RotorHad

Does anyone have any good links to sites that detail FC's built as racecars (not drag). I'm thinking about turning an NA into a dedicated track car. Or do any of the members have any experience with projects like this? I'm pooling all of the info I can find into a notebook so that I have some educated direction when I start building the car.

I saw Silkworms post, checked out his site and that's about the level of the project I'm going to undertake. Awesome car Silkworm!!!!

Thanks!

Silkworm

Thanks for the complements

Here's links to two others.. One is Chris Ludwig's car, and one is a guy named Jack who's building up his car, don't know if he's racing yet..

http://community.webshots.com/album/28541027zHQJGzGGjs

http://home.att.net/~jack.a.kramer/

And Chris Wire has a pic of his car, but no info yet

http://home.mindspring.com/~twire/

I'm sure there are others, I just don't have them bookmarked..

PaulC

RotorHad

AWESOME man! Thanks for the links. I'm excited about starting my project! I've probably read your site over several times.... it's so inspiring *sniff*

How hard is it to conform to the ITS rules? How far can you build up your car and still stay within thier requirements? Man I can't wait! What was the hardest part of your build up?

Listen to me... I sound like a kid on his way to Toys R Us!

Barwick

www.waterfordhills.com a few guys there on the message board race FC's in ITS

or try www.improvedtouring.com

rpv

hey rotohad
want to get on track fast?
have a car?
look into your local porsche club, they hold DE's
driver education days at local tracks across the us. it's priced very reasonable and can get you on the track fast. look for clubs that rent tracks for a day or half day and go drive. i've driven 2 track days and my cars gets better each time. 1st time out it was stock. 2nd time i had racing kumhos and cut springs. next time i'll have eibach sway bars, i hope a rollcage , gutted interior, racing seat and 5 pt harness.
i'm signed up for the next de which is a 2 day deal and i was told i could get up to 4 hours of track time.
good luck
robert

tims

stop by anytime. two second gen race cars. http://www.realride.com/

RotorHad

Cool Cool... Glad to see that others have come before me! I don't feel so alone... lol. If you don't mind me asking... (to everyone) what were the biggest hang-ups or complications that you encountered when building your cars? I fully expect to destroy any budget that I set (hard lessons learned restoring old VW's), but it would be nice to have some things to watch out for.

Thanks to everyone for responding. If you guys have any great links on this subject I'd really like to check em out.

Keith

Silkworm

Ooops, sorry Tim, forgot about your RX7s

So, is it hard to conform to IT rules? Not really, just don't do anything

You can upgrade the suspension (2 way adjustable shocks, coilovers, swaybars, bushings, camber/caster plates, one stayrod (typically a strut tower brace, 2 point)..

Engine wise, don't mess with it and you'll be perfectly fine No engine porting at all. You can gasket match the intake, but I doubt that's worth much.. Header, and a new filter is fine, but can't replace anything before the AFM. Radiator and oil cooler is open.

Brakes must be stock, but that's really not a problem for the FC with the 4 pistons..

Trans, stock.. Can go to the GTU/GTUs 5th gear ratio, but a lot of work for minimal gains.. Save that for later. Rear differential gear ratios are open as long as they fit in the stock housing. LSD is open, as long as it fits within the stock housing.

Interior can be pretty much gutted, have to leave the door panels (unless you go to a NASCAR style drivers door bar, in which case you can remove the drivers side), glass, and acutation mechanisms for the glass. Dash must remain, heater core and lines must remain.

All of this is IMHO, based on my reading of the rules, YOU MUST GET A COPY OF THE RULES ASAP if you plan to build a car for IT, and read it over carefully.

What was the most difficult part about building the car?

The cage, and the buildup to putting that in. A good cage is definitely worth 2K, one where you are involved with the process and a reputable builder.. Remember that these cars are somewhat small.. The A-pillar/Halo bar is giong to run very close to your head, unless you're very short.. Make sure your seat placement takes this into account, and make damn sure your cage builder tucks that bar up as high as humanly possible. Before you send it to the cage guy, strip everything out of the car. Ask him/her if they want the dash in the car or not, if they do, leave it, but remove everything else, even if you have to put it back in. remove the tar, and any undercoating from underneath.. Removing the glass (front/back) will make their life tons easier too.

Be careful with the cage builder, make sure they understand the rules, and build to the rules.. My cage guy is a open road race driver, I can't count the number of times he kept urging me to run the tubes to the front strut towers and go E-Production

Before you go to the cage place, buy your race seat, your window net, and harnesses. Anything that may need tabs welded to the cage or body, have, before you go.

My .02$

PaulC

tims

paul covered it very well. take some time and assemble all the pieces first then go to town, might look for a completed car also. custom welded cage is a must. for IT get an SCCA rulebook before attempting any work. these rules seem to get changed every so often so get the newest book. have some fun and be safe.

Silkworm

Hey Tim, who did that cartoon of your car?? I want one like that

PaulC

turboGXL

I've got an ITS racer sitting in my garage. Keith check your pm's man!

RotorHad

Thanks for all your input guys! I'm outlining my basic plan right now and I'll definately take your suggestions to heart. I'm kinda lucky in the fact that I have a few family members who have the skills to help me with anything I get stuck on.

Silkworm: I think E-prod is my final (read:down the road) goal with the project. I'm going to do ITS first, though.

tims: You're in N. Hollywood, right? Maybe I can come down sometime and check out your car? (Insert pleading and doe eyes here)

turboGXL: I PM'd you

tims

sure you can come by the shop and check out the car if you like. we are usually there on sundays and some evenings. leave me an email and I can give you directions.

Paul,

My racing partner and friend David Huang came up with the drawings. He did the other three for our World Challenge buddies who build cars for Roger Foo. he could be persuaded to do one for you but I will mention it takes him about three hours worth of work. but for a couple hundred bucks you could have a nice pen and ink piece of artwork that is very personal.

RotorHad

tims: I'm going to be back in CA by the 24th. I'll E-mail you when I get back so we can work out a time that is good for you. I can't wait to see your cars and your shop setup!

Keith

RotorHad

I'm going to do a thorough web site on my project... from start to finish. I'll try and detail every aspect of the build up... alot like Silkworms page. Building race-cars is the work I want to do and I think this will be a good first step... maybe I'll be able to get other people interested, too.

RotorHad

Tims:

Gotta nuther question for ya: Are the rear fenders/quarter panels on the #47 car removable? I was entertaining the idea of removing the factory sheetmetal there and fabbing up some brackets so that I could fasten replaceable rear fenders (in the event of damage). Then I saw your car and wondered if that was what you guys had done. Seems like it would look good and be entirely functional if the work was done correctly.

Barwick

I'm sure you already know this, but you must have a cage or rollbar if you have a 5-point harness. Otherwise in event of a rollover, the 5-point harnesses hold you upright while the roof comes down and crushes into your head/neck/back/spine and you're a saaaaad panda.

tims

the fenders are removable, sort of. they are fiberglass but they are attached with pop rivets. with some time dzus fasteners could be used so they could be removed quicker. problem is I don't have a replacement set so the extra time and effort was thought to be a waste. Tony at AWR has Gary's car setup with all parts dzused on. even the rear bumper cover comes off in seconds. my nose is one piece and is easily removeable(needs to be so I can load it on my trailer)

RotorHad

Sweet. I'm getting into fiberglass molding and stuff so my original idea (down the road) was to make a couple sets of widebody fenders that could be attatched using DZUS type fasteners. It's nothing that's going to happen anytime soon, but it's on my "To-Do" list. Hopefully I can hook up with someone who is fairly proficient with FG so that I can get some good insight... If I can't I'm going to learn it on my own (more than likely the hard way ). My goal is not 'show quality', just good (and smooth) enough to do the job (I won't half-*** them, though).

Silkworm

You do realize that none of what you just proposed is ITS legal? Tim's car is a Super Unlimited class car.

PaulC

RotorHad

Oh yeah... I know it's not legal. I'll build the car for ITS first, but eventually I want to take it much further. The 'much further' part is definately down the line... I'm just bouncing some ideas around now and guaging the potential for a more indepth project. I plan on running the car in ITS form for several years before I get crazy. Right now I don't have the knowledge or driving experience to handle a full on E-prod or SU car... but I will someday . Like the man said: "I have a dream..."

turboGXL

Sounds like you're interested in getting together a real racer. I'd be interested in hearing more on the e-prod car you have in mind