SCCA NASA GT-2/GTA Port City Road Race Car For Sale

Listing this for one of our customers.  Car is located in the Grand Rapids, MI area.  Click on the link below, for further photos, and details on the car

https://www.gearheadzproducts.com/portcitysccagt2gtaroadracecarforsale.aspx

SOLD-GT-1/GTA/Vintage Tube Frame Race Car For Sale In Michigan

Howe Center Section/Port City Racing Chassis

Former ASA Pro Series Racing Car Driven By Joe Nott

SCCA Log Book Identity # 06-625

Midwest Council Of Sports Car Clubs Log Book

Most Recently Competed In SVRA Events At Indy, & Road America

Ford Thunderbird Five Star Fiberglass Body

Strut Front End Front Steer Set Up

Howe TA2 Three Piece Splined Front Sway Bar Set Up

New Schroder Sway Bar

New Kirkey (PN # 71700) Full Containment Road Race Seat & Cover

New Simpson Five Point Belts (Expire XX/XX) & Window Net

Safety Systems Five Pound On Board Fire Bottle With Remote Button

Sweet Rack And Pinion Steering

Peterson Dry Sump Tank With Steel Braided Lines

Ohlin Canister Coil Over Shocks With Proper Canister Mounts

Newer Fuel Safe 15 Gallon Fuel Cell

Autometer Gauges & Memory Tach

C&R Aluminum Radiator With Built In Oil Cooler

Allstar Performance Brake Bias Gauges

Front/Rear Brake Bias Adjuster

Road Racing Brake Lights

Dual MSD 6AN Ignition Boxes

New Allstar Performance Roll Bar Mounted Drink Bottle

Tilton Pedals & Remote Mount Master Cylinders

UB Machine Upper Control Arms

Winters Quick Change Rear Axle/Detroit Locker Assembly & New Gears

Three Link Rear Suspension & Watts Linkage Set Up

Two Into One /Exhaust/Muffer System

Steel Branded Fuel Line With Filter And Regulator

Four (4) Piston Wilwood Calipers At Each Corner

Allstar Performace Forced Air Brake Cooling Fans @ For All Four Wheels

Allstar Performance Helmet Cooling Fan

Longacre Racing Rear View Mirror

Remote Mount Wix Oil Filter

Wired In Permanent Mylaps Sports Timing Transponder # 08368

Drive Shaft And Yoke

This is a great starting package for someone wanting an inexpensive, tube frame race car, for SCCA, or vintage sanctioned events.  All parts are all oval track, stock car based, and very easy to come by, with reasonable prices for both new, or used.  Just add a motor and transmission of your choice, to be ready to go racing.

Complete Roller Pricing Options (no engine, transmission, or battery):

1.  With Ohlin Canister Coil Over Shocks:  $7,995.00

2.  Without Ohlin Coil Over Shocks:  $6,595.00

Includes Four (4) Extra (Used) Bassett Wheels

Located In The Grand Rapids, MI area

Phone/Text Gary:  616-366-3973

E Mail:  gearheadzmail@aol.com

Installing A Howe TA2 Front Sway Bar Package

Our Ford Thunder Chicken GT1 cars arrived to it's new home, with a 1" Howe bolt on sway bar kit.  We decided to rework the front, with the the current kit that the professional teams are running, in the SCCA Trans Am TA2 class.  With some inside tips  from Dan over at Howe Racing, we were able to get all the right bits and pieces assembled, and put in to place.  Of course the big question of what size bar to run came  up front.  You would be very surprised to learn what  they are running in the pro series.  No bump stops, and bars that are in the 2 inch range.  THAT, is a whole lota front sway bar.   Springs need to go soft, but this is what is being made to work, so be aware of where set ups are at now days.  We will go with something less in overall bar diameter, probably 1 3/4" to start, with somewhat softer springs, than the 600 # units, that came installed on the front.  This is an ongoing work in progress.  Let us know if you have any questions, on your current cars set up.  We are always glad to help if we can.

Note:  The front shock is not yet attached to the lower control arm, in the photo above.

www.gearheadzproducts.com

Danger Signs We Found On Our Vintage Road Race Thunderbird

We brought this car into our shop, as kind of a side job, work on it when there is time, sort of project.  It is a former Howe/Port City ASA chassis, which like so many others, has been converted to road race configuration.  These cars are known for being well built, and safe, given the speeds and facilities that they ran on.  It had last been run at two of the very best know race tracks in the U.S.  The sanctioning body for the events is very well established, in vintage racing.  The car had also been raced with a well know national road race group, in non-vintage, "GT" type car configuration.  And that's where the story starts to get scary.  Real scary.

There were a few safety related concerns, which we are working to correct, as time allows.  For starters, the car is equipped with an electrical fuel pump, as are so many road race cars.  The master kill switch was located in the rearward, passenger side corner of the car.  It was no where within reach of the the previous driver, or any driver, unless he has five foot long arms.  If you have ever been in a real bad wreck, you know seconds can seem like minutes, while you try to figure out just what to do next.  Corner workers do not always arrive, in a hurry.

Think about what could happen, if there was a broken fuel line, sparks, and that electric fuel pump is continuing to do it's job.  As a driver, you might be disoriented, and not able to kill the power to the pump, in the few seconds necessary.  All the switches can look the same, and you could even hit the wrong one.  By placing the master switch in direct reach of the driver, there is only one movement necessary, with one arm, in the vital moments, after a big one.  Why not mount the master kill switch, in very close proximity, to the fire bottle switch?  We relocated the previously installed kill switch, which was actually a really easy job.

You can see the new switch location, in the photo below.  Note the LED "power on" indicator light. We included an easy to read, Allstar Performance, "On/Off" decal ( ALL99045).  Also added were some Allstar Performance red terminal covers (ALL76152).  The "shelf" was bent up from sheet steel, and welded in place.  The Sherwin Williams grey spray paint, matches perfect, and looks great.  Anyone can know at a glance, if the car is hot, or hot so not.  Notice those nice welds, from Howe Racing Enterprises.  These cars have good bones.  Maybe it will take a very bad vintage crash, for the vintage organizers to wake up, put down the tea, and  hot buttered croissants, and get serious about car inspections.  There are some pretty quick cars that run vintage, and not all the drivers have had a lot of experience racing.  With enough $$, you can buy yourself something that was a handful, for even Mark, or Parnelli, back in the day.  We are not sure what more to say about this, but of course, there is more.

The next subject is bolt on ballast, which in this case, gave us nightmares.  Same car, same tech inspection crews, same organization, big name tracks, and the potential for horrible results, in a roll over shunt.  Loose ballast flying through your windshield can be a very serious problem, trust on this.  Notice the size of the weight.  Over 100 lbs., for sure. The number "48" is from the cars ASA racing days, so it's hard to say when the install work was done.  Two half inch bolts, were all that was holding this massive chunk of weight, to the car.  The holes are easy to see, in the two photos.  The weight was actually bolted to an 1/8" strip of steel, that runs down the frame rail, put there to hold the fiberglass body door panel, in place.  You can literally lean on it with your big tow, and get it to flex.

We have had some surprising experiences, on the track, and off track, with race organizers, as well.  Once our cars clutch caught on fire, as we sat helpless, waving our arms, at the (regional race) corner workers.  Smoke was literally pouring out from under the front wheel wells, and no one even came over to check it out, despite frantic window waving.

Another time, we watched in amusement, as our car received it's annual tech inspection, very much outside, on a Friday night, and in the dark.  Flashlight, and all.  Seems crazy.  Safety starts with the driver, and car owner.  Don't count on others, even though you should be able to.  Bad things  can happen fast on a race track, don't make things worse.

www.gearheadzproducts.com

ARP Dampner Bolt For The LS-1 ASA Motor

This is the ARP harmonic balancer bolt to use, when replacing the one on your LS-1 ASA race motor.  

ARP Balancer Bolt Kits Feature Heavy duty balancer bolts that are rated to 200,000 PSI. Choose from bolts that accept a traditional 12-point socket or a 1/2" square drive, eliminating the need for a socket. Sold complete with large diameter, 1/4" thick washer.

http://www.gearheadzproducts.com

ASA LS1 Race Car Won't Start Is Sometimes The ECU

When the gremlins come to call on race day, they love to find places to hide, in your LS1 electronics system.   The last two times out, we have been "pestered" by the little buggers, that move around like cock roaches, in the wiring system.  Six laps into the most recent SCCA Majors race, the car just decided to come to a dead stop, going around turn number  two, at Gingerman Raceway.  After considering everything, we plugged our code reader into the car, when back at the shop.  Our crew chief, son, and full-time bread slicer assembler, "GT" had a great idea.  The kid is sharp, and simply decided to erase all existing error codes, in the GM factory ECU unit.  The car that would not go anywhere, quickly fired riight back up again, after the weekend was done.
Since we had already seem some burned wiring, and also smoked a brand new "pay it off monthly" racing battery, it stared to seem that we had a problem coming from only one place.
The alternator was removed, and tested for output.  Our local electrical shop rebuilt it, and put in a new regulator, for a mere $85.00.  The unit is back in the car, and we are pretty sure, that this was the issue causing the (most recent) problems that we faced.  The moral of the story, always look for clues, that will lead you back to the root of the problem.  Stay "tuned", for futher developments.
Or stop by at the track if you are there.  You can also visit us at our web garage.  We can easily be found at:

http://gearheadzproducts.com/

Some Basic Chassis Repair Work On Our Road Race Thunderbird

When the T Bird arrived in our shop, we knew she was in need of a little special attention.  The wounded chiicken was fresth from a "slide and bounce", off one of the Road America guard rails, which drove the right rear tire into the frame.  This former ASA race car is well built, but there was no choice except to replace the section of damaged frame that had been bent.  In the photo below, you can see where we took a Sazall, and a set of torches, to remove the bent  piece of 2" x 3" mild steel.  There are also a couple of welds that cracked in the crash, and we will deal with them at the tail end of the process.  Right now, our job is to set about fabricated a direct replacement frame unit, based on some simple measurements that were taken in the shop.  The right side mounted remote oil tank had to be removed, for the work to start, and is not present in the photos. 

 Old Frame Section Removed From The Right Hand Side

 

Old Frame Section On The Floor After Being Cut Out.

 

End View Of The New Frame Section Tack Welded Together

 

Side View Of The New Frame Section With Watts Linkage Mounting Holes

 

 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.

http://www.gearheadzproducts.com



A New V8 Road Racing Series For 2016

Below is an overview of a new series, for those who run classes such as GT1, GT2, GTA, etc.  Look it over, and check the schedule, to see if there is a race at a track near you.  Tube frames, and small block V8 engines, are a great way to go racing on a budget.

Announcing the V8 Road Racing Series!

Continuing in 2016 there’s a program for those that want to compete using big American V8’s in road racing events.  This program builds upon the very successful V8 Stock Car series that targeted specific events to provide enhanced competition in the Big Bore classes, but V8RRS expands the concept even further.

 

To encourage participation by a maximum number of drivers, series events will be held at major tracks covering the eastern half of the country and most participants are within an 8-hour drive of at least three locations.  While running as many weekends as possible certainly improves one’s chance of doing well, it is entirely possible to contend for a championship by racing three weekends plus the season-ending Championship Event held at a relatively central location. 

 

V8RRS – Where America’s V8 Road Racers Come to Play!

 

The program details:

• Seven eligible classes – AS, GT1, GT2, GTA, GTSC, SPO, T1

• GTSC is a series-defined class for high hp stock cars while all other classes are per SCCA’s current General Competition Rules (GCR).

• Points will be awarded to series registrants in each class as follows:

1-25	2-21	3-18	4-17	5-16	6-15	7-14	8-13	9-12	10-11
11-10	12-9	13-8	14-7	15-6	16-5	17-4	18-3	19-2	20-1

• In addition, each driver receives a bonus point for every competitor s/he finishes ahead of up to a maximum of ten (10) bonus points.

• All weekends will be double race events.  The weekend format might vary but typically there will be a single qualifying session, a shorter “sprint” race of approximately 25 minutes, then a longer (50 miles) “feature” race to conclude our weekend.
• Series members will count their best five (5) race points finishes during the 24-race season, then add the results from both races in the season-ending event at VIR.
• Any ties will be broken by each driver’s finishing position in the last race of the year.
• The series will collect a separate V8RRS event fee of $100 that’s in addition to the weekend entry fee collected by the host organization.
• There is also the option of a season series registration fee of $150 that entitles each member to the following:

• A $50 discount on each V8RRS event fee
• Merchandise discounts from series sponsors

• Each V8RRS event fee includes:

• Identifying decals & patches
• Eligibility for earning series points
• Individual race awards
• Season-ending class awards & prizes
• As possible, at-track paddock coordination & socials
• Eligibility for a chance in the $100 Early-Bird Entry drawing
• Other benefits as the series grows

• ALL monies collected in excess of series expenses will be returned to the racers via season-ending awards!

 

For additional information visit our website: http://www.v8roadracingseries.com/

Following is the 2016 V8RRS schedule:

 

No.	Date	Track	Location	In Conjunction With:
1	Jan 15-17	Sebring	Sebring FL	Central Florida Region SCCA Majors
2	Feb 27-28	NOLA	Avondale LA	SOWDiv SCCA Majors
3	Mar 18-20	Road Atlanta	Braselton GA	Atlanta Region SCCA Majors
4	Apr tbd	tbd	tbd	tbd
5	May 7-8	Daytona	Daytona Beach FL	Central Florida Region SCCA Regional
6	May 20-22	NJMP	Millville NJ	Champ Truck (Fri-Sat event)
7	Jun 3-5 (T)	Mid-Ohio	Lexington OH	Ohio Valley Region SCCA Majors
8	Jul 8-10	PittRace	Wampum PA	Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
9	Jul 30-31	Road America	Elkhart Lake WI	Milwaukee Region SCCA
10	Aug 13-14	Charlotte	Concord NC	Central Carolinas Region SCCA Regional
11	Sep 17-18	Watkins Glen	Watkins Glen NY	Finger Lakes Region SCCA Regional
12	Oct 1-2	Summit Point	Summit Point WV	Washington DC Region SCCA Regional
*	Oct 15-16	VIR (Finale)	Alton VA	North Carolina Region SCCA Regional

 

 

(T) – indicates final dates still to be confirmed by track

 

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

Maximize Your Race Cars Ignition System

We have been around race cars, and performance street cars for many, many years.  One of the biggest soures for increased performance, and problems, is the cars ignition components.  Keeping the system fully functional is simply a matter many times of staying ahead of problems that are going to occur.  Ignition wires are good for only a few years, at best, considering the conditions that they operate in.  Headers are extremely hot, and burnt wires are not uncommon, which usually means a buying a whole new set of wires, and worse yet, pulling off the race track early.   We devleoped these simple but effective plug wire covers, to go on the wire at the spark plug end.  They really work, and are less than a new set of wires.



We saw a race car that would not run about ten years ago, on the most humid night of July.  The next night we popped the hood, and started it up.  You could see electric arcs coming off the plug wires, in the dark.  The wires were made by a well known company, and did not have that many laps on them.  However, they were more than a couple years old, and simply no good at that point.
The first and most basic thing to do with any race car distribuor, is maximize the spark advance curve.  Ideally you do not want the advance to come in before 1,000 RPM (at idle), but you want to have it all in by 4000 RPM, or less.  This simply translates into horsepower that your engine has, but is not using.  The best way to know you advance curve is to put the distributor in a Sun or King distributor machinhe, and plot out the curve.  These machines are getting harder to come by, since they are no longer being produced.  The old ones that are still operating, are not as acurate as they once were.  Find an engine builder who can work with you on this, and you will not regret it.  The curve can be modifed by various spring kits that are available from after market companies.  However, we have found that the chart on the back of the package (if there is one) is not always true to what is seen on the machine, during a test run.  The curve below shows some results were were happy with, after testing a number of different spring kits for a circle track customer recently. 

Even a brand new distributor from one of the well known companies does not include a spring kit, which is sold seperately.  Keep in mind they are selling to everyone from drag racers, to steet rodderss, to road racers.  Each has different requirements.  Vacuum advance is good for a steet vehicle.  On a race distributor we also lockout the vacuum advance unit, so there is no chance of the spark advance floating around, during acceleration.  So many racers just but a new distributor, and assume everything is OK.   Below is a picture of our Sun distributor machine, which has been completely rebuilt by the Parmamont Distributor Machine Co.



We have 11 degrees of advance at the distributor, in the graph above.  Since the distributor runs at 1/2 the crank shaft speed, we will have 22 degrees of total advance with the distributor installed.  That means that we will need to set the rest of the advance with a timing light, at the crankshaft.  If we want 38 degrees of total advance, then the initial timing will be set at 16 degrees.  22 degrees plus 16 degrees equals a total of 38 degrees advance.
Knowing about spark advance is one of the basics, so make sure you fully understand what is going on with your cars distributor.  keep the plug wires fresh, and protected.  Replace them before trouble occurs.  Set  your cars timing with a gun at full advance, to make sure you are getting maximum horsepower.  Being off by a few degrees the wrong way can result in detonation, which can have disaterous results. 

Visit us on the web, for all your garage needs.  We are glad to help you out, however we can.

http://gearheadzproducts.com/distributorsplugwiresandaccessories.aspx

 

 

 

 

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

 

Easy To Install Race Car Switch Panel

This is a good time of year to review everything in the cockpit,  add some upgrades such as an LED oil pressure light, radios, dash labels, etc.  A clean toggle switch arrangement is very important for the driver to have easy access to.  The photos below show our GT-2 house car dash board, as orginally supplied by the fabricators at Port City Racing, in Muskegon, MI.  All the operating switches are to the drivers left, easy to reach, and read as well.  You can purchase toggle switch extensions, which make it much easier  to access the switches, when buckeled snugly into the car.  The panel shown in the second photo is an easy to wire up and install unit, with most  of the hook  ups already made for you.  We had to relocate the fire bottle in the car when we brought it home, so it was in easy reach of the drivers left hand.  A very important detail, the last owner overlooked.  Don't forget to add high density padding, to all areas around the driver, and anywhere near by. 

http://gearheadzproducts.com/racecarcontrolpanel.aspx

SCCA Camaro GT-2 GTA LS 1 Motor Will Not Start

We recently ran into an electrical issue with our Lingenfelter preped LS-1 engine, that would come and go at random.  The engine would start to miss, then quit completely at the track.  On another occasion at the races, the engine ran, then died when we pulled into the pits for a flat tire, and would not refire.  Later back at the shop, it started with no problem.  We ended up tracing and checking all the grounds, and found a loose connection, at the positive side of the battery terminal.  The lock nut holding the cable had vibrated loose.  It was covered with  a plastic terminal cover, and could not be seen until we removed the Optima AGM design battery to check it's status.  The cable was still connected, but with no positive force.  Always check the basic battery and ground connections with these cars.  There is a ground on the back of the right side cylinder head.  There are also a series of fuses in the electrical system.  Our car has an eight fuse box, located by the driver.  Very close to the OBD 2 port.   Make sure the battery is on a trickle charger all the time, and stays fully charged, when the car is not in use.  For a battery charger, we prefer the C TEK micro processor controled unit, shown below.   It is compact, and simple to use,  with a easy to read level of charge indicator.

http://gearheadzproducts.com/ctekbatterychargermus4.3.aspx