Would you????

[Cordell]

Records grab attention. Mark's car is the fastest IRS vette and might end up being the fastest IRS car in the world. That is not easy, or cheap to do right. Marketing might have some to do with it, but the fact remains it is the fastest until someone knocks him and IPS off the top of that mountain.

 

You want to put BPA on the map? Win, that is what puts LMR, Livernois, Vengance, Proline and every other major shop on the radar of the masses. To be honest if you want to get on that level you have to spend the big bucks, or take down the big boys by not spending the big bucks.

 

It'll also take one of them to be able to drive, no offense but if I can beat all of them they aren't going to take down the big dogs.

[wagner]

It'll also take one of them to be able to drive, no offense but if I can beat all of them they aren't going to take down the big dogs.

 

Not only driving but setting a car up. There is more than getting a car to go fast than horsepower, cubic dollars, and the ability to talk trash.

[phil]

i would say that we are decent drivers, we havent had anything as fast as we are about to but theres only one way to learn and thats getting out there and doing it. every car we have had we have gotten better over time in, when the camaro first got done i about lost it in the wall, 2 weeks later i had that bad boy straightened out and was as consistant as the car would be. its not going to be easy or cheap but i think the cars will hold our shit talking down. the biggest thing we have discussed is suspension though, we like watching shit go in the air, but id rather go straight as fast as possible

[OJdidit1738]

Next year should be a good year then

[KennyFKINPowerz]

I would do the GTO. It's a lot more fun having a fast car that you can run around in. The grudge car will be fun at first and its eventually going to tear your wallet up, unless you have really deep pockets. I have gone both routes and I have to say that while having a dedicated race car was fun for a while it just turned in to a job and took all of my time and money. When I was crewing for my buddys IHRA Pro Stock car people would always come up and ask him what they need to do to go Pro Stock racing and he would say start with 3 million and when you get down to 1 then STOP. He doesnt race at all anymore and has not for about 5 years. He has 2 fully assembled Pro Stock cars just sitting in his garage for the past several years. I know thats a little different then what your talking about but going fast like that is just an endless drain on you. I took off about 6 years from racing completely shortly after that and I dont think I would ever go back to it like that unless I hit the lottery. Even the Top Sportsman stuff and the NMCA stuff lost its sparkle after a while. This Camaro that I just bought a couple months ago has been one of the funnest things I have done in a long time. I'm planning on tearing it apart eventually and doing more to it and thats about as far as I am gonna go.

[Patterson]

i would say that we are decent drivers, we havent had anything as fast as we are about to but theres only one way to learn and thats getting out there and doing it. every car we have had we have gotten better over time in, when the camaro first got done i about lost it in the wall, 2 weeks later i had that bad boy straightened out and was as consistant as the car would be. its not going to be easy or cheap but i think the cars will hold our shit talking down. the biggest thing we have discussed is suspension though, we like watching shit go in the air, but id rather go straight as fast as possible

 

Concentrate on the GTO. Let the customer cars do the talking for BPA. "Shop Cars" can be nice, but finding time to work on them, and keeping enough work rolling through the doors to pay for them are a bitch. Which goes back to time to work on them. If you've got time to build and drive bitchin Track Car and your a small shop there ain't much work coming through the door.

 

Driving is a whole different animal. Stepping into a low 10- even mid-9's car is a whole lot different than beating around in a 11-12 second car. It'll come with experience, and practice but it won't be easy.

 

 

Edit additional thought:

 

 

thats why i wanted to know what makes marks car so bad ass. i know the monte has been done 10 billion times and seeing another one wouldnt be as cool, but does a fast car just attract attention or does it have to be something new and neat

 

 

If it's fast and well built no matter what it is ill bring attention. Look how many Camaros, Mustangs etc. are out there. Commonality shouldn't be a concern.

[wagner]

i would say that we are decent drivers, we havent had anything as fast as we are about to but theres only one way to learn and thats getting out there and doing it. every car we have had we have gotten better over time in, when the camaro first got done i about lost it in the wall, 2 weeks later i had that bad boy straightened out and was as consistant as the car would be. its not going to be easy or cheap but i think the cars will hold our shit talking down. the biggest thing we have discussed is suspension though, we like watching shit go in the air, but id rather go straight as fast as possible

 

Phil, here is what I would do:

 

- Set your goals (how fast and what class)

- ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS AND DO RESEARCH

- If you want to hang the hoops in the air, it is all in suspension and setup

- Know when to say when ($$$, speed, and when the wall is coming up).

 

I think it is really cool you guys are going to put some man pants on and try this. There are a lot of shit talking asshats on here that *think* they know what it takes to do this.

 

Personally I would be looking into 2 things: http://www.renegaderacingassociation.com/ or X275 racing. The 10.50 index class would be a great start for you guys to do some learning and not tear up a tone of equipment.

[Mopar]

If your not gonna travel, dont build a grudge car. And if you do wanna travel, a high 9/10 ride prolly wont do much good outta state. My .02

[Patterson]

Phil, here is what I would do:

 

- Set your goals (how fast and what class)

- ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS AND DO RESEARCH

- If you want to hang the hoops in the air, it is all in suspension and setup

- Know when to say when ($$$, speed, and when the wall is coming up).

 

I think it is really cool you guys are going to put some man pants on and try this. There are a lot of shit talking asshats on here that *think* they know what it takes to do this.

 

Personally I would be looking into 2 things: http://www.renegaderacingassociation.com/ or X275 racing. The 10.50 index class would be a great start for you guys to do some learning and not tear up a tone of equipment.

 

 

Wagner makes an excellent point here. Study this statement.

 

Index racing is a great place to start.

[phil]

Wagner makes an excellent point here. Study this statement.

 

Index racing is a great place to start.

 

After seeing all these different ideas we have a real good idea of what we are shooting for and a single digit car is the goal, but I doubt we will run in classes or in a season. I think the main goal is to have enough to play with the big boys but not have to tear the shit down every time we take it out. Mopar made the best point and I agree I don't think we are ready for the grudge scene yet. Atleast not out of state scene. The gto is going to be a fun roll car but it ain't breaking no necks. Bpa will either have 4 fast cars and just be our little hang out or it will have consistent business in two years. Hopefully it's option b.

[pontiacfreak142]

After seeing all these different ideas we have a real good idea of what we are shooting for and a single digit car is the goal, but I doubt we will run in classes or in a season. I think the main goal is to have enough to play with the big boys but not have to tear the shit down every time we take it out. Mopar made the best point and I agree I don't think we are ready for the grudge scene yet. Atleast not out of state scene. The gto is going to be a fun roll car but it ain't breaking no necks. Bpa will either have 4 fast cars and just be our little hang out or it will have consistent business in two years. Hopefully it's option b.

 

As a few people have kinda said already, even with a 9 second car, no you wont have to tear it down every time you take it out, but its gonna be expensive over time. Hell i see 10/11 second cars blow all the time. so be prepared

[phil]

As a few people have kinda said already, even with a 9 second car, no you wont have to tear it down every time you take it out, but its gonna be expensive over time. Hell i see 10/11 second cars blow all the time. so be prepared

 

Not to swig on his nuts but I love what and how Scott built his car. It's fast as he'll and it's lasted for a long ass time. I wouldnt mind building it well and freshening up every winter, but I don't wanna be the guy that always have somthing going wrong. There is a point where it goes from fun and fast to fun and hopefully it doesn't break.

[Patterson]

Not to swig on his nuts but I love what and how Scott built his car. It's fast as he'll and it's lasted for a long ass time. I wouldnt mind building it well and freshening up every winter, but I don't wanna be the guy that always have somthing going wrong. There is a point where it goes from fun and fast to fun and hopefully it doesn't break.

 

Fine choice.

 

Driving with one hand and crossing your fingers with the other is no fun.

[Patrick]

So you are set on keeping the GTO?

[V8 Beast]

Listen to yourself. You know what the right answer is...

[phil]

So you are set on keeping the GTO?

 

 

Pretty set on it unless I can sell it prior to tearing shit out of it

[Buckeye1647545503]

As much as I dislike "hybrid" motor swaps if you want attn with a rather small budget (yes 10k is a small budget) then you need to be creative, like say a turbo diesel Monte (and even that has been done of sorts. A single digit car build is a bad idea, you will waste much cash and BPA will most likely never get any add help from it. Instead make a 10/11 sec car a goal and make it dead reliable and mind numbing consistent

[Patrick]

Pretty set on it unless I can sell it prior to tearing shit out of it

 

You'd be able to have a bigger budget if you did. Buy another of the same car, bait & switch.

[TurboGoKart]

It'll also take one of them to be able to drive, no offense but if I can beat all of them they aren't going to take down the big dogs.

 

Lol. I was going to say close to the same thing. It all looks good on paper, but who's gonna drive it?! :bangbang:

 

 

Without missing shifts....

[NTHER91]

What does scotts car run? 11.50's ? No disrespect I just don't know

 

Edit.. Just looked and scotts car is quick. But I thought it was some crazy 400" motor with monster spray? Should be faster. If not I'm sorry again no disrespect I'm just ignorant about the car. But I do like how he did do everything himself and 10,s is no joke hell I have yet to hit it.

 

But I plan on smashing it next year

 

 

Learn as much as possible man racing isn't horse power its everything else

 

I make less than 500 at the wheels but out run 98% of this board cuz I have most of my shit dialed in.. And I'm gonna be faster next year!

 

Learn to drive, again not a dig on ya. The first time I launched my car as hard as I should it scared the piss out of me and was reaching for the shifter cuz it slammed me back so hard.

 

If you really wanna make a go at this you need to read everything you can and start going to every track day or test and tune you can.

 

If you do it smart you won't have to have 800hp and won't need to check valve train all the time aka no giant cams when ya don't need it.. So basically either learn to build engines or know who does

 

Records are what put ips and mark in the mags period but the workmanship is a huge deal once the pictures start being taken

 

Phil if you put 100% into this project you'll have a blast and if pba does to they will do just fine lord knows we need more good performance shops around here

 

Good luck man and if there is anything engine or suspension related I can help just let me know

[DTM Brian]

Having the funds to build a car is one thing. Having enough money to maintain the car when shit breaks or to try different combos is another. I know of a couple mustang racers that spend more money trying out different torque converters then most of us are willing to spend on a car.

 

Best of luck in your venture. Having deep pockets is not the only thing that makes a car fast. However it sure does help along the way.

 

 

IMO. It takes a car capable of running ET's somewhere in the 8's to be able hustle time and time again on the streets and grudge. That does not mean it needs to run 8 second et's everytime. It is nice to have it on reserve if need be.

[NTHER91]

Go to bed Brian.. We should do lunch call me tomorrow

[Cordell]

My car has a 370ci LQ4 iron block with forged rods and pistons, fairly budget build, and a 150 shot of nitrous. It really isn't anything special, I used good parts where I needed to. There should be more in it, but I never wanted to push the drag racing and met my goals of running 10s with some nitrous.

[wagner]

After seeing all these different ideas we have a real good idea of what we are shooting for and a single digit car is the goal, but I doubt we will run in classes or in a season. I think the main goal is to have enough to play with the big boys but not have to tear the shit down every time we take it out. Mopar made the best point and I agree I don't think we are ready for the grudge scene yet. Atleast not out of state scene. The gto is going to be a fun roll car but it ain't breaking no necks. Bpa will either have 4 fast cars and just be our little hang out or it will have consistent business in two years. Hopefully it's option b.

 

If you are going to try for single digits be ready to spend $15-20K. To go that fast and keep everything together is not cheap. It is not as hard as it used to be, but still not as cheap.

[KennyFKINPowerz]

You can build big horsepower withougt having to tear it down all the time but its about big money up fron for good parts and how good your engine builder is. When we raced Top Sportsman we stopped building our own engines, although we never had one blow or break, there is a lot at stack with high dollar parts. We started using Gellner Engineering in Cleveland and my buddies still use him. Our 632 cost about 35,000 to build and it gets freshened once a year and we sprayed it pretty good. The only thing we ever broke in 5 years was a push rod and rocker arm. My buddy still uses the same motor and makes 6 second runs on every pass and gets sprayed on every pass. Now when we raced IHRA Pro Stock we used 814 Sonny motors which had to be torn down every 25 passes and that motor cost 70k to build. Just kind of an idea on what kind of cash can be thrown just in to your powerplant. When we bracket raced with our Tans Am we had a 496 that we put probably 300 passes on and never broke a thing. We built that one ourself and had about 10k in it and it ran 8.60's on a 150 shot but that was its limit and it was in a chassis car. Mind you this was almost 10 years ago so prices have gone up a bit and technology has changed a bunch. Either way like many others have said, going fast takes deep pockets.