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Thread: new racer wannabe help

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Williamsport, PA, USA
    Posts
    130

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    Rage Racing,

    ITS240z18 has gone to great effort to make the same point I was attempting. Building a car is difficult. In both our cases it was forced on us with a learning curve under duress.
    Additionally, I forgot to also mention the blatently illegal suspension parts that came with the car. I removed them based on my sense of ethics and what bothers me is that I paid for them when I bought the car. Adjustable front trailing arms and an additional bar welded between the rear shock towers provided no real advantage other than creating an easy protest.
    Therefore, one main advantage to crewing for people, is that if you decide to buy, you could have an experienced friend to join you when looking at a potential car and help in negotiations and determine if their are potential problems, illegalities or technical based.
    If you are determined to build a car, that is fine since the car is sitting in your garage. Maybe you should do it in phases. Build it as an autocross car to start. Solo II is inexpensive one day fun. Next, install safety equipment and turn it into a Solo I car. Run some hillclimbs. These events are not bad tows if you are in the eastern half of Ohio. I am not sure if anyone has yet to mention the grand you will drop in personal safety equipment alone. Since the mid 90's my wife has done birthday and Christmas shopping for me from racing catalogs and she has been conviently provided exact part numbers. The point is that unless you have lots of disposable income, getting into road racing has to be gradual.
    I believe Mike or Mark Cefelo of Cefelo Motorworks had a Prelude running in ITA and for sale a couple of year ago. You may want to contact them in terms of what it would take to build the car.
    Where in Ohio are you located?

    Bill Emery
    Glen Region
    ITA#23


  2. #22
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Orlando, FL, USA
    Posts
    2,322

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    Originally posted by RX767:
    I am not sure if anyone has yet to mention the grand you will drop in personal safety equipment alone.
    Rage Racing,

    You are getting some excellent advice here.

    Don't forget that you can hang around the track crewing, see if you like it, rent a car for a school and be on your way to road racing. Personally, I skipped part one and was on the track in days getting driver's school credit--without having to buy a car.

    If you have the time and inclination to build, fine. But that is not your only option.

    Regarding safety equipment, get the good stuff. It doesn't cost much more and will be more comfortable to use. We can lend you some product for your first time out.

    ------------------
    Gregg Baker
    Isaac, LLC
    [email protected]

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Location
    Milwaukee, WI
    Posts
    1,193

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    From someone who built his car before checking the board:

    1) If you have a budget, double it. Seriously. You have all the big things down, it's all the little stuff that kills you (why a kill switch costs $60 is beyond me! And, $5 per stick for cage padding? Come on!)

    2) Take you time. Do not expect to be on track and racing within the first year with your car. I had mine on track about a year after I started on it, but it wasn't at a drivers school or race, just a lapping day. This showed me what else needed to be done to the car and also let me start learning how to drive.

    3) You will begin to hate working on the car. There will be points at which you don't even want to look at the thing. Depending on how things go, you may go through periods of anxiety and/or depression. Be prepared for this and, more importantly, be aware of this and spend some time away from the car. Your loved ones will thank you for this!

    If you decide to buy a car, here are some of the things I've learned:

    1) KNOW THE RULES!! Go over the car looking for rules infractions. If they exist, know that you will have to fix them and what that will cost. Fixing an illegal suspension component is easier than fixing a cage, but still a PITA.

    2) Buy from someone who is still racing the car. Preferrably, buy it from him/her at the track, just after he/she have finished a race. Watch the car and learn what it does. If they offer lunch touring laps, take the car out for that and see how it feels, even at reduced speeds.

    3) Get all the notes and history you can with the car. Someone who has kept detailed notes about setup, wins/losses, tire histories, etc, will probably charge more for the car, but it will most likely pay off in the long term. The more you know, the better off you are.

    Well, that's all I can think of for now. Building a car, especially an oddball, can be fun (especially when you see others winning with your car model!), but it takes time and patience. If you want to be on track next year, either a) get divorced, sell the house and move into a garage or buy an existing car (or c) rent!).

    Oh, and for peace in you life, make sure your wife is involved in the decisions and is aware of everything that you are doing. If you start hiding stuff from her, either your racing career is going to be short or your marriage will be!


    ------------------
    Bill
    Planet 6 Racing
    bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Houston, TX USA
    Posts
    2,555

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    Originally posted by gsbaker:
    Regarding safety equipment, get the good stuff.
    Absolutely!

    Remember, your life depends upon it. I'm serious as a heart-attack. When I was racing karts, my Bell helmet saved my life. I don't mean to make it out to be bigger than it was, but I don't want to make out to be less either. The helmet did it's job as all safety equipment should. Get good safety equipment. You never know what is going to happen to you. Remember, you're sharing the track with others and, well, things happen.


    ------------------
    George Roffe
    Houston, TX
    84 944 ITS car under construction
    92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
    http://www.nissport.com

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Lima, Ohio
    Posts
    61

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    okay well once again kick arse advise from all.. Thanks

    well on the good side I have secured 2 honda technicians who well one was easily bribed for beer and the other is literally alive because I saved him... BTW I am a paramedic and this guy was in one of the worst accidents I have ever seen.. so when I talked to him today he jumped all over it for me.. so a good start is away.. and a hell of a long way to go...
    I look forward to kicking the fenders and doors in frustration I am warped I guess. and as far as finances go well they are tight but I think I can swing it..
    I live in Lima Ohio and will be willing to do some in state or close out of state driving to help with or check out some of you guys work.. and or crew during races
    also while I am in the question asking arena what is the best cost vs. weight/strength to use for the cage I have it lined up to be put in next month. just need to decide which avenue of tubing to go with

  6. #26
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    IT.com "First Loser" Greensboro, NC USA
    Posts
    8,607

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    If you are interested in a street version of the '93ish Integra, I know a guy who has one that he has been looking to sell. I can vouch for its mechanical condition, having looked at it myself. Email me if you are interested.

    Kirk

    PS - it's in N. Virginia.

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Monroeville, PA USA
    Posts
    541

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    The tubing for the roll cage depends on the weight of the car. Again, the GCR has it spelled out for you. You might want to talk to KIRK Racing in Mt. Olive, Alabama-that is where I bought mine. The quality of their products is outstanding and it will conform to the rules.

    ------------------
    Grandpa's toys-modded suspensions and a few other tweaks
    '89 CRX Si-SCCA ITA #99
    '99 Prelude=a sweet song
    '03 Dodge Dakota Club Cab V8-Patriot Blue gonna tow

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    newington, ct
    Posts
    4,182

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    Here are a few questions you really need to answer...
    - Do you care how competitive you are when you get out on the track? Or is running mid to the back of the pack o.k. for the first few years? And I'm definately not saying it can't be fun! There are always races within the race.
    - How much time do you have to spend building the car? Even if you don't do much to it, just the basics, it can be time consuming and pretty stressful. If you are looking to race next spring and decide to build your own car, get started now!
    - How much money can you spend on the project. Of course if you build the car, you can ease you way into it. Maybe build it to a point to get out on the track, sell it in a few years and BUY a real race car. (Basically my plan)

    If you haven't done any HPDEs, definately do so before running with SCCA - take a year to do these events. If you decide to build a car, also use this time to build it to meet the GCR rules.

    So, is your prelude an si? I race an 1987 Prelude si in the new england region. Unfortunately it is in ITA and will never be a front runner in that class. I was basically in the same situation you are in now. Had the car and it wasn't being used for much. I basically did very little to the car. Safety gear, suspension, exhaust and that's about it. Oh, can't forget the junk yard rims.

    As for aftermarket parts being readily avail. for this car, not really true. I had Leda build me a custom suspension because I couldn't find anyone who already had one designed for the car.

    I do really enjoy the car overall and think it is a great beginner car. Sometimes novices get in cars that are too much for them to handle. If you make a mistake, that's o.k. because your car has enough HP to make up for it. Not this car. Kinda like some of the other lower HP cars. If you screw up, you'll definately know it on the next straight. In that situation, everybody will just fly right by you. Well, many cars will fly by you anyways but you get my point. The good thing is that it forces you to drive correctly. I feel that it will make you a better driver.

    This can definately be said about the ITC guys (the cars with the least HP). Notice I didn't say slowest cars. In my opinion, these drivers are some of the best I've seen. (and yes, there are plenty in other classes in the NER) I'm amazed at what they can do with such little HP. They never use the brakes because they can't afford to!

    Sorry, getting a bit off track here (not again!). If you decide to build your prelude, let me know. Maybe I can give you some useful ideas - [email protected]

    Good luck! Dave

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Lima, Ohio
    Posts
    61

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    it has the 1.8 L SOHC Dual Carb engine
    and as far as being competitive well I wanna race and learn.. and learning is not gonna be a problem whether I am in the front or back of the pack..
    time for building is plenty for me .. budget is kinda low thats why I am pretty much doing the whole thing top to bottom myself..

    as for the car I love the way it handles off the line so I figure with a few susp. changes it will be even better then as you said being that it wont be the fastest car out there I will have to concentrate on learning to drive it to make up for HP..



  10. #30
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Lima, Ohio
    Posts
    61

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    well the interior is completely out minus the upper dash and head board.. only took about 2 hrs measuring up the cage tonight.. and hopefully it will be in and complete in about a month..

  11. #31
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Houston, TX USA
    Posts
    2,555

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    Originally posted by rage_racing:
    budget is kinda low thats why I am pretty much doing the whole thing top to bottom myself..
    Well, if that's your motivation....

    I know where you can get a ITA RX-7 with spare engine, gearbox, and a boatload of other stuff for $3,500.


    ------------------
    George Roffe
    Houston, TX
    84 944 ITS car under construction
    92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
    http://www.nissport.com

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