Buy a 78 to 83 SC. Preferably a euro. This will put you in G or F class which are the most competitive in most regions. (Although if other classes are popular in your region you might consider whatever those folks are running). The 3.0L motor is notoriously reliable. Suspension parts and shock formulas are tried and tested. You can run a wide range of tire combinations. These cars are arguably the be value out there.

The most important issues, IMHO, is to build something in the largest class in the area you will be racing. If you are planning on racing in F, 84 to 89 Carreras tend to be the least competitive.

Don't buy a Targa. They have a bad reputation for body flex. Whether this is true or not is debatable. But when you go to sell the car it will be an issue.

I'm in the camp of buying a turn key car.Unless your a real hands on person and don't mind the expense of building one, a turn key DE/Track car is your best bet. There are some really nice properly outfitted SC's or Carreras available for $18,000-20,000.

Dan

Well I'll make a heretical suggestion don't buy a Porsche, there are plently of other cars that make good race cars that won't break the bank. I am in the process of building a new motor for my Porsche race car, 18K will just about buy the parts for the motor. I would suggest a spec Miata, good cars, about 10-12K for a good used one.
Phil

bump

I have a straight 84 targa tub that I'm selling for $1K. Can deliver for price of gas and McDonald's.

You have a PM

I've been down this road, like a lot of the folks that have already replied. I'll throw in another vote for buying a prepped car, maybe this one.

Another nice one from a few months ago was being sold for $24K. The ad details are deleted but if I remember this car had everything you'd need for PCA G class.

Over the past 6 years I've built up a nice DE car, an "RS replica" with a 3.2. The only problem is my mods would put me in a PCA GT class, specifically GT3. I will get clobbered in that class. So...if you think you'd like to race try to decide a class before you buy and start the mods.

The cost factor is true. Check out this car. He says he has $40K in the build and I believe it. $17K or so will buy that one.

I agree that you would enjoy the build, but even a turn key race car will offer you plenty of opportunity to wrench, setup and tune, especially an older one.

That one for $17K is a hell of a deal, I have no affiliation, but if I had the 17K to spend you best beleive I would .

Steve, I don't think there's any debate that targa's, flex. They flex A LOT, especially with stiff bars and shocks, afterall, something's gotta give, and if the suspension isn't, the unibody will.

That's true for a car without a cage. if you are building a dedicated track car, and therefore have a well-thought out and executed cage tieing in the suspension, I think a targa (with the roll bar cut off)/cab is a better platform than a coupe given Thom's hardtops with less weight up top.

that said, it's not like I'll ever be a good enough driver to notice a difference between an equally prepped targa-plastic hardtop vs. coupe.

Seconded.

It may not be quite track-prepped enough for the original poster, but if the quality of the car is through and through, that looks like a pretty nice deal. The car's in Huntington Beach. I'm sure there are a few of us LA/OC guys who would be happy to even do a pre-PPI visit and test drive!

Looks like a "Turn Key" car may be the best bang for the buck. If you know of any that may be for sale please let me know.

Thanks in advance....

This is absolutely the best couse of action. Here are some numbers for you to help your decision - assuming you wanted to build a 911SC into a competitive G class PCA racer and you are going to do all the work yourself and are looking to take the "less expensive" path wherever there is a choice.

Base car (USA 911SC coupe) with engine and tranny that don't need rebuilds right away - $12,000.

SUSPENSION
torsion bars - $800
Sway bars - $1,000
shocks (revalved Bilsteins) - $900
polybronze bushings (front a-arm, rear spring plate) - $1,000
monoballs (front shock tower, rear trailing arm) - $600
turbo tierods - $200
new balljoints - $150
strut brace - $250
align/corner balance - $200
motor and transmission mounts - $200

EXHAUST
headers / muffler - $1,500

BRAKES
new brake pads - $300
brake cooling kit and ducting - $350
rebuild calipers - $150
new brake fluid - $100
new brake lines - $200

WHEELS AND TIRES
2 sets of 17" CCW wheels - $4,000
2 sets of Hoosier R6 tires - $2,000

SAFETY
full cage - $2,500
race seats - $2,000
fire extinguisher and mount - $200
battery cutoff switch - $150
seat back brace - $150
tow hooks - $200

BODY
f/g front/rear bumpers - $1,500
f/g rear wing/decklid - $450

OIL COOLING
front oil cooler and lines - $800

MISC
transponder - $400
short shift kit, new shifter bushings - $300

This would get you started but doesn't include recurring costs such as tires/brake pads/engine and tranny rebuild, entrance fees / towing / hotels etc.

The total is somewhere around $35,000 and I'm sure I've forgotten a few things. Figure $40,000 and you should be close. Of course there are things that you can do beyond those listed above that will quickly bump this number much higher (e.g., JRZ double adjustable shocks - $5,500).

You should be able to buy a similarly prepared car for $20-25k.

Have you considered other Porsches like the 951? Much cheaper to race than a 911.

Cheers,

Jeff

The guys I know who are/have been racing 951's are constantly having issues ($$$)and often have to DNF club races. Several of them have given up on the 951 platform and bought Euro spec SCs. Buying somebody's finished racer is the way to go, and it worked for me, but I bought into a sparsely populated PCA class (H).

It isn’t the cost of the race car – it is the cost of going racing.

With a $200K GT3 you can easily spend 10X going racing. With a $20K club racer, you can spend 5X during a season. Where does all that money go? To maintenance, consumables (tires), travel, food, truck & trailer, etc. Even volunteer crew needs food and lodging.

To go racing, it should be done to succeed. Anything sort of that is akin to putting your hand on the anvil and hitting it with a hammer. So what does it take to succeed? Three things; preparation, preparation and preparation. Having a race car ready to go racing is obvious. Preparation also includes being able to keep racing regardless of what ills befall you. It also includes getting extra stick time. It also includes your physical condition. There are a lot of good books about these subjects.

A great deal of this is to keep it fun for you. Part of keeping it fun is to only spend within your budget. Too many careers and marriages fail for having this get out of control. Keep everything in balance.


The Kleenex analogy; You buy a new box of Kleenex and madly use up the tissue each weekend. When it is near empty, you can refill the box but the tissues don’t fit as well. Some times you have to repair the box. Eventually you need a new box.

You can build your own box to better specifications than Kimberly-Clark did. It will cost much more.

Best,
Grady

I’m going to modify this above list for a mild race car level and schedule. That is, say, eight track weekends (1/2 DE), several solo events and 8-12 “practice” track days.

A critical issue is the class. That, in turn, determines the engine reves. Higher revs = greater $ in terms of overhaul frequency and level of engine prep. A properly prepared 911 engine is exceedingly durable. Part of the equation is preservation and maintenance.

I point out “preservation.” Engines that are used infrequently (say every other weekend over many weeks) are very susceptible to failure from lack of care in preservation. This subject is worth its own thread.

Again, depending on class, gearing is extremely important. If your class allows different gears, finding the right gears for that particular event/track can make the difference between a win and “also-ran.” If you are allowed to change gears, it is very advantageous to gain the ability to do that between sessions. This also increases the importance of practicing (testing) before events. See my prior posts on other threads.

comments event annual

Base car (USA 911SC coupe) with engine and tranny that don't need rebuilds right away - $12,000.
While this isn't an unreasionable price, you want an un-rusted and un-crashed example. I agree, you want to start with an inexpensive (and worn) example. This allows you to start from new.


ENGINE – I’m not in favor of using an unknown engine for this purpose. It is a roll of the dice and you most often loose. Even more important, you loose a perfectly rebuildable engine. It has always seemed to me that preparing an engine properly is far more cost-effective than running a unknown used engine to failure. Racing is difficult enough without designing-for-failure.

TRANSMISSIONS - 901s and 915s can be over-stressed. Regular maintenance helps prevent on-track problems. Another very important savior is an oil pump, filter and cooler. Trans cooler - $1000, transmission parts $10K+.

Building/preparing a Porsche race car is a very time consuming process. It can be done faster commercially with application of the normal lubricant – lots of money. For DIY, it is with time. It is far better to delay your racing by a year than rush into it unprepared.

Here is the above list with my additions.

SUSPENSION
torsion bars - $800
Sway bars - $1,000
shocks (revalved Bilsteins) - $900 annual
Suspension/chassis reinforcing -
polybronze bushings (front a-arm, rear spring plate) - $1,000 annual
monoballs (front shock tower, rear trailing arm) - $600 annual
turbo tierods - $200 annual
new balljoints - $150 annual
strut brace - $250
align/corner balance - $200 event
motor and transmission mounts - $200
x
spares

EXHAUST
headers / muffler - $1,500 annual

BRAKES
new brake pads - $300 event
brake cooling kit and ducting - $350 annual
rebuild calipers - $150 annual
new brake fluid - $100 event
new brake lines - $200 annual

WHEELS AND TIRES
2 sets of 17" CCW wheels - $4,000 one set per year
2 sets of Hoosier R6 tires - $2,000 event
FUEL/OIL - event

SAFETY
full cage - $2,500 if DIY, X3 commercially
race seats - $2,000
Fuel cell, container & mount -
fire extinguisher and mount - $200 annual
Seat belts; bi-annual -
Helmet, Nomex, etc; bi-annual -
cool suit -
battery cutoff switch - $150 a lot more goes into this
seat back brace - $150 should be part of the cage
tow hooks - $200

BODY
f/g front/rear bumpers - $1,500 3X annual
f/g rear wing/decklid - $450
Paint and body repair - event?

OIL COOLING
front oil cooler and lines - $800 3X

MISC
transponder - $400
short shift kit, new shifter bushings - $300
throttle linkage -
clutch linkage -
Rubbermaid Solution - $100

TOOLS -
EQUIPMENT -
TOW TRUCK -
TRAILER -

ENTRY FEES -
TRAVEL EXPENSE -
FOOD & LODGING -

UNEXPECTED EXPENSES -

Now, take all of this and double it and you might be close.


There is an old adage:
“How to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a big one.”



I’ll encourage everyone who wants to go racing to become “volunteer crew” for someone; from beginning amateur on up to pro races. I started this in the fall of ’59 and the experience and connections were both fun and very helpful. I enjoyed racing, stayed within my budget and actually got paid to do some pro racing. Best, I had fun and can tell about it.

Best,
Grady