My search for a cheap track car.

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gibson

gibson

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Well, after getting my S10, I figured I need a car to piss around with, you know, strip down and make if fast for cheap. And wit ht he truck, I have a tow pig, so I don't need a title for the car, just a bill of sale will make me happy. I have been looking for a RWD of some sort. Sporty, fast in its day, and cheap, as in sub 1200 bucks cheap. I don't want a convertible, or a car with no motor and trans, so it's a little bit of a challenge. Here's what I have come up with so far.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/915567058.html
1992 Camaro 305, clean body, lowish miles

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/920056263.html
1986.5 Supra auto, needs fuel lines and some body work

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/921165258.html
1991 Firebird V6 auto, needs motor work, clean body

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/901924048.html
1989 Firebird, needs cat. and fuel filter, okay body and interior.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/932931904.html
1985 and 1986 Supras, Turbo has bad body, non-turbo has a good body.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/936917549.html
1985 Mercedes 190E, new tranny, clean body and interior, needs suspension work.

Hopefully I'll have enough cash after Christmas that I can pick up a cheapy and strip her down to just the basics.
 
Personally I'd go for the NA Supra from the pair. Sure, it'll be down on power, but it's one less thing to go wrong even if Supra's have a good rep for reliability. I don't think the head gasket is too big a fix provided everything else is fine.
 
cheap does not mix with race car.

parts break. much easier to just buy a race car. much cheaper in the long run.

i laugh at your mercedes suggestion. how deep are your pockets?

miata. travel if you have to.
 
I was thinking of getting the pair of Supras and putting the turbo in the good body and using hte turbo as a parts car.
 
neanderthal
cheap does not mix with race car.

parts break. much easier to just buy a race car. much cheaper in the long run.

i laugh at your mercedes suggestion. how deep are your pockets?

miata. travel if you have to.
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Deep enough for an $800 car?

The Supra twins like like a decent pair as well. Depending on how much you plan on investing you could make either car work.
 
Eric.
Deep enough for an $800 car?

The Supra twins like like a decent pair as well. Depending on how much you plan on investing you could make either car work.
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Well, considering I'm gonna strip both cars of their interiors, that alone might cover the cost of the cars, all i need to keep in hte track car is the drivers seat, seat belts, and the dash, the rest will be ebay'd and that cash used for new plugs, wires, coil(s), oil change, and race harness for the track car. My only thing is 80% of my sockets and wrenches are standard, not metric.
 
Dude, Pittsburgh ain't Hickville! I saw a gang fight the other day, and a guy got a gun held to his head.

I also wanted to fight some Pitt fans, I'm a WVU fan.

I think Camaro, the newest and probably has the least miles. The Camaro will get you started off good enough.
 
I decided what i want to do with what ever I buy, 50% track, 50% rally. I know I'll sacrifice in each field with a 50/50 like that, i love rally, so I want a rally car, but there aren't many rallys around here, so thats how the track part fits in.
 
gibson
Well, considering I'm gonna strip both cars of their interiors, that alone might cover the cost of the cars, all i need to keep in hte track car is the drivers seat, seat belts, and the dash, the rest will be ebay'd and that cash used for new plugs, wires, coil(s), oil change, and race harness for the track car. My only thing is 80% of my sockets and wrenches are standard, not metric.
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It might not be best to sell everything you rip out. You never know if you might need something as a temporary replacement for another part.
gibson
I decided what i want to do with what ever I buy, 50% track, 50% rally. I know I'll sacrifice in each field with a 50/50 like that, i love rally, so I want a rally car, but there aren't many rallys around here, so thats how the track part fits in.
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You can, sort of, do both if you stick to road rallies. You'll just need the parts to set up the car up for different events.

Cheap though, will never mix with race. Even if you get a cheap starter, it's hard to tell if you won't spend a lot of time fixing it or modifying it. I've been down this path twice before, and I never settled on anything but one car. Even then, I'm still up in the air about it whether or not I should start going at it & leave it be.
 
gibson
lol, a soft top 4 banger slo-stang, nope, its a soft top.
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I'm not even sure that he is looking at the ads as much as he's looking for certain words like an engine size or "Mustang"...

Don't rely solely on Craigslist, go out and buy an autotrader and see if there are any other cheap cars with potential. I know I've found some possible gems (under the dust and behind the miles of the odometer...) in the text-only classifieds of our local trader. I've found several second generation MR2s with 100,000+ miles for pretty cheap.

Edit: I can vouch for the AW11 MR2 being a quick little car. Feels like a 110hp feather.
 
^if you want to be cremated, why not. IMO, AW11 MR2 would be better choice. engine is fairly common, aftermarket is huge ( therefore more affordable ). and E30 BMW isn't bad choice either.
 
Leonidae
^if you want to be cremated, why not.
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gibson
1985 Fiero, V6 auto, needs brakes, ok body and interior.
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Leonidae
engine is fairly common,
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Compared to the GM 60° V6, the 4A-GE is as common as a Ferrari V12.

Leonidae
aftermarket is huge ( therefore more affordable )
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The aftermarket for the Fiero directly parallels the market for any GM vehicle that ever had 60° V6 in it (Camaro, Cavalier), which by association means any vehicle that ever had either the Fireball V6 or the small block Chevy in it. Which means he could also essentially bolt in any drivetrain parts he wanted from nearly all of the GM range for the past 50 years as well as much of the Chrysler range since the 1980s. There is no way that the MR2 aftermarket can compete with that of nearly half of the entire American auto industry (not to mention European stragglers). It boggles the mind how many engine choices he would have if he wanted to do a swap.
 
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True, but even when both cars were introduced and tested head to head, MR2 was better car to start with. There's a video somewhere in Youtube about that test.



There we go.
 
Leonidae
^if you want to be cremated, why not.
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Just to clarify, the fire issue is exclusive to first-batch 1984 2M4 models with the Tech IV 2.5L I4. When oil ran low, it'd throw a rod and pour what oil it had left onto the exhaust manifold. V6 models were not known to have this problem, and a swapped V6 is even less likely, if installed correctly.

((Emboldened as a general rule not exclusive to the Fiero.))

Granted, the MR2 is a bit faster from stock, being lighter and having a better inline four. But it's hard for him to get ahold of. I couldn't find anything but a Turbo'd SW20 when I searched his Craigslist.

It's kind of reccommending an AE86 anywhere other than California...they don't exist.
 
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What about Miata? first gen ones are probably cheap, but my guess is that their availability is next to none as well..
 
He said no 'verts. I was going to reccommend that one before I saw that. Miatas are fairly available here, though, should be available there, too, if the Pittsburgh market is similar to the Peoria one.
 
What about a MKII Golf/Rabbit? They are light weight, you can swap nearly everything on it with another VW, and they look pretty cool.
This what it would look like if you had alot of money:
2211933926_043b57487f.jpg

This one is nice and simple.
black%20golf%20at%20silverstone%20028_1.jpg

The only problem that I can think of is the price. A cheap one will probably need some body work and the mileage might be another problem. Just my 2 cents.
 
Leonidae
True, but even when both cars were introduced and tested head to head, MR2 was better car to start with.
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I'm well aware that the AW11 is a better overall car than the Fiero.However, if he wants a cheap tossable vehicle that he can make fast cheaply, few cars can touch a Fiero.
 

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