John...Hey! How are ya...? I've had my SPF since October, 2000, and couldn't be any happier with my car, or the dealership I chose...Olthoff Racing, in Mt Ulla, NC. Pretty much, if any engineering change has been made to SPF cars over the years, it originated from Dennis Olthoff and his shop....(with the exception of the smaller rear brake calipers!).
I track my car quite a bit, and over the years I've owned it, I've made several changes to it for both safety and reliability reasons. Some for cosmetic reasons, but most for safety and reliabilty. Funny...but since I don't take passengers in my car, I've not opted for either dual or the two-place roll bar option. But...here's a list of what I've done to #770....
- Wilwood Superlite front brakes - special application from Dennis O's shop - $1500
- Canton Accusump -
oil accumulator that protects your engine from low
oil pressure and serves as an engine pre-oiler at start up - $500
- Canton 7-qt road race
oil pan - road racing oil pan with "trap doors" around the oil pickup to keep oil from being slung away from the pickup during hard cornering- $350
- Holley 4150 series 750 cfm carburetor - original Holley 750 double pumper with mechanical secondaries and easily replaceable jets, etc. and no choke - $600 carb, $300 Jet Performance tuning
- Performance Friction PF01 brake pads - more for road racing, but excellent stopping power - $235
- Safecraft Fire suppression system - Halon fire suppression system with cockpit activation, from Safecraft - $400
- Polished stainless steel knock-offs - from Trigo...just a classier look for Hot Rod shows, etc. $200(?)
- "AC" polished wheel centers - purely cosmetic, made by SPF owner Larry Langston (?) - $180
- Taller roll bar - slightly taller rollbar designed by Dennis O for track use - $175
- Bilstein coil over shocks - Olthoff designed rebuildable Bilstein coilover shocks & springs designed primarily for track use - $1000
- Thicker rear sway bar - Olthoff designed beefier, thicker rear sway bar - $100
- Polyurethane motor mounts - Olthoff designed poly-u engine mounts to limit engine roll - $140
- Polyurethane transmission mount - from Summit Racing - $45
- Polyurethane front sway bar mounts - better control in road racing applications - $60
- Tremec TKO 600 w/.82 overdrive - transmission replacement for better road manners - $1500, less $900 sale of original Tremec 3550
- Torsen 3.27 locker rear end - replacement of original 3.73 rear end for better road manners...better traction hook up - $1200
- Safecraft Halon cockpit fire extinguisher - this is primarily a cosmetic item to make the cockpit look more original - $140
- Smith's Volt Meter - replaces the worthless Smith's ammeter and truly gives you a better indicator of charging system output - $135
- 5-point seat harness, both sides - I installed Simpson belts first, then have replaced them with Safecraft belts due to age and SFI requirements - $500-600 a set.
I also bought a set of 15" Trigo wheels for track tires...$800 used, but I sold the street tires on them for $400 and mounted a set of Hoosier Road Racing tires - $1200 for the tires.
There's other stuff, I've done too, but this is a pretty good representative sample of what most of us do to these cars. But, having said that, if you're not interested in taking your car on the track, then much of what I've done won't be applicable to your car. You'll make some changes, sure, but not near the level of changes we do for the track.
My costs are approximate, but should be pretty close from my recollection. I keep a very accurate service and maintenance book, and save all receipts chronologically so I can look back and see when such-and-such was replaced, etc. Hope this helps...
BTW...you know how to make a small fortune racing...? Easy...start with a large one!!!
