Gray Ghost GS

The following parts were recently installed or will be installed next week in preparation for the Mazda Drivers HPDE at VIR - end of August:

• Pfadt Camber Kit (-2.5 Front & -1.7 Rear and Corner Balanced)
• Pfadt Inverted/Adjustable Sport Shocks (Settings: 12 Front and 10 Rear)
• Pfadt Control Arm Bushing Kit - Poly/Aluminum Sleeves
• T1 sway bars (upgraded from Hotchkis sway bars)
• LG/DRM Front Brake Cooling Ducts (modified to clear Hoosier R6 315 tires on CCW C14 18x11 wheels)
• DTE Stage 2+ 3.42 gears (removing 3.73 gears)
• Perform engine diagnostics and verify dyno tune performance

I experienced a rare catalytic converter failure (honeycomb came loose and rotated inside the tube causing a clog) on the first day of the NCM VIR event. Still great hanging out on Corvette Hill with the gang and seeing many familiar faces. She'll be back stronger and faster!!

Ed Hutchings and his team at The HP Factory in Portsmouth, VA are performing their magic next week! The biggest challenge being the complete removal of the F55 RPO in a 2003/2004. The good news is this was done successfully by a shop in California and Connecticut. Ed said he's up to the challenge!

CHJ In Virginia

Mike -- that thing was fast enough as it was. With these mods it will be even worse. With that much camber, you will eat street tires in nothing flat. So when are you just going to make it a full race car, add the cage and strip out the interior ?? See you at VIR ---

Gray Ghost GS

Hi Curtis, she becomes a full-time track car in 2009. Complete roll cage with fire suppression system this winter! Mike

RC45

Sounds like a killer setup.

Do you per chance still ahve the 3.73 rear end - if so, isit for sale? Or did you use it as exchange on he 3.42?

edcmat-l1

Thanks Mike, for the business, and the opportunity to help you out on your next round of mods.
You know me, I'm always up for a challenge. You've got a great running car. I'm proud to be part of that. Hopefully we'll get the F55 delete taken care of, and be able to provide some good information for the Corvette community as a whole.
I'm thankful that your recent loss of power was so easily diagnosed. I'd much rather deal with a backpressure problem than an engine that may be going south.

Short-Throw

davidfarmer

I always like 3.90 gears, but you've got to use 5th, and rev to around 7500rpm! Good luck with the new hardware!

Cobra4B

Ed doesn't know anything about cars... why would you take yours to him Sounds like a killer suspension setup you're going with.

Hey Ed... axle seals are good so far

Gray Ghost GS

Ed is shipping my DTE 3.73 to Phil to exchange for the Stage 2+ 3.42. Lessons learned from VIR and Watkins Glen - stick with the 3.42s for the road courses.

Thanks David. Seems I always had to shift into 5th as I entered the uphill esses - many "extra" shifts around the course - while I limited my revs to 6500 rpms. The new gears should give me the range I need to reduce my shifts while keeping me in the powerband. Mike

EvilBoffin

Mike - Now I see why you needed to sell all those nice brake pads!! You've gotta report back ASAP about the results of those tasty new mods.

Sounds like Ed's diagnosis of your brake booster failures at VIR (over the phone, no less) was SPOT ON.

spazegun2213

david,
have you ever used 3.73's? I'm really thinking about them.


Mike,
can you define "needless shifts?" I mean, I HATE shifting into 4th and feeling like I've fallen flat on my face.

tmak26b

Good luck, I missed the last event due to a wiring short with my freaking brakes.

edcmat-l1

Nothing like a vote of confidence!!
Glad the axle seals aint leakin no mo.

edcmat-l1

Kanmer

Hey Mike, Hanging out with you, Janet, and the three stooges made the event for me.

Ok, you got the brake booster thing-a-mabob issue diagnosed. The $64 question is...DID YOU GET IT FIXED FOR GOOD THIS TIME? I hope so. Ok, so you're getting more mods. I will just practice the point bys now and not hold you up.

Are you coming to NASA? We gots space on the hill.

Bob

EvilBoffin

Hey Mike - Did ARH replace the hi-flow cats that broke under warranty?

Gray Ghost GS

Depending on your horsepower, rev limit, shift RPM, transmission and gears you can find yourself in a situation where you need to shift into a higher gear for only a few seconds because the lower gear exceeds a particular threshold. When you're shifting - you're not on the gas. I think the 3.42s will allow me to eliminate some of my shifts into 5th gear, e.g., entering the uphill esses and straights without exceeding those RPM thresholds.

Bob, the clogged cats caused an over-pressure that melted and blew out the plastic brake booster check valve and hose - so the root cause of that problem is now fixed with the refurbished catted x-pipe! Nothing like losing your brakes twice at speed for a little "car control exercise".

Ed nailed the problem based on the symptoms I described over the phone at VIR. The vette won't be ready in time for the NASA event later this month because I need to get the requisite 'break in' miles on the new differential. We had a great time with you and Nancy - see you guys in August!

Yes. Free replacement of both cats and shipping to Ed's shop - great customer service for what many consider a rare type of material failure.

Wicked Weasel

Nice mods


Regarding the 3.73s after running WGI and VIR this year with my new power I also decided to swap back to 3.42s.

I started out RR with 460rwhp / 401rwtq and 4.10 gears. I soon realized with rev limiter at 6800 that the 4.10 required too many shifts. I swapped out the 4.10s for GM built 3.73 and added the hardened output shaft. I ran this way for 3 years and was happy. When we installed the LS7 setup with 565rwhp / 540 rwtq I thought the 3.73s would be too much, but wanted to check it out before committing. Well first day at Pocono North I ran out of 4th gear, but didnt really care because that was a short track. 2nd day out I was at WGI and I ran out of 4th on the back straight, but had room to shift to 5th and downshift so it was not a real problem. At VIR the 3.73s killed me going through the uphill esses. I ran out of 4th gear at the bridge and thought if I shift to 5th gear where will I downshift back to 4th. I could wait until the short straight at the top of the esses or maybe do a double downshift before oaktree. I really didnt feel comfortable with either option so I decided to get rid of the 3.73s and go with 3.42 which should give me the added room I am looking for.

Oh well it is a complete circle for my gears, but I enjoyed getting back to where I started from.

Gray Ghost GS

My vette felt like it ran on rails before but now with the addition of the Pfadt Camber Kit, Pfadt Inverted/Adjustable Sport Shocks, Pfadt Control Arm Bushing Kit, T1 sway bars and T1 springs with an aggressive track alignment, she should be able to attack the esses and turns at much higher speeds. I will be comparing Traqmate data - before and after the mods - on the VIR uphill esses, roller coaster/hogs pen and NASCAR bend to verify the results.

RedLS6

Looking forward to seeing this data - I'm looking at some similar mods for mine

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