Hey guys, so after a long discussion with my roommate we've decided to try to build a challenge car. Here's the catch though, I am fairly familiar with working with cars but haven't yet dived into any intensive engine work and he has no experience working on cars but is eager to learn. To start we are going to use his 3rd gen ford escort. I know the big things we gotta work on is body work and a auto to manual swap. We figured we'd need to pick up a parts car with a 5 speed, so we have the tranny and also anything else we should need. Basically I'm just asking for any advice for building a challenge car up. Where would you guys start? Thanks in advance for any help.
Gut it, make it handle.
Stock replacement brake things are free, so go ahead and do that.
Make a list, detailed list. Lots of little things. Break down large jobs into smaller jobs. Do a couple small jobs a day, don't bite off more than you can chew.
my first build was a simple e30 project that over time turned very gutted racecar.
i started with safety/reliability/functional stuff, followed by suspension/brake related performance, then engine related performance, with weight savings done anywhere along the way that made sense.
that way youve got (in theory) a safe car you can play with before and after the challenge, you can use it locally and develop it in stages to figure out what it needs, and the whole project is broken up into more manageable chunks, which for a first build is a BIG help in actually finishing it. basically try to keep it usable and actually use it between large chunks so you don't get lost in it.
^Words of truth!
Oh, and if you need help with Escort-specific stuff, there's a few of us nutjobs here that mess with these cars.
I deffinately will be coming here for advice, I've looked at a couple escort forums and there's some good advice but it all seems very boy racer sketchy info. I'm not very familiar with fords as I own a jeep and have mostly worked on Chevys and hondas, I'm excited to see it develope though.
My advice on your first challenge car is KISS keep it simple.You need to go thru the prossess and see what its like.My first challenge was last year and I built a car from scratch.Its tough to say the least and I have a good understanding of cars and how they work.Take your escort gut it then tune up the engine leave the auto in it and get some track time at some auto x's.If you spend more time fine tuning what you got you will finish higher than if you do alot of mods that need testing before you bring it.The second year go all out because you will have data from the previous year to compare too.You will be suprised how well with a car that just finishes all the events that weekend.Good luck hope to see you in 2012.Post some pics so we can see what cha got!!
Don't be ashamed to bring a stock car with a good set of tires and a fresh tune up, brakes, fluids and a good cleaning. It is what I should have been doing for the last 10 years.
