Rat racer

[htchevyii]

I've been too long without a Fiat project, so I've decided to turn the $200. 78 parts car I bought a year ago into an autocross car, (the only type of local sports car racing we have). It actually has a bunch of new parts and was a daily driver until the trans went south, so I stuck in a used trans that I had and put on a header that I had laying around, (it came with a 4-1 manifold and no exhaust). The Idea is to use only parts that I allready have and try not to spend any money. So far I'm inmto it for two sets of hood pins, a set of spark plugs and $50. that I spent on tractor paint, so maybe $300 including the car. I've started stripping it and will remove everything that I can. Let me know if you need any parts, there was almost no interior when I got it, though.
It's still looking pretty ugly, I'll have to wait until it warms up a bit to do my quickie body and paint. Oops, I forgot I bought a glasspack and some pipe, another 35-40 bucks. The PO tore the front lower valance off when it fell off of the trailer ramps, so that's why it has the homeade front bumper mount and the primered lower valance that I made from some scrap metal that is used to pack side airbags in for shipping. I'm trying to decide if I should put the brush guard on the front for sort of a off road ralley look. What do you guys think?

[dmwhiteoak]

your right, It is ugly but it sounds fun. Good luck and enjoy.

[Snoopy]

A german plate

[So Cal Mark]

I'd leave the brush guard off and aim for the lightest weight possible

[Kevin1]

How far are you allowed to go in the weight reduction, considering this will not be street able? No hood / trunk lid? Lose the windshield and frame? Ditch the bumpers and brackets? No lighting? No dash, but keep a tach?
Anyone know what a completely stripped spider weighs?

[htchevyii]

Finally, some proper race tires. As soon as the rain lets up, I'll remove the top, heater and wiper parts. Unfortunally, gutting it puts me in the race class, where it won't be competive, but I can pretty much remove everything that's not needed.

[So Cal Mark]

what wheels are you using? They look like 8" wide

[htchevyii]

Ya, the're 13x8 Diamond racing wheels with 235/45-13 Kumhos.

[SLOSpider]

I have interest in a good heater core and pipes if your taking them out

[mdrburchette]

That's an early car, maybe a 72? They are pretty well balanced from the factory and with the right shocks and a heavy swaybar, are fun on the autox track so I wouldn't worry about gutting it. Where'd you get your hands on those tires?

[ga.spyder]

The Chevy II looks awesome!! The Spider project will be a lot of fun.Are you going to do SCCA auto-x/If so,get a rulebook and see whay you need to do.I just bought a Miata for auto-x and trck.The mods on it push me into a class with much faster cars.

[htchevyii]

My buddy Dan Wilson had the wheels. Since he painted his car he doesn't want to go mess it up with wide wheels and sticky tires, (our track is REALLY rough and gravely). I bought this car for parts, but its a runner, so I figured I'd go abuse it for awhile until it self destructs. I still have my '72, but it in storage at my Grandpa's house cause I won't let it sit outside. This one is a pile, so i really dont care. When I get my shop done then all of the cars can come home at once instead of by rotation! I really need to buy a big front sway bar, anybody have a used one? I'm really interested in Vick's new tubular control arms. I'd like to see some specifics on the geometry. I'm trying not to get too carried away wasting time on this pile that would be better spent on my nice cars. The car was missing the entire interior when I got it and had the battering ram bumpers, so i figured I might as well take off the rest. Here's a link to he Vicks arms:
http://www.vickauto.com/newstore/index. ... ts_id=3806

[htchevyii]

The Chevy II looks awesome!! The Spider project will be a lot of fun.Are you going to do SCCA auto-x/If so,get a rulebook and see whay you need to do.I just bought a Miata for auto-x and trck.The mods on it push me into a class with much faster cars.

Thanks, my first car I got when I was 15 was a 62 ChevyII. I spent 2 years building it and then destroyed it . When I was 18 or 19 I bought the 64 and swapped all of the go fast parts over. It's got around 400hp and weighs under 3000 lbs. I'm working on the body and paint and have a 9" Ford ready to swap into it. It's really hard to get enough rear tire under a early ChevyII without a mini tub.

[htchevyii]

I got a few important details done to the rat. Most important was the hand grenade hood ornament made from a belt buckle and the custom shifter boot. I scrounged an old Momo wheel from the last parts car and bolted in the seats from that car too. I finally have a fully functioning distributer and made a side exit exhaust with a glasspack. Three weeks to driving school.

[ga.spyder]

the shifter boot screams''class''