1987 Camaro
IROC-Z ET Bracket Race Car
Previous season results:
2017 Season Results
- Jan 21 - Finally an update. Edmonton is switching from IHRA to NHRA this year. That means I will finally have to get an NHRA license. With the NHRA license I will also be able to race at Medicine Hat. This is enough of an incentive to finally get the car race ready again. All my SFI stuff has expired and so has the chassis certification. I need to change or modify the back cross tube to pass another chassis cert and the inspection date is somewhere near the end of March or Early April which doesn't give me a lot of time. First priority however is getting the engine running since I haven't even fired it up in a few years. I toasted the starter last November trying to get it started so I went to the local auto wrecker and grabbed one of the mini starters used on early 2000's GM's. Got around to putting it on a few weeks ago and toasted that one too. Went out and picked up another today but this time I also got an extended warranty on it so I can keep going back to the junkyard for 13 months replacing the starter if I have to. This starter looked more like an OEM version than the aftermarket replacement I found last year. Didn't take long to fry this one also. Armature won't turn now. Ran back and got another replacement. Success! I got the engine running today. Temperature was hovering around the freezing mark and I had the garage door open to get the alcohol fumes out. My neighbors were probably wondering where the noise was coming from. My girlfriend has said in the past that the windows rattle in the house when the engine is running and the car is in a detached garage. I currently don't have the mufflers on the car. Now I need to get the back cross tube replaced, finish making a transmission tunnel and replace all the SFI stuff that's expired. Belts, transmission and flexplate shield should be about it. Flexplate should be done also but I don't know if I'll have the time to pull the transmission to replace it. After that, there's just some fine tuning stuff I still want to do but can still race if I don't get them done. Drag strips will probably open in May. I'm not sure if switching my license from IHRA to NHRA will require any licensing passes yet.
- April 17 - In early February, I installed a different back brace and it should pass the chassis certification now. Today I took the wheelie bars off, filled the tires with air and took it off jack stands. Got the engine started without toasting another starter and took it out of the garage to sweep the floor. Brought it back in and shut it off. No mufflers sure is loud. The 45 pound weight increase by installing the exhaust system sure makes a difference at the end of a race day when your ears are not ringing. Chassis cert is this Saturday so I wanted to make sure the car at least could move. Still need to replace the flexplate and trans shields and fabricate a new transmission tunnel before I can go racing.
- April 22 - Chassis certification day today. Still don't have the mufflers on and I had to wear earplugs. At least no neighbors came out and complained. It was around 10 am when I loaded the car into the trailer. I got back home before noon. Chassis certification passed. Car is good to run as quick as 8.50 for another 3 years. It's highly unlikely I'll hit 8.50 unless I'm at a sea level track and the density altitude is below sea level.
- Oct 15 - Didn't do anything all season. Put the car back on jackstands a few weeks ago. Front brakes were dragging. Pulled off the front wheels to find out the rotors are warped. I'm pretty sure I know when I did the hard braking many years ago to warp the rotors. Never really liked how these Aerospace front brakes fit or worked. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a set of Willwood front drag brakes that were on sale. These are not a vented street rotor but a solid 3/8" thick drag rotor. They arrived a few days ago and I just finished installing them today. Look and feel much nicer.