xcarguy

Jeff, I did find a couple of old photos from, again, back in 'the day'. The blue Cobra in the background is the car my wife took for the wet-weather test hop. The red car (I can feel you cringing :jester:) is the tricked-out Tipo. :rofl: . . . .

JBH, No, I didn't build the car. It was built by, and belonged to (still belongs to), a friend of mine (Ron) who lives in Benton, AR. If I can round up a photo of the car, I'll post it. However, be forewarned, this car IS NOT what you have pictured in your mind. In fact, in hindsight, I should probably have simply said in my post that we were in another Cobra; everybody who saw the thing would ask, "Is that a Cobra"? Sorry to be misleading, but just wanted to add clarity to my story. He (Ron) basically purchased a FG replica body from a fellow named Bill Bonadio (producer of the Tipo kit at the time) and put it on a pro street chassis, and, it sports a V8. :svengo: What can I say, I simply run with a rough crowd who, at times (more often than not), tend to butcher any real appreciation for authenticity. :jester: For what it's worth, here are couple of photos of Bill Bonadio's car from 'the day'; the way I think it was intended to be built, at least to some extent.

I started my midlife crisis at an early age and have managed to maintain an ongoing, reoccurring theme ever since. If the definition of insanity is repetitive behavior with the expectation of the outcome being different each time . . . then I suppose I'm all in. :willy_nilly: Maybe that's why I keep modifying and tinkering. :cheers:

Nice transition you did there, Mike! :cheers:

The wife got caught out in a hard rain in a Cobra replica that we owned a few years back (like most, no top). She was driving back from a car show and hauling trophies and door prizes for two cars. We had checked the forecast for the afternoon and new it was going to rain, but, at the urging of the host of the car show, we stuck around for the awards. I was following along with a buddy :iamwithstupid: in his Maserati Tipo Birdcage replica; nope, no top on that one either. Not too far from home, the bottom fell out and there we were. I'm talking the kind of rain that brings traffic to a crawl. My poor wife was doing all she could to see the road and at about a quarter of a mile from the house, she pulled off at a gas station; said she couldn't see. :toetap05: We traded places (me in the Cobra and her in the Birdcage) and off we went; we were already wet and almost home, so why not? I found out very quickly why she said she couldn't see. Turning on the windshield wipers revealed that the inside of the windshield was just as wet as the outside . . . I couldn't see either. :dupe: Fortunately, we made it home okay and the only damage was a bit of wounded pride from the show we were putting on for the folks around us and some extremely wet carpet. Yeah . . . I'd do it again. :jester:

I am humbled. :chillpill: Oh . . . 53 in June. :ack:

Interesting find. Thanks for sharing.

LOL!!!!! :cheers:

Steve, Gotta' love that first comment. :jester: Better a flatbed than a stretcher; glad you were okay and damage was minimal. :svengo:

Us older-chassis Storker owners are keeping it a secret. :jester: . . . . :cheers:

Steve, Welcome aboard! :seeya: This is a crazy, fun, and very knowledgeable group of like-minded enthusiasts. :grouphug: I do believe you will enjoy this forum. Shane

Storks-o-Mighty!!!! Look at that thing! :party: MB7, we'll be expecting a full report in the Members Rides section once you take delivery. :cheers:

At the risk of hijacking (but, hopefully not) this great handling thread, I wanted to chime in add a bit of substantiation (at least, from my perspective and experience) to BruceBe's excellent comments. Last year, I did three HPDE’s at MSR Cresson and ran the 1.7 course each time. The first HPDE, I ran the track CW; the last two were run CCW. While my input here refers to my own experience with my LS6 in lieu of my Duratec, Zetec, etc.-powered brethren, the idea is still the same. It’s no secret in the LS circles that most makes of LS engines have oil starvation issues (for lack of a better term) in hi G-load turns to the left; right-handers, not so much an issue. Below, I’ve posted a video from each of those HPDE’s. Installed on my car, in addition to the oil pressure gauge, is a 20psi low oil pressure switch which activates a red light (mounted about mid-dash) anytime the switch senses a drop in oil pressure below 20psi. The first video (CW run) reveals no low oil pressure light illumination at any time during the session. The second video is of the second HPDE (CCW). All throughout the session (starting around 3:41 in the video), the low oil pressure light illuminated momentarily during turns, coming out of turns, combinations of both. So, to substantiate BruceBe’s point, I NEVER saw the light while on track because of WHERE and WHEN the light was illuminating. I was too busy setting up for the turns, looking for the apex and track out. I’m checking my gauges only after well established on the straights, not while in turns or coming out of turns. It wasn’t until I reviewed the video that I saw just how much the light was illuminating in running the course CCW vs running it CW. Luckily, there was no engine damage. In all fairness, the oil pressure could have been dropping each time to just below 20psi, but I’ll never know for sure because the oil pressure gauge is hidden behind the steering wheel in the videos. The third video (third HPDE: CCW) is after I installed an aftermarket oil pan baffle and a new windage tray which, for my engine, made all the difference. During the last session of that particular day, I let Lance Adams (friend and instructor) drive my car. I sat shotgun and observed things in ways I simply couldn’t when driving. One of those was the oil pressure gauge; nowhere on track did it ever drop below 50psi. And the 20psi light never illuminated. [/url] [/url] [/url] But back to the points BruceBe made; I never ‘saw’ the oil starvation issue in the second video while on-track, and track configuration definitely played a huge part in ‘exaggerating’ the oil starvation situation. Having said all of this, simply hunting and pecking through the videos will substantiate the points BruceBe made; sorry for Creed and bad audio. And don’t rake me over the coals for hunting lines, apexing too early. etc. . . . . I’m working on it. :jester: And yes, I should probably move the low oil pressure light to a better location. Okay, back to HANDLING!!!!!

Mondo, I really like that last photo! :cheers: . . . . . back to wheels. :hat:

That's insane!

Jeff, Congratulations on making the purchase! I knew you'd get it!

Dang the luck! Sinkholes are migrating north!

Expectation vs. Reality :nopity: :dupe: :svengo:

Does this mean 'no virgins' by default?

LOL!!!! :banghead: . . . . :smash: . . . . :smilielol5:

I would like to see a few build pics. Sound like it's quite the project.

Okay, going to redeem myself with a 'better' video posting. Let's revisit . . . . THE AMERICAN JOB!!! :hurray::party::flag:

Here's another good video that goes well with the first post; same track, different driver, and more of an instructional video for learning the line. It's a good video for those such as myself who plan on driving NJMP Lightning for the first this year.

Not trying to . . . you just got me thinking with the Z06 tire sizes. The more I looked at it, the more interesting the comparison/similarity became. :cheers:

Manshoon11, Your comment about Z06-sized tires gave me an idea. For the sake of comparison, I pulled together a short table with regards to tire/wheel sizes for the following cars: Base 2004 Corvette 2004 Z06 Corvette Base 2013 Corvette 2013 Z06 Corvette My Brunton Stalker V8 prior to engine mods, and My Brunton Stalker V8 post engine mods It's interesting to note that as HP/torque grew for the Corvettes, so did tire sizes. Without any intention of copying a manufacturer, I've essentially done the same thing. Even though HP and torque have grown over the years for the various models of Corvettes, the weights are all within 100 lbs or each other. (All weights and engine performance ratings for the Corvettes were taken from http://autos.aol.com/cars-sitemap) While my tread width has grown in the rear (from 10.6 to 11.3), it has actually shrank a bit up front (decreased from 10.6 to 10). Tire diameter for my car has grown from 21.85 to 23.5 which basically raises my ride height (for the track) .825". In short, not a single tire manufacturer produces exactly what I'd like to have; I think we all run into this. So, it became a bit of a trade off in using what I, and the recommended counsel of others who are much more knowledgeable than I, believes will work. It's a combination of planing, compromise and implementation. If you want, you could call Roger Kraus Racing and talk directly with Roger @ (510) 582-5031. I'm sure he would enjoy talking to another Stalker owner. He's very easy to talk to and could easily answer your questions. As for saying that you will never have more than 250 bHP . . . never say never. :jester: