It all depends on how competitive you want to be. If you just want to run a car then you can run in the lower 1/3 of the field for pretty cheap. If you are looking to be competitive then prepare to spend big bucks. Crate motors are roughly $3k but you will not keep up with that motor. Would be totally screwed with a junkyard motor. If you get just a race head, be prepared to spend $1200-$2000. With that, an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, and taking it to a shop for them to "tune it" you can get pretty close to the front in terms of power. Full pro motors are $5k and up and require rebuilds every 40-70 hours.

I really have a love/hate relationship with racing a SM. I love it when I am able to beat out some of the "pro built" cars, but I hate it when every other weekend someone is wrecking you and making you spend extra thousands of dollars. I would also take a look at Spec-Racer Fords (SRF). The initial buy cost is about $5-10k more, but the consumables are farrrrrrrr less. The cars are much closer to being truly spec and they are about 500lbs lighter so they go through far fewer consumables.

--L.D.