STANG KILLA SS Goes Racin

[XSRCdesign]

I enjoy seeing your updates. Loosing your brakes has to be scary as hell. Any correlation to going with solid rotors?

[JatoTheRipper]

This thread makes me want to go racing. Of course, where I live in PA I'm at least 2 hours away from any track.

That exhaust would piss me off. My cousin put Flowmasters on his Mustang years back and it kept doing the same. He eventually just had the problematic seam welded.

[STANG KILLA SS]

im in the same boat. TWS and MSR are 2.5 hours away.
im gonna put 4 slits in every joint, and try again. welding will be last ditch effort. i plan to change the axle back in the future. im tired of having to wear ear plugs on the street.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

im in the same boat. TWS and MSR are 2.5 hours away.
im gonna put 4 slits in every joint, and try again. welding will be last ditch effort. i plan to change the axle back in the future. im tired of having to wear ear plugs on the street.

I guess I'm just lazier. I blame old age for that. Just a couple of years ago I was on the run non-stop and then 40 took over and I hit a wall!

I seriously hate driving on the road though because traffic is getting too bad for this small town boy.

[STANG KILLA SS]

Originally Posted by XSRCdesign

I enjoy seeing your updates. Loosing your brakes has to be scary as hell. Any correlation to going with solid rotors?

luckily it was on a slower section, not a threshold braking section. had it happen in the camaro too. even worse actually.
no i was learning new track, and also braking like a gorilla. i also have a hunch on something that may have let to overheating, but i have to pull the wheels to check that....

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I guess I'm just lazier. I blame old age for that. Just a couple of years ago I was on the run non-stop and then 40 took over and I hit a wall!

I seriously hate driving on the road though because traffic is getting too bad for this small town boy.

i hear you on getting older and lazier.



im lucky. both of the the drives to the race tracks are on back roads threw the country. nothing but me, pastures, cows, and a couple 2 stop light towns. a really nice peacefull drive.

[Shinchu]

for your exhaust problem... maybe V bands?
https://www.full-race.com/store/borg...nd-flange-kit/


clock the bolts up and you have tons of clearance. I've always wanted to use them.

[STANG KILLA SS]

gonna try putting 4 slots in each end. watching my saturday morning car shows, saw a magnaflow setup done that way. gonna try it first. then ill just run a bead on the joint as a last ditch effort if that doesnt work.
i plan to change the axle back system in the future. so im trying not to go too permanent.

[DavidH]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

gonna try putting 4 slots in each end. watching my saturday morning car shows, saw a magnaflow setup done that way. gonna try it first. then ill just run a bead on the joint as a last ditch effort if that doesnt work.
i plan to change the axle back system in the future. so im trying not to go too permanent.

I had to tack weld the SLP loudmouth system on my 2000 Camaro to stop it from moving around. It never moved after that. I figured I could quickly cut the welds with an angle grinder should the need arise.

[calcagno45]

Cory, those wheels! O my goodness they look great. Did you by chance happen to weigh them in comparison to the stockers?

[STANG KILLA SS]

Thank you so much!!!!!!!
there impossible to take pics of being black. but i get compliments even from the "elderly" corvette crowd on them.

no i didnt weight them. i should have. cant believe i didnt think of that.
but they will weigh more im sure. even going from cast, to forged.
cast wheels were 18x10.5" on all 4
new wheels are 18x11 and 18x12. so im sure i picked up some weight.

but thats the thing about wheel weights, i know its critical, but the difference in a $175 chinease repro wheel, and a $1200 forged wheel is only about 3-4 pounds each.

also loving the 5 spoke design. when i needed to work on those caliper bleed nipples. i didnt even have to remove the wheels. just wrenched them tight right between the spokes

[calcagno45]

Man, I wonder though. Some of those cast wheels are elephants but some are fairly light.

Agree, I love the look of the multi spoke wheels on Vettes, looks very racy to me. But so do 5 spokes and you get better access and they're not a bitch to clean.

Any reason you didn't go with the supposed king of tires in the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's?

[STANG KILLA SS]

price, and they only come in 295s

[STANG KILLA SS]

well i got a bit behind on editing and posted these. but better late than never


took the exhaust off and put four 3/4" slots in each side to help them clamp better.


it actually worked, until the exhaust came off again. but this time when i jacked it up to my surprise the joints were all still intact, it had just sliped off the rubber hanger in the back by the tips this time. which i kind of remember not being able to get that all the way back on last time i reassembled it.



lost a center cap on the new wheels, my guess is o-ring got so hot it melted/softened enough to let it pop out. i also need to turn the rotors, there warped horribly.



morning warm up






trying to catch the fast guys. i had already been out half a session in the heat of the afternoon. brakes and tires were already fading. these guys were quick. it took every bit of talent and concentration i had to try to reel these guys in. lots of fun.


also set my new PB of 2:26.2



sadly the next full 3.1 mile track day isnt until October :(

[STANG KILLA SS]

went back to Cresson Monday for the full 3.1 course
had probably my best track day ever. i wasn't nervous or anxious. just chill and relaxed. and it showed in my driving. i wasn't having to think at all, everything was just flowing and happening naturally. despite the video showing all the worst clips.






also another event down with no exhaust (loosening) issues, it seems my slots fixed the clamping.






sadly my suction mount for the lap timer broke, so i dont have any evidence if i broke my PB.






the cooler weather let me throw anything i wanted at the car. was really nice. i could focus on pushing, rather than on conserving. made big improvements into T2. now if i could just figure out T6! #growballs

















the butterflys and moths were insane that day. i was having to clean them out of my grill and brake ducts after every session.

[hpiguy]

Nice laps Cory. God that thing sounds so good!

[STANG KILLA SS]

Had another track day at MSR a couple weeks ago.


before heading out, i got a more aggressive alignment. -3.3*F / -1.6*R camber. also .1* of toe OUT per side on the rear, this ended up being a big mistake. very twitchy/unstable and on exits on power, i could actually feel the rear of the car being pulled towards the outside by the outside wheel. no good. camber felt pretty good, although i did feel a bit less grip on the rear.







on the last session of the day, on the 2nd lap i ended up setting a new Fastest lap record for myself on some very expired tires. i know the cars got alot more in it. i just have to learn this new track. i did get better at T6 which has been my nemesis. also started going deeper into T2





vid of new fastest lap



this guy also showed up. brand new GT4 AMG. unfortunately he ended up putting it in a muddy ditch, costing us all an hour of track time as they extracted the car.










at the end of the last session as the sun was going down, had a great few laps with a 4 door bmw. despite his PB lap being nearly 3 seconds faster than me! but on this day, both our tires were TOAST and we were both sliding everywhere to stay near each other. was a TON of fun, until i lost all brakes, went straight to the floor, all the hard laps had boiled the brake fluid. day was done. exhaust also came off the rear hanger some time during this run. still a blast. unfortunately my gopro went dead on grid and i only have the helmet cam footage.




also my first trip with my new tow rig, picked up a '16 GC Overland w/ Hemi & 4x4

[STANG KILLA SS]

Got an opportunity last weekend to drive for team GSpeed in one of the 3 corvettes they were entering in the World Racing League US Endurance Championship at Circuit of the Americas! Two 8 hour endurance races, one Saturday and one Sunday.


Thursday @ MSR Cresson
Met Louis, owner of GSpeed, and went to shake down the car and get a few laps in it.









also got a few a few laps with Lou Gigliotti, owner of LG Motorsports and Corvette racing fame. he did a couple laps then i did a couple before session was black flaged

went out again in a later session which was also black flaged after a C5 went off track and de-beaded a tire.


Friday @ COTA
race practice, driver gear and car tech inspection, and drivers meeting.
fueling up for practice. had 21 gal quick fill fuel cell (max allowed)




i did the 1st and last practice sessions of the day. sharing driving duties with 2 other drivers.
morning session i putted around getting a feel for the car and track. last session i tried to get a bit more aggressive to simulate the race.
final friday practice


















data



final check and new tires for race in morning



Drivers meeting Friday night. 93 cars to be on track at the same time!



Saturday morning Race Day #1
getting lined up by class on pre grid. we were running in GP1 which is the second to fastest class. so we were near the front of the entire feild, but near the back of our class.



our hot shoe Brian would start the race for our #61 car
green flag! released in 2 packs, this is just the first half of the pack we were in.












He made up a Bunch of spots but unfortunatly on lap 5 is when our issues started. waterpump pushed out the tube (pressed fit) that the hose connect to. had to be towed back to garage

some silicone and hammering the tube back in had us back on track. Brian was able to do another 45 minutes or so.


came in for 1st pit









after this is when we started having our issue. car was smoking bad.

came in again first time and it appeared to be coming out of the rear drivers side valve cover breather, pluged it back up and sent back out



3 laps later had to come back in, it spit out plug and was smoking again. getting worse. all from under the hood, none coming out exhaust.
we did this 3 or 4 more times every 3 laps. car would come back with NO oil showing on dip stick. was smoking so bad they couldnt hardly see where they were going. leaving quite a huge smoke trail.


finally the problem was found. rear main seal had blow out (likely from excess crank case pressure) and the oil was leaking straight out the rear main, out the bell housing and hitting the exhaust.










at the 2 hour mark of the first race, our weekend was done. had a spare motor but was decided it wasnt worth the effort, with the other 2 cars still in the game, and unsure if it could be done in time for race next day.

i never even got to suit up. my 3 year dream and W2W racing debut never got to happen. i was was gutted.....



on sunday our other 2 cars with 30 minutes to go were sitting in 1st and 3rd. they ended up finishing 8th (due to extra fuel pitstop) and 59th.

[hpiguy]

Damn Cory, that sucks man. But, I suppose that's racing in a nutshell too. Look at it this way, most of us will never even get the chance to drive a real race car.

[STANG KILLA SS]

yeah to all of them it wasnt a big deal, just "part of racing" but to me it was a life long dream that i watched slip threw my fingers.
but yes i was super grateful for the opportunity. it was a roller coaster ride for sure. but its better than not getting the chance at all, as alot dont (as my wife keeps reminding me).
believe it or not, there are alot of open call outs for drivers out there. especially this series because of the seat sharing.

it has certainly lit the fire under me......

[hpiguy]

Yeah, I can only imagine how bad that sucked.

I never really knew they had open call outs. That's pretty crazy. I'm guessing those open call outs require some real racing experience of some kind, as well as a contribution to footing the bill/covering costs if you wad the car up? Real racing seems like fun, but a shit ton of money, even on the amateur level.