high milage race car
 

Ive had the FC for about 6 years now. The body these days has around 280k. Now Im going to be rewiring the entire thing this summer to get rid of all stock items, motor is pretty new, but what Im worried about is the body. It being with that many miles, is it really worth working with? As in installing a full cage (i have kirk 4 point at the moment) Some chassis bracing, etc? Of course all suspension bushings are replaced. But is the body just to tired?

Is it rusted? If not, the body metal is fine. Everything else on the car is tired though... start rebuilding/replacing them all... any moving parts (tranny, diff, bearings, calipers, tie rod ends, etc) and non-metallic parts (bushings, tie rood boots, hoses, etc). Dismantle the car and then rebuild it, otherwise these parts will show their fatigue quickly on track and ruin what could have been a fun day.

What class are you racing?

If you're tearing it down for a cage and all then take some time and seam weld it. That'll help stiffen everything up and reinforce the body. It is possible that the joints may have loosened a bit from all those miles.

Assuming the rulebook allows it, of course! ;)

Of course, but it's a TII, which basically means catch all classes for the most part, so seam welding is likely allowed.

looking to do most time trial stuff. Someday id like to build a ITS car. But Im looking to make something along the lines of a 500hp racer, similar to carl bycks old car. Car already outputs about 400rwhp, but alot of suspension items need to be reworked , as well as all new wiring

If you are looking for something in better shape, I'm selling my track/autocross car.

87 TII with lots of mods. Would make a great time trial car. Here is the link

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=713533

Let me know if you are interested.

JC

ah no thanks, this car is already been underway for quite sometime, and looks like its going to be a project for the next few years

A couple notes and thoughts:

1) I have seen a "tired" race chassis before. it was a first-gen ITA/7 car that had been through multiple off-track excursions and multiple Miata incursions. It had been on re-straightened so often that the chassis would almost sag when put on a lift. And still it was a moderately competitive car. It sounds like you are a long way from this state. If your frame has never been significantly bent and it doesn't have rust issues, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

2) The SCCA has dropped the VIN check requirement for IT cars. What this means for us is that it is now possible to build a legal ITS car starting with a T2 shell, as long as all the T2 unique bits are removed and replaced with their NA counterparts (mainly the drivetrain and the brake master). So even if you have a current T2 but are looking eventually at ITS, it's possible to migrate the car in that direction over time. If you are interested in that route, you may want to stay away from chassis mods that will make the car illegal.

Good luck,

-bill