FC to ITS race car?
 

I know I know, I'm sure everyone has read the Grassroots article by now, but ironically I decided this the day before I got the new issue in the mail!

Just looking for some opinions on this.. I have an 86 FC with nothing in the way of options, except ac. It's in pretty good shape mechanically. (it only looks like a total POS) What major mods would you recommend to bring this car up to SCCA, or NASA spec? (I mean besides a cage, fire supression, etc)

I'm looking into new suspension, new exhaust and new brakes.

Basically I'm just looking for some advice from people who currently run FC's. (Right now I'm running a Neon - and I love the car so laugh all you want :-p) I would like to do this as inexpensively as possible (which i know is impossible when you race!) but still have a decent car to learn on.

First off, I've never raced nor am I experienced with building a racecar but you might find my personal story of my buildup underway helpful:
http://www.negative-camber.org/crispyrx7/fc/fcpart1.htm
Regards,
Crispy

Crispy's story is a good one and he makes some good decisions along the way. I've been racing for close to twenty years and driving for 13 of them. I enjoyed the story, but remember Crispy that the amount of effort put into making it look pretty, is directly proportional to your chances of wading it up in a hurry! Sorry off the subject... Back to you, Get yourself to some races and talk to people that have gone through the process. Don't ever think that you know more then the guys that are already doing it. Even if the guy is the slowest poke on the track he has still already made some of the mistakes that you are destined to make. My next race is at LimeRock on June 4-5. I'll be racing in both GT2 and EP and will have two vastly different FC'c there for you to check out if you like. That goes for the rest of the gang also, everybody is welcome. I hope you can make it out.
BTW My brother races a Neon also and loves it!

Crispy - that story sounds just like me so far.. except my FC's maroon and with slightly less rust. ;) I haven't gotten through all of it yet but I sure will... what nerve ... they expect me to actually WORK at work sometimes!

EProd - Oh that sounds great, I wish I could make it up, but I won't be around that weekend. :( Would you let me know when you're going to be up at LRP again? Or even Pocono, both are fairly close to me.

As far as your brother.. what clubs does he race with? Does he know Greg Traina by any chance? (he is a friend of mine who runs Neons in enduros with some guys from CT... just wondering if your brother might be in that group!)


Thanks for the advice guys... keep it coming!

Some musings from this track-day junkie who may eventually succumb to the call of open-passing...

A friend and I were going to build an ITS car many moons ago, and we scratched our heads awful hard about how cheap you could build a safe (but not necessarily fast) car (with the idea that we could slowly put money into the project). When all was said and done, we concluded it was cheaper to save the money up and just buy a built car.

Another thing to think about, was what I have been told by our region's scrutineer who has been racing for what seems like forever: you should drive on the street what you race. In other words, keep your street car, and buy a prepped car.

(Plus you have spare parts in a pinch!)

Speaking of built ITS cars...

Check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2479002834

And I'll bet Crispy's eyes will pop out when he sees what this ITS car went for (mine certainly did, given all the optional extras):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2477494788

7 Girl,
....Keep reading :-)

Ashraf,
As noted early on on my web dairy it's ALWAYS cheaper to buy a prepped car and go racing but where's the challenge in that? :D I took a look at the Speedsource ITS 7and yup the buyer got a nice package. Not fantastic IMO but a fair bargain. For comparisons sake I have $6300 invested in to my racecar and have everything I need to complete the car and this even includes the $500 I "wasted" driving Rusty for a year. The only real delta not counting the $5000 PI system (Ooooo Ahhhhh) is the win history. Hard to "build" that into a car ;) My goal remains and one which I shall meet is to have a race ready ITS 7 for $7000. And plus it's a lot easier to nickle and dime the parts into the house a couple hundred dollars at a time than to spring on the significnat other an $8k tab for a whole racecar ;)
Regards,
Crispy

Everyone bow to the magnificent omnipotence that is CrispyRX7! :D ;) :p:

Crispy,

I know, I know. I was more or less referring to that mantra that I've heard before and it stuck in my head that you said it too...

You and I talk sense about this, but did you (or will I) follow our own advice?

Of course not!

I will probably build my Spec Miata when that time comes (hopefully sooner than later) because I probably can do it for less given some of the connections I have. That, and the past couple of weekends, I've been working on "well maintained" FD with about 60,000 miles on it. Goodness, you don't want to know all the stuff I found wrong that had a potential to eat an engine or cause a fire! I guess it goes back to the saying that "if you want it done right, do it yourself"...and the lack of trust of what someone else considers to be "mechanically sound".

In the meantime, it is more track time in the Miata and FD so that I have a clue when I go out there and have to deal with three-wide into a turn...

I don't remember all the details of Rusty's buildup, but it sure is nice to have all the "little" things taken care of ahead of time...coolant hoses, fasteners, all those things that flash in your mind as you come screaming through a turn full-tilt-boogie with another car right next to you...did I tighten all the nuts...it's bad enough to worry if you tightened up the lugnut that's nestled in the helmet! :)

Does that include your labor time doing all that work? :)

I don't have one of those (significant other). I have something that offers similar financial drain, err, uhm, TWO of them...they are both red and have a Mazda logo on each of them...

If I could just save up a comfortable amount of $$$ instead of feeding the two aforementioned "mistresses" I would dump it all at once into a meticulously built car (with me scrutinizing every single receipt and bolt that is easily visible), but I'm not seeing that happening anytime soon with all I have going on.

Like I said, I'll be the same guy that doesn't take that good advice and probably end up with a flood-damaged Miata to build into a Spec car over some winter...

It doesn't mean we shouldn't remind others and ourselves that there is another way to before doing a lot of work on a blank canvas and I still like the idea of drivng on the street what you race.

Best,
--Ashraf

7 Girl,
My bro is down in the SE, living in Fla. Next LRP race after 6/4 would be 7/22 and then 8/20 at Pocono. Tese are Nationals and there won't be any IT cars there but there will be a fair amount of FB and FC eprod cars. You might want to look into getting to some regional races if IT is your goal.
JW