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Lightweight aluminium flywheel with steel insert Worn slave cylinder At 110k miles (178 000 km), the car had developed the "clutch pedal stuck to floor"  issue when shifting at high RPMs. This is caused by a worn slave cylinder, where worn seals allows dust to enter the circuit and cause the slave cylinder to get stuck by the high inertial forces and the increased friction. A sure sign of this happening is that the clutch fluid gets discolored again quickly after a change. State of stock clutch The OEM clutch from LUK is more than capable of handling the LS6 stock power. The car still had the stock clutch, which was in a surprisingly good state for the milage. Minimal surface wear and only a few small hotspots, one could even mistake the clutch disk for a new item.  However, with everything else disassembled, it would be dumb not to replace the clutch now, as it will probably not last another 20 years. Guess what happens when a flywheel, a pressure plate and a clutch disk bou

Late April, and the spring finally arrived with temperatures making it possible to start on the pending repairs.   This is what the T-1000 Terminator is made of; liquid metal drained from a Getrag differential. A magnet picked up a lot of metal shavings.  The output shafts have significant play, which is an indication of worn clutch packs and belleville washers, and possibly broken output shaft stubs (I will find out when I disassemble the differential later). With all these issues, this differential needs a complete rebuild. It is hard to find specialists with the knowledge and the tools required to perform this work in Norway. The cost of shipping the differential to the USA and back for a rebuild is also excessive, due to the weight. Built 4.10 differential C6 Z06 output stub shafts C7 Z06 clutch packs Motive 4.10 ratio ring and pinion gear New bearings, carriers and seals To ensure that history does not repeat itself, I'm not on a track day again until a differential oil cooler

The Innovate wideband O2 install wasn't a success. I installed the probe  after  the catalytic converter, which throws off the O2 readings. It measures AFR ~14.7 most of the time. That is not true, as I can see the ECM switching out of closed loop on high load. I was hoping that I could recalibrate the MAF to zero out the fuel trim values, but I'll remove the wideband for now and get back to it when/if I remove the manifold or install long tubes. The voltage cut-off  for the electric power steering also seemed like a good idea in my head, but it is annoying to wait 10 seconds for power steering assistance after starting the engine. First there is a delay for the battery voltage to raise above the threshold, then for the power steering pump to wind up. I'll replace the voltage cut-off with a switch!

Don't drive with your nannies on! With active handling in competitive driving mode, yaw control is still active and using the rear brakes to correct excessive yaw on corner entry/exit. This causes the rear brakes to run hot, and in my case one of the rotors cracked as the car cooled down in the pit. I even heard the *PING* as it happened. 305 to 330 mm brake rotor After some research online, I found that the C6 with the Z51 option code uses a larger 330 mm brake rotor, but still share the same caliper and parking brake dimensions.  Plus Increased thermal capacity. The EBC Z51 rotors are ventilated on both sides, have a higher mass and increase the swept diameter of the brake pad Better looks, the brakes fill the 18" wheel and looks more in balance with the front big brake kit. Reuse of stock brake calipers and parking brakes Minus Change of brake brake bias. The increased rotor diameter causes a braking torque increase of ~ 10%, which could affect the front to rear brake bias.

Heat management is still an issue on track days, so I decided to add a Trackspec hood vent. Trackspec T1 description Optimized louver design to maximize extraction flow velocities within a vehicle in motion Reduces under hood pressure delta to reduce front end lift and increase net vehicle downforce. Significantly reduces under hood temperatures by extracting heat and allowing fresh cold air to enter the engine bay. Maximize life of engine accessories by reducing overall operating temperature. Increases dense, cold air flow through radiator to promote lower coolant temperatures. -exactly what my C5Z needs! I managed to source a used T1 hood vent in good condition. For the install, I decided to use countersunk hex screws rather than pop rivets, as I don't like the look of pop rivets (it is not a kit car, after all). To countersunk a screw, you need enough material thickness for the screw head. I looked up some tables and concluded that M3 (3 mm) screws would work. An Ø6.3 mm 90 deg

Engine oil temperature, the never ending story part #3 The 16 row oil cooler did help to lower the oil temperature, but not enough. I was advised that the absolute minimum was 25 rows, so I sourced a new 30 row oil cooler. I have to admit that I'm using a "Made in China" product, but the cost of a Setrab or Mocal was too high at this time. The G-PLUS brand does feature a stacked setup, but it might be that a Setrab or Mocal have a higher cooling capacity (BTU). I'll now when I get rich and buy a Setrab... 90 degree AN-fittings can cause flow restrictions, so I chose to bend the hoses when mounting the 16 row cooler. With the larger oil cooler, this was no longer possible as the bends would get too tight. To my luck, AN10 90 deg fittings still have a large cross section so the engine oil pressure didn't drop.

The LC-2 should only be powered when the engine is running. I've also installed an electric power steering pump (EPS) which draws a high current, so if the ignition is left on the battery is quickly drained. LC-2 manual: Do not pre-warm the sensor before starting the engine, simply start the engine as normal. Allowing the sensor to pre-warm before starting the engine will increase the possibility of damaging the sensor from shock-cooling. I came up with the idea of using a voltage monitor, so that the LC-2 and the EPS only receives power when the battery is charging, indicating that the engine is running. The voltage monitor has two configurable set-points, a start voltage and a cut-off voltage. The voltage monitor controls a relay supplying the LC-2 (and the EPS) directly from the starter battery. . I mounted the hardware on a plate that I fixed to the back wall of the glove box. This provides easy access, as well as hiding the clutter away from view. A flyback diode is added to t

It was time for a wheel alignment after installing poly suspension bushings. I also wanted to a more aggressive geometry better suited to circuit racing. I asked for zero toe front and rear, which in my experience evens out the wear caused by the negative camber. I also like the handling with zero toe.

My CPU appears to have limited processing power, spending too much time to complete a successful rev-matched down-shift while braking at the same time. The end result is that I brake too much and too late, burning off too much speed. As my CPU is a one-off special edition that can't be easily upgraded, I decided to help it with a co-processor - the Auto-Blip Intelligent downshifter. After a quick test drive after installation, I conclude that two brains works better than one. I can now focus on driving the car, while the Auto-blip handles the rev-matching. The ever so difficult downshift to 2. gear is now a breeze. Designed to fit in that spot? The Auto-Blip kicks into action when you brake and clutch simultaneously, blipping the throttle at a configurable delay. The amount of throttle blip (how much the revs increase) is also configurable. I did have some issues getting the unit to work in my C5Z. The manual states to only connect two off the APP sensors (throttle position sensors

The stock brakes hold up surprisingly well on track days, but rotors and brake pads burn off at an alarming rate. 2 track days on the rotors, 1-2 track days on the brake pads. I put a request on corvetteforum.com to purchase a second hand big brake kit. I got hold of an Wilwood Aero 6 kit, complete with spare parts and an additional set of new rotors.

Based on experience with tyre wear from the previous season, I knew that a set of Hoosier A6s wouldn't last long with the stock setup. With sticky tires, the rubber bushings deform too much, throwing off the alignment. Time for an upgrade. I was lucky to source a front and rear Energy Suspension poly bushing kit that someone had purchased, but not installed. Removing and reinstalling the upper and lower suspension arms was easy, although quite a bit of work on the rear, as the driveshafts have to be removed. The real challenge was to remove the rubber bushings. I tried with basic hand tools and a bench vise, but quickly gave up on the first bushing. Time to expand the toolset in the garage. A hydraulic bench press would be nice, but would take too much time - and money - to source. I found a nice toolkit for removing and installing bushing in the local hardware shop, which made the work surprisingly easy. With this toolset, you only need hand power to remove the bushings. The tools

With the original staggered setup, the wheels can't be rotated to even out tire wear. This is a big minus when doing circuit racing, as the front and rear tires wear quite differently. This problem is solved by mounting the same rim and tire dimensions front and rear - a square setup. The wider front tires improves the front end grip, and as a consequence changes the chassis balance from mild understeer to mild oversteer. I managed to source a set of C5 Z06 18x10.5" replica wheels with 315/35-R18 Hoosier A6 tires. It will be interesting to see how the A6s perform on circuit racing, as they are designed for short autocross sessions generating less heat. Sticky tires like these will not work with the stock suspension rubber bushings. Even if you adjust maximum negative camber, the rubber will deflect too much under load and screw up the alignment. End result is that the sticky tires can wear out in short time, especially the outer shoulder. To give the tires a chance to survive

With a large oil cooler in front of the radiator, I noticed that the water temperature exceeded 115 °C. At such temperatures, the ECU starts to pull timing to reduce engine power output. I resealed the radiator shroud, cleaned out debris, installed a 160  thermostat (71 °C) and lowered the fan settings with HP tuners, but this was still an issue. The stock radiator had developed a hairline crack in the plastic end tank, which I discovered by luck when running the engine without the radiator and the fan shroud removed. A DeWitts or Ron Davis radiator was my preferred solution, but after adding shipment costs and import taxes the total was above $1000, so I decided to go for the less expensive Engineering Cooling Products (ECP) radiator for the C5. The ECP radiator arrived without any visible damage, which is always a risk when having fragile parts transported long distance. I bought it with a consumable electrode, to replace the flimsy petcock supplied.  The radiator installed nicely an

While stationary in the pit lane on a track day, I observed the intake air (IAT) temperature exceed 70°C. It took almost a full lap at speed to cool down the intake air again. High intake temperature sets of a series of events which reduces engine power and response The ECU retards ignition timing above 30°C IAT. Increased risk of detonation. If the knock sensors detect detonation, the ignition timing will be further retarded by the ECU Time to do some improvements! By inverting the airbox and cutting the radiator shroud, cold air is drawn from the outside. I also decided to add thermal insulation to the airbox and shroud. It will be interesting to compare IAT readings in the HP Tuners log file before and after this modification.

During the previous track day at  Vålerbanen in July 2020 , I had to run the engine at maximum of  5500-6000 rpm to keep the oil temperature below 140 °C if the session lasted more than 10 minutes. The C5 Z06 does not come from the factory with an oil cooler, but it is clearly required to avoid overheating the engine.  The stock temperature sensor is M12x1.5 while the oil cooler block is 1/8 NPT. I decided to drill and tap the correct M12x1.5 thread, which worked out nicely. I thoroughly cleaned out debris using brake cleaner and compressed air.  Oil cooler brackets being made Finished brackets New oil cooler block installed. The part of the hoses passing by the exhaust manifold are protected by additional heat insulation. This block  has no thermostat, as I simply cover the oil cooler with a sheet metal plate when not doing track days. A thermostat also restricts the oil flow, by the nature of its design. Oil cooler installed. I decided it had to be installed in front of the radiators

The GM engineers allocated space for a starter battery in the trunk, but it remained in the engine bay until the release of the C6 Z06. I decided to replicate the setup as it improves the corner weight balance by shifting weight to the rear right wheel, which is the lightest corner of a stock C5. For the power cable, I used a heavy gauge 50 mm2/1 AWG multi stranded copper cable cable and press fit terminals. The heavy gauge is necessary to reduce the voltage drop caused by the long stretch and the high current required by the starter motor.  The ground cable is connected to the chassis, which is available in short distance from the battery inside the right wheel well. I installed a 350A automatic fuse next to the battery. The power cable is then routed forward above the right wheel well and then follows the existing wiring in the door sill to the front. With a battery in the passenger cabin it important to use a battery which does not emit harmful gases, so I used a sealed SMF battery.