lobster car or how to choose seats?

[Captain Buddha]

So, once it's caged - get a fire system, window nets, inside/center net, proper race seat and 6 point harness (you may already have), emergency / master kill switch, all of your racing/safety gear/hans and come race with us in SCCA (GT2, T1, depending on ruleset that fits you best)!!! Or another sanctioning body that you prefer....but either way, RACE it...go W2W - get your comp license!!!

[Guest lobster]

That's what happens when you're rich.

 

:-/   im not rich, I do okay and have no children. 

 

 

Did you ever consider selling the C7 and getting something a bit cheaper or already built before making the leap to a cage? Or did you just have an attachment to the C7 and wanted to keep going with it?

 

 

Hindsight is 20/20 it would of been super smart of me to sell it for literally any other track car.  I just went nuts and really love the car.    up until I got into the hobby my mechanical skills were non existent and I've learned so much so buying an older car initially scared me off and by that time I had gone full send on ripping out the interior and all sorts of crap. 

[Guest lobster]

So, once it's caged - get a fire system, window nets, inside/center net, proper race seat and 6 point harness (you may already have), emergency / master kill switch, all of your racing/safety gear/hans and come race with us in SCCA (GT2, T1, depending on ruleset that fits you best)!!! Or another sanctioning body that you prefer....but either way, RACE it...go W2W - get your comp license!!!

 

Have window nets, harnesses, kill switch already, I had the fire suppression tabs installed on the cage so I can have a full fire suppression system installed later.    

 

it's on my to do list on getting a comp license. 

[KevinDB]

I think it's great.  Who cares that maybe it would have been cheaper to buy a built car.  But buying someone else's project isn't always as cheap and easy as people make it look on TV/Youtube/forums.

 

Yeah sure if you're a whiz mechanic, fabricator, etc, it's all easy. Parts you need fall into your lap like mana from heaven.  You can build a class winning machine on a shoestring budget.  

 

Meanwhile, it takes me weeks to find a capable shop to swap a diff for me.  At least he sounds like he stayed at a Holiday Inn recently so that gives me some confidence.  

 

Out of some sense of...stubborn foolishness, I'm determined to run with this 2013 Camaro for a good long while.  Yep, it's 2 tons of outdated, questionably capable, cartoon of a car.  Coming soon to a track near you, give me a wave as you pass me by :D

[Guest lobster]

Did me some painting today.

 

Probablyissed a few places I’ll have round two next weekend.

[Guest lobster]

I ended up removing the sliders under my seat and scootchin the seat over as much as I could to give me a little more clearance between the cage and my helmet.  

 

Anyone need some sliders?  

[joesurf79]

I ended up removing the sliders under my seat and scootchin the seat over as much as I could to give me a little more clearance between the cage and my helmet.  

 

Anyone need some sliders?

 

Sounds familiar :) I had to pull my slider and rework my seat mount to get closer to the trans tunnel and lower. Did you already pad the top bars of the cage? That are up another 1+ of helmet clearance in my car.

[Guest lobster]

Sounds familiar :) I had to pull my slider and rework my seat mount to get closer to the trans tunnel and lower. Did you already pad the top bars of the cage? That are up another 1+ of helmet clearance in my car.

 

nope waiting on padding to show up, ordered it already tho.   

[Guest lobster]

Got the fancy carbon fiber side skirts installed and the diffuser prototype from Difflow needs some small design changes to work so I'm not gonna install that until the new one arrives in january. 

 

 

Got the padding in the mail last night.  

 

My 14" mirror should arrive tomorrow.  

 

Need to install that crap, order tires and the car should be good to go. 

[__clu]

Looking thick. Solid. Tight. Keep us posted on progress!

[z28pwr]

[Guest lobster]

I got my 14" joes racing mirror today and well...I hate it.    

 

Everything seems so far away and wrong it's going to take forever to get used to. 

 

 

I may return it and look for another mirror that isn't so convex?  

 

 

ETA: holy shit we posted at the same time.  

 

i debated making that same joke damnit. 

 

 

I need a mirror to know when I should let the miatas by.    Still won't... I would just like to know. 

[Max]

I have this one from Axia and it works for me.

 

https://axiaalloys.com/product/17-wide-panoramic-rearview-mirror-1-5-arms/

 

[Guest lobster]

that's not bad looking.  

 

 

I'm having to really figure out placement and I may spend a day moving my truck around my driveway just to get comfortable looking in the mirror. 

 

Where the front bar of my cage is in relation to the window is a bit awkward (corvette  things) so I'm using a 9" mount... however a 5" might work fine as well.   

 

The frame that goes across the top of the windshield is in the way of the mount so I may modify the mount arms a bit so I can push them up a little more so the mirror is in a more natural position. v0v  

 

I suck at explaining things so I'll just pretend everyone knows what im talking about. 

[jared]

Your mismatch carbon weave is showing...

[Captain Buddha]

No matter what you do (with the exception of a rear view camera mirror, my Dad’s CTS-V has one) visibility just plain sucks in Racecars...yours may be better than most as it’s a production car but once you add a containement seat, harnesses, cage, helmet, Hans, etc then your visibility drops ways down...that’s ok though....don’t drive your mirrors! You glance at them as part of your routine sweep (left mirror, gage check, rear then right mirror)...and by glance I mean a millisecond...look forward...loooooong vision, look all the way through the corners, etc...and if someone faster is coming up on you then it’s their responsibility to pass you safely...just drive your line!

[Shuka]

I got my 14" joes racing mirror today and well...I hate it.    

 

Everything seems so far away and wrong it's going to take forever to get used to. 

 

 

I may return it and look for another mirror that isn't so convex?  

 

 

ETA: holy shit we posted at the same time.  

 

i debated making that same joke damnit. 

 

 

I need a mirror to know when I should let the miatas by.    Still won't... I would just like to know. 

 

The convex takes a while to get used to, and placement is key. I tried a wink mirror (the kind with a bunch of small mirrors at an angle mounted in it) and hated it.

 

My most useful mirrors are the convex spot mirrors added inside the car at the corners of the windows. That's where you *need* to see more than anything in any sort of W2W. Again, the distorted view takes some adjustment but I have grown to love them. They're particularly nice because they see around the window net, and show you all the way down the side of the car.

[Captain Buddha]

Yep - the little button mirrors...you’ll see them on a LOT of race cars...I run them as well. That’s all I’ve got for side mirrors on the Monte. My new TA2 has “real” mirrors but I do not think they are actually useful...it has the button mirrors as well, that’s what I plan on using. My old TA2 had “read” side mirrors and they were worthless, just used the buttons.

[Guest lobster]

yep i ordered some little side mirrors.  

 

I really think it's just a matter of getting used to the new mirror anyway.  

[IanIsInGarage]

You know in Texas you don't have to run side mirrors by law if your rear view mirror works.  Just saying...  :)    And WHAT a sweet build.  Shoot I keep vette on road and track my miata hehe but every vette build makes me dream it was different.

[Guest lobster]

Well smallish update,  it's been a minute.

 

I did end up replacing the mirror with a flat "NASCAR" mirror with some nifty mirror mounts from Dashbuilt. 

Got a fancy new diffuser made.

My steering wheel button hack has stopped functioning.  So my dash has errors I can't see past. sooo.....I ordered an AIM MXP dash logger.  simple problems require expensive and extreme solutions.  

oh and the carbon fiber side skirts were destroyed back in March.  

 

I continue to acknowledge that this path of making a race car out of a computer with wheels was probably a stupid decision. 

 

 

 

[Talley]

Love the overall look of the car.  Your about 400lbs lighter than me same w/ driver and full tank.  Makes a huge difference just on weight alone.  

[Thundermoose]

2 hours ago, Talley said:

Love the overall look of the car.  Your about 400lbs lighter than me same w/ driver and full tank.  Makes a huge difference just on weight alone.  

huge difference in terms of what?

[Talley]

51 minutes ago, Thundermoose said:

huge difference in terms of what?

being lighter

[Thundermoose]

1 hour ago, Talley said:

being lighter

which helps how?