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 11 2019, 12:57 AM Post #2
Experienced Member Group: Advanced Members Posts: 1,017 Joined: 18-September 04 From: State College, PA Member No.: 462	The z51 Corvette brakes (4 piston) also fit with only drilling. But requires 18 inch wheels. Light rotors can be had from https://weaponxmotorsports.com I enjoy the base size caliper on my upgrade. There is apparently also a Camaro caliper that uses 12mm bolts, so no drilling. Some info and link to my video here: http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=18315 IMO stock hubs wont last, "breaking them in" has no effect. Xtracker or nothing, for me. My 2¢. Long thread about my hubs woes if you look for it. Looking forward to seeing some pix of your build! :-)