Looking into F/SA, why spend $50k?

[Dan Fahey]

One key reason Stock has a good following are the racers that like to build their imaginary hot rod, or the odd combination even unpopular combinations.
Who would of thought of building a Fairmont or Gremlin or or or or!
Then making them run under the index and some times a national record.
Bracket Cars anyone can build a fast one.
Class Cars are are different with a loyal following and not always about the money.
It is about the chase and ability to get a slow car going very fast!
Such as Penny Pinching Nees vs Daddy War Buck Copo.
For some reason when you go Bracket racing there seems to be a target to get you.
Sweet when you win!

[devo340]

Interesting thread.
My Son & I are jumping into Stock.
I'm sure it will be a learning curve for sure.


We were fortunate to be able to trade one of our bracket cars for a Stocker.
That was the cheapest way for us to get started.
We will probably be running IHRA more than NHRA.
Memphis should be our first race.

[davidhuff]

Originally Posted by Michael Beard

I don't have $50K in my Super Stocker, nor is there $50K in Terry's Stocker I drive. They're not the fastest by a long shot, but they've both won Wallys and World Championships. *CAN* you blow $50K on a Stocker? I imagine. Guess it all depends on what your goals are. Pick your battles.

What did you guys spend?

[Cdncarnut]

You do not need to spend $50K on an F/SA.
I paid a little extra up front, because of the body style that I wanted and I was looking for a car that did not need body or paint, was solid and reasonably clean.
It is not the fastest F/SA, but I run with a local S/SS group and I just need to be under the IHRA index.
Last year was my first year in the car, so I spent a few dollars on a few upgrades and the usual on maintenance items.
This year I needed to have the transmission gone through and a gear change.
By the time I make my first pass, this year, I will have somewhere just north of $35K in the car, and that is Canadian dollars.

I looked for a car for 4 years while I bracket raced.
If I can give you one piece of advice, buy a car that you like, is under the index and is legal.
Making improvements and making the car "yours", is half the fun.

[Signman]

Was like you wanting to try Stock but did not know much about it.
The way it unfolded could be unique I started by hanging around the pits asking a few questions and friends introducing me to theirs who ran stock for many years. Through work and my engine builder met a well know stock racer and we hit it off. After about a year, while bracket racing and driving pretty good he offered me a ride which I took advantage of for a couple of years. Was a great learning experience from several standpoints to say the least it opened doors.
When that ended went back to bracket racing and began looking at the guide and deciding what I wanted to do. Got a lot of good advice from seasoned stock racers to buy an existing car but liking things my way and having some ideas that would more than likely not be incorporated in an existing car in my price range decided to build a car from scratch. It took 5 years to get to the track mostly because some of my ideas being the less glorious dirty work you would pay thousands of dollars for others to do and well sometimes I just did not feel like setting my coveralls on fire and getting dirt in my eyes!
The effort was to get the car to the track be happy with what it would run and just race which I did and was somewhat successful.
At the time the chassis I picked if an existing stocker would have cost 20-25K for for pretty much what I ended up with from a performance standpoint without some of the dirty work which would have ended up doing later and spent more money. As predicted the cost of the scratch built car was higher but having had the opportunity to race stock and meet everyone gained valuable information on what was necessary, the best advise was if your going to buy a part purchase what you would ultimately need not just what will work and figure you'll buy the good stuff later just buy the best you can afford once. Had between 30-35K in the car when it hit the track did not have the best engine and transmission but felt the chassis was very good my focus on the build.
Came out in 2009 and ran under the index after some on track tuning and experience with it ran well under. Picked the combo because not many were running it but in the five years it took to get out others had switched and got it some horsepower.
The class I ran it in was ans is not very populated but the way things were working out it became obvious was lining up for heads ups second and third round could not win and got my head handed to me trying to play the ladder a little so either had to make the best of it or step up the program. But the car was killer consistent and went rounds!
What makes stock and super stock so great is the racers a few who became friends watched me flog the car front to back race after race trying to improve it. Resisting updating the engine as it was a quality piece that though not fast could go 300 runs and was killer consistent. Decided to buy a lightweight transmission but no improvement, these same fellas told me I was short on horsepower and no matter how much more the car was flogged there would be not much to gain.
Had a decision to make in being happy with what I had or "open my wallet".

[Michael Beard]

Originally Posted by davidhuff

What did you guys spend?

I bought the Volare as a turnkey crate motor Stocker for $9K. Throughout its life as a Stocker, it got a fuel cell, an Auto Meter playback tach, rewiring, and freshened the engine periodically, and did little upgrades along the way. I had about $18K in upgrading everything to run Super Stock. I did later backhalf the car, but in retrospect, didn't have to, although the shocks and Moser 60 rear were a good investment. I'm actually going back down to a smaller tire, hopefully this weekend (29.5x10.5 M/T Pro Bracket Radial).

The biggest investment is going to be the engine. Other than that, invest in getting the converter right, radials, a good tach and shifter, and let it eat. Our Stocker setups have always been just Super Stock leaf springs, and a pinion snubber. The Volare just had stock shocks for a very long time. Most of the things on a Stocker build list are more on the "want" and "go fast" lists more than the "need" list.

I think we got about $10K in upgrading Terry's car from crate motor to NHRA Stock, which was a turnkey engine, upgrading trans, more gear, and loosening the converter. 'Course he got a decent chunk of that back by selling the crate motor.

You can save a lot of money by knowing what your end goal is and spending smart money on the right stuff in the right places the first time, instead of upgrading a little bit at a time.

[Bobby Zlatkin]

Michael has a way of looking at things in such a logical way.

[Larry Hill]

I got my street car soon to be stocker for $600.00. Then started working on it. I do a lot of the work myself and have a big time racing. Do what you can afford and have fun with your family at the races.

[Ronnie Charnes]

Well said Larry