I highly suggest running your first few events on the Pilot Sports. New drivers shouldn't be learning on R-Comps. It will be a crutch for you and you wont be getting an accurate idea of the limits of your car, your driving and grip. Then again I don't know what your racing experience is....

I think a lot of people in the pro-touring world have a tendency to overthink speed parts, mods etc. Go out there and have fun. Once you get lapped by a 123rwhp miata you'll realize that your car, its parts, and all the engineering you've done don't mean a thing. Its all driver skill. Seat time is the best investment you can make...

Start attending more HPDE events. That said I'd like to drive out to Vegas and run Spring mountain with you one day... :thumbsup:

Seems the mags are focused so much on LSX based cars right now... yawnnn...:faint:

No way man....I want my grip and 275's up front. :D My main goal this weekend is to get a feel for road racing. They are supposed to have some instructors handy for a ride along. If I'm hooked, I'll spend the money on their driving school. You should, it's supposed to be one of the best tracks around.

Its not a question of IF you'll be hooked, you will be. The only problem I forsee is your pretty expensive paint job. You might want to clear bra the hell out of that car if you haven't already. I expect my car to be paintless by the end of next year from so many rock chips at the track. Dick Guldstrand told me that if you're not sliding off the track you're not driving fast enough so be prepared for that as well :lol:

Go out and get a bunch of seat time and instruction, its an absolute blast. I'd love to see another pro-touring car actually out at HPDE events ripping it up. I'm a little bit sick of these $100k pro-touring cars 'racing' at 35mph autocross events...

Drive your damn cars folks, thats why we built them like we did :thumbsup:

I should have my tremec in by then. Their safety requirements are a bit more than the group I normally run with. Firesuit, neck collar, roll bar? I guess thats because of the class they're forcing you to run in.

I'll keep an eye out for events up that direction. I typically run with Speedventures.

http://www.speedventures.com/events/Default.aspx

Every time I've gone out, I've invited everyone on both forums, and not once has a single car shown up. Trailer queens :_paranoid

We should have a big block shootout :willy:

Or the whole wheel.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...C1242sized.jpg

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/336...spokehires.jpg

I have to ask this question again myself.
What a killer car. Now that Todd's being messing around with the auto-x, we know that it can talk the talk and walk the walk. Great car Todd.:thumbsup: :cheers:

Forgelines won't be changing. I like the wheels alot, but they are my track look. I modeled the car after the boze wheels. I have clear bra'd behind both wheels up to the crease in the body. Not everyone has the ambition to race and they may not have built their car for that purpose. That wasn't my original intention when the project started. I've just come to the realization that I have waaaay to much performance for the street to appreciate safely. Now I'm making the changes needed to make the car as reliable and predictable on the track as I want it to be. I always wanted to get into circle track racing later in life. This may be the precurser to that or a faster form of road course racing. I'm not afraid to get some chips in the car since it already has plenty from running around town. Paint can be fixed or refreshed. I built it to drive! Last time I checked, that was the intended purpose of a car. :D You will see me in California eventually. I do want to trailer it that far in case of weather or a mechanical problem.

As far as the magazine deal goes, I haven't sent one photo to anyone but Steve Rupp in the construction phase. Steve said he would shoot it eventually and it just gets better and has more history everyday. I 'd rather it was down the road after I've run some road course events as so on. That wasn't the reason I built the car and I can care less about car shows and showing it off. The biggest car show in Nevada is this weekend and I'm racing. I also turned down a spot at a recent indoor car show at a local strip casino. It's probably to late, but I wouldn't be interested in a Sema spot at this point either. I'd rather she was sitting cozy in my garage where I may have the chance to drive! Now if it got me into teh optima challenge I'd have to suck it up. LOL

Good luck at Pahrump.
I hope you get invited to the Optima challenge. Last year was great event to watch but the 40 car field was a little soft.....ie; I could do without Barry White driving a Ford crossover :rolleyes: I think they hoped to get more cars and in the end they were left with some seat fillers. Hopefully they will select a full 40 cars like yours that are geared for this type of event:thumbsup:

Agreed, it really should be there.:thumbsup:

I'm already trying to work the back up deal with Jimi with Optima. I'll probably just show up and if a spot needs filled. :D His exact words to me were " We already have enough 1st gen camaros in the field". :rofl:

That's impossible. :mad:

Once properly educated, 1st gens will become the vehicle of choice for every licensed driver.

:D

Nice Skip!!! lol :lol: :cheers:

The road course thrash has been on all week. I won't run a road course without an accumulator. (Poor mans dry sump) An accumulator will provide up to 5 seconds of oil pressure if the oil pump pick up is uncovered in a high g corner. After watching video at spring mountain, I know they have many 3-5 second high g corners. The accumulator holds 3 quarts and has a piston that reacts instantly when I turn the valve on. I won't use it on the street. I'll have to turn the valve off while running to store the 3 quarts. I can also prime my engine by opening the valve before start up. Pretty cool piece. It's frickin huge though. I had no choice but to mount in on the inner fender. I like the race look of it.

I plumbed it into the pressure side of the oil system. I found a trick three way an fitting from earls that allowed me to plumb it in on the return side of the filter.

I had some tow hooks water jetted as they were needed for tech. They are probably a little over kill but I figured I'll use them to tie down the car once I get my enclosed trailer.

I'm about an hour or two away from being ready to haul some ass around spring mountain raceway. It's going to be crazy. From what I hear, speeds in the 130-150 are obtainable down at least one straigtaway.

It's a frickin pig right now. I haven't wiped down the frame and so on for a while.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...1969/002-5.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...ck1969/004.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...1969/008-1.jpg

that ACCUMULATOR is the pig! that thing is gargantuan. :wow:

I ain't facken around here. LOL I don't want my oil pressure gauge pegging zero Saturday.

Why don't you take that big ass Moroso sticker off there and keep the engine bay looking super clean! Or is that not a sticker? :_paranoid

It wasn't high on the racing checklist. :rofl:

why don't you put an equally big sticker on the valve covers that say:

VALVE COVERS

:D

I'm trying to edumacate a few fellers around here. Evidentally barbeque flash dance knows it all. That was wrong, but really funny. :rofl: I'm sure the sticker is coming off, just not today or tomorrow. I've been working on a few to many squats getting off and on my creeper! You wouldn't know since your paying somebody else to cuss like a sailor. I do like your valve cover idea. I may actually get some vinyl stickers that say 1969 Camaro for the doors. :rofl: What happended to my thread? No wonder I can't ever find anything in my thread!

Hey Toddy... don't be a little biatch. If it's past your bedtime, then go to bed! :lol:

Good idea....I'll be back at you after the race!:cheers:

Sweet. Give em some big block hell. :woot:

Amen, brother. ^^^^^^

Todd, I agree with rogue and the street tires first. I know the pilots suck, I have the same tires, but with them you can drive the car up to and beyond the limit to get a true feel for the car. My fastest laps have always been right after an off track excursion. With the R888, I have them also, they can mask driving error and give, at least for me, a sense of being super man. I have only used the r compound at two events. I am a little nervous at finding there limit, as I know it will be at a much higher speed and pucker factor. Learn to drive the car first, then compliment your skills with better tires.

Wow! Even the normally very tough Russian judge gave a 10.0 mark for that fine beatdown and dismount off of Flash's head. :wow:

Thanks for posting Todd and explaining all that. I appreciate and follow this thread closely as it is very relative as to how I want to build my car.:thumbsup: :cheers:
(I know, I know,...great minds think alike!!!) lol:rofl:

:rofl: ....You guys are something else. On a serious note, that is some good stuff you did to your car Todd. Can't wait to hear how everything goes.

Ya...I harrass these guys just like my buddies around here.

I understand your theory bowtie. I'm sure it's the best way but I feel safer on my R compounds. My other set is a 255/345 stagger. It works great on the street, but not so much on the track. The car is so much more predictable with these wheels and tires. It's my first time so I hope to be a little conservative. :_paranoid She's all ready to go. That accumulator is a pretty cool deal. I'm up at 5 AM to go over the hump to Pahrump and give it hell. I'm pretty sure I'm taking half the garage!

Good luck tomorrow Todd. Have some fun for me...

scary words... read them again. R-Comps won't talk to you like street tires, you will end up sliding off the track before you know it. They don't give a driver feedback at the edge of grip. I learned this lesson many times over myself with my car, and I'm SO glad I have a single stage earl sheib job. Just trying to keep your nice shiny paint job shiny and save a fellow Lateral-G member some heartache.

This is the last time I'll mention it I promise. :yes:

Good luck out there regardless of what you choose to run. Have fun!

I will disagree to an extent. toyo r888 have great grip but they are not in anyway shape or form dot slick tires, the offer really good feedback and are merely a sticky street tire, can be used in all weather.
I have driven every track day i have done with them, they give you confidence, but yet screech when nearing limit and come back quite nicely when you turn down the wic some.
while comparing to pilot sport II's they are day and night, but there are a few street tires that stay up with the toyos in short track burst's up to 10-15 mins, after that the toyos will hold much better.
just creep up on the edge as the day goes on, and you will be all good.

Todd I wish I was there manning the pits for you! Hope you had a great time (like you wouldn't) and got in some serious track time. Looking forward to the after action report.

:unibrow:

I woke up at 5 AM today and loaded half the garage up in Kelli's truck. We headed for Spring Mountain at about 6:15 AM. It was a really gorgeous morning and the sunrise was almost mars like in my rear view mirror. Just a really great 75 mile ride. I didn't have much to do but torque the wheels and adjust the rear shocks before the race. The first time out I was sandwiched inbetween a boat load of cars and really had no where to go. It was so slow that my lap times were a full minute faster in the second heat. The second run I decided to wait until it had started to go out and give myself some room. The race was black flagged right when I got in my car! Luckily I ended up with some space to RACE!

Let's start with the good first. :D The car really really surprised me. :yes: It really stuck to the track well and the handling was fantastic. The brakes I conintually whine about were actually really good on the track. Once they get a little heat in them they work great. I still liked a quick pump before the corners but it wasn't really needed. The motor ran really strong and I never saw the oil pressure drop below 25psi in the corners. I'd say the accumlator is working well. It was around 90 degrees in the first run and almost 100 in the second. :faint: Water temps hit 210 and stayed there. I really don't know how hot the oil got. I shot the oil filter and it was 200 and the oil pan was bewteen 210-250. Hot enough I would say.

The bad: I lost almost all my power steering about 3 laps into my first run and it came back a little and was notchy as hell. The second heat I was running way faster and pushing the car. It once again lost most of the power steering and at the end of the heat the front seal on the pump puked some fluid. The pump is junk. It was ok on the way home but still a little notchy here and there. I work out alot and trying to steer 275mm R888's around a road course is like arm wresting super man.

All and all a great day that was cut a little short. I just need to buy a better power steering pump from turn one. I ended up running the 4th quickest lap of the novice group. I suppose 15-20 of the 30-40 cars has transponders.

Here are some photos and video Kelli took for me.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...Racing2Fav.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...Racing2010.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...acing2Fav1.jpg

Two cars ahead of me went off the track and I'm telling you it was like being in the closet with the lights out. It was like days of thunder man. I slowed way the hell down and putted through the cloud of dust. Check it out!
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...ing2Filthy.jpg

The video quality is pretty bad. I gave Kelli a ton of crap but she actually did pretty well since it was really hard for her in the places available. There really isn't any action of my fastest portions but you get the drift. Triple digits were definitely in play big time. We ran 3.2 miles and the other end was the fast portion.





Last but certainly not least, the victory donut!



It was definitely a "watch this" moment!

Sounds like a good day Todd. So new steering pump is on the list, I take it.
You must have crapped yourself when the 2 cars wiped out in front of you. I can't believe how much dust collected on your car because of that.
Glad you and Payback came out ok.:thumbsup: :cheers:

Man thats soo cool. My guess is you'll be back soon. Man Im jealous!

looking good bro i enjoyed the you victory vid very nice:cheers:

"Yeah.. HOT ROD!!" lol.... Looks like a fun time. The Camaro sounded real good. :thumbsup:

and there it was. :lol: Looks like a great day despite the little steering pump issue.

:thumbsup:

Congrads Todd--very cool. Next time will be even better i'm sure.

What gives on the P/S pump? Was it a stocker--just wondering why the failure--did the fluid get to hot perhaps?

Doug

It was definitely overheating of the power steering fluid. I'll research some pumps and probably end up with a cooler. I can't say I didn't expect and issue, but not in 3 laps. The car really was getting it! After trying to muscle it around a some corners, I fully understand why that stock type 2 pump said f u. LOL

Great day Curtis. Wish I could've run a few more full bore laps but I knew it was a shake down run since I had planned to run an autocross event and honestly wasn't fullly prepared for the road course.

I will say that the pavement was absolutely perfect out there today. It was a thrill to run on that road course. I really hadn't even come close to memorizing the course. If only I could get rid of the redneck gene.