The race car idea thread

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Dean

Scott, you still haven't told us what your reasonable/acceptable initial investment is... You can potentially get a whole lot more of what you are looking for if you spend $30-80K up front.

But based on this thread and your responses to everyone's suggestions, I propose you change your Motto in your profile to:

Fast, Reliable, Cheap, I can fit in it, fun, a class/venue/series where I can be competitive, not a Corvette, open wheel, vintage, etc... : I want them all!!!

This thread isn't about finding me a racecar. It's about making sure going racing with the car I've got is worth the money. So I'm not looking for something with a specific set criteria, I'm just making sure I'm not forgetting something.

Sure a $30k-$80k car upfront is going to be a lot less work than a $5,000 car up front, at least to go as fast as my car currently goes, since my car is essentially a $30k car with $15k put into it. But my car is paid off, and not worth much to sell... so it seems dumb to get into something else at that price, unless it will cost me like $1000/year to race... and there's nothing that cheap to race... tires alone blow that budget.

[Slopoke21m]

I have 3 spridgets for sale, and had contemplated keeping one shell, for a 4.3L chev v-6 powered car for fun. figured it would be cheap, and have a pretty good power to weight ratio. mustang 2 front susp and ford 8" with rear disks are all very available stuff. Tube chassis could be done pretty easy and very cheap. I think it would be a blast.

[sybir]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsu...spagenameZWDVW

[sperry]

Originally Posted by sybir

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsu...spagenameZWDVW

Now that's a pretty sweet setup. I wonder what it'll go for.... $10k? It's got a lot of spares.

'Course I'd get that, then re-do the cage (I really don't like the looks of those side bars), move the seats (way back), and splash a bunch of paint around at a minimum. Then I'd go and do something dumb like put a V8 or Black Top in it.

It's too bad it's on eBay, or I might actually consider it.

[Libila]

What about a spec E30?

Dirt cheap, reliable, easy to find inexpensive to maintain. It may not meet your ideal power-to-weight ratio but they're a blast to drive!

http://www.spece30.com/

[sybir]

My point was (and I know it's hypothetical) that it's better to buy a turn-key car that someone else has done all the work on, and lost all the money on; the guy who's getting out of his $60k WRX or whatever for $15k.

It's akin to the rally beater we still have around; it would cost you probably 5-6k to prep even an old P class FWD NA DSM, but you can buy one that's been sitting unused for a few years for $500.

[skimonkey30]

bump

found this the other day

8k for the kit and a miata donor (probably 3k)

http://www.coveland.com/motorsports/index.cfm?ID=80

they also have a few other kits from 8k to 11k

[wrxkidid]

You can get spec miatas for like 12-15k ready to run. But that doesnt have near the power nor room for Scott.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

NASA CMC cars are cheap, he'd fit inside one, they have big car counts at events and the racing is generally close. They don't have a bunch of power though.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by skimonkey30

bump

found this the other day

8k for the kit and a miata donor (probably 3k)

http://www.coveland.com/motorsports/index.cfm?ID=80

they also have a few other kits from 8k to 11k

One of my friends from SLO is building one of those based on the Corolla motor/gearbox.