I got the exhaust welded back up, flushed the trans with Motul 600, new pads, and repaired the brake ducts.

tranny is still acting up, but im hoping it will hold together until I need a clutch. then Ill swap in a new throwout bearing.

Had a autocross this weekend. between the rain and being mothers day not many showed.

in line to run. and the storm hits.


track was perfect for my car, very open and fast. sadly with the rain I couldn't take advantage of it.


I ended up being the last run of the day. most everyone had left, the rain had stoped but track was still wet with puddles. I put down a 31.24 which was a second and a half faster than my previous runs. I was super stoked with the time.
Fastest Run Video
https://youtu.be/THblrLoQsmI

which was good enough for 2nd place! I was super happy with that. the guy in first was driving a S2000 which was 700lbs lighter, with 71R tires, and was a great driver to boot. I knew my boat had no chance to compete with that. amped with my time though.



There was also a guy there with a Shifter Kart:shock:. I somehow talked my way into a drive. Ive never driven one or even a 2 stroke for that matter. The hand clutch and left foot braking was unnatural to me, but I didn't spin out that was my goal. what a blast! the acceleration and steering was insane. very quick. now I neeeeeed one
I didn't know what I was doing and let it get off the pipe a couple times, but it was still an absolute blast!





Kart Run
https://youtu.be/u_PIjOiuHHs

Pics from last event.
First day and a half was a bust. with the rain, fog, and ambulance not showing up there was virtually no laps run. but sunday afternoon the sun poped out and they stayed open and extra 3 hours.



Guy that pitted next to me Z06. his 2nd or 3rd vettes hes tracked all over the country. he couldnt keep up. super nice dude.






I like this pic because you can see me trail braking, sliding the rear into T10




Also passed my ride along and got my Yellow run group approval! next level is with the instructors!
Saturday on my first test i failed, coming into 13/14/15 Esses a new Z/28 had spun into the grass, and i missed him and the yellow flag, barreling right threw at race speeds. next day i got my second test with the head instructor and passed with flying colors.!!




Video:, 3rd lap i catch a NASA camaro and get to do a lap with him. couldnt touch is power to weight on the straight!


VID
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnXuSo3UvPc

Pics from this months PDS

GTR was loud and quick coming out of the corners, but I was able to get by him in a lap.


Radical RXC






This was a husband and wife Pair of vipers. They did not have a good sunday.
This was the husbands car. Sunday morning he put it into the concrete wall around the T13 flag stand. crushed the whole side of the car in.
(before pic)


This was the wifes car


Sunday afternoon she backed into the wall between T3 and T4. HARD. I was on track at the time. we went red flag stop on track for a long time. was scary/creepy. she left in an ambulance on a stretcher with at least a broken arm.




my parents made the drive for the first time to watch me so that was really cool. some footage my dad took, on the front stretch, and the slowest T10 corner. long intro
https://youtu.be/bL_OJ3l3FLw

and I had a big spin coming into T1. I was hitting my highest MPH ever at 142, and the second I turn into 1 I hit a surprise rain shower
https://youtu.be/n6NzTJmJfIQ

No wonder you don't like autocross. That first gear junk looks miserable

NICE!

What engine was in that Radical??

OUCH!! to those two Viper$.

Last weekends AutoX. Largest track yet, 2 parking lots. but lots of lock to lock hairpins, so it was hard to be smooth.

Before I went I had to repair the broken collector on my exhaust. TIGed it back together.


and my old Dunlops were shot already. decided to try a full race slick scuff.#becauseracecar




but first I had to properly dispose of the old tires
https://youtu.be/nsZuexzrn7U

cars from the event

a few runs
https://youtu.be/BRtPpajT2kI

I couldn't get the hang of all the lock to lock stuff, course just had no flow to it, so I wasn't super happy with my driving, but did well enough for 2nd place. Lost by .06 seconds. not bad I guess against a 800lb lighter S2000. great driver too.

Nice results.

Are those Contis really just re-branded Hoosier R7s, or is their construction and compounding completely different from those gumballs??

ill be honest I don't know. I was just told they were made by hoosier for conti.
I know a bit about 200tw tires, but don't know jack about slicks or R compounds.

I have seen a few comments on the Contis that suggest they may not be the stickiest of slicks out there.

well after taking a couple months off due to the heat, i headed back to the track.

but first had to tear out the trans. the last few races id been getting alot of noises from the trans. squealing when the clutch was out(engaged) and some other odd things going on.
my hunch was a slave/throwout bearing, but i ordered a new clutch and pilot bearing just in case.

got it pulled night before the event




and it turned out my hunch was right. the transmission is getting so hot racing, that it evaporated/melted all the grease out of the throw out bearing and started destroying itself. even melted the rubber seal(as seen in pic below). you can also see the black snoot and silver back plate have wear marks all over them and ground down. its only 8 months old. with that kinda heat im sure the return spring wasnt doing much either.


new throwout/slave fixed it right up. left the pilot and clutch alone.

off to the track! finally get to try out these slicks for the first time!


unfortunately in my second session on the warm up lap, my seat back broke (inner hinge)
swaping seats would have taken most of the day with the 1/2" tube seat mounts i made. so i opted for a quick fix. took a few sessions to get it just right but it worked. luckily i never got caught. seat was actually stiffer than it was before the break. was kinda nice.




got a bit lazy on the video this time. just a few warm up laps getting used to the slicks. i was VERY careful on them and didnt trust them at all. been warned too much about how they are ice when cold, and when they do let go its instant with no warning. heres a few warm up laps that morning, no one watches these anyway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTCrBrYJK8U

sadly my weekend came to a quick end just before lunch on the second day. was checking hot psi and noticed the passenger front was toast. (ccw track) lasted ONE day, about 3 hours of track time, and ended my weekend. i had camber set pretty well with my 200TW tires, but obviously the slicks needed ALOT more.
a very fast and very expensive lesson.


and heres the crappy part, they didnt even make me faster, not even a little. in fact i was nearly 3 seconds slower than my personal fastest lap there. i was running 2:02 to 2:04 as my fastest lap per session on the slicks. typically on the 200TW i run 2:00 to 2:02 for fastest lap, with my all time fastest laps being in the 1:59s. really a bummer and big disappointment with the slicks.

but you learn something everytime. now i know.

4 things.

1: Your car sounds so good!
2: That seat...wtf
3: It looked like you were really taking it easy. I'd be willing to bet you were no where near the limits of those tires. It is true that slicks will give you less warning, but the characteristics of your car really won't change. Slicks won't turn your car into an Elise, a car that is a little touchy at the edge. So find some safe corners and start experimenting with carrying more speed into the turn and getting on try gas sooner.
4: I don't care what kind of track surface it is, you weren't pushing it hard enough to chord a tire like that in only a few sessions. Something ain't right. What are your alignment specs and what were your hot pressures?

thanks!
i know
yes in the vid i definatly was. i had been warned/scared so many times online about slicks ( ice when cold, no warning when pass limits etc) that i almost feared them. but by the afternoon i found none of those to be true and was able to push them.

-1.2 camber
0 toe
31F/30R hot.

I think your front pressures are a little low. I'm looking forward to seeing what others say

Let me know the next time you go race at TWS .. I'll come watch ..

Expensive lesson? Nah, you bought take-offs. Do that with NEW slicks, and you're getting expensive. But a full-bodied car with 3 hours of driving is a LOT of time on slicks, especially take-offs. But yeah, it looks like you need more camber.

Well after racing the Camaro for awhile and building it up i found myself wanting more. Well actually less, weight that is. I also wanted the ability to have rear camber. Plus the Camaro was getting harder and harder to find parts for. Sooooo after watching the C6Z market for about 9 months and doing a ton of research i picked up my first vette yesterday!

2009 Z06 3LZ
38000 miles



















If i was going to spend this kind of coin i wanted a modded one with the basics already done, and this one had it, along with some extras.

Mod List:

TSP Stage 3 LS7S cam: 242/250 .655/.655 114LSA
Upgraded valve springs and retainers
TSP 1-7/8" Polished Stainless Steel headers
TSP 3" Polished Stainless Steel X-pipe (no cats)
K & N cold air intake
Mild 2 Wild dual mode exhaust controller
Lingenfelter 160 degree thermostat
Hinson Motorsports short throw shifter and knob
CCW Forged SP16A wheels: 19 x 9.5 and 19 x 13
Gloss black wrapped roof
Blacked out taillights
Blacked out side markers
Lloyds Z06 mats
Pioneer double din touch screen head unit

Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayjHmPiNZI4

Gonna be weird starting all over again from nothing but it will be worth it in the end i think. The car is truly phenomenal so far. LOTS more to come!

Nice! Now lose te stupid red flappy bits over the engine, so it can keep cooler. I never understood that crap!

Thanks!
haha yeah, i took them off the camaro too, (i had added carbon fiber FRC to it when i was doing car shows years ago)

Wow didn't see that coming. That thing is sick! Congrats!

The LS7 has some oiling issues, right?

Are you selling your Camaro or are you going to hang onto it?

HOLY SHIT ! ... that thing is beautiful !

I've always toyed with the idea of selling my '82/'02/'87 ... and picking up a C5Z06 / C6Z51 ... but I'm never able to convince myself to sell the '82 (it was my 2nd car)

~DaVe

haha Thanks!
no not oil issues(well not any different than any other road raced LS), they have valve guide issues.

the Camaro will get offered up for sale.

crazy part is the day after i bought it BMR Suspension contacted me wanting to sponsor my Camaro with some of there new parts.
i couldnt believe it but told them they were 1 day too late

Didn't see that coming either...New ride looks sweet.. congrats ...

Long time visitor to this website, but I haven't been on in a while. Wow, awesome job detailing your trials and tribulations with your Camaro and now with your Vette. I usually don't read too much further than the first page on most blogs but you captured my attention and kept me reading because I was curious to find out what was next. The photos were awesome too, they helped paint a picture of how things were going.

Did you get rid of the Camaro?

Curious about Cadillac brakes you put on the front. Did you order them as a kit from a vendor online? I have C5 calipers on the front of my 94 and they seen pretty good. Was there a huge improvement when you went to those?

thanks! ive been blown away at how many different people on different forums actually follow this thread. i did it just for a place to log my progress for myself using the forum as free webspace.

i still have the camaro for now. will clean it up and sell it. (has rubber all over it)
no not a kit, bought rotors, calipers, and brake lines all seperate.
huge improvement would be a massive understatement.... it was like going from a kite to a F-16

well work has begun.
First thing was to remove the Hinson short shifter, it was rediculous. Ive had several short throws on the camaro, but this one was way to short and stiff. throws were 1/4" to 1/2" long and so stiff you needed two hands at times. especially for neutral checks. even tore my shoulder muscle a couple times. and with throws that close it wasnt going to be safe on track. ie lots of wrong gears.

first i removed the console which was alot more involved than the SS.


access and removed the Hinson


then reinstalled a stock shifter. much better. a bit rubbery but a big improvement for now, may look into a Core shifter in the future.

next up was the pan. picked up an improved racing oil pan baffle. i picked this one over the aviaid version because it was aluminum, and didnt require you to drill 3 holes in the bottom of your oil pan. also wraps around the right side a bit more.


first up was to drop the cradle. being Magnesium it didnt way nothing. could carry it with one hand!




pan removed




pan cleaned and baffle bolted in. not a hard job in itself, just getting to it was the chore.

next up was the dry sump oil reservoir baffle. Aviaid was out of these but they one built for me and it came in right when we were in the middle of the pan baffle.

removed the reservoir from the fender cavity from below by removing the fender liner and loosing the fender bolts.


removed the top black plastic part. you can see the transfer tube and the port in sticks into on the left.




the baffle


next was the hard part, inserting the baffle and trying to get the transfer tube back into its port completely blind with the baffle blocking your view. but with some reference marks and some dry runs without the baffle i got it back together without too much hassle.

Dude, did you support the motor by the crank pulley?

only as a back up. the motor is hung my chains on a forklift supporting its weight from above.

Oh, thank god. You had me nervous.

Pulled the valve cover off to check the LS7s achilles heel, the valve guides.
after checking 3 of them and getting .009 and .010 wobble (.007 is max) it was obvious they were bad.


so time to pull them. Intake off


heads and headers off




Sent off to AHP in California....
i keep telling myself this is what everyone does to there car thats 2 weeks old...

while i had them off i decided to paint the intakes and valve covers the z06 red since i wasnt going to put the red fuel rail covers back on (just hold heat) took me a couple days but they came out great!



there was some confusion about the cam when i bought the car. the ad said it was a custom comp cams .615 lift, then when i bought it they said it was a TSP Stage 3 LS7S cam with .655 lift.
(going back in time before removing heads)
we set up dial indicator on pushrod.
the first rotation we got .355, second pass we got .351.


if you average those you get .353
.353 x 1.8 (rockers) you get .6354 lift.
so i go on texas speed and what do i find. they have a stage 1 and stage 2 cam with that lift! went from an unknown cam to narrowing it down to 2!


also found TSP 3/8" chromoly pushrods in the car

All that red paint is going to insulate, too, you know?

Better to catch the issues now, instead of down the front straight at TWS as you are coating the finish line with some fresh oil.

threw the magic of the internet the heads are done and back from AHP! (2 weeks later with shipping and holidays)
man they look awesome! so good in fact i thought they were painted.

AHP Package 4 Heads (include):
- Disassemble and Assembly of LS7 cylinder heads
- Performance Valve Job (show to add 5hp+ over the stock valve job)
- Resurface Heads (or milling of heads)
- Clean and Bead Blast entire head (so they look brand new)
- Hardened Aftermarket Powder Metal Valve Guides (Harder than aftermarket bronze guides)
- Stock Titanium Intake Valves Treated and Polished
- Ferrea Competition Plus Exhaust Valves F2042P (85 grams)
- New Viton Valve Seals and machined valve locks

i also had them mill the heads .025 for more compression and upgrade to the bullet proof Moldstar90 guides.


heads back on


added .025 shorter pushrods to compensate for head mill and put intake and valve covers back on. love the look!


first fire up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_5ZRrv2iUk

rear downforce time.
Went with the C7 Carbon Extended Zr1 spoiler.
Took them about 6 weeks to make it, but it was worth the wait. Fit and finish was awesome. Resin is super deep and glass smooth, weave is straight and consistent. fit the complex bumper curves well.
Ironically i actually ordered this before i found the car...

I went a little nuts with the pics, but i like the way it came out.

lights out


drilling brand new car #nervous


installing 3rd brake light. left side i was able to use factory tab. right side i had to cut the tab and hold it on with a ground down washer. The hardest part of the whole project was repluging in the 3rd brake light plug.


test fit


Done!




dat ass

That thing is magically sexy. Nice work! That's a sweet toy. Well done.

Kinda need to update your sig. I'm just saying.

thanks guys. "magically sexy", i like that. gotta remember to use that one on the wife

i still own the Camaro. so technically the sig is still relevant.

When are you getting that thing on the track! I need videos!

Got it.

That thing must be pretty quick to have knocked the tail lights out of the bumper cover like that.

ive still got a garage full of parts to finish track prepping it. pads, brake ducts, wheels/tires etc. i hope to finally hit the track for its first shake down in January or February

and poping out tail lights on these cars does happen on the track. i should know, had a base c6 car in front of me once at TWS. tail light poped out and i ran over it in the camaro. was a gal that was pitting next to me.
its just one tiny 3mm screw than holds them in. if that tiny plastic tab breaks, pop, out they come.

Glad I could help.

since the beginning i knew i wanted black headlights, but because its such a popular mod, and because GM hasnt made these headlights in years, they typically fetch a 4 figure price tag when a set comes up for sale.
so i decided to make my own. got super lucky and found a 3 month old set on ebay in a less desirable cheaper color. pretty much new condition including lenses.

started by baking them in the oven and prying. had to repeat this 5-10 times per headlight. HUGE PITA. took 4-5 hours.


Finally!



disassembled



wet sanded, degreased, and ready for paint


5 coats later

polishing, i wont even bother going into this huge ordeal....


reassembling


after a ton of research i settled on loctite PL roof and flash. WARNING, if you have kids, dogs, wife etc, this stuff smells EXACTLY like chocolate cake. im not kidding, even once dry for weeks. keep out of reach


no going back now


clamped. rinse and repeat for other side.


threw in a pair of 3k(yellow) HID headlights (right) ie C6R style.

wheels and tires.

Square setup 4x

18 x 10.5
315/30/18 Rival S







unfortunatly they wouldnt clear my calipers. bought some 1/4" spacers first but those were only enough for the rear. the front needed 12mm spacers. Both hub centric. also picked up some extended shank lugs to grab more threads lost from the spacers.



bingo

Bumper and headlights removed and parts pile

Splitter/bumper reinforcement
Spindle brake ducts
Tow hook
Race pads
Fog light brake ducts
Race mesh
Blacked out headlights
LED DRLs




picked up towhook from JDP Motorsports. instead of using the supplied press in nuts, i bought and welded some nuts to a piece of steel...


marked hole locations in bumper bar


drilled view from inside bumper bar


stuck steel "handle" with nuts welded to it in bumper bar and tightened. cut off excess after tight. beats taping wrenches to sticks or the pressed in nuts.




cut grill for tow hook

WOW ! This car just keeps getting better and better ! The black headlights are going to look NICE

I don't know how to top "magically sexy". Maybe I should have saved that one.

You're making me want one of these (not that I didn't already).