If I started a new stock class car

[Paul Merolla]

OK, I'll jump in. Robert, don't let everyone tell you you CAN'T! As long as you're not in a hurry, you can build it. Having built cars before, you already know there's more than one way to skin a cat. (or a 'Bird) I bought my 66 Nova in '02 and I'm still working on it. I haven't added up the receipts, but it's not a big deal when it's spread out over time. Also, 10K for a competitive stocker engine? Give me a break. I have no doubt people are spending that much, but you can do it for a lot less. There are two ways to build a car: get out your checkbook and catalog, or the other way: buy used, make it yourself, look for a deal, etc. I guess if all you care about is getting on the track, then buying would be the way to go. But if you like to build cars and have some time, build it!

[Signman]

It all depends on what you know, who you know and how soon you want to go racing.

If you don't know a lot about building drag cars........... buy a car.
If you don't have friends who are racing stock and are willing to advise you and point you in the right direction........ buy a car.
If you want to get out on the track quickly....... buy a car.

Just brought out my J/SA 4 year project. Here's my take:
Decided on a chassis and combo, looked around at what was out there and realized that anything competitive would cost 20K plus at least. The chassis would probably not have the work in it that I wanted. Most of these are street cars with parts bolted on. The car would most likely not be fresh or sold with the best parts the owner had for it. More than likely would end up taking it apart, doing all the work and purchase new parts or freshened parts, easily spending another 15K.
Now we have 35K in the car. that may only be worth 25K.

Got lucky and stumbled on to a rust free street driven south western chassis. Tore it down and assembled the car the way I wanted using all the good advise available to me building and buying correctly the first time. Did as much of the work as possible my self. Made deals, bought some used and paid full price for good parts. Spent under 30K for a competitive car that I'm proud of and happy with. The cost was spread out over 4 years which made it less painful. No loans or credit card balances to pay off.
Rest assured that if you cannot do the majority of the dirty work, building a competitive stocker will set you back 50K PLUS. The man hours are incredible. Good parts are expensive.

We are not talking about an A, B, or C car. How fast do you want to go?

[partsbob67]

here's my tale. 92 mustang 5.0.-3500.00. c-4 and converter- 1200.00. 8.8 axles, spool,c-clip elim, gears-800.00. head work,cam,lifters,springs-1000.00,wheels,tires-1000.00. shifte,rollbar-1050.00. car only runs 2-3 under, but goes rounds. spending more money this winter to rebuild short block since it has a 108,000 miles on it. money was well spent because i love stock elim racing!!!!!

[Robert Swartz]

Thank you for the replys, both good and bad. This was enlightening. Whether I decide to go ahead with my plans or not, nothing written here has made up my mind or discouraged me. I now have some insight.
I'd truly like to think I'm not as naive about this as I may appear. Back in the 70's, I ran with some guys that held a few records in both NHRA and IHRA. It was alot of money, work and sweat then, no doubt it is little different today.

As far as the 20K number, well, that is the amount that generically keeps surfacing. I use it as a mark. Does the amount of money to build a car, any car scare me, yes, we're not in boom times, economy wise. As I'll be upfront, I'm not a rich man, from what I'm reading here, a bunch of you all must be. If, and this is a big If, I do this, the only way I can do this is to build a car. Does it mean I'll have a stocker (I already have a go running bracket car and I'm presently updating it) on the track next year, likely not. When or if I do get one completed, will it immediately be competitive, again, likely not.

If no one builds any new cars, what's the fun in that? Otherwise, all you're doing is recycling the same old worn out cars that have been thrashed for the last 10-20-30 or more years! I want to do something besides bracket race, for all the potential headaches, I want to give this a try. I want to come play in the sandbox, it's just my bucket and shovel may not be as nice and shiny as yours.

Hope to meet some of you in the staging lanes, someday.

Robert Swartz

[bob gonier]

Originally Posted by Robert Swartz

So, I'm gonna play the part of a fish here and BITE. What makes these cars SO expensive to initially build??

I'm just trying to grasp the concept. I have built a couple cars in my lifetime, albeit that was a long time ago. I'm currently resurrecting my old bracket 66 Chevy II, that I parked 20 years ago. That has reschooled me a bit on what things cost today

I'm not asking for secrets, just someone explain to me, WHY, one cannot build one of these cars. This 20K+ number keeps rearing it's head. Or perhaps let me rephrase my question, is it just you can build a car BUT will it take this 20-30K to build a nationally competitive level car?

I'm a man of modest means. I can build something, given time. I just don't have 10-15-20-30K lying around, doing nothing that I can soak into a vehicle all at once. Educate me, in the end, perhaps I'm out of my league and truly CAN'T do this?

As many have stated or tried to state, the parts add up real quick. Stuff you never thought you'd need are needed and hard to find or expensive...... OR BOTH....USUALLY BOTH. The engine aint no big deal but all the stuff needed to allow it to run are. Wanna run fast.....how much you wanna spend ???? I dont care how thrifty you are parts are parts and cost money. Fast parts = more $$$$$$$ In MY opinion it doesnt cost that much more to build a .4 under stocker than it does to build a good bracket car, but how long are you gonna be happy with that ???? WAY, WAY cheaper to buy a turn key car. Personally, I know of a turn key Super Stocker that has gone 1.0 under for less than 12k !!!!!


JMO......




bob

[BRIAN SEATE]

Try the local footbrake cars, many are close to stock. Many with good parts( roll bar, rear) The later mailbus are reasonable and have full frames. Paint it yourself if your local comm. college has a night program. A solid color is easy to spray with guidance and a booth to bake it in. I do realize your situation and fully understand the high costs involved. Stay with a Chevy , as engine combos are readily available. You can go crate to traditional stock fairly easy. Also I.H.R.A. offers Stock G.T. as an option. Stacie Ridings runs Stock G.T., may want to talk to her. The standard in the quarter would be hard to run with a basically stock engine out of the box. The answer may be running eighth mile to start with. Limited work would run most indexes. Points Meets and Combo races offer lots of opportunities. I have been around class racing my entire life and I am at a crossroads. When I finish school I am probably going to run Stock. A good engine for our stick Vette would be at least 15,000, also high maintenance. A hydraulic cammed automatic Stocker is the ticket. Dad and I dont want an automatic in our old Modified car anyway,just wouldnt be right. Also consider the restoration side of an old car. Trim and interior add up quick. Good luck on your endeavors. As far as indexes, I was referring to crate motors out of the box.

[dartman]

I lucked into G/SA rust free Demon for 20 k. had two motors (340) which runs .991 at the dutch . came with allot of parts and everything to put it back on the street(all but the back seat). it was on ebay.That was the cheapest and fastest way to go racing in stock for a dodge guy.