We bought this 2006 C6 Corvette base model 6-speed coupe during the Pandemic – all of the C6 Grand Sports and Z06 Corvette’s used car prices had spiked! This “narrow body” 6-speed car cost half what the cheapest “wide body” C6 was at the time (and they’ve only gone up!) We started off pretty slow but have found SEVEN seconds of track time drop at MSR Cresson so far, and this massive 4-part Forum Build Thread update details 12 months of changes and five track tests during that time!
The Forum Update covers so many changes and updates done to this truly dual purpose street/track C6: a seat upgrade, harness bar, 6-point harnesses, an MCS coilover install, an ABS swap, a carbon front lip upgrade, a baseline dyno run, wheel testing, brake pad swaps, alignments, wheel hub changes.
Not every update we did was perfect, but we share the good and bad in the Forum Update – so you can learn from us, with scientific track test results, what changes make the car faster and which ones do not. These same lessons apply to almost any car you would want to take on track, so reading this might help you no matter if you will ever own a C6 Corvette like this. Cars are all remarkably similar – it is easy to make them slower, but trickier to make them faster!
We have been working with the 86 chassis since early 2012, and our Forum 86 Development Thread has been up and added to for over a decade. In that thread we have chronicled the work on many different 1st generation FRS/BRZ models made over the 2013-2021 model years.
Now we have done work to a 2nd gen 86, this 2022 Subaru BRZ owned by our tester Jon Miller – which has a new chassis with more rigidity, a larger engine with significantly more power, but without any weight gain.
This is Jon’s 4th car to offer up for testing and we recently installed MCS TT1 coilovers, Vorshlag front and rear top mounts, and Jon upgraded to a set of 17×9″ wheels and 245 Falken RT-660 200TW tires. Then Jon let Vorshlag chief memologist Terry co-drive this at an autocross (above, where he and Jon took 1-2 in STR class) and also on track. The coilovers transformed the car and we talk about the work and driving impressions within the latest forum update – complete with in-car video from both events!
Of course we also cover work done to our own 2013 FRS, which we brought into the shop to complete one of our popular LS swaps. Well we got busy in the shop and with the business and have only tackled some wheel testing (not all of it successful), an upgrade to MCS Remote Double adjustable coilovers, some front end work, and the shortblock assembly for the HPR 454″ LS engine – all of which is covered in detail starting here. Every picture in the forum build thread can be clicked for higher resolution, so make sure to read this on the largest screen you can. Thanks for reading!
As busy as we are with customer work, we have managed to spend a few weeks here and there working on our LS swapped 2015 Mustang GT. The past seven months of work on is shown in this latest Forum Build Thread update, starting here.
Many systems on this build have been planned out, parts ordered, built and installed. This includes the big dual 3.5″ exhaust with trunk cutout for massive MagnaFlow mufflers, the oil cooler and oil plumbing, and the fuel tank / surge tank plus vent system and fuel system plumbing. The differential cooler and plumbing is also installed and ready for fluids, the cold air inlet and air filter + airbox are built and grills modified. The radiator mounting, fan and all cooling system plumbing is complete, as are the remote coil mounts, reservoir mounts, and rear bulkhead for the trunk.
The carbon fiber trunk is attached and the remote latch is in place, to join the matching carbon hood and (soon to be installed) carbon doors. We’re trying to get as much weight out of this in the first phase of this build without any cutting – just parts replacement and removal of “fluff”. We should have this one running soon and you can catch up on the last seven months of work starting here. Thanks for reading!
It has been almost eleven months since we updated the Forum Build Thread for our 2006 narrow body C6 Corvette shown here, #ProjectNewBalance. Our latest forum updatecovers a few months of work we tackled in mid-2021.
We picked up in the latest forum build thread update after our second track test still chasing a good “baseline” lap time for the stock suspension, but we had been fighting a nasty ABS issue where the rear brakes locked. In some of our futile attempts to “mask” the poor ABS function we changed from the base JL9 brakes to the bigger Z51 brakes. At the same time we upgraded the radiator (DeWitts) and numerous other cooling system repairs.
In late May of 2021 we went back to test the brakes and cooling issues, but another seemingly unrelated update ruined the handling balance – which is ironic, since we call this one ProjectNewBalance. We talk about that and much more in the Build Thread, starting here.
Vorshlag was very busy working on customer cars in 2021! With the addition of a full time tech/fabricator plus a separate production welder in Fall 2021, this has gave us more manpower in the build shop. Our build productivity jumped and more car work tasks were completed every week with the added help.
This 2004 Cadillac CTS-V is being built for WRL endurance road racing, and as such it will have a variety of drivers and potentially make 100+ passes in a given day. To make sure the aero bits don’t get too expensive to replace we worked with Professional Awesome to spec the right mounting methods for a plywood splitter.
We are in love with their carbon rod front splitter struts, but their Quick Release rear mounts are the next level. With a simple door latch (gold bit above) and cable we can detach the back of the splitter quickly and keep it secure. Mounting is even easier – just clip the mating piece bolted to the back of splitter (black triangle) up into the latch. We built some custom brackets to hold the chassis part of the QR mount that were bolted to the subframe, above.
This Gen II Coyote swapped blue S197 got a giant aluminum splitter, also held in place on the leading edge by Professional Awesome carbon struts. We added two “Tow Hooks” to the tubular bumper beam that double as strut mounts and trailer tie downs.
This splitter was an unusual 2-layer aluminum design with the top layer “windowed” to reduce weight, then bonded to the lower layer, with custom tunnels that feed cooling air to our S197 brake deflectors. Complicated and beefy, this will likely be the last time we make one this way – but it sure is bomb proof!
This wide-body E46 M3 has been on track multiple times but came back to the shop for some final aero work, where we fitted a flat bottom undertray and wrapped up the front wheel spats, which attach to a monstrously large splitter. This was all stripped off, along with driving train / wiring / plumbing, and the car went to “paint jail” in late June 2021. We will have this back soon, painted and ready for reassembly, then off to the track again!
This ’69 Camaro is a familiar one here, with construction stretching back “a few years”. We’re wrapping up on this build, having test driven it already we are just finishing some final touches – like the undertray panels, and some welding / finish work on the front aero structure for the dual plane splitter. The lower splitter will go on next, then we can get the car dyno tuned and track tested!
As we enter our 18th year of doing business here at Vorshlag we’re still doing some of the same aero work we did a decade ago – just bigger and better than before. Stay tuned for several more “big aero” work at Vorshlag in 2022!
After a 13 month gap in coverage we have caught up the Forum Build Thread with work done on our #LS550 test mule race car we call #Trigger – an LS swapped 2015 Mustang GT. This update covers all work from July through December 2020, then pics up on the the work again when we restarted this project in August 2021. This is a rather large forum update, with 100+ pictures and some video, which you can read here. Warning: you might want to grab a drink and some snacks, and open this on a laptop of PC to see the high resolution pictures, all of which can be clicked and expanded.
In the latest Forum Build Thread update we cover many subjects – the installation of a rolled radiator, Accusump unit, remote oil filter, tow hooks, 4 port steam vent kit, the intake manifold, discuss ignition coils, install a PP1 undertray, build brackets to hold an aux fuse panel and Holley Dominator ECU, sensors, brake lines, driveshaft, and more!
There is a lot of ground to cover on this update – hopefully you will dig further into the Forum post and see the many build pictures, read the what / why / how behind each task, and maybe it motivates you to work on your race car this weekend. Thanks for reading!
This long overdueForum Build Thread update covers work completed on this wild 686 whp LS7 swapped E46 M3 from early 2018 through June 2019.
In that period we completed a lot of custom fabrication, including the elaborate radiator ducting and hood exhaust, twin filter box hood ducts, massive splitter and rear diffuser construction.
Many construction techniques and design aspects of these aero devices are covered, with over 100 pictures in this update alone.
Dozens of sub-tasks were tackled and completed in this update. A tune was loaded for the HPR built 468″ LS7, then engine was started, and lots of “first fire” testing was completed at the shop. Then it was off to the race track for the first track test.
We learned an awful lot at that test and brought the car back to the shop to fine tune many aspects and finish some of the incomplete bodywork. You can get caught up with that large chunk of work starting here. Thanks for reading!
Our shop employee built E46 endurance race car has had a big chunk of work completed in the last few months. We have finished the cage, added window nets, wrapped up the EPAS steering column, painted the interior, and the engine bay is much further along than ever before.
We like to chronicle all of our builds in detail, for people to see how we do things and to remember later on when we tackle similar work. Thanks for following along on our forum build!
The last four weeks with the narrow body 2006 Corvette C6 have been busy, and this Forum Build Thread update covers every bit of that work. Some maintenance has been done, some seat testing, then the first on track test to get the Baseline Stock best lap on the MSR 1.7 CCW course.
The first laps in stock form were “not fast” but the car still had potential, so we immediately ordered three sets of wheels, better tires, and real track pads. We cover what was purchased and why in the latest Forum Build Thread update.
We then took the C6 back to MSR for a second track test, and with wider Hankook RS-4 tires and better brake pads, lap times dropped 2.5 seconds – getting closer to a stock C6 Z06 lap time. We also tested a new dual 1080P vidcam, logged CAN data, and created in-car video for both track tests. All of this and a LOT more is shown in the latest Forum post. Stay tuned for more next time when MCS coilovers are installed, along with new seats, new tow hooks, and more!
We have 3 shop owned race cars under construction, but a busy customer build schedule and the usual “scope creep” are keeping us from getting any of them to the track – our solution was to buy a running “narrow body” C6 Corvette and start driving it immediately. Our reasoning and goals for this project are detailed in this new Forum Build Thread.
Of course we cannot leave anything bone stock around here, so it will get some simple upgrades like MCS coilovers, wider wheels and 200TW tires, bigger anti-roll bars, some mild brake upgrades, and a better cooling system. While this sounds like a lot, this will stay a 100% street legal car that can be driven to events – like many of our customers tend to build. Stay tuned to this forum threadfor the baseline road course laps at MSR and ECR, then parts will be installed and we will chronicle each upgrade’s lap time changes along the way. Read more here.
