Zimo Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 A little information for anyone thinking about getting into this, I have been recording everything I've bought since the beginning. The attached PDF is where I am at in $$ after 2 years of champcar and 4 races in. Its isolated to just my costs of building the car and keeping it maintained (parts only cost, I do all the labor). I run a 325ci E46. Curious to know what the range of budgets are on some of these builds. E46 Racecar Budget.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvumtnbkr Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 I think my new build is around 7k total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee mcoppola Posted September 13, 2019 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) Adds up quick doesn't it? That's the kind of stuff you should never show to your wife. Edited September 13, 2019 by mcoppola 3 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Ray Franck Posted September 13, 2019 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 What kind of seat are you using ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jer Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 My Ecotec Miata build initially was about 6500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indysupra Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 2 hours ago, Zimo said: A little information for anyone thinking about getting into this, I have been recording everything I've bought since the beginning. The attached PDF is where I am at in $$ after 2 years of champcar and 4 races in. Its isolated to just my costs of building the car and keeping it maintained (parts only cost, I do all the labor). I run a 325ci E46. Curious to know what the range of budgets are on some of these builds. E46 Racecar Budget.pdf 88.24 kB · 25 downloads How much did you pay for the car? I might have missed it but I didn’t see that in there? I also have kept very good records of all three of the car builds and it add ups quick. I would say most teams are 10-15 with more and more being closer to the 20 mark. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimo Posted September 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) Ha the one thing i don't have to worry about is there is no wife to hide all this from. I spent just under 9k to get to race 1. But after the first motor blows up, transmission breaks, crankcase vent clogs and blows out the rear main/destroys the clutch, you have second thoughts about all the Chinese parts you bought and decide to replace them with OEM, and your trying to close the 10second/lap gap between your car and the top of class C.. yes its adding up pretty quick hahaha. Running a FIA rated corbeau seat out of my other car and I paid $800 for the car to start with. Edited September 13, 2019 by Zimo 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Mustang Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 Add some more $$ if one goes to a fuel cell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Sampson Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) Man are you brave keeping those #'s... I do my best to forget them ASAP E36 build (former ARCA Car) for endurance racing $20K E46 ground up build out for endurance racing closer to $35K Edited September 13, 2019 by Shawn Sampson 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostmint Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 19 hours ago, Zimo said: you have second thoughts about all the Chinese parts you bought and decide to replace them with OEM I am not sure OEM is required, but definitely agree to get quality parts. I have been to this school of hard knocks as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jer Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 (edited) My biggest fail was the cheap ebay coilovers. Worthless. Going with spec Miata Billies was more expensive but the difference in performance was astounding. Edited September 14, 2019 by Jer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMoneyWasters Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 Was thinking about starting on my old E46 that's sitting in my backyard. Looking at those numbers made me scrap that. Gonna hope my E30 keeps going another 6 years. Wow. I cannot unsee that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee mcoppola Posted September 14, 2019 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 C'mon @BigMoneyWasters live up to your name. Build it!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewheelerZ Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 Can I ask a serious question here: why haven't the moderators shutdown/deleted this thread yet....?! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvumtnbkr Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 Why would they? My team mate was giving me a free e46. I started doing the math and decided to buy another rx7 and engine swap it because it was cheaper than building the e46. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewheelerZ Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 i was just kidding. I know how much these stupid cars cost and have made my peace with it! 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Mustang Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 Besides the fact that it ain’t cheap no matter what, one can still spend as much as they like. Car choice sure does seem to have an effect though!! We haven’t pulled the trigger yet but looking hard at a Corvette and we did compare that cost with an E30 and felt the Vette was the same or slightly less overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Infiniti Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 3 hours ago, 67Mustang said: Besides the fact that it ain’t cheap no matter what, one can still spend as much as they like. Car choice sure does seem to have an effect though!! We haven’t pulled the trigger yet but looking hard at a Corvette and we did compare that cost with an E30 and felt the Vette was the same or slightly less overall. My vetts are sentimental, I will give you a smoking good deal to let me be driver for a race. You really should txt me lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Mustang Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Team Infiniti said: My vetts are sentimental, I will give you a smoking good deal to let me be driver for a race. You really should txt me lol Texting is in order and has begun lol Let the Horsetrading begin! Edited September 14, 2019 by 67Mustang 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick.Cook23@yahoo.com Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 We are a mid-pack team, a couple of class wins, but never even close to an overall win. So I don’t know what it costs to win overall. That said... We spent bout $5K for a car, cage, and all safety equipment for the car (seat, harness, fire suppression, etc.) Anyone who gets into racing like we did - on a budget - find a car with lots of parts at your local salvage yard. Yes, motors and transmissions cost money to rebuild - but it really helps to be able to easily find a salvage motor for $200. We ended up just buying an entire non-running spares car for $300 - came with extra set of wheels (you will bend/break some), electronics, suspension arms (this bend/break too, when people run into you), brake calipers and rotors. Yes, all the after market parts are better/cost more, but there is so much to learn when starting out anyhow, we just ran stock stuff, with Hawk pads and good tires, and focused on getting our driving improved. So we picked a car with lots of parts at salvage yard and bought a spares car. We had stock suspension for first two years - we focused on reliability and our driving. But cost of build - for us - was tiny compared to cost of racing. We spent between $3-4K per race in entry, tires, fuel, brake pads, etc. When we do 4 or 5 race weekends per year - that’s $12-15k for a single season - and that doesn’t include replacing engines, transmissions, etc. (see paragraph above for keeping repair costs down). So, the cost of the build is nothing compared to the cost of all the racing. We have continued to improve the car each year - after market sway bars, improves springs & struts, etc. But that’s been like $1K each year - again, peanuts compared to race weekend cost. Again, this is running a mid-pack, but reliable, low budget team. We didn’t/don’t spend anywhere near the $15-20K I see some have spent building a car. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Benty Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 (edited) On 9/12/2019 at 7:11 PM, mcoppola said: Adds up quick doesn't it? That's the kind of stuff you should never show to your wife. On 9/12/2019 at 5:43 PM, Zimo said: A little information for anyone thinking about getting into this, I have been recording everything I've bought since the beginning. The attached PDF is where I am at in $$ after 2 years of champcar and 4 races in. Its isolated to just my costs of building the car and keeping it maintained (parts only cost, I do all the labor). I run a 325ci E46. Curious to know what the range of budgets are on some of these builds. E46 Racecar Budget.pdf 88.24 kB · 66 downloads ‘Built my car for less than 5k. Including safety. But I did everything. Car was cheap. Very cheap. Junk yard motor for 200 dollars, six cylinder trans and rear end I rebuilt. The most expensive item was the Painless wiring harness. And it has finished every race it has entered. We were not competitive because of new drivers but we could turn and stop with any car on the track. I made the mistake of building the motor to “ the spirit of the series” and got walked buy the top ten cars on the straights. ( will NOT make that mistake again) Changed fluids, tires and brakes pad. Put a wrench on every bolt and go to the next race. It can be done on a budget. The best part is I would take my wife with me to swap meets and got her involved. It worked for us but you may need to test the waters. It can be done on a budget. Picking the right car is key. The 46 is an outstanding car but far from budget friendly.. There are other good choices for significantly less costs. Best of luck. Edited September 15, 2019 by Cam Benty 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gkuhn41 Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 2 hours ago, Cam Benty said: I made the mistake of building the motor to “ the spirit of the series” and got walked buy the top ten cars on the straights. ( will NOT make that mistake again) I’d like more elaboration on this lol. I’d say the “Spirit of the series” would be to find a motor in the junkyard and run it from what everyone else says. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_e Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 3 minutes ago, Gkuhn41 said: I’d like more elaboration on this lol. I’d say the “Spirit of the series” would be to find a motor in the junkyard and run it from what everyone else says. Some people say stuff they would like you to believe. 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Gkuhn41 said: I’d like more elaboration on this lol. I’d say the “Spirit of the series” would be to find a motor in the junkyard and run it from what everyone else says. The last couple of junkyard engines I brought back to the shop somehow ended up in pieces! Spontaneous disassembly or maybe the engine elves paid me a visit, hard to say but I managed to put them back together again. Seemed to work well enough after. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbogrill Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 14 hours ago, Rick.Cook23@yahoo.com said: We are a mid-pack team, a couple of class wins, but never even close to an overall win. So I don’t know what it costs to win overall. That said... We spent bout $5K for a car, cage, and all safety equipment for the car (seat, harness, fire suppression, etc.) Anyone who gets into racing like we did - on a budget - find a car with lots of parts at your local salvage yard. Yes, motors and transmissions cost money to rebuild - but it really helps to be able to easily find a salvage motor for $200. We ended up just buying an entire non-running spares car for $300 - came with extra set of wheels (you will bend/break some), electronics, suspension arms (this bend/break too, when people run into you), brake calipers and rotors. Yes, all the after market parts are better/cost more, but there is so much to learn when starting out anyhow, we just ran stock stuff, with Hawk pads and good tires, and focused on getting our driving improved. So we picked a car with lots of parts at salvage yard and bought a spares car. We had stock suspension for first two years - we focused on reliability and our driving. But cost of build - for us - was tiny compared to cost of racing. We spent between $3-4K per race in entry, tires, fuel, brake pads, etc. When we do 4 or 5 race weekends per year - that’s $12-15k for a single season - and that doesn’t include replacing engines, transmissions, etc. (see paragraph above for keeping repair costs down). So, the cost of the build is nothing compared to the cost of all the racing. We have continued to improve the car each year - after market sway bars, improves springs & struts, etc. But that’s been like $1K each year - again, peanuts compared to race weekend cost. Again, this is running a mid-pack, but reliable, low budget team. We didn’t/don’t spend anywhere near the $15-20K I see some have spent building a car. So this is why I don't understand why people complain about stuff being less points. So who cars if hubs are now 5pts, that's a $100 part! That's 1-2hours of tires. Or if a swap is $2000 or $3000, that's less than entry fee for one race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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