2011 Challenge Rules

I'm thinking tolulene. I have been reading about it used in turbo F1 cars in the early 80's. Since I'm building a turbo honda, it seemed like a good idea other than the cost of that stuff.

Fuels are unlimited for the Challenge.

However, it's an NHRA track. It's their house, gotta play by their rules.

If the track officials realized you were playing with something which in their estimation posed a safety risk, they would certainly be within their authority to stop you.

So as long as the track doesn't care, then I can use it? I'm gonna have to make some phone calls then.

I'm not sure it will happen this year anyway, there are a lot of things needed to be done to the car to use it. It's something I want to play with either way though.

PhilStubbs wrote: I'm thinking tolulene. I have been reading about it used in turbo F1 cars in the early 80's. Since I'm building a turbo honda, it seemed like a good idea other than the cost of that stuff.

really? seemed like a good idea? i used some roof membrane adhesive that used tolulene as an active ingredient. i was going to scoop the stuff out and spread it with a big plastic fast food restaurant cup.... except that it dissolved the cup in about 45 seconds! that and i couldnt get the smell out of my nose for a week!

itsarebuild wrote:

PhilStubbs wrote: I'm thinking tolulene. I have been reading about it used in turbo F1 cars in the early 80's. Since I'm building a turbo honda, it seemed like a good idea other than the cost of that stuff.

really? seemed like a good idea? i used some roof membrane adhesive that used tolulene as an active ingredient. i was going to scoop the stuff out and spread it with a big plastic fast food restaurant cup.... except that it dissolved the cup in about 45 seconds! that and i couldnt get the smell out of my nose for a week!

Toluene has also been used in the process of removing the cocaine from coca leaves in the production of Coca-Cola syrup. sounds like some bad stuff to me...I read a bunch more crazy things about it as well

itsarebuild wrote:

PhilStubbs wrote: I'm thinking tolulene. I have been reading about it used in turbo F1 cars in the early 80's. Since I'm building a turbo honda, it seemed like a good idea other than the cost of that stuff.

really? seemed like a good idea? i used some roof membrane adhesive that used tolulene as an active ingredient. i was going to scoop the stuff out and spread it with a big plastic fast food restaurant cup.... except that it dissolved the cup in about 45 seconds! that and i couldnt get the smell out of my nose for a week!

I'm not real sure what you are getting at, but if you are trying to knock tolulene try putting some 87 octane in a styrofoam cup and see what happens. The biggest issue I see for tolulene is that it evaporates incredibly fast, it's going to be very expensive to use. It probably wont happen this year.

Anyone know what the entry fee will be? And the fee for non-participant spectators (wife)? A friend and I are going to venture out to our first of these events with an LT1 RX7 (if all goes well lol) and we were also wondering if we could split the driving between us? I assume we can but don't want to get down there 3 states away and find out only one of us can drive the event (he called drag, I called the autox, so it worked out lol) Very excited about this event, all we've been talking about for at least a week!

i seem to remember it was $125 entrance fee (car plus 1 person) and then $50 per teammember who wishes to attend the banquets for previous years.

as long as they have a wrist band i believe anyone can drive any portion split any way you like. GRM invites national champion level drivers to attend and are more than willing to autocross your car for you should you ask them. in most cases they run faster in an owner's car than the owner, but you dont have to have them drive. our first year we chose to drive as it was all new to us, but subsequent years we've just tossed the keys to a "pro" driver to see what our creation can really do. if there's time for fun runs afterwards we've run a couple times then too.

good luck and hope you make it! its an awesome event!

Keith from Flyin Miata has commented on the use of tolulene to boost octane....

MrJoshua wrote:

neon4891 wrote: What is the best method of determining FMV on an existing vehicle?

You can search crazedlist for similar vehicles, check ebay for recently sold versions of your vehicle, put the car on ebay and see how high the bidding gets, or just tell us what it is and let us decide. Basically you just have make an honest effort to document a fair price.

So on that note what would a non-running 4 cylinder Dodge Dakota be worth?

moparman76_69 wrote:

MrJoshua wrote:

neon4891 wrote: What is the best method of determining FMV on an existing vehicle?

You can search crazedlist for similar vehicles, check ebay for recently sold versions of your vehicle, put the car on ebay and see how high the bidding gets, or just tell us what it is and let us decide. Basically you just have make an honest effort to document a fair price.

So on that note what would a non-running 4 cylinder Dodge Dakota be worth?

Give us more info.

MrJoshua wrote: Give us more info.

1987 dodge dakota, 4 cyl 5 speed, missing the carb, intake, and fuel tank so it won't run. Body is fair but the bed has quite a bit of bondo work done on it by a previous owner. Craigslist prices for 1st gen dakotas vary wildly but for running with issues or not running I see about 750-900 for 90-93 models so I'd say 500-750 for an 87.

I would go with current scrap value of $100 per 1000lbs as a minimum and a few of the following or some from your area as the max:

87 6cyl for $400: http://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/2126795117.html

88 for $350: http://hickory.craigslist.org/cto/2122574823.html

93 V6 for $450: http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/2093064527.html

You could probably justify anywhere from $250-$450 without anyone even blinking an eye. Bring printouts of the ads you use or the following scrap yard price sheet from CMC in Gainesville on Dec 22, 2010 and you are golden.

Why is the weight of '99 and new steel more expensive than 98 and older steel?

Environmental issues related to paints, etc?

I'm guessing.

miatame wrote: Why is the weight of '99 and new steel more expensive than 98 and older steel?

This scrap yard is a feeder for a u-pull junkyard as well as a recycle yard. Newer cars draw more money in parts. If you bring a car so far stripped that it isn't worth putting in the yard they give you tin prices.

Yea, I would just say $300 on that truck. Sounds reasonable to me.

Well we foolishly paid money for a 36 year old car, to compete with sub 11 second turbo charged 4wd Mitsubishis. No ABS, LSD, Fuel Injection, etc. Any chance of changing the "old car" Challenge class to being a straight 35 years old? :)

Besides dealing with 36 years of rust and antiquated technology, I find myself dealing with two (worthless) service manuals with terms like "Prise", "Boot", "Bonnet", and "Windscreen". Apparently "Prise" means pry (In American). And I just got started. Cant wait to see words like "Dynamo" and "spanner".
Oh, and I swear that there is hardware that is neither inches nor metric. Bloody L!
Actually I'm having a lot of fun. (Except for the rodent nests and endless mouse turds.)

Oh, I forgot to mention the instructions to remove the "Propeller" shaft.

I used to work in a Nissan dealership. I was surprised to see propeller shaft.

What kind of car are you building

spin_out wrote: Any chance of changing the "old car" Challenge class to being a straight 35 years old? :)

Maybe we can have "old car" and "E36 M3ty old car".

Ok so say I am buying two cars for someone and they want $800 for it but they say if I buy a second car from them they will take $300 off the price from the total. Can I count $150 off the price of the one for the Challenge?

That idiot who can't spell wrote: Ok so say I am buying two cars for someone and they want $800 for it but they say if I buy a second car from them they will take $300 off the price from the total. Can I count $150 off the price of the one for the Challenge?

I'd say that's fair. You get two cars for a normal certain price, and he's taking $300 off the total of two.

Some creative wording could probably even net you $300 off the challenge car, but that's more a question of what you feel comfortable doing. (He didn't say WHICH car the $300 came off, right?)

Or advertise the second car on eBay and what the high bid is is what you can claim.

You don't have to follow through on the sale, just tell the buyer it was destroyed.