[silverblueBP]

Hmmm, where to start. Some things I've learned over the years about track days and racing (vintage).

Read every club's rules before you start spending money!

Get as much seat time as you can. Have fast racers ride with you, but make sure they drive the same type of setup as you do. A FWD driver will be useless if you have a RWD car.

Stock rods (no matter what you do to them have a short shelf life before they start to "stretch". Stock crank will last all day at 6,000, but 7,000+ is going to kill it sooner or later.
Lighten everything that you can and still be safe.
Stich weld every metal joint.
Put in a good radiator and new hoses. Buy or drill holes in the t-stat to let air through.
Roller perches
Adj strut rods
Get rid of rubber parts, except the trans mount.
Good shocks are not an option, but a requirement.
Roll/cut fender lips before painting!
Removable steering wheel or suffer the consequences.
If you go cheap on parts, THEY WILL BREAK...soon.
Ask lots of questions.
Lose the coil spring covers.
Use hood pins.
Put catch cans on the valve covers and the rear axle. Rebuild the toploader with good parts from David Kee.
Use Joe Gibbs/Driven MTF in said toploader.
Put a good locker in the rear. I've been very happy with the Detroit Tru Trac.
Put heim joints on the stock toploader shifter rods.
Make/buy a brace that mounts to the brake MC/firewall that goes to the shock tower.
Put the biggest brakes on that the rules allow. Run cooling ducts to them and use race pads/shoes and expensive DOT 4 fluid.
Switch to braided brake lines.
If you use regular roller rockers, just know that one day you'll upgrade to shaft rockers. Don't doubt me
Buy a trailer cause your car WILL break down at the track.
Get over having "pretty" paint. It's gonna get peppered all to hell.
You're not going to believe how fast you'll go through tires.
6pt or more cage and all the safety gear you can muster. Having your head pop off your neck or burning up is a terrible way to die.
Proper harness, 5-6pt camlocks are not that expensive.
A good seat that holds you in place and is properly attached to the rear main hoop.
Fire ext is a minimum, a system is better.
A coolshirt setup will make the day a lot more enjoyable.

You WILL have more fun and comradery than you can possibly imagine!

 

[silverblueBP]

This is the firewall brace Mark is talking about...Hane Performance, LLC

Based on the pics you showed me of the heads, they are not shaft mount. A good set will cost you about $1200. An excellent set (like Mark runs) will be twice that.

Noooooo, an excellent set will cost $1,200-1,400.

 

[silverblueBP]

Sweeet! Buy the excellent set....

But all of these trick, cool, expensive parts won't be worth it unless you make those heads BREATH. Meaning lots of time and $$. Anyone can buy/build the bottom end with good parts. It's the work that goes into the heads that differentiates the fast cars.

 

[silverblueBP]

You gotta pay to play

 

[silverblueBP]

Is there anything on a build like this that doesn't cost at least $1,200.00?!? :surprise::shrug:

Allen

The starter.

 

[silverblueBP]

Patrick has indeed been telling me. I'm slowly learning. :crying:

I bet the starters 4 figures as well...

Allen

Nope.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwm-9503

 

[silverblueBP]

If you plan on using those heads (not sure why though), that is a good starting point to work from. You need to decide what is to be done to them to make them breathe better. You'll need those flow numbers to give to a competent cam builder. How many CC's will the combuster chambers end up at. Will they need to be milled down? What type and ratio of rockers to use. Although, a good cam maker will help you answer those questions.

A road race motor is not your average amount of work. Unless you don't care how long it lasts.

 

[silverblueBP]

1st, I don't have any experience. I think I'm going to go to a local SCCA Sunday morning just to watch. I want to build the car at least to the point that I can find out if it's something I want to do. I've met Mark and Patrick and I know these guys know what they are talking about, especially with Mark having the experience he has. Not sure I'm ready to go all out like his car is (it's damn awesome though). But I do want to build a strong engine that can turn the rpm's needed and hold up and as Mark has said and I realize, it's how long it will hold up. If I can build a car that will hold up to me without it being a car that can hold up to Mark, then I would be pleased. I understand his comment that as he got better, he needed better equipment. I may never reach that point, not sure.

I'm willing to spend some dollars, but I also don't want to "over" spend. If a $500 dollar forged crank will hold up to me, I don't need to buy a 2k crank. Hard decisions and I certainly appreciate all the input. I'm listening and learning and hope to learn and meet some people at the SCCA and keep this ball rolling. I'm going to take the block in and see where it ends up bore wise and go forward from there. Keep the suggestions coming and know that I have thick skin. If I post something you think is stupid say so, I've done stupid sht before. :grin2:

Thanks,

Allen

I know you're serious, but I LMAO reading it.

 

[silverblueBP]

You absolutely can build a good motor that won't break the bank. Keep in mind though, that my 289 that lasted 8 years of track days still cost $6K initially and then $1-2K every other year cause I kept breaking stuff! It's a learning process that is dependant on what you can spend vs how you drive.

There are guys that will spend $20K on a motor and it'll last a season and then there are the guys that spend a little less and use it for years. Some are harder on the equipment and some are not.
I seem to fall in the very hard on the equipment and spend less. We'll see how it goes this year with this version of engine :surprise:

 

[silverblueBP]

Is the welding you're talking about Mark?



Allen

Yes and a lot of other places too. Pretty much every seam you get a welder to. Where parts join to frame rails too. Nice pic!

 

[silverblueBP]

Took me some time to get the welder dialed in and about the time you do, you change angles, up and down, in and out. Oh well, got some welding done.



Allen

Hit the strut rod brace and the sway bar mount too!

 

[silverblueBP]

Cool. Now relist all of that rocker hardware and buy a set of these or better...https://www.summitracing.com/parts/jes-kss-536060

I would agree to use a shaft rocker setup. TD, Jesel and Yella Terra are all excellent choices. The YT’s and TD’s will fit under stock (351) valve covers. They may not fit some Fab’d VCs I don’t have personal knowledge of the Jesels.

 

[silverblueBP]

You should get flow numbers on them before deciding on pistons, cam and carb. Also if you'll need to to get the heads milled down.

 

[silverblueBP]

A few parts that came in...

Allen

If that 6AL takes rev limiter chips, just know that they tend to kick in around 200rpm lower than what's stated.

 

[silverblueBP]

Kind of like that last 1-2 gallons of “stupid” gas in the bottom of the tank. Run the 7.5K. You should be good. When you grenade the motor and decide to spend $4K on a rotating assembly, then run the 8K.

Friends like this guy.........

 

[silverblueBP]

When you take the head in, take the intake and header and have them flow with those attached too. You’ll see how the flow drops off.

 

[silverblueBP]

I don't have headers yet...:shrug:



Allen

No biggie.

 

[silverblueBP]

All the fuel cells that I’ve seen are filled from the trunk.

This

 

[silverblueBP]

Yes, I understand you fill the tank from inside the trunk. The question is, is the fuel cell the same size as the original tank or larger?



Allen

ATL, Fuel Safe, etc...make all different sizes of cells. Fuel Safe makes a direct drop in thats 16 gals. It’s pricey though.

 

[silverblueBP]

@silverblueBP, do the coupes run without back seat windows and front windows? Seems like a waste of weight to me but I have seen cars with and without rear seat windows.



Allen

Haven’t paid attention to the lowly coupes [emoji16]