The track car

[oxbrain]

Bought this car yesterday for $350. We're going to be using it in the 24 hours of lemons race in july. http://24hoursoflemons.com/

It's the veteran of two seasons of dirt track racing. It has the sohc B6 swap done, it's going to get an aspire brake swap and any other cheap mods we can think of.







We'll be looking for sponsors. As far as I know, SCC, C&D, and R&T are all entering cars this year. I'm expecting this to be one of the quickest cars out there, so I'm hoping for a podium finish. Either way there is a very good chance of making it into one of those magazines. I'd like to get a FF.com sticker to put on it. Preferably something small to go on the C pillars. I figure the advice I've gotten here over the past couple years is sponsorship enough.

This car spun the tires in first and second in the ~40' from the trailer to my driveway. Then I stepped on the brakes and hit the steering wheel because I forgot the seat wasn't bolted down. ops:

What can you think of to improve this car for under $150? We have $500 total, we've spent $350 so far. The brakes, wheels, tires, seat, cage, and any other saftey equipment don't count. I'm thinking an aspire radiator since we'll be racing in the desert on just water, make a simple CAI, and hack off the exhaust(if they let us). Anything else you can think of?

[Damkid]

maybe some FMS springs may help????

just a thought

[freshtiva]

8)

[25Horseplay]

maybe some FMS springs may help????

just a thought

He only has $150 and springs are $179!

[kabbage]

How about new bushings?

[oxbrain]

Yup, FMS springs are just too costly for us. The current plan is to cut down some aspire springs and use the best junkyard shocks we can find.

We're still arguing over putting in a windshield. I'm thinking of just welding a couple bars vertically to prevent anything big from coming through, and wearing a full face helmet. How much would a windshield weigh, and what cost? This would be considered saftey equipment, so wouldn't be included in the $500 total.

You can't really tell it from the pictures, but the roof was cut off to install the cage. They lined it up pretty well when they welded it back on, but it's a little rough. Mounting the windshield we would have to use a rather thick bead of sealant to bridge the bumps.

How about new bushings?

FMS bushings would eat up a lot of our budget. They would make a huge difference, so we're looking into it. I'm going to call my poly supplier and see what he has that might work. The stuff I use for work is easily the same durometer as stock bushings, and I'm pretty sure I can get it even better. Barring that I can buy some HDPE or PTFE and make some very hard bushings from that.

We're probably going to solid mount the engine/transmission.

I'm also going to see about welding a cross piece between the frame rails where the control arms attach.

[Festy46]

Put tubes in your tires. If you get hit in the rim or bend a rim, your tire won't go flat. Use distilled water in the radiator. Put an on/off switch on the fan. Don't trust the thermostat fan switch to work. Get the highest pressure radiator cap you can find. Use all new radiator hoses and belts. Use full synthetic oil in the engine and transmission.

I hope you checked the entry fees and rules. You're going to have some $$$ in just getting in the race.

[kabbage]

I bet just stock bushings will make a difference. They are always overlooked, and probably haven't been changed in years. I dont know how much better 'perfomance' really are, i think they just last longer cause they are made out of polyurtherane or something. If its just a one-time-race i wouldnt spend too much.

[DuritzCrows17]

pull up all the sound deadening if not done so already and take out the rear seat support on either side. Take out all the windows if you are gonna have no windshield, it will cut weight and will allow the air from the front of the car to escape almost imediatley after entering the car. And I would say go with a double core del sol/civic radiator over an aspire unit cuz its lighter, smaller, and more efficient.

[oxbrain]

The car is already stripped to bare metal. No windows, no sound damping, no interior. The dash has been completely removed, with the cluster strapped in dead center. Because the cage is welded to the rear seat brackets, I can't cut those off. It does a good job at stiffening the body without the hatch. The cage also goes through the firewall, just inside the fenders, then attaches to a bar welded across infront of the radiator.

Good idea on the fan switch, I'll add that to my list. The hoses probably won't be new, but we'll have plenty of junkyard spares on hand.

How hard would the del sol/civic radiator be to mount?

Right now our total outlay has been the $400 or so it's taken to buy the car and pick it up. Sofar we are within the rules 100%. Our application went in today, we should know in a week or two if we got in. If so, we'll start spending money on the car. After tires, brakes, etc. it's looking like this will be around $1500 split 6 ways for the car, plus ~$200 in entry fees and another couple hundred in transportation.

[DuritzCrows17]

del sol radiator would be as easy as any other radiator just get radiator mounts and line them up right.

[packrat427]

PM sent oxbrain

[oxbrain]

PM sent oxbrain

Awesome. No rush on them, the race isn't for a while, and we're still figuring out how we're going to repaint the car. The current idea is to sell space. I'll set some aside for FF.com stickers.


edit
VVV As soon as we figure out pricing he's top on my list.

[25Horseplay]

See if Roger will want some space for FMS.

[packrat427]

That car is way cool .
It would be cool to put a tach cluster in there .