Vorshlag Blog

In our effort to get caught up on the Forum Build Thread for the “Alpha” LS1 Miata we’re building, we are cranking out the updates. The latest starts here.

This round covers custom full length header design and fabrication, construction of the cooling system, starter and front accessory drive layout.

Check in here to catch up, and look for the “first fire” video for this car soon!

The LS1 Miata project has been steadily getting work done for the past several months and we are finally getting around to updating the build thread.

The latest entry (here) shows some of the transmission / drivetrain work as well as the brake and clutch system updates.

We have more updates coming soon, but you can catch up on this build starting here.

Today’s blog post links to the latest Forum Build Thread update on the Tube Framed 69 Camaro track car. This refers to work completed in November and into early December 2015.

Please click here to read the 3-part update on our forum, or check it out on Lateral-G, Corner-Carvers, S197forums, or SCCAForums.

Thanks for checking out the Camaro build. We will have another update in a few weeks!

We’ve covered another round of repairs and upgrades plus one more race weekend in our “Daily Driven Track Car” project in this latest 3-part forum build thread update. This is an example of a compromised dual-purpose car we tell our customers NOT to build, but they do it anyway… so we decided to give it a try and see how far we could push a car in NASA Time Trial that really was daily driven, had air conditioning, a radio, and other nice creature comforts.

This 2001 BMW 330Ci is finally getting more competitive after it’s 3rd track weekend, but we still have many more modifications planned for this car during the 2016 season. We took the car to another NASA Time Trial event at MSR-Cresson and won the class both days, but just missed resetting the old TTD track record. After this event we put the car on the dyno rollers for a “lie detector” test – where the bone stock, 160K+ mile mototr put out 195 whp and 200 wtq. That means we’re still 50 whp down, so plans are in place to fix that.

The biggest upgrade on this car to date was completed right before this NASA event – the Powerbrake 4-piston big brake upgrade, shown above. The 330 is still running on the non-adjustable Bilstein PSS kit with upgraded springs, but it has too much roll – this car needs a LOT more spring rate and better dampers. Tune in next time to see that, but for now, you can catch up on this project starting here.

We ran two more events in our 1992 Corvette we call Project #DangerZone. Check out all of the news in our forum build thread update.

We evaluated the results of our Big Tire Test, looked at what it would take to update the rest of the car to be competitive in TT2, and have more back to NASA TTC class with this entry. Again, you can read all about our testing here.

At long last our “Daily Driven Track Car”, the red BMW E46 330 shown below, has had much needed suspension and brake system updates and then made its track debut. You can read about the latest adventures in this dual-purpose BMW starting here.

In this monster-sized, 5-part Forum Build Thread update we discuss the laundry list of mods done in January plus two competition events we entered in this 330, including SCCA Club Trials at MSR-Cresson and NASA Time Trial at MSR-Houston.

The write-up for each of these events, plus details on the upgrades and repairs before, between, and after these events is all discussed in the Forum Build Thread. Enjoy.

The 1992 C4 Corvette we built in early 2015 was a bit of a mess on track last year but still hugely popular on the interwebs.

The positive reaction to this cheap track car build was so strange we decided to keep it another year. Unfortunately more weight was added to this car by NASA in TTC class, so we decided to try some changes – which you can see and read about in the latest 3-part Build Thread Update.

Going from a 245mm Hoosier R7 and stock shocks to a 335mm front and 345mm rear Hoosier A6 was a big jump, helped with a set of 18×12″ Foregestar F145 wheels. We also yanked all of the ballast, lost some more weight, and finally finished the refreshed stock LT1 testing and tuning. Then we took the C4 to an SCCA Club Trials event at MSR Cresson and tested the new big tire setup.

The C4 responded to the big tires well and the car set the fastest Club Trials time of the weekend. Still, at this smooth track there were handling issues that were painfully apparent. Would this stock shock / 345 Hoosier setup work at the next event, NASA @ MSR-Houston, which has a notoriously bumpier track surface?? We had our doubts, but we will talk about that in our next Project Update. Enjoy! #DangerZone