Build vs Buy - the untold stories...

For me.. I like to build things. Finally got the shell mostly torn down in the garage so I can get going. But then I've got my project air suspended rock crawler/outback camping Jeep and the 1967 Hemi powered, dodge 5 link swapped, leather heated seated, power windows, Jeep M725 used to getting things done once I can actually start on them and have a place to work.

Worse for me lately has been finding the time to do it. I find time a bit more constraining than budget (not that I'm rolling in $$ by any stretch) but it seems to work out as long as I keep myself buying parts right about when I'm ready for them unless they are a screaming deal. Having $$ just sitting on a shelf annoys me now.

There are at least 2, maybe 3 built running and resold cars that I haven't seen out on stage again yet.

1.) There's a nicely built neon that recently sold in Nor-cal (burke's acquaintance).
2.) Tucker, burke's old co-driver, bought some red impreza that I've seen him drive around, but it also came with electrical gremlins. Hasn't raced since he's owned that I know of.
3.) There was a very nice looking white bugeye built to PGT specs in nor-cal that sold nearly 2 years ago that I haven't seen out again.


For buying.. I have a bit of a fear of buying someone else's problems. Aside from that pair of escorts that were for sale because the owner was uprading I normally wonder just why the car is being sold.

I mean.. why would you sell a good running car:
1.) want to move up a class? : For regional guys where the Golfs seem to keep up with the STI's just fine I think I've only seen this once.
2.) Driver is tired/lost interest: Is this because the car is a pain? Also, then how was the maint on the car..
3.) Driver broke: Again, makes me wonder about maint.
4.) The car is a headache: Great.. I've just bought someone else's headache. Awesome...

At least with Grant sometimes just turning out caged shells that makes sense.

But then, I'm stubborn as hell so I will get this damn thing done..

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This isn't floor mat anarchy

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2013 03:39PM by alosix.

I just nuzzled in between Jason and Davids summaries lol. Mash those two posts together mixed with the raw, earth shredding desires we all have inside and you have a rally driver.

Chiming in for about the second time ever on this forum, but this thread really got me thinking about my own chronology of racing- when it was the most fun, when it was less fun, and when it became a lot of fun again. In 07/08 when I first started racing on dirt, Ryan- I was completely in the same boat as you. The only difference was, I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know shit about cars, I certainly didn’t know what made them fast on dirt, all I knew was that I was bored of autocross, and wanted to race rally. I didn’t know anyone who raced rally, I didn’t know of any rally forums, and if it wasn’t for Mitch rolling Brian’s old Civic and posting the guts on the RMSolo Classified section, I doubt I ever would have seen a dirt event.

So I’ll get to my point early- Ignorance is bliss. If you don’t know any better, then you’ll just have fun driving. Now that we all know too much, and run out of money buying fancy parts we heard about on a forum, how do we get back to just having fun? I don’t know yet, but I think the answer is to just keep the car simple and focus on improving yourself as a driver. I’m going to attempt to prove this theory to myself with my newest car build (sounds ironic, doesn’t it?).

I’ve bought and built rally cars, and building was by far the most fun, and the cheapest- but only for one reason: I didn’t get hung up in the details (because I didn’t know any better to care about them). In the fall of 2006, I scored a wrecked Civic rally car and a clean shell from Mitch for the price he was going to scrap the lot at. Mitch put me in touch with another former CO rallyist who had a bunch of used seats and safety gear. I spent the winter learning how to weld good enough to swap the cage over to the new shell & weld the roof back on. Swapped the suspension, brakes, motor and tranny over without even checking any of it. Found some used snow tires and steel wheels, and I was sitting on the start line at the Gold Camp Hillclimb in 2007 for under $1600 all done. Finishing that event was some of the best fun I’ve ever had. Continued to run the same car for the next two years, without upgrading anything (except a used set of gravel rally tires).

Here’s where the problem started. In late 2009 I decided to buy a “faster” car, and inherited someone else’s mess. Sure it was faster. The first event I ran it, I was the fastest n/a 2WD car, 3rd overall in class. (Grant that was your windshieldless BV race in 09). It was pretty cool to take home a trophy, but I quickly started to miss my old Civic. Electrical gremlins, fancy bullshit breaking and having to be replaced. Fixed most of those things and then I decided to compound the problem by adding a turbo and running Pikes Peak. That’s where racing started to become less fun. Yeah, we finished Pikes Peak, and it was awesome, but I doubt I’d do it again. I took a break from racing for a while, then realized I enjoyed building cars almost as much as driving, so I started on my new Integra. The process of building got me more excited about racing, so I ran a bunch of events in my old Integra this year until the motor took a shit.

There was one major thing this summer that made racing truly fun again- Chumpcar. Slapping together the old Goose with Grant, Dave and Allison, and having it (mostly) work proved to me that it’s not about the car, it’s about getting to events, driving and having fun.

So the new Integra I’m finishing right now- simple 1.8L n/a Honda, OEM tranny and some really good safety gear. I’m using the knowledge I have to make the car reliable, not incredibly fast. I’m sure Dave will smoke me at Hillclimbs, but he smokes me now anyway, and would do the same if he were driving my car. In 2014, I’m seeking to prove that racing is way more fun when the car just is-what-it-is, and you concentrate on driving the piss out of it, at as many events as possible.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2013 02:56PM by CaptnSlow.

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CaptnSlow
So the new Integra I’m finishing right now- simple 1.8L n/a Honda, OEM tranny and some really good safety gear. I’m using the knowledge I have to make the car reliable, not incredibly fast. I’m sure Dave will smoke me at Hillclimbs, but he smokes me now anyway, and would do the same if he were driving my car. In 2014, I’m seeking to prove that racing is way more fun when the car just is-what-it-is, and you concentrate on driving the piss out of it, at as many events as possible.

There is something strangely rewarding about absolutely beating the crap out of a car and proving to yourself you can stay flat thru XYZ corner that you couldn't do before. Very much similar experiences, though Mitsubishi and BMW in my case vs. Honda and Acura in yours. More speed is fun until it costs loads of cash and keeps you from entering more events. Had a blast doing the Chumpcar thing and looking forward to more of it and hopefully a more reliable car now that rules actually allow for "free" mods.

Don't think you'll have to worry much about the BMW changing, and my hope is that by staying N/A I'll finally get a handle on the reliability. Time will tell if bearings, welded OPN, and a rev limit ~500 under the factory limit will actually turn the motors bullet proof. Also will have to see where Ted ends up if he slaps the blower kit on his as that could easily be the fastest in the 2wd class...but he still has to get the car finished.

Dave