Seems on the north end of "grassroots" one can get a Factory Five Roadster. In particular, there seem to be plenty of abandoned builds that can be had for ~50c on the dollar.
Have read mixed reviews on the handling. My application would be a street legal track car that would be driven 90% on track and 10% Saturday night cruising with Mrs Teggsan.
Any comments, particularly on handling?
PS. Have largely dropped the idea of a non-street legal track car due to WAF (wife acceptance factor).
I am guessing you could do most anything to them you could do to their donor fox body sn95 etc mustangs? They just weigh a lot less
The problem with an abandoned build is going to be the same one when buying a completed car. How good was the previous guys work?
Where can ya find these unfinished projects? i have not seen many
In reply to Teggsan:
An entire series exists based on the FF challenge car. Which is just a stripped roadster. You have to assume it can be made to handle well. I'm sure it can be made street legal with the minimum safety and light requirements.
As for unfinished projects check racing junk and the factory five forums.
There's a forum for Factory Five cars, ffcars.com You'll find some abandon builds there in the classifieds.
I did 4 or 5 track days and about 20 autox events with my FFR. Their handling depends purely on the suspension and steering under the car. When I got mine, it had basically the stock Fox Mustang under it, including the 4 link rear. The car handled well, but always liked to move around in the corners. I had the rear swapped to a 3 link (FFR supplied) and it made a huge difference. The car then took a set and held tight. Also, I had changed my steering rack a few times. First, I had the stock Mustang power steering set up. Too little feel. I then switched to a Flaming River quick ratio rack. Much more responsive, but I found it too touchy, especially on a short wheelbase car. If I sneezed, I was 3 lanes over. So I went back to a stock Mustang rack, but ditched the power steering. Once I had it sorted out the way I liked it, they were a E36 M3 load of fun to drive. I pushed to the limit and beyond in autox, but always held back a touch on the big tracks, as I wanted to bring the car home in one piece. Oh, make sure you've got adequate cooling...my car had a 302 when I got it but no aluminum radiator. I overheated it and killed it on my second track day.
The car can be made to handle really well. Just remember that you're dealing with a car that has a 90" wheelbase, weighs barely more than one ton and has a butt load of horsepower. They're easy to handle up to 9/10ths. Start pushing beyond that, and they're a serious handful...hence why you hear lots of stories about these cars wrapped around trees and telephone polls.
Short answer; they can be made to handle very well. You need to know the nuances though. In the rear the 3 link is far superior to the 4 link, which just like in the Mustang it is derived from has built in bind just waiting to teach you the term "snap oversteer". FFR even recommends the 3 link rear for serious performance use over their IRS although at the expense of ride comfort. In front the best geometry comes from using FFR's proprietary spindles although model year '94 & '95 SN95 units fitted with a steering axis inclination modification run a close second. For serious autocross and track duty I always recommend power steering with lots of caster, on the order of 8-9 degrees. You can back off the amount of assist by cutting the pressure relief spring or using a Heidt's adjustable pressure valve but my experience is that I run full boost for autocross and nearly full assist on track. Lots more to it but that's a start. Like many cars once the basic hardware is in place the difference between an evil handling beast and a beautiful performer comes down to setup including springs, shocks and alignment . As Klayfish mentioned you can find tons of information and hours of reading at FFCars. Feel free to shoot me a message if you like.
Cheers, Jeff
Failed to mention earlier that I know of a partially built Mk4 (latest generation) roadster that due to family circumstances is available for purchase along with most of the major chassis components (front & rear suspension, steering, big brakes, wiring harness, pedal box, etc.). I don't know the guy or his abilities but can say that he has made excellent component choices and the price he is asking is a screaming deal. Lemme' know if you would like to have his contact info.
Jeff
I've never driven one, but I've been on track many times with them. For the most part, they rocket down the straights and get in the way in the corners. Not unlike most Mustangs, and Camaros.
That's true of many fast cars with slow drivers - not a fair measure of handling.
njansenv wrote: That's true of many fast cars with slow drivers - not a fair measure of handling.
Yep 
Driven 2 at autocrosses. Biggest note is that both I have driven had >400hp at the wheels.
You can set them up very well or very poorly.
Note that the front end had no FUNCTIONAL similarity to a stock mustang. (changing from mac-p strut to SLA)
I don't know why anyone at all interested in performance would run the 4-link. (from a mustang owner)
You will really need to get used to how far back in the chassis you sit. You feel the movement of the rear of the car IN DETAIL. Both cars I drove had manual brakes (something to get used to)
Power steering is a definite good thing for autocross. Best setups I have seen used a MR2 electric pump that you can dial in how much boost you want (even up it for a AX run) Without power steering you will need HUGE forearms (on good rubber).
Guys I know with them built them up really well and drive them really well. They get A LOT of FTD's at autocrosses.
They are NOT a car thats easy to jump into and be fast. You have to be very quick to respond when its stepping out. Personally, I don't mesh well with them (read spin a lot). They take time to master, but are VERY fast when set up well and you adapt.
Its not a miata, it has a much much more chew you up and eat you for breakfast edge to it.
http://youtu.be/Tn19Va_K2aA A friends cobra, with a NA 347 stroker IIRC
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