New daily driver

I'm sure it wasn't the brightest move ever but I traded in my almost 3 year old Aura for an '05 Z51 with 13k miles, I'm picking it up tomorrow after work. I still have the 3rd gen and will keep autocrossing and modding it as long as it's still around.

Apparently the former owner was in a Corvette club and only took it out on weekends, he traded it in for a new Camaro!

Dealer pics:
(IMG:http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JQnL1ZZVi-E/TGSYUV6g5PI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/c9gMRXgn8dk/1.jpg)
(IMG:http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JQnL1ZZVi-E/TGSYUl1Wf_I/AAAAAAAAA-Y/kBKhglOahuQ/3.jpg)
(IMG:http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JQnL1ZZVi-E/TGSYVKX5Z5I/AAAAAAAAA-g/T9tWkqU9xY8/5.jpg)

Wanted: 315s for an 18" rim

I'm looking for any tire 315mm wide for an 18" rim, Kuhmo uses a 35 and Hoosier makes them in 30 series. These will just be used to size them up on the car so the condition isn't very important, but if they're not too bad I may use them for the first few events of the year. I guess the taller Kuhmos would be better or any street tire would work too. I'm looking for 2 tires right now, but would consider 1 if I get desperate.

Tires must hold air!

I bought a lift...

After months of thinking about which brand to go with, what features I liked, and what size I wanted, I FINALLY decided on a Bend Pak HD-9. I had a chance to look at a different brand in person but didn't like the fact that their cables were exposed which meant that the plate on the top of the posts was trying to be bent. Apparently Bend Pak was pushing out a price increase the beginning of the month so I placed the order a few days early. The lift arrived at the shipping terminal (5 minutes away) and I used a friend's car trailer to get it home. I was able to lift the columns myself, but only one end of the cross tubes. I used an engine lift for the runways. Putting it together wasn't as bad as I expected, I only needed help lifting the posts up after the cross bars were slipped inside. Since positioning the runways was the next step I had help with that as well. The only problem I had assembling was with the hardware that wouldn't torque without stripping. I had to replace the hardware myself after I was told they would only send me more of the same hardware! The bolts were labeled 4.8 on the head and are 12MMx1.75, the torque spec was 80 ft-lbs. I wound up replacing them with socket head cap screws supposedly grade 12.9, that's what I asked for at least.

I know there is a whole 2 post vs. 4 post debate but I bought the rolling jack to get the wheels off, so I should be good to go.

(IMG:http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JQnL1ZZVi-E/SlqWKink-jI/AAAAAAAAAmI/K5E-yC14A4U/s512/IMG_0695.JPG)

(IMG:http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JQnL1ZZVi-E/Sl3XS96G6nI/AAAAAAAAAm4/XSGHVhiiSHM/s512/IMG_0711.JPG)

Evo school

I signed up for phase 1 and 2 of the New York Evo school in a few weeks.

I'm assuming everyone takes the school on street tires since 20 to 40 runs for each day can use up a set of R compounds. Right now I have 45 runs on mine and want them to last the season, another 4 events at about 8 runs each.

Is there anything unusual I should expect for the weekend.... besides a ton of vehicular abuse?

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif) Hoping for no rain!

Devens National Tour

I'm thinking about going to the Devens Tour this year but have a few general questions.

What hotel does everyone usually stay in?
How secure is the site at night? Can we leave the cars and trailers on-site instead of dragging everything to the hotel Friday and Saturday nights? I think I would rather leave my tire trailer there than an unsecured hotel parking lot. Can you tell I'm a bit paranoid?
How hectic is the schedule, such as... do the organizers get ticked off if you don't head to impound exactly on time? I haven't been to a national event.
Are the tech guys looking for any reason possible to kick cars out, my 5 point is about 8 years old. It has Y shoulder belts and I want to do a roll bar and individual shoulder belts when I replace them.
Any advice for a first timer at a national event?
Lastly... is anyone traveling through northern Jersey with a (half-empty) two car hauler to get there?

I still haven't decided if I want to go, the 4 hour drive has something to do with it. I'm not sure if I can procure a car trailer for the weekend. Also, I'm not all that competitive locally so I would be going just to be beaten by a different group of people... yet no one has registered in CP yet!