I hate threads like these, but I feel compelled to ask. The car has a lot left to go as far as parts. It still has stock wheels, tires, brakes, rear axle and front suspension. I'm still in school and have about $3K-$4K to spend on the car per summer after I take care of other expenses.

What it has so far:
Suspension
STB, DSL, Spohn Rod/poly LCA's and PHR (Front/Rear LG swaybars and SFC's sitting in the garage)
Engine
Heads, cam, boltons... will probably bump up to a new cam and bigger injectors, but the motor in general is pretty much done
Drivetrain
T56 swap, Street Twin, stock steel d/s and 4.10's

Here's what I want to do as far as parts. I think I'm going to buy things by the group (e.g. all the suspension stuff, then all the safety stuff, etc. as money becomes available). Groups are listed by priority.


Drivetrain
LS1 Driveshaft

Suspension
Coilovers
Torque Arm
A-arms (depends on what the LG K-member needs)

Chassis
K-member

ZR1 Wheels / Tires
C5 Brakes

Safety
6 or 8 point bar
Recaro Speed / SRD seats
Sabelt or Sparco 6 points

Misc
Canton RR pan (after talking with Jordan Musser and others about this I think I'll take my chances)
VFN bolt-on stock hood (18 lbs)

Any comments?

Here's the order I'd go for:
driveshaft (although I'd get something besides the LS1 unit)
coilovers
ZR1 wheels/tires
C5 brakes
torque arm
seats
cage
harnesses
hood
GW upper A arms (LG k member should take stock or aftermarket, otherwise I woudn't get it)
kmember

1) What do you intend to use the car for, or how many different uses do you need to try to compromise for? Drag, daily driving, autocross, open tracking, etc all require different setups (some more different than others). I'm not sure everything on your list is working toward the same goal, whatever that is.

2) What SPECIFIC problems are you trying to correct. By that I mean things like wheelspin in a right hand turn, axle skipping over bumps, snap oversteer, etc. The obvious answer is that you want EVERYTHING to be better. It ain't gonna happen. Installing all the cool parts will not do it.

This is not in any way intended as a flame, BTW - just trying to divert you away from the "throw money" approach. For instance, a lot of what you're looking at sounds like you're building a car for open tracking. However, the 4.10 gears may not be the way to go for that - it sounds more like you want a drag car. However, if that's the case you should probably be looking at a 12 bolt or 9" rear, which you probably don't want for autocrossing, etc.

To answer your question, though, I don't see "good" shocks on your list, or race wheels and tires, or a tire trailer and hitch, upgraded radiator, etc.

No offense taken Sean. You raised some good questions that I probably should have mentioned...

1. I'm building the car up for open tracking with weekend summer-only street use. I would like to try and keep it to where I could take it out on the street and have some degree of creature comfort (read: dash and carpet).

2. As far as correcting problems, I can't speak from experience since I have never autocrossed or open tracked before. "Better handling" is obviously a very broad term. I suppose all I can say at the moment is that I want to decrease body roll and make the car brake better, but that's a very vague response. I'm sure with a little time at the track I would be able to make a much more clear definition of what I'm looking for.

Coilover wise I'm looking at the LG set, which seem to be pretty well-liked (I wanted to avoid saying brands for fear of another coilover thread from hell).

First things first, if you've never open tracked before, then don't do anything to the car. Get some track time with the car first, then post the results. From there, I'm sure we can all help you with how to make the car faster. The thing that is going to make the biggest difference is the driver. After that, shocks, tires and brakes will be the first things to look at. With the list I sorted above, I assumed you planned good shocks with the coilover setup. Before starting a lot of mods though, I'd spend the money on a performance driving school. A good driver with a well setup "stock" f-body will be able to outrun a fully modded car with a poor or inexperienced driver.

Anyway, here's what I'd really recommend for you at this point if you have the money. Koni SA shocks, LS1 or C5 front brakes, ZR1 (17x9.5") wheels with durable race rubber (Nitto 555R IIs would be my choice). Then take the extra money that you would spend on the other mods and go to school. After that, spend all the extra money on as much track time as you can. Then, if you still have money left over, buy a tow vehichle and trailer (because you will eventually break something).

1. Creature comfort, though a stiff (stiffer?) ride, is still possible (depending on your definition of comfortable). That can be done.

2. For open track, I'd lose the 4.10 gears (first things first). (and something other than an LS1 D/S is a good idea, try lingenfelter or others).

As for "never autocrossed/open tracked before". I would "stop the presses" and quit buying parts (for now). Fix the driver. Get some track time/autocross time under your belt. There are several reasons for this.

1. Seat time is the best way to learn how the car reacts, how you react and if your modifications have made the car easier or more difficult (should be easier) to drive (and drive quickly).

2. With heads and a cam already on the car, it will be fast (should be) and the more power you have to play with, the better your chances of "doing something stupid" (it's easier to overpower the rear tires while exiting a corner and backing into a wall, etc). The more changes you make to the car, the more chance you have of making it difficult to drive (accidentally). This may steepen the learning curve (and add cost).

3. As for brands. I don't suspect that we will see another "coilover thread" anytime soon. So, you are free to discuss whatever you want. There are lots of options that are "pretty well liked" and some are less expensive than others (I have Koni DA's and love them).

These are my thoughts, others may vary.

Have fun!

I had forgotten about the coilovers when I mentioned shocks - the LG setup comes with Bilstein race shocks. One key thing to keep in mind is that the LG coilovers can't reuse the Konis. However, the stock shocks do suck (even for daily driving), and good shocks should be high on your list. So, there are some money management decisions to make. If you won't be ready to buy the LG setup for a while but want to get there someday, a set of revalved Bilsteins will help a lot in the meantime, and will be a little cheaper than the Konis.

I mostly agree with the seat time before modding comments above, with one exception. At a minimum, you need brake pads that can take some heat before you hit the track. You may not need the ultimate setup yet, but street pads really aren't up to the challenge.

I would switch to a good street pad setup such as Hawk HPS all around for everday use, and then get a spare set of rotors and race pads for the front for track use. The race pads should *NOT* be used for daily driving.

Now he tells me......

Hey, some people LIKE getting the rotors reground every time they drive - keeps 'em from warpin'

When you put the upgraded shocks in I would go ahead and install some GC coilovers. They work well and you could easily fit them into your budget with shocks one summer. Shocks will be a help alone, but if you're going through the trouble to change them in the front, springs come along for the ride. Later, since you have coilovers on the car it makes it that much easier to upgrade spring rates or the like (no spring compressor needed, and a lot of time saved, as well as weight).

I'd prioritize it as follows:

1. springs/shocks
2. front brakes - LS1 at minimum or Stoptech as best currently available. The LT1 brakes are just horrific on track if you're even close to pushing them hard for a few laps.
3. good alignment
4. Nitto RII tires on 17x9.5" wheels (or maybe 17x9 SLP wheels cheap if you can find them)


Just those changes will make your car easier and more consistent to drive on the track. I think that's important when you're just starting out.

Sounds good... track time it is. I'll look into some of the Putnam Park events coming up in October... I don't know if there's still time to register for the one in May.

What about driving schools? I've seen a couple mentioned in AZ and Texas, but how about the midwest?

I'm sure Putnam Park in May is not full.

http://www.tracktime.com/ is a driving school I enjoyed. They have many different types of schools to choose from and have events right in our neck of the woods.