Miatruck Challenge Car FS/FT - Florida - Mine, totally affiliated

Wanted to put a feeler up to see if anyone might be interested in the Team Tetanus Miatruck that has run several times in the past at the Challenge... We won the truck class (for which I still feel guilty, as it's technically a "truck"... but is it really?). After the 2018 Challenge it came home, the battery was pulled out to charge and it hasn't been touched since, unfortunately. The starter was not engaging the last couple of times it was driven, so it was bump started.

For those that are unfamiliar, this is a 1995 miata-based vehicle with a working bed and an NB 1.8l engine. It is running a FreeEMS ECU that is fully programmable. The body diet resulted in a loss of 450lbs. It is an absolute hoot to drive. It would come with both sets of wheels in the pictures (the AutoX wheels have older Hoosiers on them) plus extras

Current build book is roughly $1300 and we have a good number of additional upgrade the parts on the shelf, so plenty of room for further development. Unfortunately, it's not going to get the love it needs from us to compete again. It currently lives in Tampa, FL.

I'm currently looking for a car for my boys, who turn 15 in October, so if you have something interesting and manual for trade (cash on my side possible as well), throw it out there. 

Some additional information:

I'd like to get $2000 for the car and all the spares (see below). there is plenty there that can be sold off to regain budget (or we can provide a receipt for the spares separately), or bolt it all on and go fast!

I went to my shop and dug out all the extras that will go with it... here is a list:

• spare open diff (currently has a Tochigi-Fuji in it, works fantastic. grabbed the open as a spare in case we blew something up as we added power, figured we could weld it up and have it just in case)
• NOS Bottle, Mounting brackets, and Dry hoses - needs a solenoid
• Ebay Turbo (new) - Believe it's a TD05
• 6-puck clutch with pressure plate - used but good
• Stock Gauge Cluster
• NIB Gates Waterpump
• Thermostat coupler to fix the wacky coolant routing
• Intercooler - used, good condition, 2" inlet and outlet
• 2 electric fans, one small (mishimoto), one big (generic)
• Boost Gauge
• "Show" wheels - 4 OEM Steels (painted red) with wide-whitewall Street tires on them
• "Race" wheels - 4 16" aftermarket (painted red) with Hoosier R6's mounted - tires are older but probably have some heat cycles left in them - they have been stored inside a semi-climate controlled office
• "Extra" wheels - 4 15" Acura wheels with 2 street tires and 2 24.5" drag tires (old and one has cuts in it from wheel well on another car)
• "Drag" wheels - 2 VMS Racing 13" with Mickey Thompson ET Drags - tires are older but have lots of life and have been stored inside as well
• Spare front subframe - grabbed this because we were thinking about moving the front suspension forward to give it more of a '32 Ford hotrod look
• Koni yellows - unknown condition
• Stock springs - full set

I have pictures of the majority of this stuff. The car is currently sitting in "Delivery" mode - 2 of the "Extra" wheels with street tires and 2 OEM spares. There may be a few more things in the shop that will go with the car, I just need to dig around and see what else is left.

Current needs:

• Battery - I have a core and can source an inexpensive replacement if needed
• Troubleshooting on the starter - it could be a bad starter, a bad solenoid, a wiring issue, or the start button that came out of a clothes washing machine
• A bath
• Tach and Coolant Temp gauges wired (runs without them)

It will be sold with a Bill of Sale. I started down the path to get it titled and registered, but it's not complete. We can discuss offline if there is interest.

If you have interest and want to discuss, send me a DM or text 813 me 785 at 9935.

The same Team Tetnus that runs in Lemons?

I'm 100% convinced that buying a former challenge car is the best way to win the event. 

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

Nope, apparently there are 2 of us then... 

In reply to CrustyRedXpress :

3/4 of the fun is the build - and I think you would have to buy one of the Nelson's former challenge cars to guarantee a win, but I would agree with you!

How much weight could we lose by getting rid of the "bed"?

In reply to calteg :

A bit, but probably not a significant amount. The wood that is the bed floor and the roll cage tubing (that is the rear of the bed supports and the "bumper") are probably the heaviest parts.

Updated the listing to add the spares package, etc.

I've got some very bad ideas swirling in my head....

All you Florida folks, how hard do you think it would be to obtain a title for this?  I'm looking into GA bonded title possibility and seeing how hard that is.

Are any VIN plates still on it?

If tag tag offices would still allow a cut up jalopy on the road, I'd DD that in a heartbeat. Well, the younger, tougher me would!

You and I do have two totally different definitions of "working truck bed" ! That being said, the file cabinet bed is about as cool as anything I've ever seen!

As I typed that, I had some evel thoughts about a couple beat up Vidmar cabinets I have...

This I like.

This thing is absolutely HAUNTING me...  I love oddball cars, love Miatas.  Georgia titling is easy....

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

Me, as well! I have changed contracts to one an hr from the house, and won't need ac for months!   Hummmm...

I know he was working on the car and I haven't heard from him in a while.  Still open to the idea of buying it.

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

I'm still around, apologies for the radio silence. Finally got the starter I ordered from Amazon and of course it was wrong, so no progress other than pulling the old starter and having it test to confirm it was the bad component. At this point it needs a starter and a battery and it will run (and Race)!

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

Are you still interested? Totally cool if not, I need to clear some shop space and would love for this thing to go to a good home... so BUMP!

In reply to 03Panther :

One thing we learned building this thing is the amount of metal in a filing cabinet is A LOT - and that filing cabinets are ubiquitously free! Also, the bed is supported underneath with extra tubing that was leftover from the rollbar, so you can stand on it, jump on it, etc and it's totally solid. The bed itself is wood from a dismembered pallet.

Yeah, I'm still around.  I'm sorry, I thought you were changing a starter or something like that (I forget), to see if it would start.  Sorry if we got our signals crossed.  Do you know if it starts?

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

I shipped back the starter that was the wrong one and put it back in its spot at the shop, haven't had a chance to touch it since. I know it will run, just has to have a starter and a battery. I can try to attack it again in a few weeks.

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

I've got some very bad ideas swirling in my head....

All you Florida folks, how hard do you think it would be to obtain a title for this?  I'm looking into GA bonded title possibility and seeing how hard that is.

Are any VIN plates still on it?

If it has a VIN and it doesn't come back COD, you can just send the paperwork to Vermont, get plates and registration, then turn it in to your local DMV for a Georgia title