Topic: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Hey everyone,

My friends and I are forming a team here in Melbourne Florida. We plan to have our first race in November at MSR Houston. We originally had one of our drivers who was getting ready to scrap his Civic give the car to the team. After learning more about the race and talking with some staff we have decided the Civic is a last ditch option if we cant find any other cars. We presented our rediculous theme and they like it. After doing some searching we have found a couple  candidate cars with minor issues close to budget.

An older first gen Volvo s60R that has compromised engine mounts and possible suspension issues is the first find.

Second we found a Lincoln ls v8  that has overheating issues (probably the pump).
Third we found a  1986 Saab 900 that says it needs exhaust and has bad interior.... He he he
What do you guys think about those cars? Chance of exploding? If these suck What's the best outlet for finding Lemons cars? General class on each car? We as a team just want to survive our first event and learn what we suck at so we can do better for the next one. We have all been reading up on everything we can find in the forums and getting familiar with it all. Thanks for your help guys.

Sincerely,
Noobs from State with Oranges

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Welcome to the Lemons. We also are brand new and hoping to make it in to one of the races. But I have to ask, what are your names? I'm Jeremy, and I just moved to NC from Melbourne. Would be cool to compete with some familiar faces.

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

That's kinda funny I just moved from NC to Melbourne after I got out of the Marines! I'm Stephan, we have Jeremy, Will, Alex, and Moss. We are all Florida Tech college students and good friends who decided to try and make a Lemons team!

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Buy a finished car...get seat time first...money ahead, you get to see if you really like working on a POS all night long at the track.  If you do like it, then figure out what you want to build.

YMMV

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

I moved to NC from near Melbourne (Palm Bay). I graduated from MCC and went to FIT. My brother did too, but he moved to Atlanta.

Out of those three, do the Saab if it runs well; the other two are nightmares.

I find my Lemons cars on CL; I run a search for anything from a private seller listed between $101 and $1301. The team recently acquired a high-mileage 3rd-gen Lincoln Town Car in excellent overall condition with some front end damage for $800 and a pretty beat-up 4th-gen Buick Regal that runs/drives perfectly for $300. Either should make a good Lemons car, or both, we've got some kind of spec-'murican-luxury theme that we're thinking about, but haven't really defined yet. The Town Car climate control is ice cold; I kind of want to keep that intact, maybe duct it to my racing suit somehow.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

rmcdaniels wrote:

The Town Car climate control is ice cold; I kind of want to keep that intact, maybe duct it to my racing suit somehow.

I have always dreamed of this.

"THE WONDERMENT CONSORTIUM"
Everything dies baby that's a fact,
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back?

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

All 3 of those cars are fine.  The Saab is likely the hardest to find parts for and the Lincoln the easiest.  Volvo's have proven to be relatively quick and reliable.  Bottom line is find a car that is right for you.  I prefer American made as they are junkyard plentiful, often a decent aftermarket, and typically use regular tools.  That being said I race a Nissan, Jag X-Type (Lincoln LS 3.0) and Firebird.  Sometimes cars just land in your lap and you run with it.  The more people you tell that you run in Lemons the more likely some guy will have a car for free or cheap he'll want to see raced.  Craigslist is great too.  Find a bunch of cars your into and email them what your doing.  Likely at least one will work with you.  Our Firebird was listed at $1200 and I paid $300.

Just find a starting platform you really want to work on because you will be spending a lot of time researching and figuring out it's quirks.

Team Glue Sticks
00 Firebird, 02 X-Type, 93 NX2000, 00 Mazda 626 (Sold)
2016 NJMP Heroic Fix, 2017 NJMP Near Heroic Fix except we can't drive, 2017 Thompson I Got Screwed, 2019 Pitt Heroic Fix

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

I'm in Lake Worth, about 2-2.5 hours away.  I would love to be a part of your experience, but I think I'm simply too far away.  sad

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Most of our team drive 2-3 hours each way for build days and I am in/near Chicago...

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Wakko wrote:

I'm in Lake Worth, about 2-2.5 hours away.  I would love to be a part of your experience, but I think I'm simply too far away.  sad

If you want to swing by to talk racecars while standing next to one, we are @ southern bvld and the turnpike.

Homestead Chump 5th-Sebring 6th-PBIR Lemons 9th - Charlotte Chump  CrashnBurn 9th
Sebring 6th again -NOLA Chump 1st -PBIR Chump Trans Fail 16th
Daytona 11th - Sebring 6th - Atlanta Motor Speedway 2nd - Road Atlanta Trans Fail 61st-Road Atlanta 5th
Daytona 13th - Charlotte 9th - Sebring 2nd-Charlotte 25th broken brakes - Road Atlanta 14 10th-Daytona 14  58th- Humid TT 19th Judges' Choice!

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Congrats on forming a team and looking forward to seeing y'all at Houston.  If y'all get bored, come if the Team DadBod area, we would be more than happy to pass on what we learned at our first race.

Skip "Mongo" L.
Team DadBod

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Hey guys.  I'm just starting my Lemons car\team build.  I live in Melbourne too and heading out this weekend to look at a potential car.  I've had a few that I've decided not to use that are cars that family and friends have given me.  Dunno if you guys are interested in a MK4 Jetta 2.slow manual.

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Team Infinniti wrote:
Wakko wrote:

I'm in Lake Worth, about 2-2.5 hours away.  I would love to be a part of your experience, but I think I'm simply too far away.  sad

If you want to swing by to talk racecars while standing next to one, we are @ southern bvld and the turnpike.

I apparantly forgot to hit the subscribe button.   You're right down the road.  When are you guys at the shop?

Re: New Florida Team car decision/finds

Wakko wrote:
Team Infinniti wrote:
Wakko wrote:

I'm in Lake Worth, about 2-2.5 hours away.  I would love to be a part of your experience, but I think I'm simply too far away.  sad

If you want to swing by to talk racecars while standing next to one, we are @ southern bvld and the turnpike.

I apparantly forgot to hit the subscribe button.   You're right down the road.  When are you guys at the shop?

All day yesterday working on racer, all day today racer split with real work.

I accept random txts.
five61-2five2-3933
Ed

Homestead Chump 5th-Sebring 6th-PBIR Lemons 9th - Charlotte Chump  CrashnBurn 9th
Sebring 6th again -NOLA Chump 1st -PBIR Chump Trans Fail 16th
Daytona 11th - Sebring 6th - Atlanta Motor Speedway 2nd - Road Atlanta Trans Fail 61st-Road Atlanta 5th
Daytona 13th - Charlotte 9th - Sebring 2nd-Charlotte 25th broken brakes - Road Atlanta 14 10th-Daytona 14  58th- Humid TT 19th Judges' Choice!