Turning a new leaf

There comes a time in every motorheads life that a decision needs to be made between a street car, and a race car. That time has come to me this week. It's always been a struggle with the freshly done up 86 Z28 how far to go with motorsports. Now the struggle is over, as a new addition to the stable arrived yesterday. Coming to a race track near you in 2009, a 1994 Pontiac Trans Am GT.

Click on image for bigger view.

Current specs on the car as follows:

• Stock V8 5.7L LT1 (1995 engine) - 275HP @ 5000, 325 ft-lbs @ 2000 RPM
  
• Auto 4-spd Transmission
• 3.23 Rear axle ratio with Posi
• Double diamond subframe connectors
• LS1 front brake conversion
• Magnaflow Cat-back exhaust
• T/A Diff Alum. Girdle
• Walbro 255 LPH Fuel Pump
• SLP Fan Switch

Yeah, it may look tame right now, but come spring 2009, she'll be a full fledged dedicated road race car. Of course due to budgetary constraints, not everything will be completed this winter. For my 2009 "rookie" season, I will leave the engine at stock power as it's already fast enough to get me in trouble. Other than the usual mechanical updates like wheel hubs, tie rod ends, etc, here is some of the planned "upgrades" for this winter:

• Complete gut the interior parts - Carpet, rear seats & belts, plastics, stereo, etc.
• Remove all HVAC components - Air conditioning parts, heater parts, etc.
• Shock tower brace (thanks to Jeff for the used component)
• Replace all fluids with synthetics
• Replace spark plugs
• Get an optimized ECM tune
• Cold Air Intake
• Stranos upper A-Arm camber bushings
• 160* Hi-Flow Thermostat
• Relocate battery to RR of the car
• Upgraded brake pads, probably Carbotech XP10 on the front, and XP8 for the rear
  
• ...and of course 4 Hoosier R6 R-Comp tires - 275/45/16 mounted on lightweight 16x10 wheels

If the budget allows it, I'll be installing the Stranos Handling Package 3 which includes springs, front & rear sway bars, 4 Koni adjustable sports shocks, and an adjustable panhard bar. Although a hefty $1700 with shipping, this package has been used on alot of championship winning Firebirds & Camaros....It's a proven setup.

For photos and updates coming soon.

July/Aug Update

Here's what been happening since my last update:

In my last post, I had mentioned St. Thomas Dragway & the Rod& Piston show for July 12th & 13th, but that never happen because of the crappy weather...AGAIN!

On July 26th, I installed my new Earl's Stainless Braided brake lines, and a 19mm rear sway bar instead of the 24mm that was on there. This was in hopes to "calm" the rear of the car during autocross runs & track days.

July 27th was the 2nd TFBM autocross event at the Powerade centre in Brampton. We had a nice turnout of 40 cars which included some Mustangs as part of the Mustang/FBody Challenge, and the weather once again cooperated. For that event, the car felt WAY better with the new brake lines & smaller sway bar. I finished a meer 0.7 seconds behind first for the street tire cars. I was very happy how the car ran & handled. I guess I impressed someone as I was awarded a Track School by Ian Law Racing. I will attend either the Sept 7th or Oct 5th date.

On August 3rd, I entered the Canal Days Car Show just down the street from my house. It was held at the HH Knoll Park on Lake Erie. Very nice setting, great turnout with close to 550 cars, and beautiful weather. But, when I registered, there were no classes that my car really fit in so I entered it in "Special Interest" which was kind of dumb on my part. I got bored quick and left with the car around 1 PM, but returned around 4:30 for the awards and 50/50 draw. Here are some of the PICTURES of the show.

On Friday August 8th, my dad & I entered the GM Powertrain Show & Shine in St. Catharines. In the morning, the weather sucked big time. We left around 9:15 AM and it was still spitting rain. But once we got there, it had stopped and cleared up within an hour. Even with the bad weather it still ended up with a good car turnout. Took a couple pictures of the new 2009 Corvette ZR1 and went on the plant tour around noon. Here are the rest of the show pictures.

In the next few weeks, here is the anticipated schedule:

Sunday August 17th - Classic Car Show & BBQ presented by Cruise Niagara & Paul Kent Estates
Sunday August 24th - TFBM Drag Racing Event #2 - Toronto Motorsports Park

That's all for now. Drive safe.