So what comes next? 20/August/2008 Chris Hammond Now that the Corvette is pretty much sold, I will have it for a few more weeks, but John will get it some time after the Solo Nationals, I am trying to figure out what comes next? I was thinking something along the lines of a used BMW barge, maybe a 5 or 7 Series, but Terec reminded me that I have to stick with the Z in whatever I purchase, so if I want a bimmer that pretty much leaves me to a Z3-4 or 8, and I really don't want a convertible. Here's how my Z fetish has panned out since 2001. Read More...
For Sale No Longer? 19/August/2008 Chris Hammond It looks like the Corvette Z06 has found a new home, John V will be taking it back east sometime after Nationals. John's a good friend of mine from back in the day when I used to beat him in B-Stock! :) I'm starting to get sad that the car will be going away, but I am glad it is going to a good home, someone who will autocross her just as much if not more than I have. We've still got a month or so together, so I will enjoy her while she's here! Read More...
New Look and New Video 16/August/2008 Chris Hammond I spent the day today cleaning up the Corvette and then setup the new look of the car for the upcoming Solo Nationals. A big thanks to Dave at www.SoloPerformance.com for getting the vinyl cut yesterday. It took me pretty much all afternoon to get this done, with washing the car, clay barring a few parts of the car, polish and wax, applying the vinyl then another wash. I think the car turned out great, you can check out the flickr photos to see what it looks like. Now for the video, music from Steve Ewing (www.steveewingmusic.com) Check out the video on the full blog post. Read More...
2004 Corvette Z06 For Sale! 14/August/2008 Chris Hammond After the Solo Nationals this year the Corvette (available mid to late September) will be for sale as I have other plans for the next year. This car has been exciting, and if I didn't have some big things coming up in the next 12 months I would be keeping it and running it all next year. I wouldn't be opposed to someone buying the car and me co-driving it next year at National events, and some local STL events. Any co-drive arrangements would be made seperate of the sale of the vehicle. Get yourself a car for a great price that is capable of winning trophies at National Tours, ProSolos, and to take the top Index and even FTD at local events. (Currently located in St. Louis, MO) Here are some of the specifics: 2004 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 ~18k miles currently 3M Clear Bra 1 Set of Koni Sport shocks (currently the fronts are installed) 1 Set of OEM Shocks (rears installed on car) 1 OEM Sway Bar 1 Adco (sp?) Sway Bar 1 Borla Stinger exhaust (on car) 1 Hardbar Harness Bar 1 Corbeau Harness in car 1 Set of Street Wheels/Tires, C6 Z06 look, in C5 size 3 Sets of C5 Z06 wheels, not sure what tires will be left/included with sale. The car has been well maintained and cared for, all fluids changed recently, transmission and diff using Red Line, Mobil 1 Synthetic used exclusively in the motor. I’m looking for $31k for the car and all the above parts. The www.corvettez06.org website might also be for sale but is not part of the price of the car. If you're interested in the car feel free to get in touch with me. -Chris Read More...
Nationals Mockup? 12/August/2008 Chris Hammond What do you think of this as a possible look for the Corvette for Nationals? Check out the photo on the full blog post. Read More...
St. Louis Event #7 Another good one 10/August/2008 Chris Hammond Another class win in SS and SSL for the CorvetteZ06.org team, as well as another overall index win, that makes 3 local events in a row for the team. Videos and data coming later this week. Anyone who watched my fifth run today also witnessed the return of the White Tornado to St. Louis. Photos of the aftermath can be found on the full blog post. Read More...
Corvette loaded up for Topeka 30/July/2008 Chris Hammond Dave and I loaded up the car on the trailer tonight, we're leaving around 4am on Friday morning and he has plans tomorrow night. Before loading it we took the wheels and tires and flipped the tires around on the wheels for the practice session on Friday. We'll run the test & tune friday on the old set of wheels and tires, then on Saturday and Sunday we'll run the good set of tires, the set that were new for the Milwaukee National Tour two weeks ago. We did all of this tonight in the rain, so we were soaked by the time we changed tires on the car and loaded it on the trailer. I'll post an update Friday night. Read More...
Another Local Event 27/July/2008 Chris Hammond Another local event down, and another reminder of a couple of things 1) St. Louis in the summer sucks 2) Racing in the summer in St. Louis sucks Heat and humidity! Nonetheless, it was a good event, I still need to drive faster, but I did manage to take FTD (fastest time of day) as well as the top Index position, and first place in Super Stock. Dave finished 2nd in SS. Beth took first in SSL and also took the top Ladies Index spot. That makes two local events that the CorvetteZ06.org team has taken the top index and ladies index positions here in St. Louis. Next stop, Topeka Kansas for the Midiv Championships next week! Read More...
All lubed up and ready to go 26/July/2008 Chris Hammond Dave and I spent the day working on the Corvette. Here's what was accomplished drain the rear end and replace with Redline gear oil removed the rear Konis from the car and replace with the stock shocks drained the transmission and replaced with redline drained/replace oil and filter, both with Mobil 1 hack the stock radio to add a line in wash the car, clean off all of Dave's cone marks #5 and #6 were done by myself, Dave had left by then. #5 involved splicing into the CD input line and wiring up a minijack input, I actually wired this into the back of the radio, I thought it was ingenius, but I figured out the error in my ways. The jack I used was one that when nothing was plugged into it would allow the CD audio to pass through normally. When a line was plugged in the jack input is used and the CD Audio is bypassed. Anyone see the err of my ways? By mounting the jack in the back of the radio I effectively disabled the CD audio from working until the radio is removed and the minijack wire unplugged. This actually isn't a big deal for me, I never use the CD player anyways, and now I can listen to my Zune! Though I will most likely need to rewire or just unplug this before I sell the car, otherwise the next owner won't know WTF is going on. Now it's time for a https://shirt.woot.com party, I'm meeting some guys from the office there. Race on Sunday! Read More...
St. Louis Event 5 Autocross Review 16/July/2008 Chris Hammond So this past Sunday was the 5th event of the St. Louis Autocross season, really it was only the 4th event held this year due to rain/blow out of what was supposed to be event number 3. The region has changed their event structure this year, back to a three heat format, with the attempt to get 5 runs each heat, that worked out on Sunday. Beth ran the Corvette in SSL during the second heat, there were two drivers in the class, Beth ended up taking first, and also taking first on the ladies index challenge. Dave and I both ran in the third heat. I managed to take the win in SS, as well as the win on the index results for the event, I even managed to get the fastest raw time for the event, though I took out a single cone before the starting lights on that run so it doesn't count for anything! Dave managed 2nd in SS behind me, and 6th on index for the event. I've posted some of the videos from the event in a post a few days ago. I did come to realize there is no need for me to attend any more local events this year, as I have no possibility of winning the class championship, or the index championship due to the fact that the solo board decided to screw up the points by making the divisional worth a single event but double the points, so now, unless people just don't attend 6 events in SS I have no shot at making up 10k points. That doesn't mean I won't continue to show up though, I'll be doing my damnedest to win every event, both class and index for the rest of the year (cept 10/6 when I'll be in Europe). I might not have a shot at winning based on points, but I'll be damned sure to make people know who the fastest mofo in St. Louis is this year. This weekend the CorvetteZ06.org team is headed to Milwaukee Wisconsin to take part in The Tire Rack SCCA National Tour event, videos of that to come next week! Read More...