GTV Track Car Questions

[jtdoyleiv]

I am slowly turning my '74 GTV into a streetable driver's education/track car.

My GTV currently has 80s era aftermarket front seats, stock rear seats and stock carpeting. My current desire/thoughts are to remove these seats and replace the front seats with the latest racing seats, while leaving the rear seats aside. At the same time, I will have a half roll cage installed and remove the carpeting. So far, so good...I think.

My questions revolve around the rear seat area and carpeting. I have yet to take to take the carpeting (or anything) out of the GTV, so I don't know what I'm in for when I remove everything.

What will I find when I take the rear seats out? If someone has gone down this path, what do you suggest that I do, if anything, to replace the rear seat area? Mind you, I still want to drive this on the street, so the complete lack of carpets/bare metal look is not what I'm after just yet.

One suggestion was to place black vinyl in a diamond stitch pattern over the empty area. Do you have any other carpet replacement suggestions? Ideally, I could replace the stock carpeting with lightweight carpet, but I've searched online for such carpet without luck.

Thanks in advance for your assistance. It is very much appreciated!

[genericwood]

If you don't want the bare metal look, just leave it alone. The rear seats really don't weigh much. Well, for that matter, the carpet doesn't weigh very much either!

Erik

[Fergtv6]

Hi jt. You could do as ive done and just remove the sound deadning material which is realy heavy and put the original carpet back in again.I also replaced the rear seat with thin (25mm) foam to save weight and held in with velcro.
Cheers.

[jtdoyleiv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fergtv6 Hi jt. You could do as ive done and just remove the sound deadning material which is realy heavy and put the original carpet back in again.I also replaced the rear seat with thin (25mm) foam to save weight and held in with velcro. Cheers.

[Fergtv6]

Yip the sound deadning material is under the carpet you could also replace the door trim with aluminium and rear side trim with thick card board and cover the cardboard with PVC or other dark material.And get rid of that radio cassete player and speakers, the only music you need is the V6 music.
Cheers.

[JoeCab]

I agree with Eric, there are probably a lot better ways to achieve your goal of a dual purpose street/track car than stripping the interior.

In my experience, a car with a stripped interior and a roll cage quickly becomes irritating on the street. And, a properly prepped GTV with a full interior can certainly do track duty perfectly well, provided the suspension and braking systems are dialed in.

The stock rear seats in a GTV can be removed in about 30 seconds once you are at the track - so that is a very viable option.

[PSk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeCab I agree with Eric, there are probably a lot better ways to achieve your goal of a dual purpose street/track car than stripping the interior. In my experience, a car with a stripped interior and a roll cage quickly becomes irritating on the street. And, a properly prepped GTV with a full interior can certainly do track duty perfectly well, provided the suspension and braking systems are dialed in. The stock rear seats in a GTV can be removed in about 30 seconds once you are at the track - so that is a very viable option.

[James1750]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSk Agree. If you really want a dual purpose car leave her pretty much alone ... just add safety and reliability (oil cooler, etc.) stuff, and go and have fun. Once you start the "serious" attitude ... get ready to burn $'s real fast. Best Pete

[PSk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by James1750 Pete - I thought you only required the oil cooler when you were getting really serious.... my understanding was that getting up to temp on a road car with an oil cooler would be tough... on the track this would also only happen after a few laps as well (pending the track of course).. I'm wrong more than I'm right though James

[sidewaysalfa]

As someone who has time trialed street cars for over 20 years here is my suggestion.
Don't worry about tearing out insulation, carpet, etc. If you are good enough a driver that 30 lbs of weight makes a difference then . . . . . And driving a gutted car long distances is quite fatiguing, I know.
Put in a roll bar, not a cage. That way you can get at the back seat to store stuff and still have some chassis stifness and safety.
Buy the best race seat you can that will also work for your Monday - Friday use.
Use a clip in 5 or 6 point harness so that you can use the stock belts also.
Tear the suspension completely apart and upgrade or replace as much rubber stuff as you can.
Same with the brake system.
Drain every fluid and replace them.
Put an exhaust system that is not too loud for long trips to the track.
You are looking for reliable, not race car. Try to get to every nut and bolt on the car sometime before you get to the track.
And put in a decent radio/cd player and a couple of good speakers. It helps on long drives to the track.
Remember you are looking for reliable. There is nothing worse for me to see a student missing out on Driving School while they are fixing something that should have been done the week before.
Good luck, and keep the rubber side down.
And if you are ever in So Calif when we have a Driver's School, sign up and stop by.

[James1750]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSk James, You are probably right, Nord engines do have an enormous sump. If an oil cooler is added you should install an oil thermostat and then it will only be used when the oil gets too hot. I've never raced a 105 ... but my fathers 2002 BMW had trouble without an oil cooler. Pete

[jtdoyleiv]

Guys -

Thanks again for the feedback. I really appreciate it.

Although the GTV is currently at the shop having its Webers rebuilt, thanks to everyone's assistance the upholstery is definitely sticking around.

[msiert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by James1750 I was looking at putting an alu radiator and oil cooler in my car, but, have been told by those more in the know than I that unless I'm using the horses for longer durations there was no real need for it. As my car is predominately a road dweller and will only occassionally be doing short burst time-trial sprint events on track, the standard cooling goods more than cope.

[Stromlo]

Late reply I know - but on the nuts and bolts issue - cannot agree more!

I rebuilt my motor in 2006, did one race with it, and damaged the engine in the second race. Turns out I didn't fasten the carburator support bolts that sits in the 'air dam' too good, and they rattled out and eventually made their way into the head. Luckilly the valves cought them, so the only damage was the head. Now I have longer bolts, with nyloc nuts on the outside - and I check my nuts () regularly!

Really silly mistake though. They are so visible - I should have checked