24 hours of Lemons... Car suggestions???

[sicksubie]

There are 5 of us thatare going to be entering a car at the 24 hours of Lemons next year at Stafford Springs CT. We are currently car shopping and are trying to figure out what would be the best car to start from. The list so far...

198x- 199x Honda CRX or civic. This car would possibly receive a H23block w/ a Vtec H22 head

mid-late 1980's RX7 turbo
Late 1970's to early 80's Z cars
Mid 1990's ford escort with a 2.3 liter swap from a ford ranger
early- mid 1990's impreza
late 1980 volvos

This is still early and we are also still talking to a few of potential sponsors... Any input would be appreciated. Once the car is purchased and or found I will start a thread detailing the work on the car and for taking suggestions on cheap/ free mods for the vehicle....

[sicksubie]

P.S. we have $500 to buy the AND modify it. Safety equipment (seatbelts, tires, brakes, cage) does not count toward that budget....

[mikecg]

Conquest TSi
early 90's Eclipes
Chevette (lol)
late 70's early 80's mustang.

Or get a big car with a V-8. Like an LTD or Caprise and just beat all the other cars into submission. LOL.

[JaySVX]

I'm guessing you want to keep pit time to a minimum. For that reason i would go with a fuel efficient vehicle, and avoid a rotary engine, as they sip oil. 1987 volvo 240DL is a good start. Escorts are notoriously unreliable, prone to all sorts of issues, to get it cheap and fix it all up would easily exceed $500.

[sicksubie]

Beg to differ on the escorts from personal experience... My dad has had 3 and put over 270k on each of them. He is now on a 2008 focus and already has 90k on it with no problems at all...

[Royal Tiger]

Originally Posted by sicksubie

Beg to differ on the escorts from personal experience... My dad has had 3 and put over 270k on each of them. He is now on a 2008 focus and already has 90k on it with no problems at all...

Tell him to play the Powerball. Son of a gun found all 4 reliable fords!

On topic, Volvo 240D. Indestructable.

[huck369]

Early Impreza....can't kill them....and if you get a 2.2 one, it's fairly peppy....but get a manual tranny

[jeffast]

i'm voteing volvo the 80's ones are industructable

[Twinboosted]

Dodge Omni GLH Turbo
Small, light, good power (150hp stock), and dirt cheap. With that car, you can just keep up and maybe pass here and there at first, and once everyone has pitted due to over heating and blown engines, you can start racing. Watch that temp gauge though.
As for mods, everyone gets away with some mods and actual pays more than $500. If you can source a bigger radiator(mitsu truck for example) and a new clutch, you should be good to go. If you can get a cheap stock early Talon TSi intercooler and fab that on you're golden. Do they count tires as part of the $500?
Other things you may want if you can afford it:
After market water temp gauge(~$40 new at OReilleys), some sort of oil cooler off any junked sports car, and a home made manual boost controller to push the boost another 2-3 psi (need that bigger radiator and take out that thermostat).
Feel free to e-mail me if you are interested in more. jacobwagg@yahoo.com.

[sicksubie]

thanks for the input... Tires do not count toward the 500.- thankfully

[RS22b]

shouldnt the answer be obvious, hehe. SVX....

j.k.

My friends used a police intereceptor they bought from the NYC police auction.

[benebob]

Isn't there some crashing involved in lemons? If so I'd shy away from anything fwd/awd in favor of a nice rwd with a well protected radiator (i.e. 240, mottie carlie, caprice, etc.)

[Hondasucks]

Originally Posted by sicksubie

P.S. we have $500 to buy the AND modify it. Safety equipment (seatbelts, tires, brakes, cage) does not count toward that budget....

How long does it have to last? Get a 90s Turbo Chrysler (preferably the 2.2) replace the head gasket and boost the snot out of it, they are surprisingly easy to make haul ass, and can usually be found for cheap.

[s'ko]

it has to last at least 12 hours or so of racing/driving.

I would say go with an EA81 but those are getting rare...something that will make the distance. How about a old bug, air cooled.
or the aforementioned Volvo.

Bw

[sicksubie]

Looking at the Volvos and some other options. I really would like something that is turbo'd stock....