DimaK

how much did u guys spend to make a race car, like the rollcage and everything

christaylor

First gen (79-85):

$10k for something properly done. I've "spent" less, but just because I got the parts to build it through "other channels".

If you're starting with a car that has absolutely nothing done to it, plan on spending $10k before it's "done" (which it never will be). You can have what qualifies as a racecar for as little as $5k.

SPiN Racing

Build it or Buy it.. Such a popular question.

Some things I have spent money on for my EP car that isnt on the track yet.
over 2K on USED parts like.. 8 Rims, Tilton pedal set, camber links, header, 4.88 Torsen rearend.
Then there is the engine build LOL... Figure a Grand MINIMUM on the rebuild seals and gaskets, baffle plate, oil pump, regulator, etc..
Not including the core motor, better rotors, hardened gears, etc.. etc. etc.
Then the cage will run around 1K depending if painted or not and the complexity of it above IT specs.
Seat? 100 for Kirkey on to 1K for something FIA and real nice.
Belts 100+
Safety gear NON HANS... 3-500 for helmet, 75 shoes, 50 gloves, 200+ suit etc..
Window net 35ish
Cutoff switch plus wiring 50?
Fuel Cell... he he.. 500-1K depending on brand and options.
Tires... GET USED AT THE TRACK.. unless you are serious about running up front. But when starting.. dont worry about it.. get take offs from the tire truck guys... thats a couple sets less they dont have to load on the truck.
Brakes.. YEP.. almost 100 for a set of pads for front OR rear.
Suspention.... 1800 for 2nd gen, 1100 for 1st. (Koni or Tokico through Mazdaspeed motorsports)

I am certain I am forgetting something.. But yeah.. better have enough money to buy someone elses REAL NICE FRONT RUNNING race car.. before building your own.
Granted.. you can take your time if you build it yourself. But... you may wear out all the wammy jammy parts by the time you get done.

Old proverb I cant exactly remember .. something like.. Wanna loose money real fast? Start racing.

DimaK

alright, thanks man

Carl Byck

EPRODrx7 just parted his 80,000.00 Nationally competitive EP car after failing to sell it in a year at 20,000.00. Sportscar magazine, SCCA forums, NASA forums, all the IT/Production, and GT forums all have many cars for sale these cars generally sell for 1/2-1/4 of what it cost to build them. IF you have 7500-20000.00 cash, buy a car that is done, proven, and current. NO Question. If you can eventually spend 10-20K, but have 3-5K now, buy a partly done car. ieright stuff done, just not finished, or maybe, not current, but could be for 3-5K. I have spent ~20-25K on my car(2nd gen SPO car), and it has a way to go yet.

Speed Raycer

Before I bought my IT 1st Gen, I totaled up the list of stuff on the car as if I'd bought it all new myself and stopped when I reached 7K. The owner was looking to get 3.5K with a trailer. Done deal. All of the usual IT7 parts were there: Complete G-Force kit, SDJ carb, MSD's, VDO guages, Illuminas, Camber plates, New Khumos, Dirt Stockers, semi new belts etc etc.

I bought a Chassis and all the parts that I would have bought anyway for half of what I would have paid if I had built it myself... and I did an open track day the next weekend.

A BIG part of what I learned was buy a proven car, with a proven track history. My new car had only done a school or two, but the seller didn't know a whole lot about it. After my first couple of events, things started going downhill on the car and last season was kind of a miserable year on the track with problems.

If I ever bought another racecar, it'd be at the track after the last session of the day, after it was back on the trailer or after I drove it all day long.

Buy your first racecar complete and drive the snot out of it while you build your second.

CrispyRX7

iTrader: (139)

http://www.negative-camber.org/crisp...c/fcpart21.htm

Go back to page 1 for the entire hsitory of my buildup
FWIW
Crispy

SPiN Racing

Im giving him several K for parts for my own EP ride next week...

sctty

I think an important qualifier is missing here. There are many, many road racing classes out there. Certainly, cost is a function of which class you pick. I once added the numbers to build the blingest of specrx7's and came to something around 10k. To prepare the same donor car for eprod would obviously quadruple that number pretty easily.

cpa7man

iTrader: (2)

I wish I could have. I spent my wad buying the e car, then I bought a bunch of stuff from Prather. Now I'm rebuilding the motor.
What are you buying?

Oh **** I guess I'm threadjacking. Well others have said it. Don't build it, buy it. There have been 3 or 4 top national ep cars sold for parts this year because as stated above they weren't worth **** as a whole. It's a shame really. But I look at myself as an example. I paid $5k for my car (probably too much), now I'll spend another $5k to get it running right, including a rebuild, extra set of wheels, tires, world class exhaust, upgrade the safety equipment . Then I'll spend another $5k+ making it competitive, oh yea than I'll need a spare motor for the runoffs.....on and on. Back to my point, in my case it wasn't feasable to buy a $20k car, I'll spend that much and more but over a year or two. It would sure be a lot easier to buy a world class car as far as time and effort.

BTW - I believe there is still a competitive e car for sale on the scca production forum. I have an ITA car for sale as well.

SPiN Racing

Heh... Welllll.....

Rims (8) 15x7 http://www.jegs.com/photos/18413telstar.jpg
Tilton pedal cluster with cylinders and bias adjuster..
Mazdaspeedmotorsports SS Header..
rear camber adjusters..
4.88 Torsen rear Diff chunk..

Just some little things.. that end up being not soo little on the bank. BUT.. Are a deal and a half for me.. and Im HAPPY to pay for em. PLUS>. they are critical parts that will help get the car further up the pack out of the gate.

And yep.. the car is just sitting.. but the parts are growing. And I have a spot cleared in the garage for it... SOO I am simply going to do the build in one fell sweep... and I have the ITA car to race in the mean time.

cpa7man

iTrader: (2)

Nice...I like those rims. I've never seen the MS header. Good job, some interesting stuff indeed.
I'm still looking for a reasonable($$) oil cooler. Let me know if you run accross one.

jimeby

iTrader: (1)

If you're planning on seriously road racing in an SCCA class or conference class, the figures up there are pretty much right on. To be competitive in that venue is quite pricey.
However, if you just want to race.... check out your local circle tracks. Many tracks are running "4 cyl pure stock" classes. I built and raced an Accord for about 500 total. And, had a BLAST! You can also check out Micro Sprint dirt track racing. Those are 600 lb purpose built race cars that use 250cc dirt bike motors. Check ebay... they're on there for very cheap.
If you know you definitely want to road race, go for it... if you just want to race... check out the local circle track venues... there's lots of cheap racing out there.... I've been doing it the expense way (super late models) and the cheap way (compact pure stock) and they're all fun.
Another great venue is carts. They run on road courses and circle tracks... dirt and pavement. You can get in a very reasonable starter package for under 5 grand... again check out ebay just for fun.

cheers,
Jim

EProdRx7

Chris,
Good thing I'm bringing the big truck down... I even have a bonus gift for you!
Jim is correct on the varitey of available classes. I'm moving to a piston car but still a Mazda (Miata) That should cost me around $5k to get going. On the oter hand 'm gong to Sebrng ths weeend wth a Porsche club and 9 yes 9 GT3 cup cars! these things cost between $100k-$150k each! So the question is how much ya got? BTW if you end up with any extra $$$ at the end I can give you a hand with that!

Carl Byck

A pair of stock TII coolers is more than enough, they are ~40.00. I've posted pics before, but on stock mounted, and one mounted up high(must be vented). I run ~190-200 at the filter block making~350rwhp on a 80* ambient dayafter 30 minutes of racing. Plus I am turbocharged, so more thermal load there. Hello again John, know anybody that wants a brand new set of AD coilovers? Asssuming you still have your dampers off the EP car available???

M's

always cheaper to buy it. Just know your stuff about racecars before you buy.

RacerJason

iTrader: (5)

Make sure you can drive first. Not everbody has the God given talent to drive fast safely.

ddewhurst

***blingest of specrx7's and came to something around 10k.***

Did ya pay $8,000 for the starter car? Or gold plate everything. I bought a SRX7 starter car (rust free) for $3,200 & didn't have $6,000 total including Panasports (with new tires) when it hit the track. But then I didn't gold plate anything. ; )

Sorry for the HIjack : (
David

sctty

I paid considerably less than that for my car...going rate is somewhere around for 3500 for a decent used car.

Gold plating aside, browse mazda motorsports/mazdatrix/favorite parts dealer. Consider that you'd want to either replace or rebuild every moving part on the car, in addition to safety gear, wheels etc. Not at all hard to hit 10k when you can spend 4k at mazdatrix for a brand spanking new motor...and we haven't begun to talk about spare parts or tires yet. Now, obviously you wouldn't want to spend this much (nor would you need to)...just an upper bound for arguement's sake.

ddewhurst

***just an upper bound for arguement's sake.***

sctty, for arguement sake I understand..............

If your address is Virgina how come ya don't deal with ISC Racing in FL ? They been known to do a good job.

Have Fun ; )
David

Boswoj

ALWAYS cheaper to buy someone else's racecar for literally pennies on the dollar. That doesn't mean you shouldn't build your own though. The biggest reason to build your own is that you don't have to scratch up all the money at once - you can build it on the installment plan as you have the money. Here is how I did it, your results may vary:

Found a reasonably clean, reasonably local "Pro-7 / ITA" car that had been for sale locally for a while. Made a killer deal on it and slid it into my garage for $2300 bucks. Motor was smoking just a bit, and slightly down on power but started reliably every time. Made a good deal on safety equipment (suit, helmet, balaclava, gloves, socks, and boots and still dropped $1000........... easily. Went out and raced my novice season where it doesn't really matter how fast youre car is, because even if you are phenomenally talented it will take some time to figure it out and actually start to have a clue. (Yes, I'm sure that you are the exception to the rule, and quite possibly the next name on the Formula One prospect list - but trust me, it takes some time to get fast. Learn a few things before running wild with your hair on fire and the experienced guys who have to race around you might even agree to let you keep your licence! I'm sure the racers here will agree - we ALL though we were going to be fast out of the box but it's a lot harder than you think.) Anyway, I got a year of racing under my belt with a cheap car, one old set of tires, and some gas and oil - and had a blast by the way. It allowed me just enough experience to decide a few important things. First, I had some meager amount of talent that might, with careful development, allow me to not embarass my self among my racing peers. Second, I found that I liked it enough to put up with the huge sacrafices that go along with racing - time, effort, and money. Face facts - very, very, few drivers ever realize a positive cash flow from racing in the United States and statistics say that you won't be one of them. You have to REALLY love racing to spend the kind of money it takes to do it even at low levels. You have to REALLY love racing to lie under the car in January just to take everything on the stinking car apart that you put together less than a year ago just so you can clean all the parts, check them for cracks and wear, then put them all together again. You have to REALLY love racing to keep your foot planted in it at the end of the front straight when the car is vibrating like it's going to come apart because you know you took the time in January to make sure everything was good before you put it back on the car - sometimes twice, because you took it BACK apart because you couldn't remember whether you put Locktite on those bolts. Anyway, after I had enough experience to know what part of uncompetitive was the car, and what part was the driver, I started replacing parts one at a time so someday I will have a car that won't be my excuse for not winning - it will have to be MY fault. I've been running an EP car for the last couple of seasons and I haven't made the mistake of totaling up MY receipts, because if I knew how much I had into the car at this point it would probably just **** me off.

Keep in mind that you can make the payments on just about the nicest street car you can imagine for what you will spend racing every year - and have money left over. If racing doesn't reach down and grab you and refuse to let you go, there are definitely smarter ways to spend your money! For me, if I had to do it all again though, I still would without any hesitation. I REALLY love racing.

Good luck, Boswoj