Track car question..

NYSpeed Automotive
1

This may sound dumb to the experienced but I have no experience with track racing etc…

I have a spare 99 3000gt sohc laying around that I want to turn into a track only car (trailer to loc). What I am wondering about is what are the legal requirements in terms of paperwork and mechanics?

What I mean by that is in terms of paperwork, i only have the salvage auction document which isn’t exactly a title but a bill of sale. Does it matter?

In terms of mechanics, what are the bare requirements? Braje lights, headlights, windshield, doors? If i make a custom rear glassless trunk, doors that are just part of the “roll cage” so i dont fall out, would that fly? Bumpers? School me on this please.

I will be working on this with my two boys over the years.

2

The safety stuff is upto whatever sanctioning body/track you’re racing in but you don’t need a title or anything.

3

Your talking about getting into road racing correct? You dont need any registration/title paperwork for any events that I am aware of. If your entirely new to road racing you might want to start out with some high performance driving events (HPDEs) that usually have classes for beginners. Most clubs that run them just want your car to be in good working order.

4

What track, what kind of racing? Track days? 1/4 mile? 1/8th mile? Door to door organized racing?

Planning on crossing the border to run over in Canada? Not sure if there are more requirements at customs since the only thing I’ve ever run at Canadian track days was my titled/registered/insured street vehicles.

5

This is all you “need”:
http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?238474-Vid-Budget-Track-Car

This is pushing the limit and some track day organizers may push back:

6

Ok thanks guys.

Nothing is set in stone but im thinking open events at places like Watkins Glen, basically multi turn tracks or auto cross, no drag racing. I would go to TMP if its not too intense in bringing a car in/on a trailer.

7

I have gone across a few times with an untitled car on a trailer.

I was only asked once “that car is registered to you right?” … umm “sure?”

I think if you have an obvious low value car that is a little beat you will get hassled a lot less than trying to trailer a mint R34 gee tee arh.

8

Ok sounds :+1: thanks

9

Crossing the border:
Mike at innovative crossed with his track car unregistered and to my knowledge, he was never asked for paperwork or even stopped for inspection.

TMP:
This place is true “open lapping”. You can bring pretty much anything you want, as long as it runs without leaks. There is no tech inspection for open lapping. I have been there when full blown IMSA race teams were there testing cars during open lapping-- stacker trailers and all

Watkins glen:
WGI does not host their own “open lapping”. They rent the track to organizations that set up the run groups, tech requirements, insurance, medical staff, etc. Each organization will have a different set of rules for what is required from you and your vehicle. Many of these groups have daily tech inspections with lists of items that you must pass.

A few things to remember:

Every organization requires equal safety equipment for the driver and passenger. This means you can not run a fixed back racing seat with harnesses for the driver, and leave the passenger seat stock with stock belts. Whatever the driver has, the passenger needs to have. It is not safe or polite to have an instructor in your car with lesser safety than you bought for yourself. In every organization, you will have an instructor to start. Almost none will let you on track without at least being signed off to go solo. This is for the safety of everyone.

I will not drive on a big track (WGI, mosport, etc.) without a helmet, seat, harnesses, and HANS device. These items are pricey, but they will save your life in the event of an accident. Accidents happen a lot more often than you think. DO NOT SKIP A HANS. A brake failure at 100+mph could put you into a concrete wall. I wouldn’t want stock restraints at that point. Look up youtube videos of accidents with HANS vs. no HANS and you will see why they are important.

The more money you spend on the car, the less time you spend on track (unless you are made of money). It may seem fun to go from 0 to a million with a full fledged track build, but all that time and money could be spent being AT THE TRACK learning to drive faster. What I would recommend is starting with basic mods (tires, brakes, fluid, cooling, reliability, safety) and then upgrade things as you feel they are holding you back. By building the car piece by piece, you can FEEL what changes on the car and learn more about how different parts effect the cars handling. Take this from someone who has done this a couple times.

Are you dead set on that platform? I’m now a firm believer in buying a pre-built track car. The parts are so ridiculously expensive. A 3000gt isnt exactly the platform I would think of when I was thinking of building a track car-- I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one at the track.

10

I’ve been in good fights with them, this example was ~1 sec slower than the race winner:

http://www.murileemartin.com/LNL09/LNL09-0206.jpg
http://www.murileemartin.com/LNL09/LNL09-0206.jpg1024×683 68.3 KB

http://www.murileemartin.com/LNL09/LNL09-0200.jpg
http://www.murileemartin.com/LNL09/LNL09-0200.jpg1024×685 93.4 KB

Any car is a good track car as long as the mods are consumable, disposable and/or transferable:

Brake Pads - consumable, you’re going to pay ~$200 for carbotechs no matter the platform
Brake Fluid - consumable, you’re going to have fresh fluid no matter the platform
Tires - consumable, you’re going to go through tires, a FWD will require more rotation so make sure you are square

Yes, a better set-up car will be easier on consumables.

Seat, helmet, belts are transferable.

When it comes to welding in a cage, buying siq wheels, buying power bolt ons, coilovers it is good to be spending time and money on the right platform.

I’d rather see someone get on track in the “wrong” car than sit behind a keyboard with the “right” car.

The thing I like about the 3000gt is they are cheap, should be able to fit cheap used 17" mustang wheels and 245s.

11

Should be no issue taking a track car across the border.

Plenty of dirt cars come across weekly to go slideways at Ransomville and oshweken (sp?)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12

Well the 3000gt I already have and its just sitting there behind the shop. It runs but never passed nys inspection so i figure why not? That and I sort of have 4 blocks, 8 heads, 2 complete engines and a whole bunch of other parts like radiators should I need them. Only thing is it has broken rear windshield so i figured I can easily do something custom.

13

Start stripping out weight then and get that thing on the track.

14

You don’t need a rear windshield, I’d argue it let’s air out of the cabin.

The evolution of our 200SX was:

  • remove interior, full glass
  • remove side and back glass
  • remove trunk
  • cut away trunk bulkhead (rear seat backs and speaker deck)

I wish we put it over scales, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we took a car that was 64/36 and made it 75/25 and amazingly didn’t do anything to make it worse.

15

That sounds like such a terrible plan for making it handle well. :slight_smile:

16

I tracked my Stealth (FWD with a TT conversion) pretty regularly until the kids came and put a damper on my time. Always HPDE’s, never competitive but it always held it’s own. An SOHC might be a little under powered but if you can do some weight reduction that’ll go a long ways, just make sure you’re keeping a balance in the weight as mentioned above.

AWD brakes are a fairly straight forward swap on the front and fairly easy to find the parts for used rather reasonable. I run Carbotech XP10’s, especially at the glen. Probably worth throwing at least some springs on, coilovers would be better, since these things tend to ride high from the factory…especially stripping some weight out.

Let me know if you need any other pointers. These cars get tons of flack for being heavy or whatever the slam is but I’ve got some friends with insanely capable 3S track cars.

17

Yes i have white 98 SL thats a dd until spun bearing month ago. Currently under the knife. I also have a good contact in the 3s community who sells tons of vr4 parts all the time. If I remember correctly, the vr4 and a 350z are very close in weight.

There is a part of the 3s community on 3si that have done some amazing things with the sohc but I’m looking to have fun, and teach the boys something along the way without having a money pit

An Sl is actually 300lbs lighter than a Z