Lame-o unoriginal car choice penalties? (Page 2 of 3)

The few E24s we've seen at Lemons have been fast as hell. Plenty of junkyard parts for them, too.

True that. This is exactly what happened our first time out. Only 3 of our 5 drivers (including myself) got a turn behind the wheel before our car went tits up. I felt incredibly bad that neither of them got any seat time, because they both put in their fair share of money and labor to get the car together. This is why it's important for me as a team captain to have a car which will spend more time on the track than in the pits. And that decision is why we went with a "common" car but with a wacky theme.

Luckily one of the drivers who got shafted made up for it on our 2nd outing, and the other decided to form his own team for which I'll be a pit lackey during the Reno race.

More reliable? You mean reliable in the manner of Herr Doktor Unter-Den-Elektrische-Fritzen, the E30? Or the Shogun Of Blown Head Gaskets, the (enter name of any Honda/Acura product here)? No, the lure of those cars is that they go real fast and make you feel like Superfly, James Bond, and Kung Fu all mixed together. Nothing wrong with that, of course.

Anyway, don't get your panties in a bunch. We're not going to hammer on certain cars just because they're more common. We are, however, going to scrutinize certain cars much more closely than others during the BS Inspection, and we're also going to make common cars with boring themes redecorate on the spot.

Good points, I just meant more reliable (probably) than a renault, a citroen, a mitsubishi, anything with a quad-four, etc (in our case a damn subaru). Either way, who cares what other teams bring? I like watching them all go around the track!

Right, but a lot of the spectators would become bored if Lemons became the E30-Miata Challenge. This race is for them, too.

First to Jonny and Phil, I appreciate all your efforts and coverage of Lemons.  I am sorry you guys aren't driving the V8olvo any more.  I thought you guys got a pass on your judicial duties for Arse-Freeze-Apalooza.  You guys really make the race work and I greatly appreciate it.  I don't consider our contributions to you guys as bribes, I consider them tips for doing a great job.

I do like the obscure cars too. 

What I meant about a cheater cage is I figure you guys have enough connections that a whole bunch of people would put a cage in a Citron for you guys for free.  If I could do it, I would.

For the other fledgling dreamers of future Lemons glory:

We used a Jegster kit for the 240Z while my friend and team mate had an Autopower cage out of a wrecked race car.  The Autopower cage was way to valuable to die in my crappy old rust bucket.   

Back to the Jegster, to say some assembly was required is an understatement.  It came with a total of 4 bent tubes, a bunch of straight tube, a couple of notched pieces and a generic 1 page instruction sheet.  It was like $400 shipped for a 12 point cage.  Price was right but there is way to much room for mis-interpretation than I would like.

For those of you thinking about running Lemons, I highly encourage a bolt in cage from Autopower or someone like that.  It eliminates a lot of guess work and welding.  Yes, I think a weld in is probably a bit stronger but a bolt in passes all the tech checks so they most be safe enough.

With our initial impression of Lemons being a go fast derby.  We figured our chassis would be a total loss after the first race.  We were just hoping to salvage the drive train and suspension.  With my concerns about becoming a hood ornament to a 70's vintage full size piece of American iron.  I went a bit nuts over building the cage.  It was the first cage I ever did and most of my friends too.  I bought a tube bender and notcher from Harbor Freight.  We did most of the cage work in our under-construction barn/shop (24x30) or my 2 car garage in suburbia.  I got the main cage tacked together and my friend who is a professional welder did the pretty welds in my garage with a 110 mig.

To do a cage for a car like a Citron yourself would be enough torture for about 6 races.  I'd love to see it but I don't want to build it.

As LTDScott said, an E30 still ain't no picnic either.  Which is my whole point.  Race prepping any car is a LOT of work.  The more rare and obscure the car the more work it's gonna be.  I suggest finding a car with a cage kit from someone like Autpower.  If Autopower doesn't make a cage for a particular car, maybe that's a sign from the racing Gods (don't race this POS).

So even the Judges have chimed in, build whatever car makes you happy.  If it's an E30, make sure your theme is good.

Regarding the Autopower cage my friend has, it's in the second car now.  We had so much fun we are growing.  New Orleans is only weeks away and that car ain't anywhere near race ready.  Yet another race prep right down to the wire. 

LAISSEZ LES CRAPHEAPS ROULEZ

While our team is bored with all of the BMW's and Miata's, we have nothing against them.  They have an excellent power to weight ratio and they are cheap!  I don't think that penalizing them is really necessary.  The judges are all over them already.  Besides, instead of complaining about them, why not try to beat them?  Call it a challenge in a challenge.

The other crowd shoots for the Index award.  Some say the true meaning of Lemons.  I have to say, after seeing a few of the recent "contenders", these are usually not the cars you have to worry about beating you to the checkered flag.  Heavy Metal was a great IoE winner, but did you see how slow it was???

We believe the process of dragging something weird out of the woods and turning it into a viable, contending race car is the fun part.  While starting with an E30 is no guarantee of victory, it sure gives you a good start.  However, starting with a failed econobox car and then spend countless hours in the garage with the welder and bloody knuckles and come out just in time with a completely unheard of car that is actually fast, now that is unique and fun.

Our own Colt missed the mark pretty bad last time (seems someone forgot to clean the old fuel tank out), but we'll have her back next time and look to be more competitive.  The cool thing about our project was that we discovered that some cars that sucked on the street can excel on the track with a few modifications.  The Colt could fly through corners like it was on rails and all we did was cut the coils.  Light and nimble, just gutless.

I guess you can say "to each his own", and having any car on the track is better than none, but for me and my team we love the unique challenge and excitement that the Colt brings to the track.  I wonder if it would bother the E30 guys to lose to a Colt?

Meanwhile, we made this:

Weird because I cant even come close down here in Houston to finding a $500 Miata. I've seen a few RX-7s but none that had a working (even half way) engine. I have a friend who bought a Supra for $300 but the jerk wont sell it to me. I guess I'll stick with my 80 Malibu until something comes around. Like my wife keeps telling me, its reliable, it makes laps without alot of breakage and you can get your Fat gut into it without alot of trouble....LOL

Miata's are out there, just not plentiful. We bought ours wrecked in the front , and sold the top and interior out of it.

Here's one that could work the same way... http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/1115194226.html

You could probably get that car for $1,100, maybe $1,000.  That could work.

My Miata was $900, needs clutch and a wheel bearing, but came with a hardtop.  Bingo!  I'm just into positive dollars spent, and the car is streetable---barely.  The list of niggling problems is immense, but none that we care about for Lemons racing.  It will become Lemons fodder at Nelson Ledges.