JD_AMG

And if you want to save some money you don't need an aftermarket torque arm, if you do get one make sure its the full length one and not a short one.
I would put that money saved toward a watts link if I were you though, that will do WAY more for handling that a torque arm ever will.

Correct.
You are better off with the stock LCAs at that point (which are in no way bad for handling). The poly bushings bind when one side of the axle moves differently than the other. If you get aftermarket LCAs get either rotojoint or rod ended ones. But again I want to reiterate that the stock ones are good, especially if you have the 1LE bushings in them.

FIVEPOINT7

iTrader: (2)

DO NOT do a short torque arm. The one on the car I race causes the tires to unload really bad under hard braking

beach cruiser

iTrader: (1)

I see you were able to get on FRRAX. good advice over there too, that's all they do is roadrace and autox. I have the full Strano recipe on my car minus the watts link. I've won the VA state ESP title 4 times with it. It's fantastic there as well, I can run with almost any C5 out there and most of the time faster. Call and talk to Sam, he will talk you through everything.

You asked about spare parts, these cars can be bad on front hubs if you have a lot of tire up front (I have 315s) So a spare will keep you going all weekend if you break one. You may also want to think about fabbing up some brake ducts too. There's not a lot of room to work under there but it can be done.

smitty2919

Race seat+harness
Shocks/springs
Adj PHB or Watts Link
Alignment
Swaybars

Do those in that order if money is an issue. Skip the K member and control arms FR+RR.

beach cruiser

iTrader: (1)

The WS6 seats are pretty good (heavy but good) a harness bar with a harness isn't a bad Idea, but you really need a 5 or 6 point which may be difficult with the stock seat.

smitty2919

If you are not going full blown sanctioned wheel to wheel where a roll cage is needed, you can make a bolt in 5 pt harness bar.

I made one for my shoulder straps, put a hole in the floor board for sub belt and used OEM anchor points for lap belts. Can remove shoulder strap bar in 5 min and go back to stock seat. Downside with my design is that it puts the straps at more than a 45* angle, but for small local autocross I'm OK wit it. If I was getting the car on any road course, I will remedy this.

.boB

iTrader: (1)

Most important for road course racing - instruction. No kidding. A day or two of instruction will shorten your lap times faster than anything else you can do to the car. Just finding the fastest route around the track could take all day on your own. And unless you have a natural born talent for reading the track, you could spend all day and still never learn the fastest way around the track.

NASA Rocky mountain will be at High Plains May 28-30. http://www.nasarockymountain.com/ If you sign up for group 1, you'll get four 20 minute sessions per day, with an instructor in the seat next to you. You can also get a ride along with people who have experience at that track. It will really open your eyes.

Sometimes they offer a Hyperdrive. 1 Session in group 1 with an instructor for $50. No membership required. That's a bargain!

beach cruiser

iTrader: (1)

Agreed, and I happen to be a NASA instructor.

NitroFumesAteMyBrain

I was looking at the nasa event and was getting ready to ask some questions. I plan on hitting a few track days before then as well. Monday I'm dropping the money on a set of konis, strano springs, and strano sways. Car already has tubular rlcas and tube panhard.

2edybrd

Well, I am planning to get back into an Fbody, hopefully next year, so I am working out the combo's I want to install.

This is what i plan to do and is based on some hit and miss from when I owned a 96 and 99 trans am years ago...so any disagreements (and reasonings for such) would be approciated.For me I am doing the following: in order

1 Brakes - Steel Brake Lines, redo the Vacuum pump and other needed items. Strano - AGAIN-has a front brake kit that looks great and I would - believe it or not, use NAPA Gold solid rotors and ceramic pads for the rear

2-upgraded differential - Tru Trac seems to be the one everyone looks to right now

3- Sorry I sound like a Strano ad - but, Strano Shock Pakcage - Konis, F/R Sway, springs

4-Strano Chassis pkg - subframes - probably welded, strut tower brace

5_ If you have the 1LE bushings, spend 80 bucks to have a local race shop box your LCAs and Panhard. I started with SLP solid bushings (1LE) went to poly then to radius rod. I personally feel I should have stayed with the 1LE bushings.

6- Torque arm. Unsure about this one. I had a Global West torque arm on my last Fbody and loved it...but I had to cut into the rear seats area floor pan to mount it. I think this time around, Spohn, UMI, LG Motorsports all have a decent TA that comes off of the tranny.

I may do a gear swap to say a 4.10, But that would just be for me and I doubt it would do anything for handling...mostly for the **** eating grin smokey burnout fun.

After that, transmission, clutch master cylinder, etc. Then exhaust, then engine cam first, then heads.

Notice, I haven't even said anything about tires yet. As a daily driver, I plan on two sets, one on stock rims for winter and then a set for everything else.

Anyways, brakes, suspension and tranny would estimate out to about 4300.

Also, maybe not for handling, but I would look at the wheel bearings as well

The main thing for me was getting the sloppy rear end under control. Once I had everything installed the rea felt much tighter and when it broke loose it was very smooth and controllable. That was also when I had SLP Bilsteins and the Eibach progressive rate springs on.

Go here: www.corner-carvers.com, this site helped me out alot.

DietCoke

iTrader: (18)

You can't change springs in FS, only shocks.

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

What you DON'T need:

Torque arm

Front control arms

K member

Sway bars(your car has a 1LE setup on it already if it's a WS6 car)

Watts link

Any more power other than bolt ons and exhaust

Rear control arms

If the above parts are in good working order, they are good for a good while.


As a beginner, what you DO need.

Welded frame connectors.

Power steering pump revalve

Rod end or Delrin bushing Panhard bar

Stainless brake lines

ATE or similar brake fluid

GOOD pads Call Porterfield brakes and consult. Put a good split on the car or it will brake hop. Like a Hawk DTC 60 on front and a HP+ on the back.

Change every fluid in the car.

A good seat, no substitution for this, this is the best money you will spend on the car.

Buy a new set of the cheapest tires you can find for track use, I used Maxxis MA-V1's for a year and a half and they did fine.


As you progress....

Koni/Strano springs

Rear lower control arm brackets

Slot the front lower control arms for more camber(1.8 ish)

C5 Corvette front brakes

NT-05 or similar 200 tread wear tires


Further down the road 3 years or so.

35/22 bars

Rear lower control arms(didn't see much difference on my car)

Possibly lower the panhard bar(can of worms here, read up when you're ready)

Better tires if wanted, NT-01, R888 or the like. If you go here and get faster you will need a Diff, Detroit TruTrac is what I put in mine.

Spend your money on track time, learn to drive the car. The drag racing mentality doesn't apply here....buying a bunch of parts won't make you faster, track time will.

DietCoke

iTrader: (18)

Fixed

smitty2919

I second everything above except what I added comments to.

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

You can't run a 5 point harness without a roll bar, he has kids which kills that.

Yes front lower control arm slots in the K Member

CTSV is not track tested, I ran for years on the C6 caliper and track brackets with C5 front rotors.

I ran a Wilwood front setup after that, they were better but rotors were expensive and I destroyed them frequently

AronZ28

iTrader: (2)

Bigger/better brakes would be the 1st thing I'd do. You can fade out the stock brakes after 5 or 6 hard stops(ask me how I know this, almost ended up in a ditch)

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

This is a function of pad and brake fluid that failed, not the brakes themselves.

AronZ28

iTrader: (2)

Like I said, brakes would be my 1st mod if you plan on driving it real hard.

Even if you can't afford bigger calipers/rotors right away, make sure everything is up to snuff with some good pads, slider pins aren't frozen, stock calipers are in good condition, resurfaced or new rotors, and fresh fluid. These cars are old, even if the pads look to have a lot of material left, I'd change them and check everything really closely.

Also is worthwhile to upgrade the stock rubber brake lines to stainless steel flex lines?

Midnight02

iTrader: (8)

I would echo FASTFATBOY's comments on the necessary brake upgrades for a beginner:

I would view these as mandatory, not optional. Skipping over any one of these could lead to trouble on track.

A balanced set of track pads. Coincidentally, the pad combo he noted above is my preferred mix -- either a Hawk DTC-60 or DTC-70 up front and a Hawk HP+ in the rear.

Blank rotors. Stay away from drilled and slotted rotors. I run NAPA blanks -- they're $40 each and are great on the track.

Good DOT4 fluid. ATE Type 200 will do the trick.

As for actually biting the bullet to upgrade to bigger brakes -- I have 30+ track days on the stock braking system and can attest most beginners will be amazed how capable the stock brakes are with good pads. I'll eventually upgrade because Strano has a kit that would upgrade my current setup and cut my cost on the track pads (some aftermarket pad sizes are considerably cheaper than OEM sizes), however I don't believe the stock brakes have been a major limiting factor for me on track.