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There's no such thing as too much crap, just not enough room for said crap. I rented a hangar back in August not only for storage, but to keep my crap out of the hail. The last few years here have been absolutely ridiculous.
Then I added storage for more crap. A car will likely find its way into the empty left area.
Heads are now on, just need to add pushrods, rocker arms, valve covers and this lump can live out in the hangar as well as a couple of transmissions, etc.
I'd buy a house on some property if it weren't so damned expensive! As you pursue W2W, know that the Jeep and open deck is only a very short term stopgap tow setup. You will be wanting a 2500 pulling enclosed once you jump down the rabbit hole. Food for thought.
Last edited by Supercharged111; 12-09-2018 at 01:25 PM.
A couple of our racers have stayed open deck (but end up bringing a truck bed full of rubbermaid containers along with) and they use plexiglass or thin plywood window facades to keep the weather out. One guy had snap in plastic sheets made up. I'd go that route before keeping glass, pretty sure glass is illegal in W2W anyway. I would absolutely not engineer any compromises into the cage from the get go. Better to just take the plunge there and deal with the nuances of a race car some other way.
Last edited by Supercharged111; 12-09-2018 at 02:06 PM.
That's a great experience with a top notch team. Really a shame about the issues with the car. Endurance racing is BRUTAL on race cars. It's not even funny. I raced in an 18 hour endurance race with AER (American Endurance Racing) earlier in the year at Watkins Glen. Drove a Porsche for a racing team that brought two of them. Of the 90 cars that entered maybe half of them finished the race. Only one of our Porsches finished (other one lost an oil pump after 7 hours and killed the motor) and this team is always VERY VERY well prepared with an entire crew and lots of support. **** just happens.
Glad you were able to get a taste of it though! Racing is an entire different animal than DE. It's an even larger step-up as going from tooling around the street to DE.
Here is a short vid my wife took of me getting into the Porsche for a driver change during the race. Pit stops with AER are mandatory 3 minutes so that's why you see me waiting to be "released" by the crew who is using a stopwatch.
I'll tell you that once you get the itch to race it's hard to resist. I only go to DEs now to instruct and shake down my car. It's a true statement that "....everything else is just waiting".
I'm right there with you, I'm doing a racing school this holiday to get some learnin' in and then start making some decisions on how I want to pursue a car and license. I don't know what I'll do long term I just know I want to try it, maybe update my linkedin profile to semi-professional race car driver and amateur tattoo artist.
FINALLY got back to the track after a 3 month wait for the full 3.1 track to be available. this one was with the Porsche club, ive never run with them before. huge organization, most cars ive ever seen there too.
also got a bunch of "upgrades" (more on that later) and despite the old change 1 thing at a time adage, i changed everything at once.
stock calipers to wilwoods
rubber lines to braided stainless
Motul 600 to Castrol SRB
Centric rotors to DBA
Raybestos ST-43 front pads to Hawk DTC-60
stock rear pads to DTC-30
stock shocks to DRM tuned Bilsteins
also went from BFG Rival S(200TW) to Toyo R888R(100TW) same 315/335 sizes. although the Toyos appear to run a bit wider.
also re did the rear toe, had been following the pfadt corvette track alignment guide which for some reason recommends toe out on the rear. car has been sorta unstable so we changed it to a more traditional 3/16" toe in on the rear.
Tires:
should have been way stickier. they proved quite the opposite. they were audibly louder, more squealing communication which i liked. but grip appeared to be way down. i was pushing/understeering and finding the limits alot. which i rarely do with the Rivals. it was quite noticeable. temps were 40 in the morning working up to 59 in the afternoon. full sunshine, no clouds all day. i tried everything from 31-39 hot. all had less grip. im hoping it was the cooler temps? or are the "harder" Rivals superior? also in the pits on cold tires first session (tires were 40 degrees) thats the first time ive EVERY felt tires feel like ice. i was sliding and spinning in the pits, just moving the car at idle.
Brakes:
also a let down. pretty much EVERYTHING was upgraded here. just didnt seem to have great braking. was missing alot of apexes and just not stoping well at all. like stock brakes/pads. worse at times. then i started noticing on slower corners were i didnt have to downshift the brakes were just OK. right near my old setup, maybe touch below. ie decent in low rpm situations. but on faster corners, when i had to down shift, as soon as i would down shift, the rpms would come way up the pedal would push back at me, reducing the braking clamping to almost nothing. was REALLY blowing apexes then. just had no stoping power. i later realized this and waited to down shift until nearly all my braking was done, and the rpms/speed was lower, this helped. but it delayed my turn in, and ability to go somewhat deep really bad. costing me time. i especially didnt like what it did to my turn in timing.
also noticed bad vibrations in the early two morning sessions. which ive ALWAYS fought with this car. i would have bad "warped" rotor vibrations in just 1 or 2 days. these were brand new and did it in 1-2 sessions. bad. but then in warmer afternoon sessions it actually went away some how. like all of it. im running full race spindle ducts with scoops in the fog light holes.
pedal was very firm with little feel/feedback as well.
really disappointed in new brakes so far.
shocks:
didnt notice much difference here. i particularly bought these for a rough crest on the back stretch were the two halves of the track meet. its rough from all the angle changes from the jumper road. plus im right in my peak power there, and its a crest so the car gets light, my goal someday is to be able to take that flat out, no lift. these seemed to help little with that.
couple cool cars, what appeared to be a 60s can am car w/o the body
never seen an Atom in person. looked brand new.
was able to get check ride from advanced instructor and got moved up. i was running everyone over in blue group. got to yellow and it was great (what i ran in at TWS) it was the first time ive ever run two entire sessions without having traffic slow me up. never saw anyone. was SO nice. was able to run 4 back to back 2:26 in last session. super consistent.
but a full second off my personal best, despite all the new/better/faster parts.
Corey, have you done a solid bed-in of your new brakes before going to the track ?
And for the tires I REALLY don't understand what the problem is !!! The R888R's are much better than the Rivals, I checked with a lot of track guys and they all confirmed ! Or the Corvette is the only car that doesn't get along with the Toyos !
For me, the Raybestos (43, 45, 47 depending on use) pads have been the gold standard. I've never felt good with hawks although I know folks who like them. Personally I've just not had good/confident results in them. Maybe it is me??
Agreed with the poster above me, did you bed in the pad/rotor combos or just start driving?
I was there Saturday in White shaking down a c5z "SilverSurfer" a GSpeed car for a customer. He put vid up in another thread in this forum.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C7 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS
yep, cage design will be to keep door glass, since im open trailer for now.
Just an idea I had lexan windows made and a little spring mechanism thing that I can slide my "windows" in the door to keep the rain from getting in while I tow. They pop right out when I need to get in the car to pull it off the trailer.
If you're keeping a bunch of nonsense in the car just to accommodate the heavy *** glass you're doing yourself a disservice.
ETA: hawk is an acquired taste but DTC-60/30 seems awfully low.
Why not 70/60 or 70/70?
Maybe a C6 thing?
Last edited by lobsterroboto; 03-04-2019 at 10:37 PM.
Corey, have you done a solid bed-in of your new brakes before going to the track ?
And for the tires I REALLY don't understand what the problem is !!! The R888R's are much better than the Rivals, I checked with a lot of track guys and they all confirmed ! Or the Corvette is the only car that doesn't get along with the Toyos !
Normally i do the internet prescribed brake in process, but i always get vibs/warped rotors, within a day or two at the track. so when something never works you try something different, this time i just street drove the car for a couple days. with only a few 50-10 75% stops. way less agressive than normal. but i had the same results. vibs/warped withing 2 sessions. but this time they actually went away in session 3 and 4. im hoping the "cold" weather had the Toyos at there worst.
Originally Posted by Shortcutsleeping
For me, the Raybestos (43, 45, 47 depending on use) pads have been the gold standard. I've never felt good with hawks although I know folks who like them. Personally I've just not had good/confident results in them. Maybe it is me??
Agreed with the poster above me, did you bed in the pad/rotor combos or just start driving?
I was there Saturday in White shaking down a c5z "SilverSurfer" a GSpeed car for a customer. He put vid up in another thread in this forum.
Costas
cars and such...
shoot sounds like i missed you again! i did sunday only. for me the ST-43 were close but had juuuuust a touch too much initial bite for me. im a bell curve braker vs a proper reverse shark fin braker. i like a smooth tip in.
Originally Posted by lobsterroboto
Just an idea I had lexan windows made and a little spring mechanism thing that I can slide my "windows" in the door to keep the rain from getting in while I tow. They pop right out when I need to get in the car to pull it off the trailer.
If you're keeping a bunch of nonsense in the car just to accommodate the heavy *** glass you're doing yourself a disservice.
ETA: hawk is an acquired taste but DTC-60/30 seems awfully low.
Why not 70/60 or 70/70?
Maybe a C6 thing?
yes i purposly went lower than the normal 70/60. again knowing i dont like a super strong intitial bite, i like the ability to feather it too at times. and i knew i can always go stronger. you can only live and learn by researching, taking suggestions, common sense, and above all, trying for yourself.
what about the high rpm, not much brakes, downshift=pedal pushes back at me. is that normal? i wonder if my old Motul 600/rubber lines etc, was just absorbing some of this?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C7 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS
Normally i do the internet prescribed brake in process, but i always get vibs/warped rotors, within a day or two at the track. so when something never works you try something different, this time i just street drove the car for a couple days. with only a few 50-10 75% stops. way less agressive than normal. but i had the same results. vibs/warped withing 2 sessions. but this time they actually went away in session 3 and 4. im hoping the "cold" weather had the Toyos at there worst.
shoot sounds like i missed you again! i did sunday only. for me the ST-43 were close but had juuuuust a touch too much initial bite for me. im a bell curve braker vs a proper reverse shark fin braker. i like a smooth tip in.
yes i purposly went lower than the normal 70/60. again knowing i dont like a super strong intitial bite, i like the ability to feather it too at times. and i knew i can always go stronger. you can only live and learn by researching, taking suggestions, common sense, and above all, trying for yourself.
what about the high rpm, not much brakes, downshift=pedal pushes back at me. is that normal? i wonder if my old Motul 600/rubber lines etc, was just absorbing some of this?
makes sense, I experiment all the time. sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't.
As far as your braking, it sounds like a mix between pad knock back or you're staying in the gas to long for your rev match or a combination of the two? If you'r eon the gas to long you're basically braking and on throttle at the same time. Not sure if im following completely.
Try the same corner but instead of downshifting dont shift at all and see if you have the same braking efficiency maybe?
I don't know about the R888's but the cold definitely makes a big difference on the tires and I find the more aggressive the compound the more the heat matters (if your tire is crappy hot it is still crappy cold but if your tire is good hot it can be noticeably worse cold).
On the brakes - especially the first few sessions - when the air temps were the coldest....maybe they never got up to temp due to the cold air - might be worth taping off part of your vents, just a thought. Could also be your braking technique. And fluid...give Castrol SRF a shot. I can boil the snot out of Motul 600 and 660...
yeah i wondered if i was over cooling as well. with my full ducts and the cool weather.
i switched to SRF when i swaped to the new brakes this time.
i was only getting 2-3 days out of motul 600 before boiling.
yeah i wondered if i was over cooling as well. with my full ducts and the cool weather.
i switched to SRF when i swaped to the new brakes this time.
i was only getting 2-3 days out of motul 600 before boiling.
If I'm understanding your brake issue, it almost sounds like a lack of vacuum in the brake booster because you were hard on the gas (which results in minimal vacuum to energize the brake booster) and immediately on the brakes resulting in a very hard pedal due to lack of vacuum assist.
But when you "coasted" a bit into the corner, the engine had enough time to make vacuum and the power assist worked fine and you had brakes.
I don't know if this is the issue, but it may be something as simple as this and a driving style (or mechanical issue with a vacuum leak) that isn't allow enough vacuum to be built in the vacuum brake booster system to operate the power assist effectively. I wonder if there is a way to data log vacuum in the power assist brake booster??
If I'm understanding your brake issue, it almost sounds like a lack of vacuum in the brake booster because you were hard on the gas (which results in minimal vacuum to energize the brake booster) and immediately on the brakes resulting in a very hard pedal due to lack of vacuum assist.
But when you "coasted" a bit into the corner, the engine had enough time to make vacuum and the power assist worked fine and you had brakes.
I don't know if this is the issue, but it may be something as simple as this and a driving style (or mechanical issue with a vacuum leak) that isn't allow enough vacuum to be built in the vacuum brake booster system to operate the power assist effectively. I wonder if there is a way to data log vacuum in the power assist brake booster??
I thought exactly the same, really !!! A brake booster issue or his driving style not getting along with the vacuum supply ! I've seen this stuff happen before but since he's been tracking the car for a while and never complained of this before it "may" be his booster itself going bad....
great idea TrackAire. and do you think my cam amplfies the issue? i know cams cause vacuum issues, but i always assumed it was more at idle.
just to clarify your wording "i was hard on the gas" technically i wasnt on the gas at all, i was braking/coasting, and the down shift causes the high rpm when i let the clutch out. so while the RPMs were high, i technically wasnt on the gas at all. just wanted to specify that as you may be on to something, and i thought it might help diagnose.
also the pedal isnt hard (due to what your calling lack of assist. ie like not having power brakings.) it pedal is hard because its being forced back at me by a hydrolic force.
Last edited by STANG KILLA SS; 03-05-2019 at 07:22 PM.
12-09-2018, 01:24 PM
