Mirrors: do I have to have them to be legal?

[Rob Petrie E395]

Outside mirrors
I cant find anything in the rule book that reads that I have to have them but I dont think you could get a 95 firebird without them. I searched and found 1 related thread but was not really about legality. I have seen cars like what I am putting together with and without them at races. I have been back on my project since my bracket car was broken for a couple of weeks and looking forward to making some more progress. The Rulebook reads under body

Alterations and customizing prohibited extent of customizing is limited to paint only

One other area of concern is when we did the body work I filled the hole for the radio antenna on the RR quarter panel anybody think this was a mistake and going to cause problems in tech.

I know I am in for a major *** kicking when I first get out there which I can live with (paying my dues till I get up to speed) but I just dont want to get sent home during tech for something stupid that I overlooked or took for granted.

Thanks in advance for the help

[Ed Fernandez]

I checked the photo section on Comp + and there are quite a few stockers with no driver side mirror.A good mix of cars.Only went back 2 months.I think you would be safe with the mirror delete option.

[Alan Roehrich]

Rob, you really need to get in touch with Travis Miller, you should be able to reach him with a PM on this site and get at least an email address if not a phone number. Travis is a really great guy, and it really pays to develop a relationship with an NHRA tech guy, so you get the right answer on questions like yours the first time, before you go somewhere to race and risk a DQ.

Knowing a tech guy and how to reach him means knowing what is legal, and what isn't, with just a phone call or an email, 95% of the time. And they want you to call them or email them, they do not want to send you home from a race when a phone call would have solved the issue before you ever left your driveway, they want you to race. The tech guys ARE your friends.

[Dean Feiock]

Can I ask why you would want to remove them?

Are you looking to make the car faster by aerodynamics?

Are you trying to save weight?

Does the car just look better without them?

I know several drives who did not have them and have recently put them back. They can be very useful if you are in a class where you are be chased quite often.

[Rob Petrie E395]

Originally Posted by Dean Feiock

Can I ask why you would want to remove them?

Are you looking to make the car faster by aerodynamics?

Are you trying to save weight?

Does the car just look better without them?

I know several drives who did not have them and have recently put them back. They can be very useful if you are in a class where you are be chased quite often.

I guess the weight which i know is not alot but you see I am a FAT @@@ (almost 300lbs) and I am having trouble getting it off me so I thought I would try to get as much as possible out of the car. Second would be aero dont know if it would make that much of a difference either but I recently read 2 articels one about the old IROC series that said that they picked up a couple of MPH by just removing them. (i know i am comparing apples and organges but it cant hurt) and the other was about salt flat cars and mirrors(again apples and oranges) And yet another talked specifically about fourth gen trans ams and firebirds and that the firebird hatch is worth about 1 mph+ over the transam wing. I have a transam hatch to put on my bracket car (95 firebird also) to test this theory but have not done it yet. As fars looks goes, unless I can get some kind of factory block off plate it will most likely NOT look better. I am trying to get every little bit I can because I know I will be down in the HP department at first untill I can learn some tricks and what to do and not do. I also know the smartest thing to do would be just to call somebody like Mr Josey and buy a engine but I would really like to do it myself anybody can write a check I want to at least be able to say I tried before I throw in the towl and write the check LOL!.

[Rob Petrie E395]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

Rob, you really need to get in touch with Travis Miller, you should be able to reach him with a PM on this site and get at least an email address if not a phone number. Travis is a really great guy, and it really pays to develop a relationship with an NHRA tech guy, so you get the right answer on questions like yours the first time, before you go somewhere to race and risk a DQ.

Knowing a tech guy and how to reach him means knowing what is legal, and what isn't, with just a phone call or an email, 95% of the time. And they want you to call them or email them, they do not want to send you home from a race when a phone call would have solved the issue before you ever left your driveway, they want you to race. The tech guys ARE your friends.

I agree as I have a bunch of questions about aftermarket trans crossmembers, forward rake and the white foam stuff behind the front and rear bumpers, can I convert to 4 bolt main caps ect ect. I am just kind of taking it a few things at a time and trying to learn as much as I can here too. If I can I will track one down at a race this fall and buy them a steak dinner in return for answers to all my questions. Thanks for the help.