Yet Another New Team

Welcome!!!  It is always a good idea to document everything and have a very nice easy to read format to give to the judges.  Pictures, receipts and other evidence of proof that you actually paid what you said are always a plus.  That being said it also depends on what your driving.  Is it an E30, Miata, Supra or the likes?  If so bring documentation, especially if your putting on aftermarket parts.  We have a 99 Mazda 626 and have never been questioned (we are solidly within the rules though).  Have a Yugo or worse that you paid $600?  No one will care.   

Point is stay in the "spirit" of the rules and be honest and you should be okay.  Try to slide something by and you'll get penalty laps but still be able to run.

A good theme/bribe never hurts either

Just keep in mind that there are no loopholes that will give you a huge equipment advantage over the other teams, so make your budget numbers believable, bring documentation, and remember that team organization and driver ability counts for a lot more than hardware if you want to place high in the standings.

Much depends on the type of car. I'm not going to care much about the budget for a '71 Toyota Crown wagon or Cadillac Brougham d'Elegance, but I will care very much about the budget for one of the boring cars (E30, RX-7, Mustang, Supra, Integra, etc).

Thanks for the info guys. Already prepared for full documentation of everything so that's not a problem. Just needed a grasp on the interpretation of the rules a bit. We have two solid themes already which don't just include a racing stripe painted on which I think will help. But knowing some of the parts can be offset may tip the scale in favor of my camps car. I'll let you guys know what we've gotten ourselves into as soon as we close the deal on one.

This is a good idea but how would we replace the countless nights, grosses of beers consumed, and endless arguments over the build of our own little piece of lemony goodness? No amount of money saved can replace this.

Also, Fishah's car is just one of many very good ones up for sale right now.

/MyOwnShamelessPromotionsAllYourClicksAreBelongToUs

Also, depending on what kind of car it is, Phil might not care as much what you spend. [hint hint] Bring something from the Malaise era [/hint hint]

+1!

I am the fabricator on our team and like to think I'm a little better than average in my skills. We ordered a prebent cage fully intending for me to install it. It was nearly impossible to figure out how to locate it and not weld myself into a corner. Subsequently we hired a pro to install the cage, who commented on my 8 miles of floor reinforcing welds and asked why I didn't just do the cage myself as my welds looked quite good to him. Again, I truthfully didn't feel up to the task and am thankful that we went the route we did when you consider the cage is one of the single most important safety items keeping your teammates safe! Having just built our car, plan on spending WAY more than you expect and it taking 3-4 times longer than you plan for. Good luck whatever you decide to do and don't be afraid to ask for help/advice, there are plenty of seasoned guys in the Chicago area and if there's one thing I've learned in the past year, the Lemons community will literally move mountains to help another team out. It's really quite amazing to see the comraderie and assistance being offered at the track to any that might be struggling with something.

Nice!  I love miatas.  Fun to drive and low hp keeps them generally on the road.  Now come up with a good theme and coordinating bribe to prevent laps.  Remember that getting it running also is supposed to count against the budget and judges generally won't do favors for miatas.  You won't win your first or second race so just drink a lot while builing and have fun.  Also check out the theme thread