The following are shots of the clutch I wasted at Mission (check it out). Then comes my #2 LT1 engine install, the truck and trailer I bought in '98-'99 to haul the car to races and a few shots from some races at Spokane, the Rose Cups at PIR, John Kelchen and I duking it out during the '99 season, etc... After those shots are a nice one I got of Peter Wong's Viper at the American LeMans and one of Peter's girl friends... errr I mean a typical race fan. A torque arm and 1LE drive shaft I managed to waste back in 2000. And after all that I have several shots of my winter 2001 car upgrades and the new and improved #1 383 LT1 (later bored to 385) complete with Griffin radiator and SLP headers (among other things). Once I got the motor under the hood I promptly went out and got myself in more than the average amount of trouble trying to learn how to tame the BEAST (such as a few shots of me passing slower RX7s the hard way). I'll just keep posting anything interesting I get shots of as I go along I guess, like more broken parts and some 2002 and 2003 race pics, etc.
Fragged clutch at Mission in '99.
Pretty slick trick huh?
Z28 after extracting LT1 #1.
Note the service manual was the center piece of this whole
project... not the car.
A shot of the new LT1 #2.
Another shot of LT1 #2.
LT1 #2 stuffed under hood and
attached to the new air box I made which is covered with a heat blanket
to hide it from all curious snooper types.
Race car ready to do battle in '99.
On the trailer behind '89 Suburban (sold).
This is a shot of the first lap of the Sunday race with me working my way up from the #5 spot into the #3 spot right before taking the second hair pin. The Auburn Chev Z28 is the yellow car in 5th. I managed to get up to second soon after this shot only to drop back after my differential fluid leak resulted in a toasted Auburn posi and subsequent traction problems for most of the race.
Race Spokane Raceway Park on Memorial Day weekend, 1999.
Next, after tons of repair problems, we finally took a shot at the Festival Trophy race on Rose Cup weekend, running in the ITE class. The shot(s) below are after I managed to pass five or six cars off the green flag at the start of the race. I had bad luck qualifying, so started out in 25th out of 52 cars. All the ITE cars were ahead of me (5 of us total).
You'll notice the brown Porsche 911 and the black 944 next to the yellow Mazda #9? They were the two other ITE cars I was hoping to beat out for 3rd place in ITE. The 911 qualified 22nd (row 11), while the 944 qualified 24th (row 12). I started in row 13.
I worked up to about 10th before I spun in this same corner, in the Chicane, about half way through the 30 minute race. This is the first corner at the end of the main straight at PIR. After the spin they both managed to pass me back putting me back into 5th. The 944 finished 10th overall, the 911 got 14th and I ended up in 16th... 9 positions ahead of where I started even after the spin. The 944 managed to finish 14 positions up from where he started. Not too bad at all!
BTW - The other two ITE cars finished 1st and 2nd over all. Both were 944s also. The white 944 car in the Spokane shot up above was the 1st place car both days. He's the man to beat.
Rose Cup Race.
TEAM NW F-Body after the race. NO! Not
Mindy Hodel. The red car.
Here's a bunch of shots of John and I racing our butts off at Mission and PIR. Some of these shots were during races and some during qualifying sessions...
TEAM NW F-Body Z28s #1.
TEAM NW F-Body Z28s #2.
TEAM NW F-Body Z28s #3.
TEAM NW F-Body Z28s #4.
TEAM NW F-Body Z28s #5.
TEAM NW F-Body Z28s #6.
TEAM NW F-Body Z28s #7.
TEAM NW F-Body Z28s #8.
As if the clutch wasn't enough I also managed to nuke my drive shaft taking out my torque arm in the process at my first race of 2000. I even managed to break a second brand new Spohn TQ arm near the end of that season as well. Shit!
And some other interesting things one gets to see when taking in the American LeMans races...
Vipers.
Race fan of the best kind.
Fast cars #1.
Faster cars #2.
Real fast cars #3.
And here's some more shots of my 2001 mods.
My poor car.
Test fit new Griffin radiator.
New 383 LT1 #1 (heads and Comp Cams RRs).
New 383 LT1 #1 (SLP headers and Canton oil pan).
New 383 LT1 #1 (intake and opti-spark distributor).
New 383 LT1 #1 (tucked into engine bay).
New 383 LT1 #1 (wired and ready).
New 383 LT1 #1 (air duct, MAF and shock tower brace).
New 383 LT1 #1 (rear of crank from below).
Sparco Pro 2000 race seat.
New numbers.
And new stickers.
A couple shots at a Bremerton track/school day giving folks rides...
And some shots of my 2001 Chevy 2500HD crew cab with 8.1L (496ci) V8 and 6 speed tow rig. Time to go racing... except that most of the 2001 race season is history already and the new motor proved to be a pain in the butt because one of the heads cracked 50 miles into the first test day... among other issues. That's racing folks!
Photo #1 of truck and car.
Photo #2 of truck and car.
Photo #3 of truck and car.
Photo #4 of truck and car.
Photo #5 of truck and car.
One of these days you're going down guys...
A couple of my prime objectives.
Here's a close call I had with an SPU RX7 that was no match for my new set up. So as I began to pass him, what does he do? Dives to his apex and nearly swaps paint with me... or me with him. That's REAL racing folks!
Photo #1 of close RX7 pass.
Photo #2 of close RX7 pass.
Photo #3 of close RX7 pass.
Photo #4 of close RX7 pass.
Photo #5 of close RX7 pass.
And here we have a couple shots of me breaking in the new 2002 motor out at Bremerton Raceway at an early April Solo I event.
Photo #1 at Bremerton.
Photo #2 at Bremerton.
More 2002 pics...
2002 Seattle paddock.
2002 engine bay before race.
2002 race start at Seattle.
2002 pic 1.
2002 pic 2.
2002 pic 3.
2002 pic 4.
2002 pic 5.
2002 pic 6.
2002 pic 7.
A couple shots from the Oct 2002 Endurance race at Portland...
Went down to Laguna Seca with Craig and came back one race short and one clutch busted. So, I bought a new SPEC clutch to replace it...
Broken SLP clutch disk.
SPEC Stage 3 pressure plate front.
SPEC Stage 3 pressure plate back.
SPEC Stage 3 ceramic disc.
And here's some more racing action at Pacific Raceway, Memorial Day weekend (one more 1st place for the books)...
2003 exiting T2.
2003 entering T3a.
2003 T8 exit (Scotty White after me).
2003 T6.
2003 Miata lunch.
2003 T5b.
2003 Miata desert.
Some more busted parts from the 2004 season, OUCH!!
Damaged LT1 385 oil pan (left side).
Damaged LT1 385 oil pan (right side).
Pinion gear that broke before and the rod that tore the oil pan open.
Throttle body had metal in it too (metal everywhere).
Busted piston in #3 cyl.
Busted piston in #3 cyl (close up).
Busted piston parts (top).
Busted piston parts (bottom).
Cyl #3 busted wall (a).
Cyl #3 busted wall (b).
