Originally Posted by
lutzperfautoinc
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.
Yeah I'm not looking to really be competitive; I dont see myself running many SM races at all. I'd mainly be getting into an SM just for the low cost reasons and do DEs with some AutoX events in between. I like the idea of buying a car already sorted out for the track. Plus, everyone that I've talked to says to start with a low HP car if you want to really learn how to drvie, and I'm thinking that is the route I want to go. I've only done about 4 DEs so far and about 10 autoX events, so I definitely consider myself a novice.
L.D., shoot me a PM with how much you charge for rental; I rode shotgun in one at Sebring but never drove one.