Help me choose a project car

"Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow" (chriskf) 06/02/2015 at 17:56 • Filed to: None

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I know you all love to do these, and I can always use more ideas.

Here’s the deal. I want to start racing more seriously, but don’t want to do much with my FR-S beyond autox and maybe some HPDE type events, for fear of stuffing my only means of transportation into a wall. Which means buying a beater is my best bet. I’m moving in a month into a house with a buddy, and that will give me the room for a project car.

The overall goal is to build some beater into an all-around do whatever sort of racing tickles my fancy hoonmobile. Initially I’ll be focused mainly on rallycrossing the car, and some track time as well. Eventually it will receive a full cage and become a rallysprint/stage rally vehicle. It will also double as my winter vehicle for a little while too, so that I can keep that nasty salt/snow/ice off the FR-S.

My requirements are simple. It has to be RWD, manual, and have an initial purchase price of <$1,000. I could go a little over that price, but I would ideally like to keep it under that. It can be a running car, “mechanic’s special,” or roller (roller with a cage already done might be nice).

I have a few top contenders, and each has it’s particular benefit or reason why I would like to build one.

E30: I work for a company that makes essentially all the chassis components for this car, which is ideal because you often break those parts while racing (especially rallying). I also happen to pal around with some guys who know a thing or two about E30s, and one in particular who knows a thing or two about racing them off-road. ;) They have a lot of experience with and knowledge of working on these cars. Not to mention parts sources and even some parts (including a hoop/harness bar for an E30 that I could have on the cheap, and would be added protection until I get the roll cage put in). I’ve already been looking around at some in the midwest area, and have found a few 325e’s in the $700-800 range that would work nicely.

E36 : (See above)

Foxbody: Both the cars and parts are cheap and plentiful. A guy I work with (one of the E30 guys actually) happens to be a Foxbody guy too, and has lots of parts including spare motors and transmissions. IIRC (and someone please correct me if I’m mistaken) you have to run a 3.0L or under and naturally aspirated your first year in Rally America. So a 2.3L w/ a 5spd would make for a nice cheap build.

AW11: The reasoning here is simple. It’s an MR setup and I love Toyota.

S13/14: I love any 240 that is used for racing that isn’t drifting, especially if it’s raced off road. Biggest problem here is the stupid drift tax. I actually found a posting on the Chicago area CL where a guy was asking $850 for an S13 shell that was missing the front bumper and driver’s door. XD

Miata : I think it’d be cool to rallyx/rally a Miata, but the need for a hardtop generally bumps it out of the initial purchase price range. It is an option though.

Tell me your opinions, experience with, and knowledge of these options! Show me some postings. Or just randomly bullshit about the fun of making a beater project into a beater race car. Also, if you have an idea that’s not listed above I’d love to hear it! (Actual purchase time for this is probably a couple months out, but I’m just trying to get an idea of what I’m looking at)

MIATAAAA > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 17:59

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I will not respond to posts that exclude the obvious answers.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 17:59

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Ford Ranger?

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > MIATAAAA 06/02/2015 at 18:01

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Dammit! I actually meant to include it in there. Edited now. ;)

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 06/02/2015 at 18:02

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I’ve thought about a small pickup, but I’d like this to eventually become something decently competitive and I just don’t see a pickup working as well as a smaller car.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 18:03

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What about a Neon ACR? Those things are stupid fast on rally stages.

Ike > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 18:04

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http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/cto/504902… this

LongbowMkII > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 18:06

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Check out FC RX-7s. people still give them away.

djmt1 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 18:08

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A Jaguar XJS can’t be worth much so you should buy two. A V12 because V12, duh and a 6 cylinder since those came with a manual. Preferably have the manual car as a coupe and the auto as a convertible. Swap the engines and bish bash bosh you have a discount V12 Vantage and a discount F Type roadster.

Edit: Oops you said you wanted to do Rally Cross, ignore all of this or don't.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 18:10

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I vote E36. I think at this point they are cheaper than an E30. maybe you could even find an E35/ 318ti. th’d be cool. Hatchbacks and rally racing go to together like biscuts and gravy

pretty much equally tasty images

GhostZ > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 18:27

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Alternate choice, 280Z/280ZX (S30 and S130 respectively). Unlike most of the above, they’re actually not in a price spike right now, and at the lowest prices.

If you want to do it right, spend $1000 on a rust-free non-running later 280Z with a blown engine and rough interior. Throw in a 280ZX turbo motor and an intercooler (easy 230+HP) or a junkyard Chevy 350, which will lighten the car if you use aluminum heads. If you want to go turbo route, having one of the mechanical FI systems instead of carbs helps.

The 280ZX is heavier, but cheaper, easier to do an engine swap for, and has 4 wheel disc brakes, the 240/260/280Z had rear drums.

A properly sorted 280Z or ZX is going to be faster than a 240Z or a 240SX.

S13 prices are pretty insane right now, this is probably the next best thing.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 06/02/2015 at 18:38

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I do love biscuits and gravy...

It’s funny you used that picture too. Like I said, I pal around with a guy who knows about racing BMWs off road. ;)

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 06/02/2015 at 18:39

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They’re great for racing, but RWD is a must for me.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > GhostZ 06/02/2015 at 18:40

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Excellent idea. I’ll throw them into the running.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > djmt1 06/02/2015 at 18:40

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Lol if I was feeling ambitious and had lots more money to blow, that’d actually be pretty fun(ny). haha

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Ike 06/02/2015 at 18:41

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I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed... haha

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > LongbowMkII 06/02/2015 at 18:41

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Another great option. I also really like FBs. They’re both possibilities as well.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 06/02/2015 at 19:07

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and if you want to actually move it under it’s own power, you could throw in a toyota V6 like this guys mr-2. 280hp uber reliability, budget

Will Race For Food > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 07/29/2015 at 16:10

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E36 is a solid bet, looking at the options you’ve listed. However, I’d probably suggest not getting a compact - it is amazing at AutoX, but for rallying, especially if you’re relatively new to racing, a coupe/sedan will be better. The compact has an E30 rear end and what this means is that the car changes direction a bit better (which is great), but the rear comes out much quicker, leaving you less time to react before you’re in real trouble, with the same issue occurring when correcting the slide. Everything happens really quickly in the car is what I’m saying, and this is not great if you make mistakes.

With a sedan or a coupe, on the other hand, you have a lot of time to correct slides, it feels like a much bigger car in that sense (if you’ve ever “drifted” a minivan or something of similar size/weight, you’ll likely understand where I’m coming from), which is perfect when learning, and also safer if you do decide to do stage rally where there’ll be very high speeds.

In my somewhat biased opinion, it also seems like it is both more difficult to hold on to a slide and the compact can not get such a large sliding angle as a sedan/coupe without spinning. This might seem like a non-issue, but if you’re doing a rally and mess up at 80 MPH, those extra few degrees of rotation might be what prevents you from spinning out and sliding backwards into a tree.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Will Race For Food 07/29/2015 at 16:25

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Thanks for the input!

I’m also lucky in the fact that I work with a lot of European car guys, who are happy to help me pick the right car, and also am friends with someone who has become fairly well known, at least in the Jalopnik world, for rallying cheap (like $500 cheap *wink, wink*) BMW’s, and he is also more than happy to help me when it comes to this. haha