What I drive

[graywolf624]

I currently own 2 cars. One is a 2003 mazda 6 s with an automatic that I just picked up about 2 months ago.
The other vehicle is my project car. This car started life as a 1988 Camaro Iroc-z. Since then the car has recieved over 5000 dollars in suspension mods(springs, shocks,stb, rear brakes, sfcs, wheels, exhaust, catalytic converter, rear end, bushings, lcas, lca relocation brackets, ect) . The car in question still currently has the 700r4 automatic and the 350 small block l98. Next spring, if finances permit, this car will be recieving an engine and transmission transplant(t56 and ls1 from a 00 camaro). The car in question is a road course car that is just barely street legal.

[hemi_fan]

Yea, those Mazda 6s r not bad... not exactly "Fast" maybe nimble is a better word, but they are deffinitely one of the fastest cars in their class/price range. The Camaro story is interesting because for my 1st car I wanted to get a late 80's stang or maro. Just wondering how much all your mods are going to add up to, how much u spent on the car, and what kind of power/preformance are you planning to get out of it?

[graywolf624]

I spent 1800 for the car originally with 98 000 miles on the odometer about a year ago. The car needed a new exhaust, some tires, and a paint job(no rust, no paint peeling, just a 15 year old paint job).

The goal for all the mods and original purchase of the car is between 15- 20000 dollars. Hoping for 400 hp 400 torque out of that ls1 engine with a weight between 2900-3000 lbs. (I have quite a way to go for both of those at the moment, but the engine install should run me around 6000 for parts and install(I cant do that myself, just dont have the resources). The engine will get me to a level of 330 hp or so immediately following the install and then its time to swap heads to alluminum heads, cams, and a few other tweaks. The real benefit will be the weight distribution, which should be close to spot on with the engine dropping 100 lbs of weight which will be moved to the transmission which is lower and more centrally located. Not to mention I've had enough of the slushbox, I want the 6 speed t56 in there.) That stuff should bring me to a price tag in my range.

The cars shocks and springs are already setup well for a track(not particularly fun for the road however, too stiff).
The goal is to be competitive in a class that I have yet determined and learn enough about the sport to graduate to something more impressive in a few years.

[hemi_fan]

That sounds great. I dont think I'll be able to spend that much money on the car since my wage is 6.40 an hour lol... but thats pretty much what I wanted to do to my first car, except it would be spread over maybe a 10-year period or so, and I doubt id be doing an engine swap, just putting parts in the original. Are you getting rims with low-profiles or keeping the stock set-up?

[graywolf624]

There's a set of 2002 17" ss 10 spoke rims sitting behind me actually. I havent put them on yet though. Figured Id use the tires and wheels on the car until I have the power to really need the bigger wheels and tires. Then I'm shooting for 265-40 up front and 275 40 out back. Not super low, but about as low as I can justify price wise in a z rated tire.

[fedezyl]

we want PICTURES!!!! please please! your project sounds really cool!!

[hemi_fan]

I second that fedezyl !!!

[graywolf624]

Here are some pictures of the project car:



Pic of me on pocono raceway in Pennsylvania during a open track day with a friend of mine riding shotgun:



I am still working on getting pictures of the mazda up into some webspace. The camaro should be running november 22 at Road Atlanta for another open track day if I get the rear gears swapped in time, then its garaged for the winter(hopefully with the spring getting a new engine). The goal is to run it on open track days until the kinks are worked out and then begin to run in a competition class.