What kind of things are people breaking road racing?

[stevey_frac]

Just like the title: What are people breaking when they road race their camaros?

I'm expecting heavy tire, and break wear, and very frequent fluid changes...

Is there anything else on these cars that breaks under the strain of racing?

I've got some money set aside to repair something minor if it breaks, But a new engine or transmission would suck... :P

--Steve

[LBreezie]

Nothing really, but with forced induction probably your back end

[cornerspeed92]

4 track days this year and no problems,but i am pushing oil out of my bleed screw.

[stevey_frac]

Oil? Or brake fluid?

[cornerspeed92]

Brake fluid.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

4 track days this year and no problems,but i am pushing oil out of my bleed screw.

Mine does that sometimes also. I have changed the fluid 3x this year and replaced an engine, a clutch and a rear-end. The clutch was from drag racing though.

[stevey_frac]

How did you toast an engine? or did you just end up going to a bigger engine for fun?

[cornerspeed92]

Originally Posted by jessrayo

Mine does that sometimes also. I have changed the fluid 3x this year and replaced an engine, a clutch and a rear-end. The clutch was from drag racing though.

Are you hard on your brakes too? The reason i ask is because i am a late braker,and i know i am hard on them.It also only happens on the front brakes.I am running Motul 600

[stevey_frac]

Originally Posted by LBreezie

Nothing really, but with forced induction probably your back end

I have no plans to go FI any time soon.

Also: I have the V6, not the V8, but I have the V8 rear diff because I have the manual. Even with FI, it's not likely I'll blow the rear diff. With the IPF S/C kit, I end up with about 435 HP.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

Are you hard on your brakes too? The reason i ask is because i am a late braker,and i know i am hard on them.It also only happens on the front brakes.I am running Motul 600

I run at Eagles Canyon and that track is just plain hard on brakes, you drop into the canyon at speed and then have to brake the mass of the car going downhill for a tight corner at the bottom then you get 120-150 mph straights with tight turns at the end of the straight, almost all stock vehicles overheat brakes on this track. I will just say that a 4000 lb car cannot handle the off camber sweepers and tight corners as well as the 911's so I have to make it up with more speed on the straights and more aggressive braking entering the corners. You have got to work the brakes on the Camaro to make it run with lightweights. But yeah, I guess I'm hard on the brakes...that ZL1 logo on the calipers used to be red and white before I baked it brown....stops really good though.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by stevey_frac

How did you toast an engine? or did you just end up going to a bigger engine for fun?

I was at the redline in 4th around 150mph on the back straight when the head gasket let go and dumped the coolant into the block. Tried to limp it off the track but it hydrolocked and bent the rods. The engine was at 810 whp on stock block and heads and couldn't take the combustion pressure and heat. I got an ERL superdeck block with the 6 bolt head that is suposed to be able to handle 1500whp. I did a bit of research before I bought the block. There are really not many options that have the 6 bolt heads. Gm performance only does cast iron LSX blocks with 6 bolt heads. I will avoid adding weight to car in anyway possible, so that was not an option for me. ERL re-sleeves the stock aluminum block, trusses it for support and adds more and larger head bolts. They charge the same price no matter what the bore and I needed new rods, pistons and crank anyway so I went with the 427 ci. It only gained about 25 hp with the added displacement but I picked up between 50-100 ft-lb of torque from 2500rpm on. It really accelerates hard at any rpm. Must be on race tires or it just bakes tires. I've only had it at the track once on the new block and it was wet and cold so I really never got to push it. It takes a lot more finesse to drive it fast. I need more practice.

[White_SS/RS]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

4 track days this year and no problems,but i am pushing oil out of my bleed screw.

Maybe you have some debris in the bleeder valve, that or they are weak. Try replacing them.

[cornerspeed92]

Yeah,was at my dealer(there one of the good ones,in fact i know the service manager,he's the one that told my about the 1LE)the other day and showed him this thread i started http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=334021 This will be looked at and handled by them.Since he stands behind the fact that the 1LE is marketed as a track ready car,i wont have any issues.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by White_SS/RS

Maybe you have some debris in the bleeder valve, that or they are weak. Try replacing them.

This happens some when you get them really hot. With heat you get expansion and you have a lot of pressure on the fluid when you hammer the brakes. If you just give the calipers a visual inspection between laps and if you find any that are leaking tap the bleeder a tiny bit tighter while it is still hot and they quit leaking. When you bleed the brakes on relatively cold calipers you really need to really snug them down. I have seen it front and rear and even though the fluid is baking on the caliper there is no noticeable drop in pedal pressure or significant decrease in fluid level in the reservoir. I have never had one keep leaking after I torque it hot.