[SSLance]

I just thought I'd update a few things and report back on the upgrades I did to the car over the last winter.

This season so far the car has 2100 miles put on it, around 70 autocross runs, 15 speed stop runs, (5) 20 minute sessions of road course action, and the rest is daily driving miles. The car is currently leading the local SCCA CAM class championship points and has been invited to attend The Speedway Motors Classic American Muscle Invitational Challenge at the SCCA Pro-Solo finale in Lincoln, NE next month.

During all of this I had to replace the clutch finally and refresh the rear axle seals and bearings, both upgrades came with issues during installation, but once corrected have performed flawlessly ever since.

Last winter I rebuilt the Power Steering system replacing the stock style pump with a reman unit and adding a power steering fluid cooler inline between the steering box and the pump. The fluid was replaced with Royal Purple power steering fluid and I have not had to think about the power steering system once since then...it has stood up to a LOT of abuse this year and kept on running like a Timex. Successful upgrade...

I added 9.5" rims up front and Falken Azenis 615K 275/40/17s on all four corners and this might have been the best upgrade yet. They just flat out work and the extra width up front along with the ability to rotate them around to even wear has been a great combination. They are currently starting to get a bit thin...they might get me through the Pro-Solo and Nationals, but I have canceled my registration for our local events 9 & 10 this weekend as they are going to be at Heartland Park Topeka once again and that surface there just chews tires to pieces and mine won't last through another weekend of that abuse. I've put out some feelers trying to get a little bit of help with some new tires for Nationals, we'll see how that goes. Love the Falkens though...definitely the go to performance tire for the type of driving I have been doing.

The body bushing project...I can't really say it has made a huge difference in the car's performance, but I can say that I'm pretty certain the old bushings would not have held up to the abuse I put the car through this year. I'm glad I did it...and I'm glad I won't have to do it again any time soon.

Things currently being considered are some more front end alignment changes. I need to get less static camber in the front which will involve removing a nut between the driver side UCA shaft and the frame and then all new alignment procedures. I also need to 4 corner weigh the car again and get it set to be balanced with just the driver in the car. At the Pro-Solo and at Solo Nationals you can't take passengers so I need to set the car up to be at it's best with just me in the car.

I also recently split a sway bar end link bushing and instead of just replacing it, I've ordered a RideTech MuscleBar front sway bar. I'm hoping I'll have time to get it, get it installed and get all of the other alignment and ride height settings updated before Nationals in a month...along with some time to test n tune on the car. This bar is around 30% stiffer than the bar currently in the car and will necessitate a rear spring rate change as well...but should make a huge improvement in the handle of the car on the track. It still just rolls way too much as it is now.

Overall the car has been fantastic to drive this year, everyone that rides with me on track has a blast in it, it always gets lots of pictures taken of it, and overall the response to it has been a lot of fun. I wouldn't change any of that.

Plans for next year are kind of up in the air right now...I really REALLY had fun at the USCA event and told the wife right after that if I could do a few more of those a year, I'd give up the local SCCA racing. That would necessitate at least a 4 point roll bar addition as well as some race seats and harnesses. I'm still mulling that around...