Finally caved in/kfoote's track build
09-04-2012, 01:00 PM
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Finally caved in/kfoote's track build
After several years of working on 350's, I caved in about a month ago and bought a 2003 350z track car to replace the Miata I've been running for 10 years. I'm loosely building it as an SCCA STO car. It was originally built in 2004 as a backup Grand-Am cup car, but never actually raced. Here's the first decent pics I have, and some work I did to it over the weekend.
The car pretty much as I bought it:
I installed the rear SPC camber arms (black) and a pair of adjustable toe arms (blue) that were kicking around the shop:
Test fit of the wheels I want to run. These are Enkei RPF1's 18 x 10.5, ET15, and have the Pirelli World Challenge spec 305/30 18 tires which are slightly bigger than the Hoosier 285/30 18's I'm going to be running. I'd like to be able to run the same wheels and tires on all 4 corners, so I'm going to run 38mm offset wheels with a 15mm front and 20mm rear spacer.
Installed the Seibon carbon fiber rear trunk, which is ~65 lbs lighter than the stock rear deck. I'll be making a polycarbonate rear window for it.
I have CF side skirts for it, one of which needs to be repaired, and both of which need to be repainted. The Competition Performance Products wing arrived today.
I'm expecting to run the car for the first time at a HPDE/Time Attack event at NHMS in mid-October.
The car pretty much as I bought it:
I installed the rear SPC camber arms (black) and a pair of adjustable toe arms (blue) that were kicking around the shop:
Test fit of the wheels I want to run. These are Enkei RPF1's 18 x 10.5, ET15, and have the Pirelli World Challenge spec 305/30 18 tires which are slightly bigger than the Hoosier 285/30 18's I'm going to be running. I'd like to be able to run the same wheels and tires on all 4 corners, so I'm going to run 38mm offset wheels with a 15mm front and 20mm rear spacer.
Installed the Seibon carbon fiber rear trunk, which is ~65 lbs lighter than the stock rear deck. I'll be making a polycarbonate rear window for it.
I have CF side skirts for it, one of which needs to be repaired, and both of which need to be repainted. The Competition Performance Products wing arrived today.
I'm expecting to run the car for the first time at a HPDE/Time Attack event at NHMS in mid-October.
09-04-2012, 01:12 PM
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In for build photos.
Congrats on scoring that car.
Congrats on scoring that car.
09-04-2012, 01:21 PM
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I figured I'd keep this going and update this as a build thread. I'm going to be a bit busy with work over the next couple of weeks, but I'll update as it goes on.
09-04-2012, 02:00 PM
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The rear wing will add 12-15 lbs, but will help the handling far more than the weight cost. I'll be running the stock hood, fenders, and door (though the doors are totally gutted), because the cost/weight savings IMO isn't worth it at this time. The rear deck lid is so much lighter that it was one of the parts that was worth it, though.
The carbon fiber front bumper cover (on the car, painted) and the CF side skirts aren't a lot lighter than the stock parts, but they had them for the car, and aren't ever going to use them for anything else, so I was able to get those with the car.
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09-04-2012, 05:40 PM
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LOL...only if the member asks for a thread title change. 
09-04-2012, 07:25 PM
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I'm including the weight of the glass, but the carbon trunk alone is 19-20 lbs measured on a bathroom scale compared to 85ish for the stock trunk and glass. The rear polycarbonate window will weigh 4 lbs max, so it's still 60+ anyways, then throw in that I'm not running the trunk struts and will be using hood pins and removing all the stock latch motors and hardware, and it's a huge weight savings.
The rear wing will add 12-15 lbs, but will help the handling far more than the weight cost. I'll be running the stock hood, fenders, and door (though the doors are totally gutted), because the cost/weight savings IMO isn't worth it at this time. The rear deck lid is so much lighter that it was one of the parts that was worth it, though.
The carbon fiber front bumper cover (on the car, painted) and the CF side skirts aren't a lot lighter than the stock parts, but they had them for the car, and aren't ever going to use them for anything else, so I was able to get those with the car.
The rear wing will add 12-15 lbs, but will help the handling far more than the weight cost. I'll be running the stock hood, fenders, and door (though the doors are totally gutted), because the cost/weight savings IMO isn't worth it at this time. The rear deck lid is so much lighter that it was one of the parts that was worth it, though.
The carbon fiber front bumper cover (on the car, painted) and the CF side skirts aren't a lot lighter than the stock parts, but they had them for the car, and aren't ever going to use them for anything else, so I was able to get those with the car.
09-05-2012, 01:53 PM
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The stock rear glass weighs less than you would think, I'd guess that you'd save about 40 lbs even using the stock glass.
I will be weighing the car when it is done, I'm guessing it will probably be somewhere between 2700 and 2725 lbs when iran it for the first time. The car started at 2886, so it should be pretty easy to get it in that range.
I will be weighing the car when it is done, I'm guessing it will probably be somewhere between 2700 and 2725 lbs when iran it for the first time. The car started at 2886, so it should be pretty easy to get it in that range.
09-05-2012, 01:59 PM
#15
The stock rear glass weighs less than you would think, I'd guess that you'd save about 40 lbs even using the stock glass.
I will be weighing the car when it is done, I'm guessing it will probably be somewhere between 2700 and 2725 lbs when iran it for the first time. The car started at 2886, so it should be pretty easy to get it in that range.
I will be weighing the car when it is done, I'm guessing it will probably be somewhere between 2700 and 2725 lbs when iran it for the first time. The car started at 2886, so it should be pretty easy to get it in that range.
09-13-2012, 07:46 AM
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ATTN: Mods: I would like to request a thread title change to "Finally caved in/kfoote's track build"
And a couple more parts pics...the main plane of the Competition Performace Products wing showed up:
And little battery from www.apexautosport.us, ~33 lbs lighter than the factory battery
And a couple more parts pics...the main plane of the Competition Performace Products wing showed up:
And little battery from www.apexautosport.us, ~33 lbs lighter than the factory battery
09-25-2012, 08:59 AM
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I've been working on a carbon fiber side skirt repair. It's almost ready for paint now. The car I bought was a backup for this car, which ran some races in Grand-Am Cup in 2004 and 2005:
The driver's side skirt took a pretty good hit in it's last race, so needs some work to fix it. That's also why it's currently silver.
This used to have about the area with the wet looking bondo missing entirely. Some fiberglass patching was done to fix it.
Looks ugly, but almost ready for priming and painting:
The passenger's side skirt just needs to be repainted, no repair required.
I have also painted the wing supports. I'm hoping to install the wing this Sunday if all goes according to plan.
The driver's side skirt took a pretty good hit in it's last race, so needs some work to fix it. That's also why it's currently silver.
This used to have about the area with the wet looking bondo missing entirely. Some fiberglass patching was done to fix it.
Looks ugly, but almost ready for priming and painting:
The passenger's side skirt just needs to be repainted, no repair required.
I have also painted the wing supports. I'm hoping to install the wing this Sunday if all goes according to plan.