Hey I just wanted to say hello! And possibly ask advice I'm in the Cleveland Ohio area and am looking into getting into racing a bit more than in the past. I've taken the car to the dragstrip a couple times but after going to Nelson Ledges to 2 of their Open track days, I can honestly say that I'm hooked. So far is looking like I'm going to be joining NASA as it seem that the rules are a bit less complicated and restrictive. My car has the Mod's on my sig and I'm hoping santa has under the tree a 4pt. bolting rollcage (design is similar to autopowers 4pt. bolt in) and a nice cam. But before I go throwing more money into my ride I would like to hook up with someone local or semi local that might be able to help me navigate through my first year. I know that the best mod I can do to my car is a better driver and I'm hoping I can start learning to drive my car like it was meant to be driven this comming year. But I'm a tech junkie also so I can't help wanting to tinker with my car. BTW my car is a daily driver so I want to keep it streetable until I can get into a dedicated track car or I build myself a GTM 200.

Any sugestions? Volunteers?

Welcome!

Just looking at your sig, I would say ditch the CD/slotted rotor's for track use! Get a spare set of Brembo's blanks from Tirerack and a set of track only pad's (Crabotechs/ Hawks) and change them out at the track,and get some cooling ducts. Your front swaybar is a little small OR your rear is a little big And check out the allignment sticky, you can max out the camber/ caster and these car will turn alot better, and you will get better tire wear everyday!

After that you start spending You have all ready taken a hit off the go fast crackpipe :drive: So enjoy your slide down the slippery slop...right off the cliff's edge

Not many F-bodies running in NASA. Keith O. is relatively close to you and races a 4th gen in CMC. His car is basically stock but I'm sure knows more about 4th gens then me. I race a 3rd gen in AI and would suggest just getting your butt to the track for HPDE, although the cage would be a nice safety item but not required for HPDE. You probably need race brake pads, cooling ducts, and fresh brake fluid.

Again, just get to the track and see what people are doing. Don't spend any money until you have talked with several racers. A bolt in cage is OK but if you ever convert the car to a racecar, a bolt in cage is not the best option. Same goes for spending lots of money on HP. American Iron is 9.5:1 hp and 9.0:1 for torque. Your car is probably very close after losing the interior.

You will get many opinions, just take your time and do what's right for your situation. My opinion is seat time is the most important place to spend your money. Remember...this is suppose to be fun!

Sidney Franklin
Bloomington, IL
NASA instructor
AI #64

Welcome aboard!!!!

(Can I mention that we don't do sig pics here? It's in the info at the top of the general forum).

Fixed.

Oh and welcome. I have a friend that lives up there right around you.

I guess my first question is what are your short, medium and long term goals.

My assumption is that you would first want to run HPDE (open lapping) for a while to get more experience and seat time while also deciding what the next step would be.

The nice thing about HPDE is that you can "graduate" to HPDE 4 and then run the Time Trial program (I did this in my old LS1 Camaro). Time Trial is essentially open lapping with a transponder. Your car will be classed according to mods and the faster recorded time of the day in class wins a trophy/points. The requirements for the car are the same as regular open lapping so if you can open lap, you can time trial.

After that is wheel-to-wheel racing. An LS1 f-body cannot run Camaro-Mustang Challenge, but it can run American Iron. In the coming few years, the LS1 will likely be included in CMC, just not right now.

This is all just a brain dump. I guess I am interested in where you want to go. I would be glad to work with you both at the track and with your ideas on mods...

Note that my car is (mostly) street-legal, has license plates and emissions stickers. You *can* run a competitive CMC car and be streetable but it is impractical to have a competitive 4th gen AI car that is streetable. My car should be completely prep-ed for CMC by June...

Thanks guys, and Sorry about the sig. I know about the about the rotors. (I like the look) Amazingly the withstood 2 track days of abuse with no warping or cracking but I am getting a set of rotors and pads for the track. I also know a 34mm front bar would suit better the 22mm rear bar, Unfortunately that was due to lack of research on my part. I'm not planning on making this a track car so the 4pnt roll bar is mostly so I can put a 5 or 6pt harness in the car, and maybe a camera mount. My wife still rides in the car and she would hate to have to hop over the front arms of a 6 or 8 point rollcage. She is already less than happy about the loudness of the exhaust. As far as the alignment that is already taken care off.

Welcome! I just happen to have two blue 3rd gens, one's a CMC car.

My wife's Z28 is also blue.

Here are the 2 together

Schweet!

KeithO, You nailed it in the head that is exactly what I had in mind. The end goal will be wheel to wheel racing in a dedicated car (preferably not mine ) But I would like to get as much experience and training in my current ride. My goals for the car are a street driven, full interior car that handles like a racecar in the road course and has good hp (to move his 3600 # butt around), that I can still drive to work without having to wear a firesuit and helmet . So I will use it until the point where I'm going to need a full welded 8 or 10 point rollcage (this can change). As far as goals for the driver I think I can be a "ok" driver, I just want to know if reallity agrees. So right know I'm trying to learn as much as I can about my car and about racing. I'm a bit of book worm, but unfortunately I haven't seen any good books or material that has good information in the mechanics of racing. Then when I'm at the track I can start focusing in the application aspect of it.