Time to join the fun - new AI/AIX build!

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05-01-2010, 12:46 AM
Casey_SS

Time to join the fun - new AI/AIX build!

Well, the inevitable has officially happened. The wife / crew chief finally talked me into putting a cage in the car and going w2w with you clowns. I'm the guy with the white / orange 30th Anniv. SS that's been lurking around doing the DE thing for a few years and mooching tips from everyone.

The build-up will officially begin after Hallett and I'm shooting to have it done in time for some shake-down runs prior to Houston next year. Would like to run the plans by you all and ask for input, suggestions, & general sanity check:

First, let me be clear about my intentions - I have no aspirations of being competitive for the first few seasons or longer. I'm fine with that. I just want to make the car safer (cage, fire system, etc.), work on my racecraft beyond what I can get away with in a DE/TT environment, and run with a more enjoyable / friendly crowd.

The car as it sits now:
420rwhp, ~3600lbs (w/ driver, 1/2 tank of gas)
C6 brakes
Koni's, 600/160 springs, 35/19mm bars
17x9.5" wheels

The rules put me in AIX. I'm thinking this is fine for now - it'll give me the least restrictive place to run while I sort things out. Once I want to start racing for points I can dial back the heads/cam and/or use a restrictor to get the power down to an AI level. I'll probably need the extra power just to stay on the lead lap my first few races :)
Anything horribly wrong with my logic here?

Cage - any local builders worth recommending? I've been talking to Alan Blaine about shipping me a pre-bent, pre-notched kit and I have a friend that's built cages before who's willing to do the welding. Curious what other options are available within a 4 hour radius of Austin. Haven't found much on the 'ol interweb yet....

Other than that, I think I just need to get my suit, seat, harness, fire system, driveshaft loop, master switch, steering wheel, & remove the steering lock & airbags. Obviously the carpet, AC, unused wiring, etc. will all come out. Anything I'm missing aside from stickers & "little stuff"?

Random advice and tips are very welcome....this will be my first race car. Thanks in advance for the help....looking forward to seeing everyone at Hallett.
05-01-2010, 05:19 AM
mitchntx

Welcome aboard, Casey.
05-01-2010, 07:14 AM
cobra132

Excellent, welcome. Once the hook gets set, you're hosed. FMR
05-01-2010, 08:02 AM
MikeP99Z

Welcome!
05-01-2010, 08:05 AM
Fbody383

Re: Time to join the fun - new AI/AIX build!

AWESOME! Welcome to the madness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey_SS

I have no aspirations of being competitive for the first few seasons or longer. I'm fine with that.

That'll last about a green flag.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey_SS

Cage - any local builders worth recommending?

You should talk to LAW Motorsports ~ really. Mitch and Glenn have it down. If I hadn't been so bent on building my cage myself... Also talk to Greg Lucas at Lucas Motorsports in Houston ~ other recommendation I recieved and I liked the quality and layout of his wordk as well.

Have you considered selling this car and buying a built/tuned/sorted car?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey_SS

Obviously the carpet, AC, unused wiring, etc. will all come out.

Don't break/mangle/cut the upper dash trim piece. It's like gold.
05-01-2010, 08:11 AM
RichardP

Re: Time to join the fun - new AI/AIX build!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey_SS

Cage - any local builders worth recommending? I've been talking to Alan Blaine about shipping me a pre-bent, pre-notched kit and I have a friend that's built cages before who's willing to do the welding. Curious what other options are available within a 4 hour radius of Austin. Haven't found much on the 'ol interweb yet...

Hard to go wrong with Blane stuff. Too bad he's so far away. A little closer to home, I would check out Greg Lucas in Houston. He could install the Blane stuff or replicate it from scratch. 713-462-0068.

The LAW boys obviously have the F-Body cage thing down, also.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey_SS

Random advice and tips are very welcome...

At this stage, my advice would be not to do anything permanent that will kick you out of CMC2.

Welcome aboard.

Richard P.
05-01-2010, 08:30 AM
gt40

Re: Time to join the fun - new AI/AIX build!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey_SS

Well, the inevitable has officially happened. The wife / crew chief finally talked me into putting a cage in the car and going w2w with you clowns. I'm the guy with the white / orange 30th Anniv. SS that's been lurking around doing the DE thing for a few years and mooching tips from everyone.

I thought we'd hit our orange/white quota...

Quote:

Cage - any local builders worth recommending?

Kurt Janish at Janco in Wylie is excellent.
05-01-2010, 09:37 AM
Casey_SS

Re: Time to join the fun - new AI/AIX build!

Have you considered selling this car and buying a built/tuned/sorted car?

Yes. I've thought long and hard about this one and it's a difficult choice but in the end I'm simply not willing to sell this car or let it rot in storage. I've owned it for 10 years, have a ton of sweat equity in it, but never drive it anymore. It's been a dedicated track toy for the last 2 years. Don't really want to drive it on the street anymore so this is just the next chapter in it's life. Will I be pissed if I ball it up? Of course. I'd be more pissed about seeing it rot away in storage though.

Thanks for the warm welcome and all the tips. I'll keep you posted on the progress....
05-01-2010, 11:09 AM
donovan

I think Bill Buck in Austin did the CMC cage in Morgans F-body.

If you want I can dig up Bill's contact info.

DD
05-01-2010, 11:32 AM
BlueFirePony

Re: Time to join the fun - new AI/AIX build!

Welcome Casey! Look forward to seeing you in the series!
05-01-2010, 12:02 PM
way2neary

Hey Casey,

That's great news! Your wife is too cool. I mentioned to my wife that yours had convinced you to pursue racing. So, my wife says "are you trying to tell me something?". Well, YES I am!!!!

I can't offer much advice on the build, but it's really great to hear you'll be out there.
05-01-2010, 12:40 PM
Casey_SS

Quote:

Originally Posted by donovan

I think Bill Buck in Austin did the CMC cage in Morgans F-body.

If you want I can dig up Bill's contact info.

DD

Yes, if it's not too much trouble, that would be awesome. If I can get what I want at a reasonable price locally that would simplify my life considerably. Thanks!
05-01-2010, 02:39 PM
GlennCMC70

Like Richard said, build the car in a way as to prevent you from being "stuck" in AI/AIX. Its a great class and I too would love to build an AI car, but just keep your options open.

Also, great to see you making the leap.
05-01-2010, 04:48 PM
Wirtz

Bill Buck did the cage in my car as well. Did ok, and was a fair price for the work. There is another guy in Austin that does mainly NHRA cages, Gerald if I remember right. Very nice stuff, all TIG, awsome fit, welding artwork. Normally has a wait list and his prices are higher. He did alot of stuff for me on my old ITS car. Google "Pro Comp Engineering Austin" and you get his number. Maybe a good solution if you get a Blain cage and have it installed locally? Might be quicker than having him do everything. Not sure but he might be worth at least talking to.

As for the car; whatever you do, don't do any work that forces you to stay in AIX. Understand if you want to class there for a while to get things rolling however. As mentioned, you might consider keeping an eye to CMC2. Maybe work out what you could sell your big power for and head to the Deuce with some of the extra fundage. Don't get me wrong, AI is great, it is what brought me to the series orginally. But noodle out what it will take to build and maintain the car. At least at the time, you will not find better W2W than in CMC. But hey, of course I'm biased :) If done right, you could build to CMC2 and still be able to move to AI at a later date.

Welcome to the club!
05-01-2010, 07:43 PM
AllZWay

Welcome aboard..... I would just agree with others. Build the car to meet CMC2 rules and then you could always make the necessary changes and spend money to move to AI/AIX at a later date.
05-02-2010, 08:31 PM
rleng1

Casey, very cool that the wife is supportive of your racing. We all need those. Nice to visit with you and family last weekend.
About the cage and other build items. You cannot go wrong with LAW Motorsports. mitch & Glenn treated me right and their work is top of the line.
Good luck, and enjoy.
05-03-2010, 04:28 PM
Al Fernandez

Welcome aboard Casey!!!

You really should to go out of your way to get to a race weekend, meet everyone, and take pictures of car details. That will be priceless as you contemplate what to build and how. Unfortunately Hallett is the next event, which is the farthest drive. I'm sure you can hitch a ride with someone (myself included) if you want to come but not drive yourself.

Just remember the song: "I fought the LAW and the LAW won." :wink: These guys know what they're doing, and they're part of our family. If you havent found frrax.com yet thats another critical resource for f-body racers.

An AI/AIX cage and a CMC cage are very different. Mike Patterson is the guy I'd talk to about the cost and benefit of going from a normal (ie CMC style) cage to a full on AI cage since he's just done that. That's the only area of concern I'd have with building a car that can run either class.

You can call me any time to discuss rules differences between the classes, or anything else. My contact info is in the rulebook.
05-03-2010, 04:37 PM
RichardP

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al Fernandez

An AI/AIX cage and a CMC cage are very different.

They can be different. A fully optomized CMC cage is legal and safe in AI. A fully optomized AI cage isn't legal in CMC.

Richard P.
05-03-2010, 09:29 PM
HoustonNW

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al Fernandez

If you havent found frrax.com yet thats another critical resource for f-body racers.

By the way, as someone who was pretty familiar with S197 Mustangs and has a few posts under the same username on various websites, I was also given the frrax.com suggestion.

And when you go there you'll think it is pretty much worthless as a website. However, as I just found out, you need to register, then re-register, then send the approval request email.

Then, and only then, do you see the other 15+ forums!
05-04-2010, 12:43 AM
Todd Covini

Welcome Casey and it'll be great to see you around the paddock as a racer more often. Call again anytime!

(The collective wisdom of the group here is invaluable...and as folks say, keep your class options open. Car count is a moving target and varies from region to region, class to class.)

-=- Todd
05-04-2010, 10:26 AM
cobra132

Jerry Geomiller or something like that, he did my cage, excellent workmanship and a fair price. He draws out the cage in the dirt in his driveway and when you come back, presto. He is out in the middle of nowhere between SA and Austin, Alamo Performance in SA has his contact info. FMR
05-04-2010, 11:56 AM
kbrewmr2

Lucas in Houston is another option to consider, I have been very happy with everything I've had them do