WTB: Prepped Spec E30

#1

Looking for a prepped (or close to it) car in SE or Mid-Atlantic region. Budget is $5-10k. Thx, -Scott (scott@gress.org)

#2

You might try David Pallister at DP Motorwerks - Virginia Beach. He has a car for sale. 757-431-4423
Ed

#3

That price range for a prepped car is going to be tough.

#4

Scott, a low budget to build a car is $10,000. Ask me how I know, I’ve built 3. Two are for sale, one is a proven race winner, the other is new and will race in september at Roebling road.

You’ll also want to ask others the cost to professionally build one. Over 20k is the number that I’ve heard. Labor is not cheap, unless you do it yourself-then it is free.

Call should you have an interest or questions about building a car.The taxi is $15k, the magic 8 is $17,500.I am in the Atlanta srea.770-886-2500.

Regards, Robert Patton

ps, SEARCH THE bmwcca CLASSIFIEDS. oFTEN YOU CAN FIND A USED kp CAR AND YOU CAN DUMB IT BACK TO sPEC E30 SPECS. sAME WITH OLD scca its CARS.

#5

When are you looking to buy? I will have a car for sale in the early winter…

#6

I’ll be at Roebling next month. Remains to be seen whether I’m disciplined enough to hold off on the purchase that long. I’ll be the guy shopping for an E30 mentor.

Re. can’t get at Spec E30 for <$10k. Well that would be a problem. But I don’t need a professionally prepared car, I’m just in for the fun. A decent car that is not worn out ought to do.

Re. Getting a car built costs $20k. Roger that. Which is why I’m not doing it.

Robert, you don’t know me but I’ve seen you and the taxi at events. Both of you are out of my league.

Need a trailer too, by the way. 18-20’ 1700-2200lbs.

#7

Look here for a trailer:

I will second the notion that there is no way you will find a prepped SpecE30 car for 5-10k. I probably have close to 20k in my build, but it was done by a shop.

#8

The parts alone cost $5-10K with a professional cage. Not counting the car. You might want to reset your expectations.

#9

+1 - tough to think someone would want to sell an SE30 for $10K and $5K is out of the question. That information everyone used to throw around about $8K builds was pretty understated, and would totally discount the personal time and sweat that goes into one of these builds. There are certainly race prepped cars out there in that price range, but they are not Spec E30s.

ctbimmer wrote:

#10

A cheap car is possible if you get a cheap donor, know someone that will build a cage for cheap, and you don’t splurge on anything. Start replacing all the bushings, doing maintenance stuff and getting a few extra go fast bits will take the tally up over 10k even doing the work yourself. If you don’t do a lot of the unnecessary stuff, it will bite you in the end when you spend money on weekends and can’t finish races.

#11

Based on my experience, plus conversation with others and the collective responses here; I think it is safe to say a gifted mechanic doing all of the labor himself would expect to spend approximately 12-13K (including the cost of the donor under 2K) on a race ready car with nothing really special about it. Would anyone agree?

#12

Oooh, oooh (waves arm from back of class), I know the answer!

My car is finished except for some paint, the kill switch and actually attaching the window net. The donor car was $1000 and did not need a lot of deferred maintenance fixed, but did need some. The last figure I came up with after tallying costs was around $8500. This includes things like used race seat, Kirk roll cage kit, and doing nothing (yet) to the rear suspension other than installing the Spec kit. ALL of the labor has been done by myself or for free by my brother-in-law (also building a car), so there is no labor figured in to my estimate. I don’t see any way you can do it cheaper, as I’m a pretty good tightwad and find every deal possible. I’ve only recouped a few hundred bucks selling unneeded parts from the car because most of the stuff removed wasn’t in good shape.

I cannot imagine selling one of these for less than $10,000. It would just be foolish. $10k-$15k is probably a reasonable market for a track ready car. Beyond that, it’s a market with people who have far more money than I and I don’t know how well cars priced that high would sell. Sad to say, this is as cheap as W2W racing is likely to be in any class. If you can’t afford the cost of admission and can’t/won’t build the car yourself, then you’re pretty much stuck with being a HPDE/Time Trial guy. :blush:

#13

I’m looking at a couple cars for <$10k, so they are out there. What are the smart questions that I should be asking? What are the things that distinguish a poor car from a decent car? A worn out engine is easy enough to ask about, but what about the more subtle things that only an experienced person would know about like bushings and frame stiffeners?

I chose to orient on NASA Spec E30 after attending NASA SE events and taking a measure of the kind of guys that seemed to be participating. I don’t mean to sound like a whiny teenager, but can I trade a little &quot;can’t be done&quot; for &quot;I’ll help you choose&quot;?

#14

David, Sounds like what hasn’t been done plus the cost of the car will put you right in the range I suggested. Yes?

Ranger, We are definately here to help you make decisions, but you aren’t really giving us much to go on. A car less than 10K may be a car from another class that could very well cost you more to convert to our class than building one from scratch. I would suggest calling Robert Patton and having spot on conversation specific to what you are thinking about buying before pulling the trigger.

#15

Ranger, one approach might be to spread your investment out over a few more months. If you have $5k-$10K to spend now, that is definately going to get you a good bit of the way there. While you save up for the last few thousands, spend money on seat time. The trailer and driver gear is going to be above and beyond what has already been quoted here, but a trailer is not a requirement - you just need a way to get tires, supplies and tools to the track. A smaller trailer behind your race car or a buddy’s truck are good money saving options.

You didn’t mention your experience level, but you could gain valuable E30 seat time in a fairly well prepared car for your budget and as you get extra money and experience finish it off. If you already have good track experience you could definately be racing next season. If your budget is fixed and you have to get out there in a race prepped car sooner, then we’d hate to see you go but cars like RX-7s, GTIs, etc. are very low cost and you may be able to hit your budget and time goals. Good luck to you. -Age

#16

I want to get a car that is track ready so I can get my DD off of the track. But it’s not my intent to jump immediately into W2W. I want to get better first. Right now it’s enough challenge trying to build my ability to hear the car &quot;whisper&quot; to me.

Re. spreading the investment. You make a good point. Potentially I could do the last bit of spec-ifying over the course of the next year. But since there are spec ready cars available within my price range, there’d have to be a compelling reason to choose a non-spec ready car.

Experience is 35-40 track days.

Re. a different car. Well, if I could afford to maintain a Porsche, I would do this in a 911. It’s what I’m used to.

E30 was my next choice. I’ve had a couple E30’s over the years, I like them, and I think that I can become an average Spec E30 racer without being sent to debtors prison.

Re. trailer. I blew a motor last spring 7hrs from home. That taught me to start trailering to events.

I think that the most important thing at this point is to make a smart decision on a car. And for that I may need some help.

A couple folks have sort of volunteered to assist, and I sent them a PM asking them to look at the specs of a couple cars. I figured that a public forum wasn’t the place to make (possibly negative) comments on the folks cars. It’s a small community and I’m the newby, not the seller.

#17

Scott, you now have a good basis for the cost of a car. No doubt there are some out there in your price range (David Cullen got the deal of the century this past winter with a $5000 old SCCA car). If you want to see what to look for, bring a note pad and camera and I can show you the good, the bad, and the ugly as my car is in the air on a lift.

Regards, Robert Patton
Atlanta area,770-886-2500

#18

Patton wrote:

[quote]Scott, you now have a good basis for the cost of a car. No doubt there are some out there in your price range (David Cullen got the deal of the century this past winter with a $5000 old SCCA car). If you want to see what to look for, bring a note pad and camera and I can show you the good, the bad, and the ugly as my car is in the air on a lift.

Regards, Robert Patton
Atlanta area,770-886-2500[/quote]

Let me guess…you’re washing all of the suspension and exhaust components because they got a little dirty at Road Atlanta?

:woohoo:

#19

You said you would be coming to Roebling in Sept. right? Be prepared to hang with us all weekend and by the time you leave you’ll be an expert on the do’s and don’t of a Spec e3o race car.

I spent right at about 13k on my car with only the cage work being farmed out and I replaced everything except the motor and I personally feel I have one of the better prepared cars out there. The rest of the work was done by me and some great members of the Spec e30 community and other friends.

#20

Having JUST finished the &quot;Pink Panther&quot; I can back up what they said - A low end car that needs TLC to not be a backmarker will be between $8500 and $10k - as you tweak the car you’ll spend more $$. I would suggest that you buy a street one and slowly upgrade as your driving skills upgrade :wink: