maxattack

Hey all,

I am planning to do a 12hr and possibly a couple other endurance events in 2011 with my C5. I am looking for input from those who have done some endurance racing in their C5's as to what the fast wear items are to watch for, or anything beyond the typical weak points that sprint racing/TT/DE shows you. The car has a very much stock LS1 right now, and will have SKF hubs installed.

Thanks,
Brandon

davidfarmer

drivetrain wise, I think you are about as bulletproof as anyone. Never know what will happen.


I think brakes will be an issue....even taking it easy the rotors will probably need a replacement or two. Otherwise, make sure you wrap your tie rod ends and lower control arm boots. As long as you don't have any really rough (on hardware) drivers, I think regular TT/DE style prep will be fine.

Where are you running, I'd love to get into a seat!

maxattack

I am probably going to add an accusump, and the motor will stay pretty tame.

Pads and rotors were my first thought too. I was at the 12hr @ NJMP last year and I dont recall any teams doing brakes, at least not in the pitlane. A couple sets of rotors for sure, same with pads, fronts at least... I would wrap the tie rods and ball joints too, it needs to be done anyway. Anyone think of anything else? Anything we would normally overlook in sprint racing?

Northeast region for the 12hr @ NJMP, and probably try to do Summit as well. No seats are spoken for yet other than mine, car still needs to be finished

0Randy@DRM

You must keep temps down in that long of a race. Oil, water, tranny, diff, power steering and the driver's head. It would be wise to drop the torque tube and replace the rubber couplers.

Do you plan on finishing well or just doing it? If you plan on finishing towards the top, you will need lots of tires and lots of money on real race parts.

Randy

96CollectorSport

Pads and rotors are always a must when tracking a C5, if you can run aftermarket 2 piece front rotors I would put a set in the front, run Centric 1-piece rotors in the rear. If you can make the whole 12 hours without having to change rotors that's be huge. (I'm assuming that you already have brake cooling ducts.)

You may also think about having Turn One go through your power steering pump, they are known to have issues, they can also do a performance rebuild that changes the pressures a little and allows the system to run cooler.

I would keep an eye on the power steering system throughout the race though, a quick check of the fluid every stop wouldn't be a bad idea. As well as checking the serpentine belt. I've installed LS2 tensioners on all of our pre C6 cars, it has a little more tension and the pulley has higher "walls" to keep the belt from jumping off.

Driver cooling - make sure you have at least a cool suit in the car, a cool driver is a happy driver.

Other than that it sounds like you have a good plan, new bearings (check tie rods too!) and fresh fluids all around.

MySR71

Looks like the guys at Pfadt had trouble running 3 hours at Miller with StopTech brakes in a C6Z06:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBM3SmwRAw4

See the episodes 1 and 2 for background/car prep.

0Randy@DRM

New bearings with some break in time!!!

Randy

maxattack

Heat exchangers-a-plenty will be on there first, no problem there Good thought on the torque tube coupler, that would be a bear to do during the event.

Well the plan honestly is just to finish, however, a problem free run will keep us at the front I think. I am sure there will be better competition this year at the NJMP 12hr, but last year a C5 that wasnt parked behind the wall for any length of time would have been running at the front for sure. I wouldnt say there is money to burn, I just want to be sure it is used properly. And yes we will have plenty of tires are tops on the list, fuel is a close second

Brandon

maxattack

Brake cooling is handled, 2 piece rotors I will look into, doing a rotor change (or 2) would hurt us for sure no matter how long the race is.

PS pump to turn 1, check, it is on the list now. Keep em coming guys, I hadnt thought of that one either. Upgraded belt and tensioner was on the to-do list already for this year, but good point there. A pump issue could toss that belt easily. Hasnt happened on my vette but has happened to another car I tracked in the past.

Cool suit (for me at least) is on the list, looking into a helmet blower also. Murphys law says it will be 110 degrees and humid at the longest event.

Thanks again guys, keep the input rolling this will be a great resource for anyone looking to race their C5 for endurance or not.

Brandon

bad69bird

I pit crewed for the number 99 bmw 335i at that race and we had to do front brakes once, we barely finished the race on the second set of pads

sperkins

SS caliper pistons and lines.
Vented hood etc..
Good crew and radios.
Wish I could join you.

Solofast

The heavy duty SKF bearings are a must, last thing you want to be doing is bearing change. Not sure if it is heat cycles or time at temperature that will kill the rotors, but a good 2 piece rotor should last the day if you are gentle. Need heat shields under the pads too. Cheap to do and a big payoff in reliability.

It's a long race and it's basically a stock car. You don't have to drive like a crazy person and beat on the hardware. Your average lap time plummets when you are in the pits for only a few mintes. You and your co-drivers need to drive it like you own it, not like you stole it....

Lift 200 ft early at the end of the straight and you will save an amazing amount of brake wear and the lap times won't show but a couple of tenths.

rfn026

A really good radio system is essential. You don't want to hear about how I learned this. Remember - some of your drivers will get stupid. That's what drivers do.

Richard Newton
Vintage Motorsport Magazine

Don Keefhardt

Diff seals in C5 & C6 cars seem to be weak spot, too...the heat makes them fail.

I have competed in 26 (or so) 12-ish hour races (10-13 hours long), and 3 24-hour races, at the "club racing" level. Never have I seen a big V8 car running at the end. Never. Let me repeat that - "never".

We have two regular strategies - 1.) pick a pit next to a V8 car, as we'll use the extra room when they expire & 2.) never paddock next to a V8 car's paddock, as the noise as they change major systems all night long will keep you awake (and you can replace "V8" with "944" at any time).

Just sayin....

(I'll wave from my little 4-cylinder crapwagon as I drive by your smoldering chunk of V8 car).

Solofast

Probably a good idea to wrap the exhaust pipes where they go over the rear axle near the transmission, or add some heat shields to keep the heat from the axle and transmission.

maxattack

TiSpeed shims are on the car already and they work great, any extra cooling helps.

Agreed slow and steady (within reason) wins a long race, that is the approach we will be shooting for. Lap records or anything like that will be for another day.

maxattack

Thanks for the tip on the diff seals.

I agree that you do not often see V8 cars at endurance races to begin with, but thanks for the words of encouragement Don.

Jason

I would take out every bolt I could put a wrench on and loc-tite it. Just keeping a car together for TT/sprints is a challenge. I have never gone over a car after a weekend at the track and not found a bolt somewhere that needed tightened.

I write on the car the sizes of nuts and bolts for easy reference. torque specs too. Yeah I know most of them by heart, but it takes a lot of guess work out when your brain is fried (like I'd imagine towards the end of a 12hr race). I also make a lot of bolt heads so I can tell at a glance if they've moved.

Just some ideas.

Mitch3000

Theres no way you can build a car so everything will last 12 hours? Never thought it'd be so hard to have everything last the distance.

6SPEEDZ

You can absolutely build a v8 car to last 12 hours. It just takes a different level of prep. I would add a set of good calipers (ap, brembo, alcon), a bump steer kit , and a pfadt camber kit. Also use a stock air filter with a paper element. Try to keep the car off the curbing to make the things live longer.