Chump car question

#1

Hello everyone,

I’m working on a chump car project to make a 91 318 into a chumpcar. Does anyone have any stock parts in good condition they would be willing to part with? Specifically springs, shocks/struts.

If anyone has any experience or pointers with chumpcar, I’m all ears.

Right now we’re just working on getting the cage and other safety gear in the car but we’re trying to get ideas going about how to make the car as fast as possible without cheating and hiding things.

Event is 11 Aug at VIR:)

Thanks,
Jason

#2

My advice: CHEAT. Put good suspension on the car. Convince them it came that way. We won the ChumpCar 25hr/25min/25sec Longest Race in the World at Nelson Ledges last year. Me, Skeen, Simon Hunter, and a few BMW Club Racers won it overall in the Duct Tape Motorsports E30 318is. In our case, the car actually DID come that way (along with a severely crumpled rear end).

#3

in chumpcar it doesn’t matter if the car “came that way” or not, non-stock suspension (and other performance enhancing parts like headers or poly bushings) count against your aiv. if you cheat and finish on the podium, expect to get caught.

we came in 2nd place at last year’s 24hr race at vir (with three more podium finishes since) and are looking to improve on that this year :slight_smile:

#4

It must feel good to cheat and win :wink:

#5

One thing about running stock suspension on an e30, when you take all the weight out, it will sit up really high…We have run stock stuff in 4 leMons/chumpcar on e30’s just becuase we are too lazy/cheap and spend all outr $$$ on our real race cars. I would make sure the suspensions is “safe” and run stock iS Bilsteins and maybe get some used performance springs off one of the boards.Fancy race bushings, coil overs, and camber plates, while you may be technically legal sort of go against the spirit of these events…If you want to go ahead and develop a race car for these types of events, knock yourself out. We got lucky and finished 3 out of 4 races, clutch problem got us last time out, The 2 times I did not run an e30, I ran an Alfa Romeo Milano that I literally pulled out of the weeds, chenged the fluids and all the rubber hoses (FI fuel hose is important…) and went racing.

#6

According to the chump and lemons forums anyone who brings an e30 is already cheating.

#7

IT’s changed, you used to be able to have a car, then add to it over time. Now they value the car as-is at each race. So aftermarket parts will likely make things worse for you.

My advice is to find stock or cheap parts and test them all to make sure they’re in good condition. A good, working stock shock is better than an adjustable Koni with 94,000 on it.

Also, try rebuilding shocks. Drain the oil and put new stuff in there. Makes a world of difference if you can get in there.

#8

:laugh:

I guess in text you couldn’t tell that I was mostly joking. What I really meant was to get some decent suspension on the car if you can. I was NOT saying that we cheated. The E30 we drove was not mine, but it has been raced in LeMons and Chump a lot and has been scrutinized by each. If you look at the top 10 cars in either race series, you would ask yourself for every one of those cars, “Is that thing really worth only $500?”. It’s each team’s job to convince the judges that it is.

So, let me rephrase my comment… MAXIMIZE YOUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. Better? :stuck_out_tongue:

See you on Monday at Chin, Eric!

#9

Thanks for the input guys. I’m really looking forward to this, I just hope the car makes it. See you out there Jason.

Jason