Chump-Car Prelude project --CANCELLED!--

[Duck-Stew]

Well, some of us So-Cal'ers have decided to build and enter a car in the ChumpCar series.

More info on the series here:  www.chumpcar.com

We bought us a 1986 Honda Prelude 2.0Si for the amazingly high price of $300.  The former owner(s) replaced the following items:
Radiator
Axle shafts
Brakes (all the way around)
Timing Belt

Yesterday, we stripped the interior out and did some minor inspection and prep.

EDIT:  pics below...

[Monsterlover]

photobucket wants you to login. . .

[Duck-Stew]

photobucket wants you to login. . .

ok...  Let me work on that.

[djrashonal]

boo photobucket.......


Horray beer!

[Duck-Stew]

Here are some shots. 

219K miles on the stock SOHC 2.0L 12V efi motor which was factory rated @ 110hp.  Still pretty peppy despite the mileage.  Transmission shifts great and the clutch was recently done too...


Stock interior pt 1:


Stock interior pt 2:


Here's Ryan (Short-Bus Bacon Junkie) exhuberantly removing stuffs:


Rob (orangelion03) with the successful removal of the rear seat:




Me removing the cruise-control cable and brackets:


Our 'spoils' from the hunt for 'less weight':


Solid exterior and chassis:


Well...not ENTIRELY solid.  Former owner left it to rot for 5 years in his driveway with his neighbors sprinklers hitting it daily...   

[Big Troubled Bear]

This is going to be fun

[Monsterlover]

You should turbo that thing.

[RB]

how many races you going to enter?

I have a 91 integra rotting in my driveway, with 250k on the clock, if i can convince the better looking half that this is a better way to enjoy the few bucks we would have made on the car if we sold it, i am in.

thanks for the idea. i have a few friends that race/drift and i have never heard of this  chumpcar thing.

[Monsterlover]

Did you guys pull the door pannels?

There's another 10+ pounds I'd guess.

[Duck-Stew]

This is going to be fun

Oh.  Hell.  Yeah!

You should turbo that thing.

We're limited to a maximum investment (w/o safety equipment) of $500 so a turbo would likely put us over the edge.  Plus...we're serious about finishing and putting pressure on a 220K motor, well...it may not last as long as a 24 hour race demands.  But hell yeah...we thought of it!

how many races you going to enter?

I have a 91 integra rotting in my driveway, with 250k on the clock, if i can convince the better looking half that this is a better way to enjoy the few bucks we would have made on the car if we sold it, i am in.

thanks for the idea. i have a few friends that race/drift and i have never heard of this  chumpcar thing.

1 at first.  Since funds are low and time to do this is short...we're hoping to have the car prepped, roll-caged, & ready-to-rock by mid to late summer.  I'd like to do Sears Point me-self...     If the car (and us) make it, then we'll consider other venues.

Safety equipment can total $1000 and that doesn't include the full race Nomex suit you have to wear, the car-racing specific helmet, gloves, fuel, entry fees and such.  The four of us (River is the 4th BTW) plan on an investment of about $800-$1000 each w/all our gear, transportation to the track, food, entry fees, etc...  You should really read the rules of the thing before you touch the Integra, but yeah...COULD BE GREAT!

Did you guys pull the door pannels?

There's another 10+ pounds I'd guess.

We'll get to the front panels and the remainder of the interior in due time.  For right now, I'm daily-driving this car so it still has to function and we don't yet have manual window regulators so keeping the power ones and the power switchgear deemed that the panels remain for the time being.

[djrashonal]

Thats overall pretty damn awesome! where do you find working cars for 300 bucks? I've heard stories about these races where people get awesome cars and blow away the competition, and then there are some terrible cars that dont make it the first hour

[Porsche Monkey]

I hate to break it to you but someone put that motor in there all sideways like.

[il d00d]

That is going to be serious fun.  I dunno how much I would enjoy an actual enduro, so I might opt for the shorter and even less serious version of this, the 24 Hours of Lemons

Assorted selections from the rulebook:
1.6: Your Car May Be Destroyed at Any Time: In addition to accidents and other unfortunate boo-boos, one car may be selected by blind ballot of all teams for immediate removal and total destruction. It could be your car. It probably WILL BE your car. You'll have 30 minutes to yank out any safety items you want to rescue, and then it's toast. Them's the breaks. Don't bring it if you ain't OK with losing it.

2.4: Whiner Eligibility. Whiners are not eligible to compete.

[RB]

I hate to break it to you but someone put that motor in there all sideways like.

In the words of Jeremy Clarkson "you are giving the front wheels too much to do" referring to a 200hp+ hot-hatch that is front wheel drive and with zero traction.

Thats overall pretty damn awesome! where do you find working cars for 300 bucks? I've heard stories about these races where people get awesome cars and blow away the competition, and then there are some terrible cars that dont make it the first hour

Finding a car that is this cheap is the key, and probably difficult to come by right now, but you can find them. Ask your friends and family someone may be sitting on a car they have no intentions of using. I have actually owned two cars because of this, both were high mileage acuras i just had to remove them from the property. Last car coast me $0 so i rebuilt the head with 250k on the clock drove it to 280k before someone t-boned me.
Now i have to sell this idea to my wife.

[Duck-Stew]

Found on Craigslist.  It has yet to pass smog and was back-registered a few years so those knocked some $ off the pricing.

The 24 Hours of Lemons folks have some funny stuffs in their rules about immediate destruction of the car w/o any say by its owners.  The Chump-Car series has none of that non-sense.  They can take your car and turn it over to the 'Wrecking Crew' who will disconnect, cut, disassemble it somewhat (depending on the infraction) and then return it to you for you to fix as fast as possible to get back in the race.  They can also pull your car and pay you $1500 for it and you're out.  After the race, the car goes up for auction w/the opening bid of $1750 (all proceeds going to charity) so you can buy it back for another race... 

As far as the race schedule goes, I really *WANT* to do the 24 Hr. stint (as well as all my crew-mates).  That way, it's less of a test of the machine and more of a test of the drivers and the whole team.