level job we had, and hopefully to pick up the ladies. However, because of the aforementioned condition, those ladies often ran in the opposite direction.

There isn't a muscle car fan alive that doesn't like the lines of a 1969 Chevelle. If anyone tells they don't, they're lying. Hornback's Chevelle is pretty much perfect in our eyes.

There isn’t a muscle car fan alive that doesn’t like the lines of a 1969 Chevelle. If anyone says they don’t, they’re lying. Hornback’s Chevelle is pretty much perfect in our eyes.

What we needed was Rick Hornback’s car. This 1969 Chevelle. Yeah, this one.

If we’d had Hornback’s Chevelle, we’d have no trouble gaining attention and the eye of the opposite sex.

“I purchased this ’69 Chevelle for $1,200 in the summer of 1978 when I was 16 and entering my junior year of high school,” Hornback says.

Just for grins, go to Craigslist or eBay and try to find a Chevelle for $1,200 … you won’t find one. If you do, it’ll be a rusted-out hulk not worth saving. However, at that time, a ’69 Chevelle was just a pretty cool, old car, but one that could be had somewhat inexpensively. After buying the car, Hornback spent the next two years making the modifications that he could afford as a high school kid working part-time bagging groceries at the local IGA store in Olney, Illinois.

From the front or from behind, Hornback's Chevelle hits all the right buttons. Out back is a Pro Tree Race Cars fabricated 9-inch rear with a 4-link suspension to help the Mickey Thompson tires grab for traction.

From the front or from behind, Hornback’s Chevelle hits all the right buttons. Out back is a Pro Tree Race Cars fabricated 9-inch rear with a 4-link suspension to help the Mickey Thompson tires grab for traction.

After earning an Associate’s Degree at ITT Technical Institute in Indiana, he returned home gainfully employed with a full-time job. This gave Hornback the opportunity and financial means to completely tear down the Chevelle and turn it into a street and strip terror that’s just as at home at a car show. This process took four years, as he swapped out the original 350 for a big block 427 with iron oval port heads, a tunnel ram, and two four-barrel carburetors. “I retained the original Muncie M21 four-speed and 12-bolt rear end that was originally ordered with the car by its owner, but I did make a gear change to a 4.10 from the original 4.33,” Hornback tells us.

“I was relatively new and still learning what made a muscle car perform, so I took what I thought was the popular route at the time,” he says of the car’s first iteration. A few years later, in 1987, the car received the paint job that it still wears today. “The car was painted using what I consider close to the original Garnet red color from a 1986 GMC van,” he says.

The 9-inch rear features Moser axles, while the wheels are from Monocoque. The brakes are Wilwood discs at each corner.

From there, Hornback and his wife, Twila, moved a few times to pursue better employment opportunities, but settled in the Indianapolis area in 1989. There, they started a family, and the focus turned to raising Tyler and Shelby (now 22 and 19). The Chevelle remained largely unchanged during that time.

You can differentiate a 1968 Chevelle from a 1969 by the taillights. The '68s have more of a rectangular design, as opposed to the '69s more upright design. On the extreme left corner of the rear bumper you'll see a slight little dent. That's some "real life character," as Hornback calls it, courtesy of his sister, who backed into the Chevelle not once, but twice.

You can differentiate a 1968 Chevelle from a 1969 by the taillights. The ’68s have more of a rectangular design, as opposed to the ’69s more upright design. On the extreme left corner of the rear bumper you’ll see a slight little dent. That’s some “real life character,” as Hornback calls it, courtesy of his sister, who backed into the Chevelle, not once, but twice.

Around 2001, he says the drag racing bug started to really sink in, and so it was time for the Chevelle to receive a few mechanical and chassis updates to make sure the car would perform up to Hornback’s level. Other than the paint, everything else about the car has changed over the last 12 to 14 years. “Almost everything on the car has seen an upgrade or modification,” Hornback says.

It seems like it would be a fun time to pull on those levers on the way to low-nines at almost 150 mph. An MSD Power Grid Controller resides in the passenger side floorboard to help with more consistent launches.

Hornback had added a six-point roll bar back in the early ’80s, but that wasn’t going to cut it, so that was promptly removed. Andy Smith and Jack Couden at Pro Tree Race Cars added a chromoly 12-point roll cage in its place. Pro Tree also added mini-tubs and a 4-link rear suspension to accept the Mickey Thompson 29.5 by 10.5W tires that Hornback still runs today. Pro Tree wasn’t done, though, as they also fabricated a nine-inch Ford rear end and added a Mark Williams aluminum third member.

“Almost everything on the car has seen an upgrade.” – Rick Hornback

Prior to the cage and 4-link installation, Hornback had switched from the Muncie to a Lenco four-speed transmission. He wanted to keep it a stick car, since that’s what it had always been. “I had already fabricated a crossmember and transmission mount myself, and installed a McLeod Soft-Loc clutch, and had been running that combination for a few years. I was learning the hard way on fine tuning the clutch with static pressures and counterweight,” he says. Once the 4-link was completed, the Lenco and the 454 Hornback had in the car at the time were all reassembled and the car started to run some respectable numbers in the low 10s.

But that combination was merely a stepping stone to bigger things.

“Being a typical car guy, and never really satisfied with that performance, an upgrade to a bigger engine was in order, so I purchased an aluminum Dart block and Brodix BB4 heads and took them to Steve Schmidt for some guidance,” Hornback says.

Structure Point is one of Hornback's sponsors, and he hopes to have NA 10.5 numbers on the window for 2016, instead of OC.

Structure Point is one of Hornback’s sponsors, and he hopes to have NA 10.5 numbers on the window for 2016, instead of OC.

Schmidt and his team machined the block to accept JE gas-ported pistons, ported the heads, installed titanium intake valves and stainless steel exhaust valves, and installed a set of T&D shaft rockers. Hornback then took the remaining parts home to assemble the short block, which included installing Manley H-Beam rods with L19 rod bolts. A custom Comp Cams roller was installed along with Comp lifters and pushrods. Hornback then topped off the 565-inch big-block with a Pro-Filer Sniper II intake manifold that was port-matched by Schmidt, along with an 1150 Quick Fuel Dominator-style carburetor.

He then installed an MSD crank trigger ignition that now uses a Power Grid Controller to enable better launch control. With everything back in the car, it returned to Pro Tree Race Cars for a pair of stepped headers, which Hornback mated to a 4.5-inch exhaust system with mufflers from Burns Stainless.

Our team discovered the car at the 2015 NMCA season opener in Bradenton, Florida, where Hornback was racing in the Open Comp category. Wheels-up launches and the sound of banging gears drew us in like a fitness model to garlic knots after a competition. Once up close, we found a well-detailed musclecar that still retained its classic lines.

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“Although I’m happy with the performance of the car (which weighs a whopping 3,460 pounds) to date, consistently running low nines with a best of 9.08 at 149 mph, we’re planning to step up again and make a run at the NMCA N/A 10.5 class,” Hornback tells us. “This will require some weight to be carefully removed without cutting the original sheet metal from the car, which is important to me, given our long history. But, I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Hornback ran in NMCA Open Comp in 2015, and was also the UMTR South 2014 Quick Stick Champion.

With the Lenco Four-Speed and big block power, this is how Hornback's Chevelle leaves the line.

With the Lenco Four-Speed and big block power, this is how Hornback’s Chevelle leaves the line.

Hornback’s crew at the track consists of his crew chief and son, Tyler, wife Twila, and daughter, Shelby when they can attend, along with regulars Rob Wetnight, Brent Wright, Gary Goodwin, Steve Wright, and Kelley Murphy.

“I would like to thank my sponsor American Structurepoint (an architectural and engineering firm) for their support along with expert advice and help from Steve Schmidt Performance Engines and Pro Tree Race Cars,” Hornback says.

Hornback’s pride and joy has morphed from a high school cruiser and lady-getter to a nine-second track ripper. While it took about 35 years to get it to this point, we’re pretty sure Hornback wouldn’t change a thing. We sure wouldn’t, except making that Chevelle ours.

About the author

Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson brings his years of experience in the Mustang aftermarket and performance industry to StangTV. He has been passionate about cars since childhood, with a special affinity for the Mustang.
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