1994 Formula

Suspension
Global West upper front control arms (installed winter ’03)
Ground Control spring height adjusters (600 front / 175 rear)
Extra springs 900 front / 225 rear
Bilstein shocks (fronts using Strano revalve)
LG Motorsports aluminum rod end panhard rod (new in box)
LG Motorsports aluminum rod end rear LCAs (installed winter ’03)
21mm rear swaybar (1LE)
35mm front sway bar (hollow Strano bar)
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One of 2 sets wheels/tires will be sold with car for below price:
AFS (black) ZR1 style wheels 17x9.5” with Toyo RA1 275/40/17 tires (installed May ’04, used for 2 sessions)
AFS (black) ZR1 style wheels 17x11” with Goodyear ZRS tires 315/35/17 (installed Fall ’04)
==================================

Body and Chassis
C5 front brakes (spare set of rotors and Cobalt Friction GT VR pads)
Brake ducting
LG Motorsports subframe connectors
BMR shock tower brace
Rollcage done by Jim-Powski Racecraft ( http://www.jim-powski.com/gallery.htm )
All safety equipment approved by NASA for American Iron for ’03 and ’04 season. Have logbook for Putnam Park race in May ’04 and Comp License school September ’03.
Corbeau Forza driver’s seat
Grant small diameter steering wheel
Battery mounted in passenger seat area
Fire system, out of car (have the tank and nozzles as well as activation cable, needs lines)
Fire extinguisher mounted on roll cage
Alan Blaine carbon fiber targa top to replace t-tops – bonded in place (installed winter ’03)
Percy’s Speedglass windshield - 3/16” thick (installed winter ’03)
VFN liftoff fiberglass hood (not painted or installed yet)
Factory hood was just removed this summer to remove engine and will come with the car
Front fascia has been opened up to allow front breather once tube front bumper is made
Transponder mounted (hardwired - installed winter ’03)
Factory t-tops and side windows are out of car but will come with it if wanted

Powertrain
Combination Motorsports 383 rotating assy (new in box)
Eagle crank
Eagle 6” rods
SRP pistons
Rings and bearings
LT1 block – bored .030” over, deck plate honed and line honed (machining currently being done)
2 bolt billet main caps (new in box)
Above engine parts are now with engine builder and work is continuing on building up short block. As work continues the asking price for the full combo goes up, unless the buyer is only interested in a roller and I sell the short block separately
All accessories and other engine parts removed from engine this summer (spun main bearing) will be provided with car if not bought as roller
Stock LT1 heads with EX612 Combination Motorsports valve springs, retainers, guideplates, etc. installed winter ’03 to go with XE224/230/112 camshaft. Springs are good to .600” lift.
Comp Cams pushrods
Spare LT1 short block (bought used for rebuild if needed)
SVO 30 lb/hr injectors (installed winter ’03)
52mm throttle body (installed winter ’03) – bored out new factory unit
Stock throttle body also available if wanted
SLP Jet Hot coated headers (Jet Hot 2000 in black)
Holley cold air intake
SLP throttle body air foil (bored out for 52mm tb)
Long air to oil cooler with Aeroquip steel braided lines (installed summer ’04)
BeCool radiator (installed winter ’03 along with new radiator hoses)
Spare water pump (used, but very low mileage)
Autometer oil temperature gage (installed summer ’04)
LG Motorsports underdrive pulley
Turn One reduced output power steering pump (installed winter ’03)
LS1 (aluminum) and factory LT1 (steel) driveshafts
Lou’s short shifter
T/A rear end girdle and stud mounting kit (not mounted yet)
Torsen T2R
3.73 gears
ECU currently programmed for XE224/230/112 cam with above fuel injectors. Made 340 RWHP on Mustang dyno at 5800 rpm.

Link to pictures of car Sept. ’03. ( http://home.comcast.net/~miketaylor68/GoinRacin.htm ) See above for what has changed since these pictures were taken.

Looking to sell the roller chassis mainly. Email me if you're interested and let me know what parts you might be interested in remaining with the roller chassis and we can talk about price. Fundamentally the minimum I want to sell is the body and all interior mods. To give you an idea, I think about $4000 is right for that, but it's flexible. I don't want to part anything out until the body sells and I get something else.

Until the car sells, work will continue on the car and it will likely be a track day car for me next year as I don’t see that I have the time to maintain and upgrade the car as needed for racing. I now have a 23 month old son and he’s my main interest. Maybe when he gets a little older . . .

As mentioned above, price for everything goes up as more work is done on the engine.

I do hope someone on this board will buy this car so it can be raced as it was intended. I'll miss it when it goes but it's time for me to do some other things in my life.

Email with any questions you may have at miketaylor68"AT"comcast.net

I'm tryin'......

I know Kevin. I hope you can buy it, but I figured I'd better go ahead and place an ad on this board. After this month, if I don't get much interest here I'll expand the listing.

Couldn't go to sleep right away, so I figured I'd add some things I now realize I forgot. All prices are not including shipping.

2 volume factory service manual - $70 (bought Fall '03)
California Car Cover - $150 (only used twice - Stormweave style - waterproof)
Thunder Racing GM cam and head swap gasket set (new in box) - $150
Corbeau passenger seat slider - $50 (used for about 2 track events before this seat was removed and sold)

Prices on wheels/tires above:

9.5" with Toyos - $700 (wheels and tires only used for 2 sessions on track)
11" with Goodyears - $700 (wheels are 2 years old and in excellent shape) These wheels and tires are currently with Eric Vickerman and I haven't seen the tire condition, but Eric stated they were in good condition. If someone is interested in them separately let me know, and I'll get the package from Eric and send along pictures. Price on this set may adjust once I see the tires, as these are ones Eric mounted on the wheels to replace the Kumhos that were originally on the wheels when I loaned them to him this summer to try on his Dad's AIX Camaro.

No problem, I understand completely.

I am stunned.

I wish I had bought something like this at times rather than buying a new car, and then gutting it at 30,000 miles to make it a track car. What a waste of money.....but I was younger and dumber at the time....fresh from school wanting to buy a car that I thought I would keep as a street/track car.....yeah, the 6pt was in within a year.

Lessons to be learned....

No need to be stunned Keith. We've had a few emails along these lines since May. By late Fall I was starting to come to this conclusion. I just have other priorities right now, and racing isn't high enough to motivate me to work hard enough on this car to race next year.

What are the offsets on the 9.5" wheels?

I was stunned as well really. I know you had doubts(karts period) but thought you got past it "made the decision". Personaly, and don't really know you on personal levels, I'm thinking this is not what you really want to do. You've been on the fence for some time obviously. But the fact remains is you have not given up yet and kept working on more ideas and repairs tells me something. You really want to do this but have a hard time dealing w/ it and other lifes deals NOW. You have the bug(car hot rod racing whatever) it don't go away we all know that. I gets worse Have you thought of just storing till you decide you did still want to do this kinda stuff and the time was right?

thing is the stuff you have done and have for this car sold "as is" now(list above) I look at as a REAL GOOD DEAL. You got me thinking MY SON MIGHT LIKE THIS . Cheap Mike.

Yeh, I'm not really looking to make a lot of money off the sale, but I hate seeing the car on jackstands for so long and yet not wanting to just finish it up. I'm definitely in a place right now where having this car isn't doing me much good. It's taking up garage space until it's done, so my wife's minivan is parked outside all the time (not good in the winter here in Detroit) and we're looking at moving to a larger house (need some money) etc. My job is getting harder every year when I move up in responsibility (especially more travel) and all this spells that I won't have the time to race the car anytime soon. Yeh, I could keep it as a hobby car, but for that I'd rather have something that is street legal too.

The 9.5" wheels are the widest offset AFS makes. I seem to remember 38mm.

Mike I'd be interested in the shop manuals. I ASSume the Camaro/Firebird share manuals?

I'd be interested in the seat slider as well.


Not until after the new year. Maybe we could meet up sometime.

Sounds fine Lonnie, but I'd only sell the manuals if the car sells. I'll sell the seat slider whenever you want it.

Mike,

Sorry to hear that. My advice......invest in a car cover....cover the thing up....and ride it out for a while....

It is obvious you are conflicted about this.....just recently you were talking buying a new enclosed trailer and new car set ups.....selling the race car at fire sale prices is not gonna help you do much in the way of moving to a bigger/better house...at least it wouldn't here in California And when things DO SETTLE down....having my second child, who is now 7 months old, I KNOW how you feel....you probably will feel the urge to compete again.....and starting over is a BIG $$$$ commitment.....

I have seen MANY a driver, say..."I'm too busy...."......or "gotta watch expenses......" get out of racing, then come back 1-2 years later.....I have seen some guys do this time and time again....what a waste.

So, if it were me, I would cover the thing up for the next season or so and see where the chips fall.....

Randy

I understand your point Randy, but I've known almost since May that things weren't looking good any time soon for me to race. My goal was to just take my time and rebuild the engine and get back out on the track at a HPDE or the like a couple of times next year and see if I could race the car the next season. However, as the months have gone by I realize the racing bug isn't really in me. I enjoy being out on track, but not the heavy maintenance and schedule keeping it takes to get there consistently. Quite honestly it's this board that has taught me what guys who are really driven to race are like. I've been amazed at how often you're working on your car, and many other guys here on this board are that way too. I used to be a lot more like that, but have just lost that drive.

I'm not that fond of track days because it's very hard to find a group that is aggressive out there and presents a challenge. I suppose I'm a driver without a home.

It doesn't help that every time I go to the track I'm by myself. I was strongly considering an enclosed trailer to help ease that workload, but it would be a tight squeeze to keep it at our current house outside, and renting a storage space for something I'll use only a few times a year just doesn't sit right with me.

It all comes down to this isn't the right time in my life to be racing. Maybe in a couple of years things would be a little better, but I really see myself getting something much smaller and easier to maintain when that time comes. I still am interested in karting mainly because I see that as a great way to bring Garrett into the sport if he's interested in a few years.

I believe that my most likely scenario is to sell my car as a roller and finish building my 383 and keep my 11" wheels and tires. I'll then use the money to buy another F body and put the engine in there. Given my schedule I think I'd be much better off to go back to the dreaded autoxing to help keep my driving skills up and maybe even attend a few driving schools like Bondurant or Bragg Smith in the mean time. I'd still be much better off financially than to try to maintain and build this car.

To say nothing of I HATE driving this truck every day. I need a fun street car again.

When we bought the house, I claimed the garage for the garage queen MGB, mowers, and car/truck/tractor repair/maintenance/mods. My daily driver lives outside, and so does my wife's.

That was OK until the baby was born, and then Denice got more cranky about scraping the windows. I bought my garage back for the price of a remote starter for her car

Well I definately see your point about "going it alone" at the track....I think I would trade in the Camaro on a '06 Z06 if I didn't go to the track with the whole family and make it a family outing....not to mention I pit with a group of 15-20 guys who are JUST GREAT that we BS and BBQ and party after the races....real family social outlet for me.

As for the high maintenace car.....give some more thought in the future to a Spec Miata....I KNOW, I KNOW...in the past you have said it would be not exciting enough for you in a low HP car....but, I can tell you after 9+ years in one....THEY ARE A BLAST....especially when you have lots of cars to play with.....

And my ENTIRE group of buddies are now SM drivers....I know some of them that NEVER WORK ON THE THING....roll it in the trailer....and wash it when they roll it out at the next event.....

IT CAN BE DONE!

Yep, that's how I eased my guilt some this winter. I got a remote starter for the truck as a test case and loved it so much we got one for my wife's minivan a few weeks ago.

Well, I'll admit I've been looking at Spec Miatas on ebay and the like. They are a little tempting, but we'll see how it goes. I've also been giving strong consideration to just downgrading my Firebird to full AI trim and buying a street F body as a fun car. I'd put the 383 in the street car and build a low buck 350 bottom end to replicate what I had this year. Even that approach would be cheaper than the route I was headed and would easily meet the HP limit for the class.

I got a phone call from a guy in New York tonight who is interested in the roller, but was asking me whether I could load all the spares in the car to make it easier for him to hire a transport for it. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun. I was kind of envisioning for the money I was asking, someone would pull up an enclosed trailer to the house and load it themselves.

Damn, I have to be on a plane to Mexico in 5 hours and I just can't go to sleep.

That's what I'm missing most about racing. My wife just isn't really interested in spending a weekend at the race track. When I go it alone I feel very guilty about doing my hobby by myself. I know when Garrett gets older, if he's interested in going to the track, my wife will come along, but that is a few years in the future.

That's why I'm sticking with local autocrosses right now (or within ~ 1hour radius typical, maybe 2 RARELY). I can usually play with Shannon a little before I leave, and when I get back.

Even the closest road courses would be just too big a commitment of time, especially since I'd have to allow time before and after for swapping the brakes. I'd really have to make a weekend out of it, and that's just not in the cards right now.

I've also reduced the time commitment by reducing mods and maintenance. I'm not talking about total neglect or unsafe operation, just being a little less anal. To some extent that means accepting that the car may wear out sooner as an intentional tradeoff. That's another strike against open tracking (not trying to start a "which is better" debate, this is about setting priorities in life).

I am anxious for Shannon to get a little older so she can "help Daddy" in the garage - I think she might just have the gearhead gene. I'd like to train her to change spark plugs while she's small enough to lay on the intake manifold , but I'd settle for hanging around for a few minutes with minimal damage to her or the car She does like reading Sports Car.

Tell you what mike, I'll trade you your 17x11's for your 17x9.5's.

The Goodyears are in very good shape with 2 heat cycles on them

TTT.


ERV :leaving:

I understand exactly where Mike is coming from. I had a race car too, trailer and all. In 1991 after my son was born, I sold everything. I didn't want too but a new house and children pretty much determined what I would do.

I regret that decision to this day.

Mike, if money is not the issue, keep the car. Cover it up and hold on to it. Ten years from now you'll regret selling it and as you already know, you never get out of them, what you put into them.

With kids, the years will begin to fly by ... trust me on this one. Especially once the kiddo get into school. The wife's non-interest is a tough hurdle to get over ...

I understand your conflict about wanting/ needing the garage space. but, there are alternatives. There are car covers, metal carports ... You will regret selling because you could never replace it for what you are asking ...

Luckily my wife, and even my son make it to events.

His first was when he was about a month old. Only problems we had was fitting everything into the truck. What didn't fit in the truck went in the car, on the trailer.


As far as selling stuff, I figure unless it's costing me, as in payments, there isn't that big a reason to get ride of it. I've had a 66 Mercury Comet Convertible for about 4 years now. I've not spent one penny on it in two years.

Of course I would sell it for the right price. I'd sell just about anything for the right price, and depending on my mood. But I'm not looking to sell. The only plans at this point is to sell it to my father for a SONG, when he is ready. I guess I owe him one.

I appreciate the help Steve and others. Keeping the car, without spending AIX money on it won't be an issue financially. We'll see how I feel in a few days, but I can say for sure I won't be building the car up for AIX as I had planned. At best it will go for AI, and may just not race next year if I keep it.

I'm still thinking strongly about selling it as a roller and getting a street car F body that I can transplant some of my parts over to. At least then I could enjoy the car more. If anyone is just looking for a F body that has been gutted, has a good cage, and lexan windshield, I'd like to hear from you. If I take this route I'd like to remove a lot of the suspension components for use on a street car. There are a few people interested in the roller right now, but no firm deals.

BTW, I do already have a car cover, and it was posted for sale if the car sells above.

Mitch, I'd never keep the car outside here in Detroit, even under a metal carport with a car cover over it. The weather would kill it.

Eric, I think I'll pass on that deal, but when you get a chance to bring the wheels/tires into work, let me know. I'll pick them up from you.

I'm with you there Sean. My son just loves anything with either wheels or a steering wheel. When we look through toy catalogs now he focuses on any kind of cars, especially ones that show kids driving them. He gets this huge grin on his face, and he yells out while pointing at it, "Oh, ho, ho, ho". It's pretty neat.

Just bought a Xbox over the weekend to see if he'll like trying a driving game or 2.

Still think it would be many years before the Firebird would do him much good though.

It will be a long time before he can drive it, but not long before he can help you wrench on it, or pretend to. Yes, every job will take twice as long with him helping, but so what?

The upside is that he can't really hurt it. You could probably have a lot more fun than you would with something like a classic car. If he scratches the paint on the race car, so what?

I've been told that a photo exists "somewhere" of a very young me in a little racing suit sitting on the fender my father's Jag XK120 race car. I'd love to have that picture now.

Well, send it to Texas ... we'll take care of it ...

Goodness knows you have enough room in your garage.

This is still my preferred option. Looking for buyers who will come and trailer the car away. I'm now looking for a LT1 Firebird 6 spd for $6K or under that would be a good street car on which I can transplant most of my parts. Email if you know of a car, especially one near Detroit.

I'm planning on installing my 383, but have halted work on it until I have a car in hand. Gonna keep my 17x11 wheels and tires at least, and likely some of my suspension parts. I think my best plan is to build a fun daily driver that I can also autox and take to local track days. I can afford that kind of time.

Added some further details about selling the roller chassis in my 1st post. There seems to be the most interest in this kind of deal.

Roller chassis is still for sale. Had a deal fall through tonight so it's still available.

Email if you're interested.

Just bought a '94 Z28 so I'm no longer looking for a street car. Still looking to sell my roller though, but over the winter slowly but surely it's likely some of the parts will end up on my Z28 if I don't sell the Firebird.

Hey Mike, keep in mind I have some misc. parts that you may need in the future just sitting around that are still good that probabley wont go anywhere anytime soon. Your welcome to,if I have it and cant be used as a spare at the track .

And I guess congrats on the new street ride that will recieve the 383 Mike I for some reason expected you to buy a TA. Silly me

I had a Formula or TA in mind and was looking hard for one, but this Z28 came along. It's a local car that has been very well taken care of, is dark green on the outside and has tan leather on the inside (just like my Formula had). I drove it and talked with the owner about the mods he did and he gave me very reasonable answers. I figured what the Hell. I've owned a '79 Camaro, '89 Formula 350, '94 Formula and now a '94 Camaro. It's balanced now, right?

Firebird is still for sale. I'd love to park my Camaro in the garage, so please email me if you're interested.