Ready for track..I hope

[Craig245]

I bought a GTRA car for inexpensive track time to use instead of my other cars for driver improvement. I think my GTRA is finally ready for the track. I am taking it to Willow Springs this friday for a test day. It has not been easy as many of you have figured out. finding this forum has been very helpful, but I was almost done when I discovered it. I bought the car last Oct and recieved it at the track (Willow Springs) from Florida. Did a quick once over on fluids, battery, wheels, tires and brakes and then took it out. It was pretty doggy, not much power, but I'm used to a 480 HP '66 Shelby and a 535 RWHP Ford GT. 250 hp just wsn't that exciting. The car started to over heat pretty badly. It would get up to 240 after a few laps and I would have to come in and cool off. Found the fan relay to be faulty and bypases the relay so the fan was on all the time. Still overheated and on the last lap the engine gave it up. No compression. Oh well, time for more power.

I replaced:
Engine - 450hp 347 ci Crate engine from Ford (370 rwhp)
650 CFM Holly HP Carb
Centerforce Dual Friction clutch
Throw out bearing
Alternator - the old one would not fit on the new engine.
Timing cover and water pump for sepentine belt
all new pulleys
Removed the ECM and all sensors and fuel injection
New Holly fuel pump
Aeromotive fuel pressure guage
AutoMeter guages - Fuel pressure, oil pressure, water temp, and oil temp. (all mechanical)
Easy to see shift light
Big Bright low oil pressure light (I have lost oil pressure and ruined an engine twice.)
Cold air box for the intake drawing from the cowl
Custom thermostate housing so the loop is removed from the cooling system (comes straight out under the belt)
New Howe Custom racing Radiator with a Vapor recovery system (eliminated the Mustang header tank)
Set ride height and corner weights (way off)
Aligned front - It came with -4.5 camber and 3/4" toe out (no wonder it was so darty.)
New harnesses for driver and passenger (they were both old of date, dirty and stiff)

If it holds together with no problems, I'll replace the front springs with the 500# from Eibach and move the 350# Eibachs to the rear. Put on a set of Nitto's and a rear sway bar and then go have fun.

i keep having to remind myself that this is inexpensive

[Squerly]

Originally Posted by Craig245

i keep having to remind myself that this is inexpensive

hehe, welcome to the board. Sounds like you've paid the admission fees so now it's time to play. Good luck Craig, I think you're gonna have a good time now that you've replaced the weak links...

[glenbinegar]

Hi Craig, welcome to the forum. G8rbob and I bought a GTWC car last December. We have put about 20 hours on the car so far without any significant problems.
We are replacing the starter because it will not engage the flywheel reliablely. The rear differential was leaking slightly at Road Atlanta, we pulled the differential carrier out and found the gasket looked like it had been reused previously (probably the real reason for the leakage). We also removed the inner axle seals, they looked good, but they had about a cup of differential oil trapped behind them ( I think this is to be expected and may drill a small hole in the seal to allow it to drain back into the centersection), there was no leakage at the hub ends. We have not had any overheating issues, the car runs 200-210 on the track.
Willow Springs was my first track event and I went regularly for 5 years (on motorcycles), Hope to get our car out there sometime. Enjoy your car! G;-)

[Squerly]

Originally Posted by glenbinegar

The rear differential was leaking slightly at Road Atlanta...

Hi Glen, it was a pleasure meeting another Panoz driver at Road Atlanta earlier this month.

[Panoz26]

Hey Craig - have fun and let us know. I tracked my Series Car the day after picking it up - it was, well, fun. You will love the car.

[Cobra4B]

Welcome aboard... My father and I have had no real issues w/ our car. I agree on it being slow. Comming from a 436 rwhp C5 Z06 the car is a dog, but she handles and brakes with the best of them.

Best of all it it's low maintenance track time for us being as the car is so robust. This forum has been great and has really allowed me to go through the car and fix any and all issues.

Only issues left to tackle is more power! We're going to prep the car for ST2 w/ NASA so can only have a max of 327ish rwhp based on the car's weight. Due to that objective we're going with a AFR based heads/cam package and swapping to a carb setup.

[Craig245]

Finally back from vacation. I took it to Willow springs the day before leaving. It was 105 degrees there by 11:00 AM, good test day for overheating! The car had no problems, it didn't get over 180. The handling was OK, but the tires are old hard worn Pirellis. I think I'll put on a set of Nittos and a pair of 500# springs on the front, move the front springs to the rear, and then go back to tune the chassis. This is just supposed to be a track practice car.

The tranny was supposed to be the special 3550 with a .82 5th gear, but it is a standard 3550 with the .65 5th, which is worthless. I may need to get the TKO 600 close ratio. It should also keep the engine more in the torque band, and should hold up better to the 400 ft/lbs of torque. What tranny's do the rest of you have?

Craig

[Cobra4B]

Yeah I agree that 4th and 5th suck... esp w/ stock power.