A New Corvette GT-1 Car In Our Shop

 A New Corvette GT-1 Car In Our Shop

We will start to try and post some info on this newest car in our shop.  It has some interesting race history, and has been in need of a lot of cosmetic work, wiring improvements, and various upgrades.  

Do You Want To Race In The Trans Am Series?

"Hey Mom Look, I Am Driving A Race Car"

Actually it is really easy to find a ride in some of the road race pro series, that you see on TV, or may have watched in person, at some of the big name race tracks.  The only thing you need is a bit of previous experience, and the money to put down up front, for one of the teams  "arrive and drive" spare cars.

SCCA TA-2 happens to be the hottest  race group right now, with the cars being fairly equal, and not too over the top expensive, compared to a Trans Am (GT-1) car.  Many of the race buggies come from Howe Racing, in Beaverton, MI, and are an extension of the many short track stock cars, that the company has  already build.  There are some other "approved" car suppliers as well.  When the series was first getting started, you could pretty much show up with an old ASA stock car, and get in the field, without any trouble.  But them of course, the big money came in and took over, and the rules changed, which is so often the case, in auto racing.

The series does draw some big names, including Adam Andretti (a regular).   Bill Elliott, and Paul Tracy, have made cameo appearances.  You will have to behave, or suffer the wrath of those with highly proven driving skills, for any first  laps bone head moves.

A new Howe car ready to dance will set you back something north of six figures, where as the old ASA stockers could be bought for less than $20K.  The gap between the two is fairly wide, in terms of performance.  You will still need a few spares, and a couple people to help out, who know what they are doing, and don't mind traveling, through out the summer.

This is a series for the wealthy sportsman racers, with the funding to buy 2 or 3 cars, and have at it.  There are some very professional, and established race teams (eg:  Mike Cope Racing) who bring cars in, as well.  Be ready to spend large, in order to play with the "family money" guys, and otheres, who are out there for the most part, without aspiring to move to higher forms of racing, such as NA$CAR, or Indy Car.

The other option is to rent your seat time, and there are many teams that will be glad to work out the details with you on doing so.  If the money comes from a sponsor, all the better, so check the TV schedule for next season, and drum up some viewership numbers, because that's what it's all about.  Keep in mind that many of the guy and gals in the lower NASCAR series (Xfinity, Camping World Truck), or ARCA, are there on a "pay to play" basis.  Plan on dropping somewhere in the neighborhood of $25K per race for a TA-2 ride, which does not include the extras, such as flights, hotels, dog sitter, etc.  If you want to go full tilt, in a top level Trans Am car, get ready to drop some money large.  It takes a lot, to keep one of those babies going.  The money has to come from some where.  See the sign below, which was on the windshield of a car, at the PRI Show in Indy, this year.

So now you know the rest of the story.   Don't give up, or get discouraged.  The best thing to do is get some seat time in something, and see if the whole thing is right for you anyway.  Karts are not a bad way to get in the game.  SCCA has many teams who rent cars, at the lower levels, for a lot less bucks.  Look at some of the approved driving schools, as a quick way to get the necessary license to compete.

Sooner or later it's important to show up with money, but money without experience is a very dangerous combination, in the game of auto racing.

www.gearheadzproducts.com

We Are Proud To Announce Our New Association With Win Smith Racing

Gear Headz Products will be on board with this Stanford, Kentucky based racing team, in the upcoming 2019 racing season. With multiple SCCA GTA/GT2 Howe road race cars, and a few additional short track stock cars in the shop as well, the Win Smith organization is serous about running hard.

In the past, they have given new opportunities to up and coming young funded drivers, and are always on the look out, for fresh new talent.

Win Smith Racing has a very speedy background, that includes high speed GT road racing, stock cars, and additional oval experience, with the very fast USAC midgets, and Silver Crown cars, as well.

Watch for them, at the better known race tracks, across the midwest, during the new racing season. With components from you know who.

Visit Gear Headz Products On The Web Today:

www.gearheadzproducts.com

DEI Reflect-A-GOLD Keeps Heat Away From Vital Components

DEI Reflect-A-GOLD is engineered  to keep the heat  going the other direction, in your engine compartment.  We have used this product for years on our own GT-2 racer, after seeing it under the hood of an Indy car, down at the speedway.  Available in a variety of sizes,  you will find lots of uses for it.  Looks great, under any hood.

See all our race related products today at:

www.gearheadzproducts.com

Quatermaster Clutch Kit For ASA LS-1 Motor

If you are looking to replace the clutch assembly on your LS-1 ASA motor, it can get a little confusing as to which kit to order. You will find this is typically a non-stock, special order item, which cannot be returned. The Quartermaster part number you need to know is:  QTR39817790.  This is the assembly which will bolt up directly to the LS-1 Crankshaft.  These motors were originally shipped by Chevrolet, down to Lingenfelter, in IN, for final prep, work, before installation in AC Delco ASA Race Series cars.

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Your Dealer For Allstar Performance

We have used this companies products on our race cars for many years, and are now an authorized dealer, for their high quality, performance proven parts.  If you race ARCA, K&N, CRA, SCCA, NASA, IMCA, IMSA, or any other racing series, visit our store on the web.  Lots of great stuff for serious street machines, as well.  New products are being added, every week.  Need a catalog, just let us know, and we will get one headed your way.  Our retail store will be opening in the near future, located in Grandville, MI.  Something for everyone who runs fast and hard.

http://gearheadzproducts.com/

Event Dashboard | MotorsportReg.com

Event Dashboard | MotorsportReg.com

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Ultrasonic Cleaning Of Your High Performance Parts

The Very Best Way To Clean Your Small Parts

Ultrasonic cleaning systems send high frequency sound waves riping through an ultrasonic cleaning/degreasing solution, leaving superheated  bubbles in the waves wake.  When these bubbles (cavatations) colapse (decavitation), the heat and energy of the their implosions work  with the cleaning solution to remove dirt, oils, resude, and oxidation from the the contaminated item.  This type of cleaning is ideal for carburetor components, non-electrica ignition parts, and a variety of other automotive items, as well.
We are now offering the best, and least abrasive way to clean small automotive parts, as a mail order service. You can send us up to 12 small items, which we will clean and return to you, within 3 to 5 working days. This is the same way jewelery stores, opticians, clean what they repair,  but we use a degreasing cleanser, to remove any and all grime, from your parts. The cost for the service is $39.95, which includes return shipping, within the 48 states. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Paypal.

http://www.gearheadzproducts.com

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor Switches Have A Great Reputation Because They Work

We have a cool suit panel in our race car, that has switches that look like tooth picks.  Obviously they break, and usually at the worst time ever, on race day.  They are part of an expensive cooling system for the driver, and they might be good for use by a doctor doing heart surgery, but they have no business, anywhere beyond the people who make you sign the race track waivers.

We like Taylor all the way, for serious electrical work.  They are big, well built, and made for racing.
With all the things coming out of China now days, it's great to have a key component that you can rely on, to keep your speed buggy going.
We stock what we use, and use what we sell.  Take a look, you will be glad you did.

 

 

 

Taylor Switches Are  The Only Way To Go On Race Day 

 

 

 

http://www.gearheadzproducts.com

A Thunderbird Road Race GTA Car Joins Our Blog

Like many of you, we are always scouting E Bay, and Racing Junk, looking for that next exciting project.  Our gang has become big fans of former ASA cars, because there are a number of them floating around, they sure don't cost much, and make great road racers.   We have had a Baker Motor setting in our shop for a while, from the days of sportsman short track fender banging, and looking for a chassis to drop it into.  A couple months ago, a Johnny Benson car came up locally, for $4,000, but it had been sitting in "as raced" condition for many years.  Overall in good condition, but not yet converted over to left hand/right hand operation.  Then we discovered this Former Joe Nott V6 ASA race car, just a little bit further from home.  It had the switch done by Howe, but was in need of some work, due to a "smack job" with one of the guard rails, over at Road America.  Besides our Camaro  GT-2 car, we will start documenting the modifications, and upgrades, to this race machine.  Stay "tuned", for further developments.

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Gear Headz Products GT-2 Camaro Race Car At Grattan Raceway

Gear Headz Products GT-2 Camaro Race Car At Grattan Raceway

Scaling The Camaro SCCA GT-2 Road Race Car

When scaling any race car, there are a few simple but important steps to follow.  We use Longacre electronic scales, with each load cell marked for the the corner of the car it goes to. 

The first step is to level the scales.  We purchased an extendable bubble level from Menards, that works great for the job.  Each scale should be leveled, and then the four load cells checked against each other.  Without doing this, you will never get an accurate reading of your cars corner weights.  We have seen guys scales cars in the dirt at the track, on race day.  The shop floor is the best place to do this, and most floors are not all that level either. 

   

The car should be placed in gear so it will not roll.  In addition, we put some pieces of steel against the tires, to keep the race car firmly in place.  Tire pressures should be set as they are for race day.  Hoosier recomends 23 to 26 lbs. cold for our compound, so we have been using 24 pounds as our starting point.  After that, we add bags of salt to the drivers seat.  The salt bags are each weighed, to insure that we get the same weight as the driver will bring to the seat.  This makes it easier for your "hot shoe" to participate in the scaling process as well.  Before adding the salt, we set the corner heights to the rules, to get close to our starting point, the work to be done.

 

 

Our experience from the circle track days has been that adding a driver to the vehicle takes wedge (LR/RF) percentages from the static settings.  With the road race car, we prefer to have the LF/RF weights a close to equal as we can get.  If you are scaling a roundy roundy racer, make sure the sway bar is not preloaded, which will throw off your readings.  The bar should be fully backed off for scaling.  Due to our heavy driver, all the balast has been removed from our Howe Port City vehicle (former ASA racer).  You may need to add some, to bring the car up to minimum which in our case is 2830 lbs, for GT-2.

You will need to make corner corrections, to get the car where you want it.  With coil over shocks, this is really easy.  Make adjustments at all four corners.  For example if you need a little more LR/RF, then put a turn in the LR/RF, and take a turn out of the RR/LF.  We run Pro Shocks, with double adjustables on the front, and rebound adjustables on the rear.  Find someone to dyno your shocks, and make sure that there is no abnormalities in the curve, which can be seen in a computer print out from the dyno run.
Our car has gotten a little loose a couple time, in tight right hand turn situtations.  We went a little softer on the front springs, that what was in the car when we received it.  This is really the fun part of the whole thing, making small adjustments, and seeing how they affect the feel of the vehicle.

 

 

http://www.gearheadzproducts.com