Topic: But... it's cheaper THIS way!!!
Here's a serious question for a ripe lemon or anyone else with some experience going through Le Mons BS inspection. I've been looking around for a heap to convert into a true Le Mons racer and I've run into a very discouraging problem. I have found a bunch of cars for sale between 600 and 800 that look like good candidates, and that I could probably, with some determined negotiation, pick up for $500.
Now, here's the problem. Once I put in a safe cage, buy a decent racing seat, maybe fix the brakes so no one dies, buy some used wheels, and replace the tires with something decent, now I'm well north of $2500 and sometimes pushing 3k.
One the other hand, I can find the occasional used (an completely pre-dented) "race car" with a reasonable cage installed, racing seat, two or more sets of tires and wheels, almost all ready to go, for $1200. That's a price I just can't touch if I try to put something together myself from scratch. Has anyone else run across this problem, and what do you do about it? I don't want a million BS laps deducted, but it looks like the cheapest way to race a Le Mon is to find one that's already been squeezed. But since the exempt safety items like the cage, racing seat, wheels, and tires are folded into the cost of the car, the $500 price just isn't gonna happen. Since a lot of this race is about being silly and just having fun on a budget, what happens in this sort of a situation? HELP?