Topic: Finance Exemptions for older rides

So after racing the 52 NYer last weekend I started imagining other old rust traps that need to be brought back to life as Lemons racers.

Is there a general exception for cars that are pre 60's?

Would there be some issues if you dropped a  Chevy Tahoe motor or other more modern pedigree engine in a 50's ride?

We love to see old cars like the Rambler, NYer and others racing but finding one that falls under $500 is obviously a rarity.

I imagine a full chasis swap would get you some penalty laps or cost heavy in the bribe department.

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

I doubt there is much you could do to a 52 NYer to get penalty laps short of dropping the shell onto a tubular frame racecar chassis.

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Racing the "Toylet" Toyota Celica powered by Chevrolet Ecotec.
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Overall winner Gingerman 2019

3 (edited by OnkelUdo 2016-10-28 04:47 PM)

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

saltypete wrote:

So after racing the 52 NYer last weekend I started imagining other old rust traps that need to be brought back to life as Lemons racers.

Is there a general exception for cars that are pre 60's?

Would there be some issues if you dropped a  Chevy Tahoe motor or other more modern pedigree engine in a 50's ride?

We love to see old cars like the Rambler, NYer and others racing but finding one that falls under $500 is obviously a rarity.

I imagine a full chasis swap would get you some penalty laps or cost heavy in the bribe department.

Our 1948 Plymouth was a true $510 car by following the rules (and ignoring a few like the cost of the gasket kit for the engine) so they are out there.  That said, if you bringing something ancient...why are you worried about penalty laps?  Do you think you are going to win Class C in it before you have enough failure for Judge Phil to assign it a residual value of under $500?

A few options:

Get a car with valuable (to someone else) parts and sell them off (we did).
Prep it for your own enjoyment and laugh if they give you laps in C or bumped to B the first time.
Take things WAY too seriously and put in a crate LS motor and custom 4-link and IRS in the rear, get lots of laps and be all butt hurt about it.

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

if its Epic, dont have to worry about budget as much.

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Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

kakarot1232001 wrote:

if its Epic, dont have to worry about budget at all.

Fixed that for ya. wink

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

TrackGeeks_Chris wrote:
kakarot1232001 wrote:

if its Epic, dont have to worry about budget at all.

Fixed that for ya. wink

I second that. Corvairs for life!

'18 PNW-Organizer's Choice '17 PNW-IOE '15 PNW-Judge's Choice '14 PNW-Heroic Fix
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Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

TrackGeeks_Chris wrote:
kakarot1232001 wrote:

if its Epic, dont have to worry about budget at all.

Fixed that for ya. wink

Yup.  We've had the 58 Wartburg, 69 Rolls-Royce, 73 Citroen SM all over $500, though not hugely so, all had no questions at BS, and all had no chance of winning any class, but we had fun and got IOE for each of them plus org choice and heroic fix

Basically stick to the spirit of the rules if you have an awesome car

Chris from 3 Pedal Mafia

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

Sonic wrote:
TrackGeeks_Chris wrote:
kakarot1232001 wrote:

if its Epic, dont have to worry about budget at all.

Fixed that for ya. wink

Yup.  We've had the 58 Wartburg, 69 Rolls-Royce, 73 Citroen SM all over $500, though not hugely so, all had no questions at BS, and all had no chance of winning any class, but we had fun and got IOE for each of them plus org choice and heroic fix

Basically stick to the spirit of the rules if you have an awesome car

/agree

if the car is terrible enough, the judges don't really care.

1992 Saturn SL2 (retired) - Elmo's Revenge -  Class B winner, Heroic Fix winner x2
1969 Rover P6B 3500S(sold) - Super G-Rover - I.O.E Winner, Class C Winner
1996 Saturn SW2 - Elmo's Revenge (reborn!), Saturn SL1  Dazzleshipm Class C x2 and IOE winner
1974 AMC Javelin - Oscar's Trash heap - IOE,”Organizer's Choice" and "I got Screwed" award winner

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

chaase wrote:

if the car is terrible enough, the judges don't really care.

^this^

I don't even want to think about what we're spending on our car, probably more than a new car, but it won't matter because we will be terrible from tech to finish.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

10 (edited by m610 2016-11-09 09:55 PM)

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

Older cars will need more just to make sure they are safe. The Tinyvette blew a tie rid during a track day prior to its first race. During the first race the other tie rod end failed, but stayed together, and afterwards we discovered all four ball joints were bad and the spring-eye bolt (front leaf spring) had cut through the rubber bushing. Soon after that some disturbing slack developed in the steering and unrelated to that we almost lost an upper a-arm, then both a-arms started bending. We had enough sense to put fresh wheel bearings in before we started racing the car.

In the mean time, the motor, having gotten only an oil change and spark plugs, was doing kind of OK.

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

Keep in mind that just about everyone involved in organizing Lemons races is a former or current automotive journalist, and therefore we are suckers for cars that look spectacular and that allow us to tell interesting stories. The judging process is extremely subjective, to an extent that may be upsetting to those who seek Smokey Yunick-style loopholes to exploit. If you want to be competitive with the fastest teams, then we will hold you to the $500 limit. If you want to race a cool old car and maybe try for a Class C win, then we will be very understanding about going over budget.

12

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

If you go full on restomod I'm pretty sure you will get heavily penalized.  If you show up totally stock, you will be called a hero.

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Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

"$500 race car my ass" said Mr. Lamm.

http://i68.tinypic.com/25ap4d4.jpg

But then he said he didn't care. Bring a stock 1963 Studebaker Avanti to Lemons and you get C-0.
(the Studebaker exemption)
It did however, finish 9th out of 16 cars in class.
And win a trophy.

M45 Racing,
#45 '08 Subaru WRX,
#4  '63 Studebaker Avanti, IOE, The Ridge 2016
#19 '90 Thunderbird Super Coupe(retired) Organizers Choice Award, Sears 2015

Re: Finance Exemptions for older rides

m610 wrote:

Older cars will need more just to make sure they are safe.

Though in general I agree, our Plymouth was one of the many exceptions.  It was stalled (for over 20 years) restoration and had many maintenance issues taken care of and a rebuilt engine.

We chose to upgrade the brakes to all discs and add a rev limiter but basically we just caged it and raced it.