996 GT2 Clone Track Car
05-02-2018, 05:53 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
996 GT2 Clone Track Car
So last Thanksgiving I bought saw this thread and absolutely couldn’t resist buying the car.
https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...track-car.html
At the time I was looking for a higher horsepower car. I had sold my crazy fast ‘99 C2 race build that weighed 2520lbs empty aand was really missing having a track car. While I didn’t understand the parts about the engine, the rest of the car was extremely similar to my old race car and even had some parts on it that I had tried using. This is all a repeat of my posts in the Slippery Slope thread but I thought it was worth starting a new thread for my new adventure so here we go.
After having the car sit all winter, I head down to Motorsports Ranch Cresson, which is about 4 hours, to get my first track day. I made a little progress on learning the car but there was standing water on several key parts of the track that made it tough to gain much confidence. A boost hose blew off during the 5th session and so I loaded up and headed home.I had a list of items I wanted to complete in addition to the hose so I got it back home and started prepping for the next track day. I got some advice to swap the Markski tune out for a Cobb Accessport V3 so that I could take it back to stock easily when troubleshooting. Well that didn’t work out so well. The upgraded injectors and the waste gates will blow the engine on a stock/box tune. Luckily it ran so bad I didn’t try to hardly drive it.
So I called Markski since his name was all over the inter coolers and man is that guy good. I re-upped for a new tune and flasher and it was money well spent. I shipped him the ECU and he setup a road racing tune, deleted the MAF, and gave me several different boost options. Markski had me send him some Durametric logs from 3-6k RPM at WOT and then gave me the green light. I learned a ton from the guy and have someone I can call if I have engine problems. I can’t recommend him enough.Next up was one of the brake calipers was seeping fluid. I went to tighten it and it stripped out immediately. My regular machinist who’s a drag racer couldn’t fix it because of the special tool required to get the bubble seat out. So I called around and found an old time brake and clutch shop that was able to replace it with a helicoil for $100.
It was finally time to take it back to the track. So last Wed I loaded up and headed to Hallett knowing that it was probably going to rain all day. And it did. I took it out for a session on slicks but the rear end was trying to walk and slide on me and then it would shutter. So I borrowed a set of toe boards and the rear had 16mm of toe in. Well that would explain it. When I got it home I figured out that I hadn’t accounted for how much wider the rear is than a C2. It shouldn’t have mattered if I was stringing it up correctly but I wasn’t. But now I am.
Sunday rolls around and I was able to snag the last DE spot during the Hallett local club race (COMMA). It was a beautiful day, the track was dry, and the car felt amazing. The 245F/325R definitely pushed a little with the sways set in the middle holes and lots of wing. But the trade off of having more grip in the rear while learning the power was worth it. And the power was ridiculous! It took me a session or two to get used to the feel of the car and then after that is was just how early and smoothly I could apply power coming out of the corners. By the fifth and final session, I was able to kind of get the hang of it and hit a 1:19.9 towards the end. For reference, 1:19.8 was the fastest lap of the GT classes race and the track records for GTC4 (997Cup) is 1:17. This little sucker can flat out fly!
https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...track-car.html
At the time I was looking for a higher horsepower car. I had sold my crazy fast ‘99 C2 race build that weighed 2520lbs empty aand was really missing having a track car. While I didn’t understand the parts about the engine, the rest of the car was extremely similar to my old race car and even had some parts on it that I had tried using. This is all a repeat of my posts in the Slippery Slope thread but I thought it was worth starting a new thread for my new adventure so here we go.
After having the car sit all winter, I head down to Motorsports Ranch Cresson, which is about 4 hours, to get my first track day. I made a little progress on learning the car but there was standing water on several key parts of the track that made it tough to gain much confidence. A boost hose blew off during the 5th session and so I loaded up and headed home.I had a list of items I wanted to complete in addition to the hose so I got it back home and started prepping for the next track day. I got some advice to swap the Markski tune out for a Cobb Accessport V3 so that I could take it back to stock easily when troubleshooting. Well that didn’t work out so well. The upgraded injectors and the waste gates will blow the engine on a stock/box tune. Luckily it ran so bad I didn’t try to hardly drive it.
So I called Markski since his name was all over the inter coolers and man is that guy good. I re-upped for a new tune and flasher and it was money well spent. I shipped him the ECU and he setup a road racing tune, deleted the MAF, and gave me several different boost options. Markski had me send him some Durametric logs from 3-6k RPM at WOT and then gave me the green light. I learned a ton from the guy and have someone I can call if I have engine problems. I can’t recommend him enough.Next up was one of the brake calipers was seeping fluid. I went to tighten it and it stripped out immediately. My regular machinist who’s a drag racer couldn’t fix it because of the special tool required to get the bubble seat out. So I called around and found an old time brake and clutch shop that was able to replace it with a helicoil for $100.
It was finally time to take it back to the track. So last Wed I loaded up and headed to Hallett knowing that it was probably going to rain all day. And it did. I took it out for a session on slicks but the rear end was trying to walk and slide on me and then it would shutter. So I borrowed a set of toe boards and the rear had 16mm of toe in. Well that would explain it. When I got it home I figured out that I hadn’t accounted for how much wider the rear is than a C2. It shouldn’t have mattered if I was stringing it up correctly but I wasn’t. But now I am.
Sunday rolls around and I was able to snag the last DE spot during the Hallett local club race (COMMA). It was a beautiful day, the track was dry, and the car felt amazing. The 245F/325R definitely pushed a little with the sways set in the middle holes and lots of wing. But the trade off of having more grip in the rear while learning the power was worth it. And the power was ridiculous! It took me a session or two to get used to the feel of the car and then after that is was just how early and smoothly I could apply power coming out of the corners. By the fifth and final session, I was able to kind of get the hang of it and hit a 1:19.9 towards the end. For reference, 1:19.8 was the fastest lap of the GT classes race and the track records for GTC4 (997Cup) is 1:17. This little sucker can flat out fly!
05-03-2018, 11:53 AM
#2
Rennlist Member
Nice progress! Good to hear you're having fun with it! And, flying!
05-04-2018, 03:52 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
07-28-2018, 01:07 AM
#6
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
OK. So it's been a few months since an update for a reason. I took the car our for what was to be the 9/10ths day. Its was groups of 5 on the track and everyone in my group was fast and experienced. I of the guys has a '17 Z06 track package and hadn't been challenged for the fast lap with this group in awhile. He runs 1:19s consistently and has been in the 1:18's. That's only 3s slower than the PCA track record. And yes, I'm obsessed with times. Having spent almost 20 years with team roping (rodeo event) as my primary hobby, I've always been a timed event guy. Well, and everyone loves a fast time. 
But I digress. On the first full lap, after giving the Z06 a point bye, the front left tie-rod broke going into T10 and I did my best attempt to try and jump the tire wall. I'm happy to say that I trailered it home from the body shop today and am now able to talk about it. My body shop guy is a long time racer and track side support. He really took care of me on this deal. Next up is pulling the entire suspension off and checking every piece for wear and condition.
But I digress. On the first full lap, after giving the Z06 a point bye, the front left tie-rod broke going into T10 and I did my best attempt to try and jump the tire wall. I'm happy to say that I trailered it home from the body shop today and am now able to talk about it. My body shop guy is a long time racer and track side support. He really took care of me on this deal. Next up is pulling the entire suspension off and checking every piece for wear and condition.
07-28-2018, 03:56 PM
#7
Running these cars hard with street suspension components is rolling the dice without an aggressive maintenance/timeout schedule. I would look into replacing all the components with Porsche Motorsport parts which are substantially beefier and designed for a greater level of abuse. Not cheap but far cheaper than balling up a car or worse. Glad you didn’t get hurt...
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07-28-2018, 07:36 PM
#9
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Thanks! Full PMNA suspension would be awesome. It's the ultimate risk mitigation strategy if money isn't an issue.
If you watch the wheel, it looks like the car is getting pretty loose the two previous turns. My guess is that I had a nut back off. But who knows. Regardless shame on me for taking a car I hadn't even torqued and painted. I'll start diving into the suspension tonight.
If you watch the wheel, it looks like the car is getting pretty loose the two previous turns. My guess is that I had a nut back off. But who knows. Regardless shame on me for taking a car I hadn't even torqued and painted. I'll start diving into the suspension tonight.
07-28-2018, 07:41 PM
#10
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by garrett376
Was it a stock, or aftermarket tie rod part that broke?
(sorry to hear but glad you're back at it!)
(sorry to hear but glad you're back at it!)
07-28-2018, 08:10 PM
#11
Race Car
Join Date: Apr 2005
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That's an odd failure. Especially since they were already replaced. As old as these cars are, you are going to find yourself replacing a lot of parts though. Glad it was fixable. I'm going through a similar situation after being rear ended on track when a driver wasn't paying attention to an accident in front of me. Replace as many parts as possible. Even bolts etc.
Edit: failure is on thing, if a nut backed off that's another. Full nut and bolt checks should be performed by a professional race shop every few events.
That 1:19 is flying BTW. Especially for your first real sessions in the car. Troy Messers tube frame Corvette has the overall TT lap record at 1:16. The TT1 record which is where your car would likely fit is 1:18.6. Some seat time and you would have that in the bag.
Edit: failure is on thing, if a nut backed off that's another. Full nut and bolt checks should be performed by a professional race shop every few events.
That 1:19 is flying BTW. Especially for your first real sessions in the car. Troy Messers tube frame Corvette has the overall TT lap record at 1:16. The TT1 record which is where your car would likely fit is 1:18.6. Some seat time and you would have that in the bag.
Last edited by wanna911; 07-28-2018 at 09:27 PM.
07-28-2018, 08:54 PM
#12
Thanks! Full PMNA suspension would be awesome. It's the ultimate risk mitigation strategy if money isn't an issue.
If you watch the wheel, it looks like the car is getting pretty loose the two previous turns. My guess is that I had a nut back off. But who knows. Regardless shame on me for taking a car I hadn't even torqued and painted. I'll start diving into the suspension tonight.
If you watch the wheel, it looks like the car is getting pretty loose the two previous turns. My guess is that I had a nut back off. But who knows. Regardless shame on me for taking a car I hadn't even torqued and painted. I'll start diving into the suspension tonight.
07-28-2018, 11:14 PM
#13
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by 32krazy!
even johns old stuff is typically better than what most weekend racers run. im betting he has enough spare parts to build a full racecar!!
Originally Posted by wanna911
Edit: failure is on thing, if a nut backed off that's another. Full nut and bolt checks should be performed by a professional race shop every few events.
That 1:19 is flying BTW. Especially for your first real sessions in the car. Troy Messers tube frame Corvette has the overall TT lap record at 1:16. The TT1 record which is where your car would likely fit is 1:18.6. Some seat time and you would have that in the bag.
That's awesome info. 18.6 is my new target.
. And I really want to try TIme Trials. Wheel to wheel was a rush at first, especially racing through corners 2+ wide and trying to maintain speed. But getting stuck behind a slower car makes me unreasonably angry. I don't have the patience to setup a good pass and all I really want to do is see how quick I can make the car fly around the track.
07-28-2018, 11:14 PM
#14
Thanks! Full PMNA suspension would be awesome. It's the ultimate risk mitigation strategy if money isn't an issue.
If you watch the wheel, it looks like the car is getting pretty loose the two previous turns. My guess is that I had a nut back off. But who knows. Regardless shame on me for taking a car I hadn't even torqued and painted. I'll start diving into the suspension tonight.
If you watch the wheel, it looks like the car is getting pretty loose the two previous turns. My guess is that I had a nut back off. But who knows. Regardless shame on me for taking a car I hadn't even torqued and painted. I'll start diving into the suspension tonight.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/22DLUJk]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/29vATdo]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/242c9wz]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/EmZnLz]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/EmZnND]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/23YgXPb]
Last edited by powdrhound; 07-28-2018 at 11:45 PM.
07-28-2018, 11:21 PM
#15
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Here's a picture of the opposite side from the one that broke. It's really a nice setup. I'm not a fan of the bar and the GMG bent drops have to go. GMG is on my do not use list due to nightmare type problems getting replacement parts. But the monoball GT3 Arms are good, the torque solutions thrust arms are fine, the 6Cup wheel carriers are great, and the 6pot calipers with ceramic pistons are very nice.
