Need Advice/tips - Building an ITA Saturn SC

[Mikster]

I have been racing SCCA since '04 in a SRF. Circumstances have given me the chance to turn my '92 Saturn SC2 into an ITA. My first time building a car, I could use all the advise and/or tip anyone can provide. Both for ITA in general and Saturn specific.

John (Mikster) Mikkelsen

[JLawton]

Advice #1: Don't build
Adivice #2: Don't race a Saturn


#1 Is serious, #2 is only half serious...............

See my car at kakashiracing dot com

you can e-mail me at jlawton at echn dot org

[joeg]

Heck if you want to build...go ahead.

Just double your budget.

I poured mucho dinero into my last build doing absolutely everything myself and getting a cheap shell (and having all the parts in storage). It is a lot of fun, though.

[gran racing]

It's really a racecars buyer market right now. Buy something already built and tinker with it. There are some seriously good deals out there!

[Xian]

Buying is certainly a smart move if you can get a solid car that has had all it's maintenance and has a decent cage... otherwise you may be buying someone else's issues. The other thing to consider is "why you want to race". Do you just want to race a competitive car in IT? Does it "need" to be an ITA car? What about other classes? Would you rather build/race a Saturn just b/c it's a Saturn (ability to compete aside)? Some folks want to run XXX car and could car less how much it costs or how competitive they'll be...

[924Guy]

Start practicing your wheel bearings changes. Note that this requires a press or maybe even dealer-specific tools in a Saturn.

What Jeff said.

[Mikster]

Reasons for building a Saturn: 1. I have had the car since '92 it has 275,000 miles on it and is not worth selling. 2. ITA is the only class this car can race in. 3. I like it. 4. While I want to be competitive, I want track time more. I have already started the work.

Jeff I will be emailing you for assistance.

Mikster

[Knestis]

1. I have had the car since '92 it has 275,000 miles on it and is not worth selling.

The money you are saving by starting with that car will be spent 10x by building rather than buying.

2. ITA is the only class this car can race in.

See #1.

3. I like it.

You'd better because it will sit unfinished in your garage for a long time.

4. While I want to be competitive, I want track time more. I have already started the work.

You can have more track time sooner by spending less on something else. Work spent is a sunk cost. You'll never get it back but good money after bad is always rough on the fun factor. Jeff can tell you more but you're looking at 2-3x the amount of $$ to just get it legal, safe, and out there, as you would spend on something that's already done.

K

[JeffYoung]

What's funny is I think everyone in this thread advocating buying v. building (and they are right by the way, from a purely rational perspective) ..... built their own car.

Buying a car makes economic sense and will get you on track sooner. BUT, you are still stuck with a car that someone else built there way. We've pretty much redone the 260z to Ron's liking, spending far more than the buy cost.

Building is more emotional and more expensive. But if you like tinkering and want things done YOUR way, it's the only way to go.

As an aside, the 260z experience (built in Atlanta in the early 90s and cheated all to hell when we got it) has made me add a corollary to the "cheaper to buy than build" concept. While generally true, it only is as true as we all think if you are just going to drive the car you bought "as is." EVERYONE thinks they know how to build a car, and once you "buy" one that someone else has bought you will soon start thinking "I really wish that..." And you will spend a lot of money and time correcting it.

[Z3_GoCar]

Hey Mik,

Welcome to the madness that's IT. My advice is to get the cage and suspension done before you move on to building the motor. I think Jeff has the connections to get some of the more unique parts for the Saturn chassis.

[Knestis]

What's funny is I think everyone in this thread advocating buying v. building (and they are right by the way, from a purely rational perspective) ..... built their own car. ...

To clarify, what worries me is when someone builds a car for the wrong reason - typically because they can't afford to buy one that's already done. "I already have it" is one of the 7 warning signs of making that mistake.

I built my car from scratch knowing full well that it was going to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $20K to get it right, and that I wouldn't be going into debt to do it - and that was back when Cameron and everyone else who helped were working for fun and pizza!

I would just hate to see you (John) make the same error that has caused a LOT of others to spend $$ and end up bummed out and not racing. Yeah, it's none of my business but the point of a community like this is to help out when we can. If you've got the $$ in the bank to start, and have enough discretionary dough to get it done by whatever date you expect to be on the track, then rock on. The acid test is, "Can I afford to buy - right now - a car as good as the one I want to end up with?" If the answer is "no" then one can NOT afford to build the same car, 'cause it's going to cost 2x as much!

If you've caught the credit-card, "build it over time as I can afford it" bug, you run the risk of joining the 250,000+ SCCA members who have come and gone since I got my member number. I'd wager that bad $$ decisions are the #1 reason that the road racers among those quit.

We'd rather have you stick around.

K