Lol...at least to the first one.

engine compartment / weight balance - AGREE
alternator - MAYBE...
bumper supports - MAYBE, I'm big into safety and reliability for this car so will continue to think about this one for a while
Headlights? - NO
Aluminum oil pan - Depends on $$$ - seen any for this car ?
Aluminum master cylinder - Same
Lightening holes in non-essential supports - Will explore
Fender liners - Tell me more, please
Washer fluid, fluid bins, nozzles, misc. plastic crap, etc... Most already done

Not anytime soon. Plan is to make the best NA car I can and then enjoy it that way for as long as possible. At some point, who knows, but I look forward to benefiting from everyone else's trial and error on FI ;)

Will you modify the engine at all??

I don't know your plans for changing the rims, or if you already did. But how about switching to lightweight 18" rims in terms of saving weight?

hey knives, I'm now running 18" forgestars w/ 285 front and 315 rear R-compounds... net weight is slightly better than stock, given tires are heavier

I tell you what man, when I went off and kissed the wall in my car, my bumper support took a TON of the brunt off the rest of the car. I dont think I'd ever remove that, seeing how well it did its job...

My oil cooler and radiator would have been toast!

I'm leaning that direction...

Was that contact in your 370z ?

Yup

[YOUTUBEHQ]qMgu_LyA1zo[/YOUTUBEHQ]

^^Was there something on the track? Did you hit the brakes or something? Trying to figure out how it started out as understeer and went immediately to snap oversteer without much steering input.

Not to hijack Travis's journal here but that was oversteer all the way, he just didn't catch the warning signs early enough. Certainly could have been some oil on the track or something else that initiated it though.

I really hate guardrails :shakes head:

It was overstear, and it was also my first time out. Definitely a noob mistake, for sure. Entered too hot, realized it too late.

I learned to manage situations like this by doing a bunch of autocross events... great way to learn car control and gives you a lot better feel and reaction instincts when back on a road course at higher speeds... if you haven't already, suggest you try it! :tup:

Just getting it out to the track this year was a scramble really, and the local Auto-x happens Saturdays...I work almost every Saturday right now :(

When the situation presents itself, I FULLY intend to go, however.

Good call - I may take that advice too. I've put 4 track days on the car so far, but I think some low(er) speed car control is in order.

On weight - I don't think they have an alum. oil pan for the car yet, but you could always go billet ;-)

if its like the oil pan on the VQ-35, and I think it is, its just pretty much a flat steel plate. You might save a couple ounces, but nothing more.

We have a fantastic auto-x site up here in northern MA. The course designers often set up some challenging mid-high speed elements of slaloms and sweepers and high speed corners. Typical course size is 1.5 miles and takes over 2 minutes to complete, and by the end of it you are breathing hard. I thought I knew what I was doing before, and I kind of did, but after 3 years of auto-x I can make the back end hang out at the precise angle I want and catch any slide. In the last 2 years I only spun once, and it was in heavy rain, despite being one of the faster cars out there.

I fully agree, Chris. I think the only thing autocross doesn't prep you for on a road course is when you get loose at 100+ mph... at those speeds, aerodynamic effects can be just as much in play as tire and momentum angles.

This reminds me that I need to get my ars back into autocross! It's been a year or so...

Hey Travis, I just read your post that you're going to use Robi's splitter. Cool! I can't wait to read your impressions, hope you like it.

We picked up our Rotrex SC and we'll start that phase of the project soon. The holidays will slow things down a bit but in Jan or Feb we'll have that thing spinning... Oh yeah!

Post some pics as soon as you get 'em :tup:

You get that gremlin figured out yet?


Z06stan

Travis, on a different subject, you hear about the new track opening next year here in Cali north of Palm Springs? Chuckawalla Raceway. I'm going to be talking with the owner about putting on some events. You think some of your AZ guys would make the trek if it was worth your while? I'm going to try and set up a corvette event with cash prizes possibly. Maybe I could work something out for the import crowd with cash prizes as well. What do you think? Any ideas would be great. Maybe a new thread so as not to take away from your thread here.

Let me know :tiphat:

PM me if you want




Z06Stan

I like it!



Z06STAN

I will definitely update here with pics and impressions once I have Robi's front splitter installed. Mine will look a bit more utilitarian considering I'm going with plastic instead of CF for the splitter itself. But should function about the same. The other thing I will try to do different is to make it so I can pull it on/off quickly with quick releases - that way I can drive to the track w/o fear of trashing it.

It's a great idea. I don't know a lot of corvette guys out here, but there are plenty of course. I think they have their own club too that you can check in with. Be sure to also check in with NASA Arizona... once you get the event figured out, I can help you announce it on the NASA forum.

That's an old post... I ended up going with matte black 18" forgestars, that look rather similar to those advans. But thanks.

True, we max out at about 70 mph, occasionally 80 on our course. It teaches you to have fast hands and reactions, drive by the seat of your pants style. When you get to the track you have to unlearn the fast steering inputs and aggressive throttle inputs but first time track drivers that have auto-x experience almost always do better their first time out because they are comfortable with their vehicle.

I love both auto-x and track but for different reasons. Both ultimately make you a better driver.

On a separate note, a new vendor from this forum that has decided to become an official part of my build... I will share details over the next few days... very excited about it! More later.

... I remember doing some autocross and road courses back to back a few years ago and getting literally yelled out by my instructor for the excessive steering inputs on the road course!... he was right of course :)

Big tease :icon23: :icon17:

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: LMFAO

Travis are going to put any aero package stuff on your Z besides that plastic front splitter??

only functional aero (splitter, rear wing... maybe rear diffuser if the right one is made), not engine mods for now

Who's designing the front splitter? Taking the Robispec design?

How's this going?

Hey all. laying low for a while. holidays and what-not. i did get the new robi-spec front splitter kit and canards and everything looks great. pics of that along with everything else in jan. Hopefully car goes back to fab (junior) this weekend.

Other than that, we are waiting on a new main wiring harness from japan c/o my LOU FUSZ NISSAN of St Louis, MO... eta mid-Jan... no driving without that.

Side note, I installed a bend-pak lift in my garage last few days... A mid-rise scissor lift. Works great, highly recommended.

Awesome. Honestly can't wait to see how this turns out.

Keep us posted Travis :tiphat:

Pics/price :)

I would love to have a lift...

Hell, I would love to have a garage...

ah, city living!

here you go... it is the bend pak 6xp... FREE SHIPPING — Bend Pak Portable Mid-Rise Scissor Lift — 6000-Lb. Capacity, Model# MD-6XP | Scissor Lifts | Northern Tool + Equipment... comes pretty much assembled and is great for me because I don't have tall ceilings in my garage and considering I'm not going to be under this thing too often, no big deal if I can't stand underneath... plenty of room to work from a seated position and great for swapping tires and changing fluids... good access for everything except pulling an engine or trans... i've heard of people finding it for $1,500 but unfortunately mine was a couple hundred more than that + $100 ship/unload... the wooden ramps I built from 2x12s - they change the min ground clearance from ~5inch to ~2inch

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...20182404-1.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...2-20182434.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...2-20182619.jpg

City living indeed. And someone just scraped my rear fender the other day. It just got paint, but it sucks to have that happen for a second time in less than a year.

The lift looks great. Ahh, elevated access... I'm jealous. There are things like brake pads I don't even do now because my car is out on the street...

Car is back with Junior/Fathead. Finishing up some work... Still waiting on harness, coming in from JP. Hoping to have the car on track mid-Jan.

Here are my potential AZ-region events this year... I will look to add events out of AZ, including Redline TA, depending on work/family schedule. I'm excited about running the Inde MS Ranch track, which is opening again after several years of shutdown due to a court order.

Sat Jan 9-10: NASA - PIR (WILL MISS THIS)
Fri Jan 15-17: PROAUTO - FIR MAIN (MAYBE)
Sat Jan 30: PCA - FIR EAST
Sat Feb 6-7: PCA AX, NASA - FIR MAIN
Fri Feb 12-14: PROAUTO - FIR WEST
Sat Mar 6-7: PROAUTO - AROYO IN NEW MEXICO, NASA - PIR
Sat Mar 13: PCA DE - FIR WEST
Sat Mar 20 : NASA - FIR WEST
Fri Mar 26-28: PROAUTO - FIR EAST
Sat Apr 10: NASA - FIR MAIN NIGHT 2x
Fri Apr 30-May 1: PROAUTO - FIR EAST, NASA - PIR
Sat May 15: PCA - FIR EAST
Fri May 28-30: PROAUTO - INDE MS RANCH
Sat Jun 5-6: NASA - FIR EAST
Sat Aug 14-15: NASA - FIR WEST
Fri Sep 3-5: PROAUTO - INDE MS RANCH
Thu Sep 16-19: NASA NATIONALS IN UTAH - UTAH MMS PARK
Fri Sep 24-26: PROAUTO - FIR MAIN + BONDURANT
Sat Oct 2-3: NASA - PIR
Sat Oct 16-17: NASA - FIR EAST
Fri Oct 29-31: PROAUTO - FIR WEST
Fri Nov 26-28: PROAUTO - FIR MAIN, NASA - PIR
Sat Dec 11: PROAUTO - FIR WEST

^Your new Bend Pak is awesome, really need to get one of those in my garage one of these days. Congrats.

What's the speed on the lift??

damn where are the updates?!