Topic: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

Hey guys!
Not even sure where to start here. I'm beyond a noob in the sense that I've never raced anything (in an organized fashion, at least), and have no prospect of doing so any time soon. Regardless, I've loved everything about this race ever since reading about it in a magazine back in high school instead of paying attention to English class. I'm dying to go to one (I'm in CT), but I can't even manage to get that accomplished! Now that I think about it, maybe if I had paid more attention in English class, I'd have more free time now...NAH!

But anyway, point is I'm not racing any time soon. I don't even have time to replace the $10 TCC solenoid that would have kept my 03 Impala running, a car lovingly dubbed the Millennium Falcon because somewhere during it's long haul to 342k it became a bucket of bolts, but it'd still make the jump to hyperspace! The damn thing was unstoppable, and deserved a much better end than retirement for such a lame failure. And therein lies my question...

Would anyone actually race something like that? I know your own shitty daily driver does not qualify, but that's not what I'm getting at, especially since I have no plans to enter. I don't know how demanding a race like this is, and it seems to favor smaller, simpler cars, but if it were legal (and if I had to means), I feel like the ol Falcon would make a hell of a run in something like this! Am I totally wrong? What do people actually look for in a Lemons candidate? I ask for the sake of curiosity as well as to help me decide what to do with it, with one possibility being to try and sell it on here if I thought someone would actually be able to use it, especially since it's honestly not worth much more than $500 as it sits!

Anyway, love to hear all y'all's thoughts, and can't wait for next year when there will be no excuse to not make it to Thompson or Loudon!

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

gut it and get a cage in it and find yourself to the track.

"get up and get your grandma outta here"

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

Nobody is going to look twice at an '03 Impala. Even if you pack it full of cheat to try making it handle like a Lotus Elan, it's still a Class B car (at best).

Build it safely (read the safety rules many times before, during, and after...and/or hire a professional to weld the rollcage) and come race that hooptie-ass hooptie.

Eric Rood
Everything Bagel, 24 Hours of Lemons
eric@24hoursoflemons.com

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

Wouldn't be a bad car.  You'll have the advantage of standing a chance of finding parts race day should you need them.  Typical consumables will be on the shelf at your typical parts stores, and you're less likely to be out of the race due to the $10 widget that no one stocks.

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

First, come spectate at a race.  Ask lots of questions.

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

rlchv70 wrote:

First, come spectate at a race.  Ask lots of questions.

Word. Totally the plan, but since we're all here...

I thought this car wouldn't qualify since, despite hardly being worth anything now, I did in fact buy it for $8000 12 years ago. Is that rule more flexible than I read it? I'd love to convert this thing and give it a proper send off, self destructing on a race track!

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

342K shouldve slowed it down some...

Silent But Deadly Racing-  Ricky Bobby's Laughing Clown Malt Liquor Thunderbird , Datsun 510, 87 Mustang (The Race Team Formerly Known as Prince), 72 Pinto Squire waggy, Parnelli Jones 67 Galaxie, Turbo Coupe Surf wagon.(The Surfin Bird), Squatting Dogs In Tracksuits,  Space Pants!  Roy Fuckin Kent and The tribute to a tribute to a tribute THUNDERBIRD/ SUNDAHBADOH!

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

87TTops wrote:


I thought this car wouldn't qualify since, despite hardly being worth anything now, I did in fact buy it for $8000 12 years ago. Is that rule more flexible than I read it? I'd love to convert this thing and give it a proper send off, self destructing on a race track!

Eric Rood (above) is one of the judges, so take his word.  No one will bat an eye.  Classing and penalty laps are based more on real-world value and expectations than actual transaction prices.

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

A lot of people say this and say it often.

Get your helmet, race suit, your neck restraint, ect and buy a seat as an arrive and drive on a team.

You'll get a feel for what Lemons is like ('03 Impala would fit right in), and you'll get to experience racing without all of the frustration of prepping a car, which is going to cause you trainloads of that.

This is coming from a guy who didn't heed such advice, and it took me nearly 2 years to get to a race while I got the car ready.
In this 20 month period, I discovered that:

Prepping an old shitty car is a lot of work and really expensive
Prepping an old shitty car is a lot of work and really expensive
Prepping an old shitty car is a lot of work and really expensive

Point is, I could have gone to a couple of events in that time period and learned things about how to properly prep a car and what to expect come race day. Plus I would have gotten to race before hand.

I think you should totally prep your Impala, but while you're doing it, get on the Teams looking for Drivers section on here and go racing.

Yeah; I like Fieros! Sue me!
Salty Thunder Racing
#90 1985 Pontiac Fiero Sport
#63 1988 Pontiac Fiero Coupe

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

Just a note, if it's a 3.8 Replace the plastic coolant bypass elbows.
https://www.amazon.com/APD-58176IQ-Fitt … B00DGWAJDW

We'd have one pop on us every quarter when I was working Auto Wholesale. And that was just regular driving. It should have never been plastic.

Mistake By The Lake Racing (MBTL)
88 Thunderbird "THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!", Ex Astris, Rubigo / Semper Fracti
A&D: 2014 Sebrings at Sebring (NSF), 2014 NJMP2 Jurassic Park (SpeedyCop), 2012 Summit Point J30 (PiNuts)
2018 Route Sucky-Suck Rally Miata, 2019 World Tour Of Texas 64 Newport

Re: A Pre-Noob with a Junk Car

Guildenstern wrote:

Just a note, if it's a 3.8 Replace the plastic coolant bypass elbows.

Also applies if real life...word.