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S197 BOSS 302 Race Car Build Thread Build Thread

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ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
Excited to finally get to go racing with you. Hopefully CVR represented the end of the "weird stuff that never breaks, but will break today" streak along with the "Hey, that's a nice track day you have there, shame if it were to get some crazy weather" streak. Both were getting a bit old.

Amen. Looking forward to getting back to basics at East :)
 

302 Hi Pro

Boss 302 - Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car
2,009
441
Southeast
Nice write up and pics Drew, even though you had some problems I get the sense everyone had a great weekend. Look forward to following and cheering you on in 2017.

302 Hi Pro
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Race Report from Wild Horse Pass East Track, March 2017, NASA-AZ:

Wiping sweat from my eyes going down the front straight:
NSMTTqP.png

Saturday:
I started second overall to a tube-frame TA2 car, first of three in class; finished the same.
I switched from the 26mm LS rear bar back to my Strano 22mm rear bar before the race, as the car was having trouble putting down power coming out of low-speed corners. This helped quite a bit, but made the car a little pushy (duh).
The car was running really hot in the 90-92*F heat but everyone was having similar issues. I lost a little bit of radiator ducting when I put the new unit in, looks like I'll have to re-fabricobble something together before the next event.

Passing through lap traffic following the TA2 Camaro; ST2 competitors on my tail!
hGzqZcD.png


Sunday:
I was first of three again on Sunday despite actively managing coolant temps and forgetting to belt in my cool shirt box, leaving it to blast around on the passenger side the whole race and no driver cooling. I ran my first 58-second lap in TT (58.94) and tried a adjusted setup (slightly stiffer rear springs) with good results (was able to 1:00 flat consistently during the race, on R7s instead of A7s) Great weekend!

ST2 winner on Sunday (and Saturday, too!). Was busy dumping water on my shirt since I managed to "disable" my cool shirt during the race.
Am3TMOe.png

General Notes:
The power from the CJ setup was great. I could feel the extra torque coming out of corners, and was able to run 2-3mph faster than my previous best on the short front straight of this track, despite over-slowing a bit due to braking differences required for the additional power. This power should really help out at bigger tracks but I'll have to be more disciplined with my braking to keep corner speeds up.

In order to combat the push with the smaller rear swaybar, I am going to reduce the front spring rate a bit and play with front shock adjustment some more. Right now I have compression dialed way down and rebound cranked way up to get the car to start to behave in a manner I like; I think with the "softer" front spring I can let the shocks do more of the work and have a better tuning range, not to mention I still have an adjustable front bar to play with (currently at full-soft) if body roll is too much after the swap.

Next steps before race at end of April: Repair cool shirt box/lines, add additional radiator ducting up-front, vacuum-purge coolant system, reduce front spring rate from 800 to 600, drink 300 beers...

dLQfWpS.png
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
800# springs? OMG....
 
Congratulations! How are you doing in the series points race?
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Congratulations! How are you doing in the series points race?

I am in the lead by 45 points (scale currently in the 400 range) after 3 of 7 events. Looking for a second regional championship this year!
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
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Arizona, USA
300 Beers?? Need help?
Always! :)

Yesterday I swapped the front springs, and the day before that I fabricobbled my quiet-exhaust setup together for sub-96db requirements.

lAa3P22.jpg

x7rfMak.jpg

aU2lO6A.jpg
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Always! :)

Yesterday I swapped the front springs, and the day before that I fabricobbled my quiet-exhaust setup together for sub-96db requirements.

lAa3P22.jpg

x7rfMak.jpg

aU2lO6A.jpg
I'm interested in how the 600's work for you.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
I'm interested in how the 600's work for you.
Me too...won't know until end of April. I've got my front compression way down and front rebound way up; I'm thinking the 600s (and maybe lower in the future, depending on performance?) will allow me to utilize more of the front dampers (and front bar) to control the weight transfer on/off the front tires.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
Couldn't you have just added some high flow cats to help quiet it down as well. Just a thought there.
That is an option but I already had these stock Boss (aka V6) mufflers laying around in the garage. The elbow pipes were $50 from Summit. The ones in the photos have a set of baffles inside of them, as well--but I am hoping to be able to get away with a "blank" set of elbows on the big mufflers.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
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Exp. Type
W2W Racing
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Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Me too...won't know until end of April. I've got my front compression way down and front rebound way up; I'm thinking the 600s (and maybe lower in the future, depending on performance?) will allow me to utilize more of the front dampers (and front bar) to control the weight transfer on/off the front tires.
I'm at 500# springs now and it turns in so good I hate to tamper with it, but my front shocks are on full stiff to control the diagonal weight transfer so I feel like I could be sprung somewhat stiffer.
600's was my prospective change but I didn't want to over spring it and develop a push.
If you were able to pull off 800's I feel a little better about springing up to 600's, especially now that I'm going up in tire size.
 
369
146
Exp. Type
HPDE
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5-10 Years
Waco, TX
That is an option but I already had these stock Boss (aka V6) mufflers laying around in the garage. The elbow pipes were $50 from Summit. The ones in the photos have a set of baffles inside of them, as well--but I am hoping to be able to get away with a "blank" set of elbows on the big mufflers.

Ah ok that makes sense now. Hopefully you don't faster with the new set up;)
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Silly question really!! Do you have pictures of the inside of the trunk where you have bracing for the wing?
I thought I had one uploaded but that is apparently not true. Will get you one this week. Everyone asks me about that.
 

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