Getting Started -
So you want to go street stock racing. What do you need? Let us think a moment before we consider a car. What if someone gave you a car, you still need a few other things.
How are you going to get to the track? Where are you going to work on the car? What are you going to use for tools.
The methods for towing are flat towing, wrecker or flatbed trailers of many varieties. Flat towing is not really an option, what happens if the car gets badly damaged? What about lights for night towing? Wreckers may not be available at the time you need them. Many types of trailers are hard to load the car. The best option is to find or get the use of a trailer that has a dove tail back portion to make loading easy.
Next you must have a place to work on the car, do you have room in your garage to keep tools and work on the car. Do you have a friend’s garage or a sponsors garage to work in.
What kind of tools will you need. Unless you are going to farm out a lot of work you will need a few minimum tools. The first being a welder. A mig welder that is 220v is one tool that you will really need. Even if you don’t know how to weld. A friend that can weld is easier to find than borrowing a welder. Don’t go over board on extras, a basic welder will work with flux wire. You do not have to have gas. I found a very good price at Harbor Freight and also found some good prices at discount stores like Costco. The shopping could save you $100 to $300 so check around. I found that my son was fairly good with a welder from his high school shop class. Also a friend was a good welder. I am working on learning to weld, but I let those with more experience work on the car welding. Also you might find you have a problem plugging in the 220v welder unless your garage already has an outlet for it. I found that a heavy duty extension cord worked fine when I plugged it into the stove outlet in the kitchen. you could also use the dryer connection if it is closer and easier to get to the plug. A cutting torch would be nice but not required. I have not got one yet and seem to be doing OK right now. I did have to buy sawsall and 4 1/2 inch hand grinder. You can find many prices and qualities. Make sure that you compare apples with apples. Grinder should be 33,000 rpm, 4 or 4 1/2 inch. No matter what kind of jack you use make or buy at least two floor stands. Never work under the car without at least two stands. I have four stands and use as many as needed. Never sacrifice safety for speed or lack of funds for equipment. Safety equipment is the best insurance that you will be there to race most weekends.
Now lets get to the car. I have read books that advised that I buy a used race car to start. This will let you get to the track sooner and might give you time to learn some of the skills that you might not have at a slower pace. the decision to build a car should not be taken lightly. It takes a lot of work and commitment to complete this project. They say that a used car will be cheaper than building one. Well I found that cars were expensive and I built one for under $1300 including the cost of the welder and tools. I could not find a running race car to buy for less that $1100 at the close of the season last year and I did not like any of the types they had available.
This was my car costs:
$250 ‘79 Grand Prix that runs, good body from a car dealer that likes to support racing.
$295 Roll Cage Kit Shipping included ordered from add in magazine.
$100 Racing Seat w/cover
$ 50 Seat Installation Kit
$ 75 5 Point Racing Harness
$310 Mig Welder
$125 Welding Supplies, Helmet, Gloves, Flux Wire
$ 45 4 1/2” Grinder and Pads
$1250 Total
I had friends help with stripping the car and installing roll cage. Again you need to evaluate if you have the experience and determination to finish it if you start and if you have a circle of friends that can help and will stick with you till it’s done. If you have doubts then by all means look for a race car to buy ready to race.
Looking over a used racecar. Don’t be mislead by a sharp paint job. Look over the construction of the car. Has the car been stripped down, no seat, gauges, belts etc. it had better be really cheap or it is not worthwhile.
The last choice is have someone build you a car. Shop around for a builder or look at other cars that the person has built and then when you have selected a builder make sure to spell out what the builder will complete and what you will complete, so that there is no confusion when you go to pick up the car. A reputable person building cars will be happy to do this.
The Car -
In a strictly street class you can run almost any type of car that you want. You should check the track rules for the following, wheel base, body style restrictions, weight, engine, tires and wheels. If you are running with liberal tire and weight rules try to find a lighter car. Don’t spend a lot on the car, concentrate on decent body and running gear. You can always rebuild the engine. A few places you might check are: Junk yard that will donate the car for advertizing, Used car lot that sells cars under $1000 from their lot. You can then let them know you are racing it and no registration required. I found a couple of lots that were cooperative. You might select one that has very poor interior, you have to rip it out anyway. I was able to get mine for $250 and it runs good. It did not have any keys and the steering wheel lock and ignition were gone. But we hot wired it and I drove it home. Try to ovoid any offbeat cars, remembering you want to be able to get spare parts for front end and fenders easily.
Stripping It -
If you have a late model car, you might be able to sell some of the interior or glass. Try to remove seats and glass in one piece, not an easy task. The door glass I managed to save but the panel glass shattered. I did not remove the windsheild or backglass as we can run with those intact. If you are not slavaging any of the interior, get it all in one load to the dump as soon as poosible. It only cost me $3.00 to dump everything, one pickup load.
Roll Cage -
At the price of roll cage kits I would not even consider trying to fabricate one myself. Check any racing magazine and you will find several places that send you a kit for your model car and shipping is usually included in the price. When they say that it fits your model car, that is with minor modifications. I think one kit fits all mid-size GM and so on.
Your street roll cage willl consist of the main hoop, roof hoop, dash bar, main diagonal, main crossbar, windshield/door posts, and door bars. At some later date I will get a complete instructions on how to install your cage. If you are installing one and need it sooner e-mail me at: txoutlw@nevadaracing.com