[Spruill242]

Hey guys,

Name is Kyle and live in Va beach. New to the F-body scene but not to road racing. Spent a lot of time running volvos, miatas, and bimmers, your basic momentum cars. So fter a while thought it was time for something else. Found a nice 2000 Trans Am WS6 in the area and took the plunge.

I'm all signed up and ready to go with NASA at VIR in July. Really excited and stoked about learning a whole new car and driving style. I'm glad to see that the road racing support is there for these F-bodies and that I'm not crazy when I thought this car would make a fun track car. I'll be leaving the car stock for this outting to just get an over all feel for the car. I do however have some SS lines, good pads and sticky tires for her. I'm thinking of getting some chassis braces from UMI as well. But only if you guys think thats a good idea. Any other easy tips and tricks or just stuff to look out for would be great.

So I'll be throwing as much of my knowledge about roadracing and F-bodies (as I learn them) out there as I can. And hopefully I'll run into a few of you guys at the track.


Thanks
Kyle

P.S. If for some crazy reason any of you need some tips or help with Volvo 240s, don't hesitate to ask. I have a lot of time under the hood and on track with 240 Volvos and would love to help however I can.

[sgarnett]

As mentioned, the PS fluid (and sometimes the brake fluid) will weep a little around the cap at high temp. The "scrunchy mod" will help contain the drips. Raid your significant other's stash of hair scrunchies (the fluffy elastic pony tail holders), and place them around the filler necks.

BTW, it's common for LS1s to use some oil (even new), and they don't do a great job of keeping the oil where it belongs in the turns. A lot goes through the PCV system, but blowby can also be an issue with the low-tension rings. The factory capacity spec is 5.5 quarts, including the filter. I normally use 6 quarts for a routine oil change, and (per the past advice of others here) ran 6.5 quarts for a recent HPDE (which puts the level between "T" and "G" in "operating" on the dipstick.

The factory oil spec is 10W-30. I've been running Redline 10W-40 for a long time because it reduced my oil consumption. While I was prepping for the track, my local sponsor was out of 10W-40 so I tried the Redline 5W-40. It sat in the cab of my truck in the sun for a few hours before use, and it poured in "like water". I was a bit concerned, but I checked the specs and at 100C it's actually slightly thicker than the 10W-40. On the whole trip of almost 500 highway miles pulling a large, heavy, enclosed tire/tool trailer and enough track time to burn around 20 gallons of fuel, I only used about 3/4 quart, which was less than I expected. The highly scientific oil analysis lab in my nose also suspects that blowby may have been reduced too, compared to the 10W-40. Time will tell, but so far so good.

This post has been edited by sgarnett: Jul 7 2008, 02:50 PM

[Rob Hood]

As mentioned, the PS fluid (and sometimes the brake fluid) will weep a little around the cap at high temp. The "scrunchy mod" will help contain the drips. Raid your significant other's stash of hair scrunchies (the fluffy elastic pony tail holders), and place them around the filler necks.

BTW, it's common for LS1s to use some oil (even new), and they don't do a great job of keeping the oil where it belongs in the turns. A lot goes through the PCV system, but blowby can also be an issue with the low-tension rings. The factory capacity spec is 5.5 quarts, including the filter. I normally use 6 quarts for a routine oil change, and (per the past advice of others here) ran 6.5 quarts for a recent HPDE (which puts the level between "T" and "G" in "operating" on the dipstick.

The factory oil spec is 10W-30. I've been running Redline 10W-40 for a long time because it reduced my oil consumption. While I was prepping for the track, my local sponsor was out of 10W-40 so I tried the Redline 5W-40. It sat in the cab of my truck in the sun for a few hours before use, and it poured in "like water". I was a bit concerned, but I checked the specs and at 100C it's actually slightly thicker than the 10W-40. On the whole trip of almost 500 highway miles pulling a large, heavy, enclosed tire/tool trailer and enough track time to burn around 20 gallons of fuel, I only used about 3/4 quart, which was less than I expected. The highly scientific oil analysis lab in my nose also suspects that blowby may have been reduced too, compared to the 10W-40. Time will tell, but so far so good.

I thought the factory oil spec was 5w-30? That's what is called for in my 99Z and 01HD. I would concur that a thicker weight should be run in competition situations though. IIRC Bondurant runs 15w-50 in their school cars after several engine failures using the 5w-30.

Whatever weight oil you run, the 6.5 (or a whole 7) is very cheap insurance for the lower end.

And yes, replacing the shocks should move very high on your list of upgrades. Most here run Koni's or Bilstein's in various configurations.