 |
|
Hi all,
I’ve been on the fence about whether to run Spec E30 or 944 Cup next year, but the nice writeup in GRM may have pushed me over the edge toward the E30. I have 12 years of expereince with 944s, and frankly am getting a bit weary of their maintenance issues.
I’m looking for a car to buy in the mid-Atlantic area. If anypone has any leads, please let me know.
Thanks
Terry Thomas
Terry, where do you live? If you are close to Atlanta the group at Geno’s Garage know all things spec e30 related. There are cars just waiting to be built in this area. Regards, Robert Patton (770)886-2500
obviously depending on the car and condition, but any idea what you are looking to spend.
Being as you are in leesburg, there are a few of us in this area with cars already that might be able to either lend a hand on a build or recommend some shops to build.
j
jonmca wrote:
[quote]obviously depending on the car and condition, but any idea what you are looking to spend.
Being as you are in leesburg, there are a few of us in this area with cars already that might be able to either lend a hand on a build or recommend some shops to build.
j[/quote]
Well, the GRM article seems to indicate costs running in the $7-12K range. I figure 2K for the car, 2.5K for a Piper cage (he built the cage in my spec Miata), and probably another 3-5 for all the suspension and ancillaries, depending on whether I paint it.
I can do everything but the cage and paint myself, but it would be great to get together with some of you local guys during the process, and to have a look at your cars. I’d come to this week’s NASA event, but I have to be out of town.
Terry
TerryT wrote:
[quote]jonmca wrote:
[quote]obviously depending on the car and condition, but any idea what you are looking to spend.
Being as you are in leesburg, there are a few of us in this area with cars already that might be able to either lend a hand on a build or recommend some shops to build.
j[/quote]
Well, the GRM article seems to indicate costs running in the $7-12K range. I figure 2K for the car, 2.5K for a Piper cage (he built the cage in my spec Miata), and probably another 3-5 for all the suspension and ancillaries, depending on whether I paint it.
I can do everything but the cage and paint myself, but it would be great to get together with some of you local guys during the process, and to have a look at your cars. I’d come to this week’s NASA event, but I have to be out of town.
Terry[/quote]
Terry,
What’s your opinion on Spec Miata vs. Spec E30 in terms of performance, handling, and competition. I am currently driving a Spec Miata in HPDE and track days and expect to get my comp license next year. I am very seriously considering selling the Spec Miata and building or buying a Spec E30 for competition next year.
TerryT wrote:
[quote]jonmca wrote:
[quote]obviously depending on the car and condition, but any idea what you are looking to spend.
Being as you are in leesburg, there are a few of us in this area with cars already that might be able to either lend a hand on a build or recommend some shops to build.
j[/quote]
Well, the GRM article seems to indicate costs running in the $7-12K range. I figure 2K for the car, 2.5K for a Piper cage (he built the cage in my spec Miata), and probably another 3-5 for all the suspension and ancillaries, depending on whether I paint it.
I can do everything but the cage and paint myself, but it would be great to get together with some of you local guys during the process, and to have a look at your cars. I’d come to this week’s NASA event, but I have to be out of town.
Terry[/quote] cruise the DC craigslist…cars pop up there pretty often. There is a 1990 automatic tranny car for sale on the GRM classifieds in Syracuse for 2K
I think Vic Hall still has one for sale as well
Check out the posting on BMW CCR classifieds September 22. It is a KP car but the price is pretty fair.
the base car should not cost $2k, more likely half that.
feel free to drop me an email to discuss any of this stuff: jon_mcavoy@freddiemac.com
thanks and good luck in your building efforts.
jonmca wrote:
[quote]the base car should not cost $2k, more likely half that.
feel free to drop me an email to discuss any of this stuff: jon_mcavoy@freddiemac.com
thanks and good luck in your building efforts.[/quote]
I know that I overpaid for my stock car but a good, solid, straight 5 speed e30 without 250k miles is going to cost more than $1k. Sure you can get lucky and find that car that someone doesn’t know what its worth or just wants to get rid of but I am seeing more and more clean e30’s in the $2500 to $3000 range. Seems people are realizing that these cars have a new use and they are getting a premium for them.
If you are willing to get a car with rust and maybe an automatic you can save a bundle of money on the front end but spend it getting the car right. My car had every maintenance record since it was new fom just previous two owners. I totalled up the receipts and it was almost $20k for regular maintenance stuff. I have not had to do anything to my car but put the go fast parts of it which I didn’t cut any costs on. So if I’m slow you all know that its not the car. :unsure:
Hello
My car is for sale, Black #2…just Dynoed 150 HP, everything was fresh at the beginning of this year and was freshened for Mid Ohio. 2nd in Mid Atl points due to running every race, car has won 2 south atlantic races, $7000, contact me OFF BOARD at wabmw25@aol.com
Thanks
Al Taylor
PS Ken, I have some injectors do you still need them?
Al
I wanted to weigh in on the cost of building a Spec E30… and what my experience has been so far.
I looked at a few cars that were in the $1000 to $2000 price range and decided I didn’t want to deal with the rust and extra work. So I went with a little more expensive low mileage (98,000) bone stock garage queen.
Lots of people I talked to tried to discourage me from starting with a street car. But I didn’t have any luck finding a car that was close to being Spec prepared. The way I looked at it, the benefits of starting from scratch out weighed the head ache of de-tuning an over prepared car. I also felt like I’d end up knowing more about the car this way.
I’m looking at my final price tag to be around $13,000. But that includes a custom cage, 2 seats, a 3 layer suit, HANS Device, Fire suppression system, sway bars, new bushings, a couple sets of pads, 2 sets of tires and lots of little odds and ends.
Oh… then there’s the tow vehicle and the trailer which are not factored into the final price tag.
FARTBREF wrote:
[quote]
PS Ken, I have some injectors do you still need them?
Al[/quote]
Thanks Al, I found a good set on ebay that had just been professionally cleaned. Only cost $63 shipped for the set.
What’s your opinion on Spec Miata vs. Spec E30 in terms of performance, handling, and competition. I am currently driving a Spec Miata in HPDE and track days and expect to get my comp license next year. I am very seriously considering selling the Spec Miata and building or buying a Spec E30 for competition next year.[/quote]
I can’t really answer that. I only ran the Spec Miata through two SCCA schools and a single race weekend before deciding to sell it. I have never driven a Spec E30, though I have driven plenty of laps in various E30 and other BMW’s as a 10-year PCA and BMW instructor.
My main problem was the time expenditure involved with SCCA racing. Register friday night, run a 15-20 min practice and 15-20 min qualifying session on Saturday, then a 15-20 min race Sunday. A ton of time for less than an hour on track. What I like about NASA is they seem to fit more track time in.
Thanks to all on this board for your generous advice.
What’s your opinion on Spec Miata vs. Spec E30 in terms of performance, handling, and competition. I am currently driving a Spec Miata in HPDE and track days and expect to get my comp license next year. I am very seriously considering selling the Spec Miata and building or buying a Spec E30 for competition next year.[/quote]
I can’t really answer that. I only ran the Spec Miata through two SCCA schools and a single race weekend before deciding to sell it. I have never driven a Spec E30, though I have driven plenty of laps in various E30 and other BMW’s as a 10-year PCA and BMW instructor.
My main problem was the time expenditure involved with SCCA racing. Register friday night, run a 15-20 min practice and 15-20 min qualifying session on Saturday, then a 15-20 min race Sunday. A ton of time for less than an hour on track. What I like about NASA is they seem to fit more track time in.
Thanks to all on this board for your generous advice.
Just to weigh in on price, too. My total build will be about $11K. This includes:
-A $3,500 base car w/ 135,000 miles and records back to the day it was sold new. Base car came with Bilsteins, and H+R Sports/TMS chip. I made back LOTS of money parting out stuff that was illegal. Incidentally, I was not the only buyer interested in this car, but the first to come up with the cash. The local mechanic, Truett Ray, was going to list it for sale for $4,500 and sounded confident that was not an insane price. The bottom line: despite all the cheap prices people throw around on this forum, I didn’t see them unless I was willing to travel 200-400 miles, buy a really high-mileage car, and deal with rust. I personally thought all these factors would greatly increase the price of a car that appeared to only cost $1,000 at the outset. Plus, my $3,500 car really cost less than $2,500 buy the time you factor in all the parts I sold off it. It’s even cheaper if you consider I saved the $400 on the Bilsteins.
-Custom cage, eBay FIA Momo seats, G-Force FIA belts.
-All spec pieces.
-1 set of new TD rims.
-1 set of used bottlecaps, powder-coated.
-2 sets of used Toyos.
-All new fluids (replaced by me).
-All new belts and water pump (replaced by me).
-One set of race pads.
-A paint job.
To save money, buy a prepped car. I had great fun building the car and this was part of the journey for me. If getting the cheapest, rattiest thing out there and reviving it is a point of pride for you, do that. I’ve been happy with my route and feel confident about the safety of my car. Saving a grand or two wasn’t worth the risk to me of ending up with a POS.
Sasha
To each his own. I just want to make the point that, for the truly low budget out there, you CAN do this without buying a $4000 street car. We purchased 2 cars within 30 minutes of where we live, $1100 and $1000 respectively. One was a very high mileage ‘is’ with a replacement engine and an ugly interior. The other was a somewhat cleaner, marginally lower mileage 4 door with some light front end damage, but came with new parts. Both were driven home. Yes, we had to spend money on fixing the deferred maintenance on both cars, but most of it is stuff you’d want to replace to go racing anyway. Now, the crappy cars won’t have much you can sell off to recoup your $$, but I think that balances out with the nicer, higher priced car in the long run. Neither car had any rust to speak of (I did two small floor patches). They are out there, but no, they don’t grow on trees. If you are patient, do the work yourself, and use ALL the resources the net has to offer, you can put a car together for $6000-8000.
It is always a better investment to buy a car already built, I’m sure we would all agree. The problem is with the newness of the series, and the growing popularity, at this time built cars simply aren’t available beyond a few offerings.
2 comments from me
RUST is BAD
My cost to build a spec30 is about $8500, that was $1000 for the car and doing the labor myself. (except bodywork and cage)
The reason I chose to spend the extra money on a solid base car is so I wouldn’t have to go the extra expense to fix or change the problem the less expensive car had wrong with it.
Besides, I didn’t want to spend all my time and eneregy on a questionable car and later regret it. I feel confident in my car which will give me confidence on the track. That’s certainly not to say you can’t find a good car for less money, it is just harder to find them.