BrianChevy

I just bought an '87 IROC Z with 305 TPI and a 5speed tranny. I am planning on going Solo2 Racing right away with SCCA and do some road courses next summer (road atlanta, etc). Eventually I'll do an engine swap and turn it to a drag racing big block beast. I know I need a roll cage and other mods such as track bar in the rear, but I want my mods to support both bracket racing AND SCCA.
Have any of you done that? Can you point me to the right products that are valid and legal for both SCCA ESP and sportsman bracket.

My brother in law says I have to replace the C-Clips holding the rear axles in place before SOLO2 or i'll tear up the car.

Do you guys have any other ideas for an aspiring racer?

Brian

AlkyIROC

Welcome to Thirdgen.org

To my knowledge nobody makes a c-clip eliminator for the 7.5" 10 bolt diff. It's not a performance diff that demands many performance parts.

If the car has rear disk brakes, the brake rotor/ caliper and mount will do the same job. They keep the axle from coming out if the c-clip retainer breaks off the end of the axle.

BrianChevy

Thanks for your reply. My car does have 4 wheel disk brakes. THAT'S COOL..

I HAD NOT THOUGHT ABOUT IT THAT WAY.... I don't have to worry about it. EXCELLENT!!!!

So I guess the first major mod that needs to be done is the Track Bar. Do you have a preferred brand? The Lakewood looks pretty tough and I can get them here in Atlanta at YearOne without having to pay shipping OR wait 2 days.

Should I go ahead and do the Subframe connectors or a strut tower brace too? Do these few mods alone push me up a class to ESP?

Brian

slow305

iTrader: (2)

Check the rules on rollcages ... from what I've heard, they are different between the SCCA and NHRA. Something that may be required for NHRA may not be allowed in SCCA or vice versa (I think Solo rules on cages default to road-racing rules). I don't know if you could build a "hybrid" cage that was legal for both.

86SCBNJ

Before you make any mods, check the rule book. ESP mods are limited somewhat. www.scca.org should be able to answer your questions

alloy

iTrader: (16)

We autocrossed our 87 305/tpi 5spd. for a number of years. We had around 1000 plus runs with race tires on the stock rear and never hurt the c-clip axles. The aubun posi is a huge joke, but that's another story in itself. Why GM ever even bothered to put it in is a complete mystery to me.

Anyway, if you weld in sub frame connectors you will end up on the mod catagory with full on gutted cars. Not a place to be for a newcomer. The strut bar is legal in ESP, so go ahead and do that. You can also replace the panhard bar in ESP. But not sure if you can go with heim ends or have to stay with rubber or urethane bushings.

Assuming all mechanical aspects of your car are up to 100% already, then there are a few things you can do to the car. If it isn't mechanically sound, then fix that first before going on. After that, there are small things like changing the front end aligment and changing the sway bar bushings out for urethane ones. Also get a good harness in the car to keep you in the seat and so you don't have to hold onto the steering wheel to keep yourself in the seat. This mods will be about $200. For a novice this is as far as I would go. The main thing you need to work on is YOU and not the car. Seat time is crucial. It's about 90 percent driver and 10% car. Spend some money on a driving school. This is your best investment in going faster. Also, get a GOOD helmet and WEAR it!! Watch TV with it on and get used to how things sound different when wearing it. Get used to it so it won't be a distraction. It's hard to concentrate when your helmet is hurting your ears because you are not used to it. Also, since your car is a 5 speed, put a piece of black tape over the shift indicator light. It will come on during a run and also be a distraction to you thinking your SES light has come on.

After a season, then think about getting some spare wheels and dedicated autocross tires. Falkens are cheap and do pretty well for the price. (About $89 each plus shipping for 225/45 R16's) At first you won't need race tires. You will probably learn more trying to run on stock tires. At the same time you get race tires, step up to a set of koni yellow shocks/struts. (about $500 t o$600 for the shocks/struts) You would be amazed what tires and shocks/struts will do with race tires for your car.

For now go out and have fun and get some experience. Worry about the car later.

Dan

http://www.autocross.com/

http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm

http://sccaforums.com/