'19 Z06 Z07 track build thread
Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
On a 2019, with the car should not remind you the seat belt is disconnected by virtue of not having the module installed. Only the airbag light should be on.
With everything installed normally, the system is a bit counter-intuitive. When you buckle the seat belt, you're actually breaking the circuit and turning off the light. When the seat belt is *not* buckled, current flows and the seat belt light illuminates. This is different than early year C7s, as well as prior generations. Soooo....if you have the seat belt in place, you can't complete the circuit by using a resistor, you have to break the circuit instead. One way to do this is to leave the seat belt electrical connector disconnected....and the car will think the seat belt is fastened
With everything installed normally, the system is a bit counter-intuitive. When you buckle the seat belt, you're actually breaking the circuit and turning off the light. When the seat belt is *not* buckled, current flows and the seat belt light illuminates. This is different than early year C7s, as well as prior generations. Soooo....if you have the seat belt in place, you can't complete the circuit by using a resistor, you have to break the circuit instead. One way to do this is to leave the seat belt electrical connector disconnected....and the car will think the seat belt is fastened
Anyway, now I'm contemplating installing the seat belt receiver and the anchors just in case I get pulled over and get asked about it. I have the ASM harness, but it's still not 100% legal due to using the regular cam lock instead of FE. Another issue is that it might not be safe to use, since I'm effectively disabling that retraction feature of OEM belts, and they're likely not as safe to use.
Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
I really like the wing, your install write-up was really good too. Is there taller mounts available to get the wing closer the the roof height?
The mounting cutouts on the spoiler look similar to the ZR1, there not the same are they?
On my 2017 when I removed the passenger seat and unplugged the harness, besides the annoying dash lights, I also lost the ability to adjust the passenger mirror. is that still the case on yours?
I wish someone would make wider finders with vents on the top, so we could ditch the plastic spats, between those and wheel well liners I probably bought ten sets.
Keep up the good work
-Operations
The mounting cutouts on the spoiler look similar to the ZR1, there not the same are they?
On my 2017 when I removed the passenger seat and unplugged the harness, besides the annoying dash lights, I also lost the ability to adjust the passenger mirror. is that still the case on yours?
I wish someone would make wider finders with vents on the top, so we could ditch the plastic spats, between those and wheel well liners I probably bought ten sets.
Keep up the good work
-Operations
The pylons had a label on them that wrote "C7/ZR1". They might be exactly same locations.
I talked to APR about the wing height, and they were pretty confident that the height was right for this wing. The wing is designed, and works best with a reasonably conforming roof line which doesn't drop suddenly, and that's exactly what we have with the long hatch on C7s. The higher mount becomes more important for 2D wings as far as I understand, since they're designed to work with clean air only. Regardless, I'm sure any extension available for GTC-500 wing would work if you'd like to raise it.
Fenders are a big mess. I love the carpet like feeling of liners, but they're not quite as durable as some other materials. They just rip in time with obstacles getting lodged on them. I wish we least one of the models had a better liner (like ZR1), so we could just use that. Himm this makes me wonder if we could increase the strength of liners by using an underbody coating spray...
Last edited by X25; Jan 25, 2021 at 01:40 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 4,301
Likes: 959
From: in the country North Carolina
Yep, mirror buttons don't work...
The pylons had a label on them that wrote "C7/ZR1". They might be exactly same locations.
I talked to APR about the wing height, and they were pretty confident that the height was right for this wing. The wing is designed, and works best with a reasonably conforming roof line which doesn't drop suddenly, and that's exactly what we have with the long hatch on C7s. The higher mount becomes more important for 2D wings as far as I understand, since they're designed to work with clean air only. Regardless, I'm sure any extension available for GTC-500 wing would work if you'd like to raise it.
Fenders are a big mess. I love the carpet like feeling of liners, but they're not quite as durable as some other materials. They just rip in time with obstacles getting lodged on them. I wish we least one of the models had a better liner (like ZR1), so we could just use that. Himm this makes me wonder if we could increase the strength of liners by using an underbody coating spray...
The pylons had a label on them that wrote "C7/ZR1". They might be exactly same locations.
I talked to APR about the wing height, and they were pretty confident that the height was right for this wing. The wing is designed, and works best with a reasonably conforming roof line which doesn't drop suddenly, and that's exactly what we have with the long hatch on C7s. The higher mount becomes more important for 2D wings as far as I understand, since they're designed to work with clean air only. Regardless, I'm sure any extension available for GTC-500 wing would work if you'd like to raise it.
Fenders are a big mess. I love the carpet like feeling of liners, but they're not quite as durable as some other materials. They just rip in time with obstacles getting lodged on them. I wish we least one of the models had a better liner (like ZR1), so we could just use that. Himm this makes me wonder if we could increase the strength of liners by using an underbody coating spray...
Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
You don't ever see such complicated shapes from vendors, since they're hard to make right. My local fabrication guy cuts things from slabs, so such a piece would have to be cut from a very thick piece and very expensive, but I really think I should use my underbody coat spray. It might significantly increase the life of the liners. I should probably do this next time when I replace them, though, before they get ripped already : )
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Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
The car is finally finished except the front splitter. There's a track day next Saturday, and I am planning to attend!
A few remarks:
A few remarks:
- Feels like I have about 6" clearance from my head to the roof. This makes the car feel bigger since I feel smaller myself : ))
- Incidentally, HUD is also a lot more within my view, which is welcome.
- The 6-point seat belt is obviously less comfortable, but I realized it feels a lot more comfortable if I don't tighten it till I can't.
- I intend to try the 335 front tires as well. I'm thinking about putting them on and trying them out at the street before the track day. If it rubs even at the street, the odds are it would actually damage the fenders at the track. Looking forward to seeing how it works.
Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
Once I was done with everything last week, I decided to tackle this:
I found the pins of the airbag connector by simply using the color code, and then cut the whole bulky harness out.
This also means much more compact harness. The whole harness is huge, actually.
I tried the combinations we talked about with 5K 50W resistors. I used these huge resistors, since these would not overheat and cause fire or any other issue if given higher voltage or amps, unlike the small circuit variety.
I've been quite bummed with my experience. Even before I started experimenting with the airbag harness, the fact that the whole car went berserk and refused to even start was scary. This actually reminds me of computer buses/architectures in 80s and 90s, where a simply mistake would blow up your power supply, or cause fire. I caused a few such fires. Modern computers run on much more robust architectures, and the faulty module simply errors out if something is misbehaving. The Can bus or whatever these cars are on feels very fragile. What's more, we are also lacking the right diagnostic tools, and running blind was not fun.
In short, I don't want to go right back to the dealer again in case I burn a module or something else during this experiment. As such, I've decided to postpone this for the time being. It was a very disappointing adventure, and I understand that the problem might be 'me' : )
- First, I realized (confirmed) that if both seats are disconnected, I only get airbag warning, and there is no other warning light, which is great, since the seat belt buzzer is very distracting at the track.
- I did source wiring harnesses for both passenger and driver side for my (2019) car. The part numbers I've shared are indeed correct. The connectors are identical, but the wiring is different. In other words, if you knew which pins are related, you could do the same by sourcing the cheaper of the harnesses, and set it up for your purpose. Please note, I think the connectors are different from side to side on former model years.
- I first tried connecting the full harnesses with EVERYTHING on except airbags. This means (unprogrammed) seat memory modules, seat belt receiver, the other (pyro) end for the seat belt, and that proximity sensor. The car did not turn on, door locks did not work, and the dashboard never turned on. The car was completely dead. I even wondered if my battery was near dead. As soon as I disconnected the passenger harness, the car came back to life, and everything (like door locks, alarm, etc.) started working again.
- With this unpleasant experience, I decided to simply work on the airbag lights, and not bother with anything else, since there's no other error message anyway, even though this means I also lose my remote mirror adjustment buttons (which is moot, since the seat is not adjustable anyway).
I found the pins of the airbag connector by simply using the color code, and then cut the whole bulky harness out.
This also means much more compact harness. The whole harness is huge, actually.
I tried the combinations we talked about with 5K 50W resistors. I used these huge resistors, since these would not overheat and cause fire or any other issue if given higher voltage or amps, unlike the small circuit variety.
- At some point during my experiments, I started also getting new error messages like "Rear Axle System OFF", "Service Stability control", etc.
- I removed everything (harness stuff), reset the battery, etc., but the messages did not go away.
- I checked the fuses, and they all looked good.
- Took it for a spin, but the messages did not go away.
- Then I REMOVED the whole rear end (bumper, wing, exhaust), and went through every plug that goes to transmission and differential.
- Then I removed the e-diff control module, checked on its connectors; everything looked good.
- Finally, I removed the race seats, and put the OEM seats back to see if it corrects the issues; no. All the lights were still on, including the airbag, meaning airbag module is also not working anymore.
- At this point, I've decided to have dealer take a look.
- It didn't take long for the dealer to figure out that there was a fuse blown; something that gives power to all these control modules. I checked out quite a few fuses during my debugging attempts, but apparently this was something else! Well, without service manual, we are usually running blind on these things : (
- I took the car back the same day, and installed everything back at night. The car now has everything but the front splitter, and has the airbag light on.
I've been quite bummed with my experience. Even before I started experimenting with the airbag harness, the fact that the whole car went berserk and refused to even start was scary. This actually reminds me of computer buses/architectures in 80s and 90s, where a simply mistake would blow up your power supply, or cause fire. I caused a few such fires. Modern computers run on much more robust architectures, and the faulty module simply errors out if something is misbehaving. The Can bus or whatever these cars are on feels very fragile. What's more, we are also lacking the right diagnostic tools, and running blind was not fun.
In short, I don't want to go right back to the dealer again in case I burn a module or something else during this experiment. As such, I've decided to postpone this for the time being. It was a very disappointing adventure, and I understand that the problem might be 'me' : )
Last edited by X25; Feb 3, 2021 at 04:47 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,920
Likes: 242
From: Midland Texas
We had a similar electrical problem, car would not crank over, we took it to the dealer, turned out to be the fuses buy the battery, I think it was the 100a one.
Like you, it was a bunch of work putting the car back together so it would not be in pieces, just to go to the dealer for a dang fuse.
Like you, it was a bunch of work putting the car back together so it would not be in pieces, just to go to the dealer for a dang fuse.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 6,071
Likes: 297
From: Savannah GA
Cruise-In IV Veteran
We had a similar electrical problem, car would not crank over, we took it to the dealer, turned out to be the fuses buy the battery, I think it was the 100a one.
Like you, it was a bunch of work putting the car back together so it would not be in pieces, just to go to the dealer for a dang fuse.
Like you, it was a bunch of work putting the car back together so it would not be in pieces, just to go to the dealer for a dang fuse.
Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
335 Front tires
In preparation for the Saturday track day, I wanted to see if 335 fronts rub during street driving. It is not the best indicator for how they will fare at the track, but if they rub significantly, even at the street, the odds are they would do even worse at the track.
I've used scrub Hoosier A7s for this experiment. Hoosier's 335/30/18 and 315/30/18 tires have the identical diameter at 25.6". This means the only problem in running this wider tire is to make sure wider width doesn't cause issues. To make this work better, I've also sourced Signature SV502 forged wheels at 18x11.5 ET40, .5" wider than my usual fronts. The offset and reduced inside clearance implies I can no longer do full turn during parking maneuvers..
Pics from different angles. Looks pretty good !!
Had a quick ride, running some errands, and I did not have any issues or rubbing. That said, I did not push the car too much. I did keep it in Touring mode, though, hoping it would cause more lean for the test.
The car is grabbing quite a bit of attention! It's mostly guys, but still.. : P
In short, the setup worked fine at the street. I will see if it works at the track on Saturday, and will bring my regular 315/345 tire set along in case it does not work out.
In preparation for the Saturday track day, I wanted to see if 335 fronts rub during street driving. It is not the best indicator for how they will fare at the track, but if they rub significantly, even at the street, the odds are they would do even worse at the track.
I've used scrub Hoosier A7s for this experiment. Hoosier's 335/30/18 and 315/30/18 tires have the identical diameter at 25.6". This means the only problem in running this wider tire is to make sure wider width doesn't cause issues. To make this work better, I've also sourced Signature SV502 forged wheels at 18x11.5 ET40, .5" wider than my usual fronts. The offset and reduced inside clearance implies I can no longer do full turn during parking maneuvers..
Pics from different angles. Looks pretty good !!
Had a quick ride, running some errands, and I did not have any issues or rubbing. That said, I did not push the car too much. I did keep it in Touring mode, though, hoping it would cause more lean for the test.
The car is grabbing quite a bit of attention! It's mostly guys, but still.. : P
In short, the setup worked fine at the street. I will see if it works at the track on Saturday, and will bring my regular 315/345 tire set along in case it does not work out.
Last edited by X25; Feb 3, 2021 at 11:26 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 15,344
Likes: 4,009
From: Texas
My take-away is that the seat module has to be programmed to the car as suspected. Not sure why your seat belt warning was on unless you were using the stock seat with a harness and the OEM belt un-buckled. The solution there is the Seat Belt Warning eliminator from Vetteworks. https://vetteworksonline.com/catalog...roducts_id=148
When I went to my OMP seat, initially I saw the airbag light but I've learned to ignore it. Considering these cars are ~2010-2012 technology, they're fairly integrated from a functional perspective.
Car looks great. Your pics remind me of when I lived in Maple Valley, 15 miles southeast of Renton. I must admit I don't miss the rain but the summers were certainly beautiful!
When I went to my OMP seat, initially I saw the airbag light but I've learned to ignore it. Considering these cars are ~2010-2012 technology, they're fairly integrated from a functional perspective.
Car looks great. Your pics remind me of when I lived in Maple Valley, 15 miles southeast of Renton. I must admit I don't miss the rain but the summers were certainly beautiful!
Last edited by 96GS#007; Feb 4, 2021 at 06:11 PM.
Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
My take-away is that the seat module has to be programmed to the car as suspected. Not sure why your seat belt warning was on unless you were using the stock seat with a harness and the OEM belt un-buckled. The solution there is the Seat Belt Warning eliminator from Vetteworks. https://vetteworksonline.com/catalog...roducts_id=148
When I went to my OMP seat, initially I saw the airbag light but I've learned to ignore it. Considering these cars are ~2010-2012 technology, they're fairly integrated from a functional perspective.
Car looks great. Your pics remind me of when I lived in Maple Valley, 15 miles southeast of Renton. I must admit I don't miss the rain but the summers were certainly beautiful!
When I went to my OMP seat, initially I saw the airbag light but I've learned to ignore it. Considering these cars are ~2010-2012 technology, they're fairly integrated from a functional perspective.
Car looks great. Your pics remind me of when I lived in Maple Valley, 15 miles southeast of Renton. I must admit I don't miss the rain but the summers were certainly beautiful!
Speaking of rain, I'll get to try the 335s and the wing, tomorrow, but it might also rain, so we'll see : )
Installed the fire extinguisher as well...
Last edited by X25; Feb 16, 2021 at 04:43 AM.
Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
Update on front splitter project!
Behold the massive and flat bottom! besides the tunneling work, this will likely be how the end product will look. Oh, we will also have a small ducting to get some air to the power steering.
A pretty significant addition on the top of the existing splitter. Curtis told me that the impact was very significant on his GT350, when he added a similar extension.
The center section will be sealed with a filler section/material.
I presume this will also increase the air directed on the radiators; not a bad thing : )
- We just test-fitted a wood mock to see how it would all work out. Most of the holes lined up, so that's a success? : )
- We will be utilizing the radiator support braces (loops by the end of the radiator support) as the main support for the splitter. Curtis @AR will create a bracket that mounts onto the braces, and that mount will provide mounting points for the splitter. Those radiator support braces are about 10" away from the front tip of the OEM splitter, but the metal mount could get the bolting locations much closer to the tip!
- The next step will be an ABS plastic version of the mock with possible provisions for the tunneling. There doesn't seem to be much space for a large tunneling, but we should definitely be able to do it at least as big as the stock cover.
Behold the massive and flat bottom! besides the tunneling work, this will likely be how the end product will look. Oh, we will also have a small ducting to get some air to the power steering.
A pretty significant addition on the top of the existing splitter. Curtis told me that the impact was very significant on his GT350, when he added a similar extension.
The center section will be sealed with a filler section/material.
I presume this will also increase the air directed on the radiators; not a bad thing : )
Last edited by X25; Feb 20, 2021 at 09:51 PM.
Thread Starter
Sr.Random input generator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,815
Likes: 2,239
From: Sammamish, WA
Well, yes, but there was full rain until afternoon, and wind with gusts up to 45MPH during the remaining 3 sessions after rain, so I chose to play with the kids at home.
I did push it around town, and it did not rub, so I'm hopeful. I actually regret not attending that track day, since I'd least figure out if 335s work fine, but now I'll have to wait until next opportunity.
The splitter, as is, protrudes from the OEM splitter by 4" at the center, tapering to 3" by the corners. A friend asked why I didn't go all the way to what GTA rules allow (5"), but I think it'll be challenging not to scrape it even at this level. We'll see..
I did push it around town, and it did not rub, so I'm hopeful. I actually regret not attending that track day, since I'd least figure out if 335s work fine, but now I'll have to wait until next opportunity.
The splitter, as is, protrudes from the OEM splitter by 4" at the center, tapering to 3" by the corners. A friend asked why I didn't go all the way to what GTA rules allow (5"), but I think it'll be challenging not to scrape it even at this level. We'll see..
Last edited by X25; Feb 20, 2021 at 11:59 PM.