New guy building a road race car..... - F-Body Road Racing and Autocross Forums

Wanted to introduce myself. New to road racing but not new to cars.
Have been an avid drag racer for years, but 2 years ago I did my first track night thanks to SCCA and I got hooked.
Talked the wife into allowing another race car in the garage. (I refuse to get rid of my 02 Formula. Too much blood, sweat, and tears invested.)

I scored a legit 97 1LE Camaro which should give me a nice start.

Did basic maintenance on it and attended my first event at PIR. Had some brake issues. So did the mandatory C5 front brake upgrade.
Removed the original Koni yellows and put some HD bilsteins for now. Added BMR springs, sub frame connectors, panhard bar, lcas and lca brackets. I know some of these things may offer no benefit for road racing...
I did upgrade to zr1 17X9 wheels and 275 888s all around.

Next event hit the track and had a great time. At some point I did miss a shift which I feel resulted in a blown head gasket.
So had to pull the heads. Since I was that far in I dropped new lifters in for cheap insurance. New valve springs, seals, and added 1.6 rr. Then headers and a cat back.

So where am I now?
Car is completely gutted. Cage is installed. Working on a dash. Spaghetti Menders kit is handling the car wiring and I re did the stock engine harness to remove all the un needed stuff.
Long list of parts to install but I want to make the next Track Night on August 9.

Where am I headed?
Ultimately I want to run the Lucky Dog series here in the west coast. Probably a year out from that.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello.

Larry

Agformula02 View Member Profile	Jun 29 2019, 08:13 PM Post #1
newbie Group: Members Posts: 4 Joined: 29-June 19 Member No.: 224,137	Wanted to introduce myself. New to road racing but not new to cars. Have been an avid drag racer for years, but 2 years ago I did my first track night thanks to SCCA and I got hooked. Talked the wife into allowing another race car in the garage. (I refuse to get rid of my 02 Formula. Too much blood, sweat, and tears invested.) I scored a legit 97 1LE Camaro which should give me a nice start. Did basic maintenance on it and attended my first event at PIR. Had some brake issues. So did the mandatory C5 front brake upgrade. Removed the original Koni yellows and put some HD bilsteins for now. Added BMR springs, sub frame connectors, panhard bar, lcas and lca brackets. I know some of these things may offer no benefit for road racing... I did upgrade to zr1 17X9 wheels and 275 888s all around. Next event hit the track and had a great time. At some point I did miss a shift which I feel resulted in a blown head gasket. So had to pull the heads. Since I was that far in I dropped new lifters in for cheap insurance. New valve springs, seals, and added 1.6 rr. Then headers and a cat back. So where am I now? Car is completely gutted. Cage is installed. Working on a dash. Spaghetti Menders kit is handling the car wiring and I re did the stock engine harness to remove all the un needed stuff. Long list of parts to install but I want to make the next Track Night on August 9. Where am I headed? Ultimately I want to run the Lucky Dog series here in the west coast. Probably a year out from that. Anyway, just wanted to say hello. Larry

SuperMacGuy View Member Profile	Jul 1 2019, 12:35 AM Post #2
Experienced Member Group: Advanced Members Posts: 1,021 Joined: 18-September 04 From: State College, PA Member No.: 462	I would totally put Koni's back in. I've not been on Bilstein but I'd never run them. Koni's or .... well maybe some super expensive Penskes (haha). A Viking setup from Strano maybe. You'd also want to be aware of: Front wheel hub upgrades sooner or later probably even better brakes brake ducting/cooling for sure

Agformula02 View Member Profile	Jul 7 2019, 09:13 PM Post #3
newbie Group: Members Posts: 4 Joined: 29-June 19 Member No.: 224,137	QUOTE (SuperMacGuy @ Jul 1 2019, 12:35 AM) I would totally put Koni's back in. I've not been on Bilstein but I'd never run them. Koni's or .... well maybe some super expensive Penskes (haha). A Viking setup from Strano maybe. You'd also want to be aware of: Front wheel hub upgrades sooner or later probably even better brakes brake ducting/cooling for sure Reading up on the hubs. Went ahead and replaced them just in case. Been looking for pictures and ideas on ducting. Almost done rewiring the car. The Independence Day long weekend helped a lot.