The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Newcomers → Classic Newbie on Budget
Okay, so my high school is trying to make a Lemons car out of a 90's Eagle Summit. Of course I have been appointed to find all of our parts and can't find a way to get a fuel cell for less than $100. Because of this I was wondering what all the requirements are for the cell. I've read about the certification for no firewall but at this point we just need something to pass tech. Any ideas or gas tanks I can use other than a fuel cell?
The stock system, easiest, cheapest, solution
So Stock under car is okay? Or mount it in the back of the car because it is a wagon.
I would read section 3.H of the rules again. As long as the stock system is in good working order and you keep everything oe it's fine
Thank you so much for putting up with my ignorance! Appreciate it!
Thank you so much for putting up with my ignorance! Appreciate it!
Print a copy of this and read it, re-read it, keep it under your pillow, etc.
http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/images/H … s-Tech.pdf
This covers 95% of what you need to know to prep the car and most of it is pictures.
What you need to know to build a team...that is much harder.
For a budget team, don't do a fuel cell. A fuel cell is going to be closer to $2k once it's installed. It's very easy to get shipwright's disease and want to replace everything but you might want to resist that urge for now. If it has been sitting a long time, you'll want to renew the soft parts (fuel lines, brake lines, brake hydraulics, etc) and flush the radiator Otherwise make sure everything is in decent working order.
Get the thing up, running and driving before you do anything.
When you strip it, leave all the stock wiring, don't pull it out and spend hours later trying to fix that one thing it needed to run. Otherwise, if it can catch on fire, remove it.
Have someone who knows what they are doing build the cage. Spend your money there.
Seek help on how to properly wire the kill switch.
You can often save on the seat by looking for a quality used one on Craigslist vs saving money by buying a new cheap one. Search for Corbeau, Sparco, Momo, OMP seat and make sure it's not a knockoff/no-name. You will likely come across aluminum seats from Kirkey, Ultrasheild and Butlerbilt for cheap money. If it has a single hole for the shoulder belts to pass through, it will need modifications to pass tech. The ones with separate shoulder belts holes are ok. Find the widest ass on your team and measure it. Small guys might need a 14" seat and the larger dude's 17" but you'll want to know that before you shop. You can pad out a big seat some but some of your team may not fit in a small seat. You'll want to have the seat before the cage goes in so it can be properly fitted.
Change all the fluid/filters and use quality brake fluid. If performance brake pads are available, buy them and keep the originals as spares.
Spares are nice to have but cost money. Cars generally fail in the same way with the same problems so do some research and find out what fails on your pile and be prepared for that failure to happen to you.
budget and fuel cell dont go hand in hand.
what is wrong with stock fuel system?
OnkelUdo wrote:What you need to know to build a team...that is much harder.
+2
So many threads. So many possibilities. One answer:
Find at least three other folks with funds and commitment without too many other commitments on their time and funds. Make sure thier expectations match the reality of a new Lemons team and your version of what your team is about: theme/fun/IOE, some fun and racing and wrenching, racing is everything with reliability paramount.
In practice, very difficult.
russian wrote:OnkelUdo wrote:What you need to know to build a team...that is much harder.
+2
So many threads. So many possibilities. One answer:
Good Luck.
FTFY
Did you happen to notice this little gem:
...so my high school...
Do what cheseroos says: make it go and stop before you spend any money on anything else. If your school is anything like the ones I've been a part of, your project may not get super far.
I wish you lots of luck and hope you have a great faculty adviser.
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