Rand

I need some advice to help me make a decision. First some background. I have 3 DE in my 993 and have become addicted to the track. After the last one at Buttonwillow I decided that I had to have a car just for the track, and just use the 993 for Glendora and Malibu runs etc.

Now to my options. I have a 1988 Carrera with 157,000 miles that is in very good condition. I believe I can get $16-17k if I sold it. However I could lighten the car, do the suspension, roll cage, seats, freshen the motor and clutch, new wheels and tires for the track, and have a decent track car that is street legal.

My other option is to buy a car already set up for the track..In the classifieds there is a 914 race car with a 3.2l 911 motor. 275 hp and 1850 pounds. They are asking $23,000 for this car. This car is not street legal.

I already have an enclosed trailer and a truck so transportation to the track is not an issue. I would probably be doing DE events, possibly getting into time trials with POC and maybe try racing. I have experience from years ago racing spec fords with SCCA.

What kind of money will I be looking at to get the 911 in shape for the track?
The 914 will be a much higher performance car than the 911 for less money, do you believe that to be true?

Any advice, opinions appreciated.

mooty

rand, how are you. we met at BW or was it WS several months ago. to get your 911 ready for track with all the work you mentioned, i would CONSERVATIVELY say $10k.

nman413

Randy, you dog! You never mentioned you used to race.

I see that the track bug is rapidly biting people left and right. I must not get a trailer, I must not get a trailer.....

rcwelch

Randy...I would opt for a Track car already prepared. It seems like you always put more money into the initial transformation than you do into buying one and spending a little to meet your needs. Sell your car and Go for it!

chris walrod

Rand, How are you? I hope it wasnt me who persuaded you to get a track car (after talking to you in the hotel parking lot at the rumble)? Or was it OldGuy with his future kitchen remodel (trailer purchase)?

Seriously now, if I was to look for a dedicated track car, with a modest budget, I would look into a nicely setup 944 spec car, or do what TomW did, get a setup 964.

max911

Randy, you might want to talk to Mark in Hermosa. He now tracks a mid 80s Carrera.
Mark in H.

max

chris walrod

Mark seems to be really happy with it as well...Good idea!

OldGuy

Rand, I told you if I bought the trailer youd get the car. I did it. we now can start thinking of our racing team name which would be a subsidiary of HWFMR. Lets see Randy Ryckebosch and Paul Guggenbuehl. How bout GuggenBosch racing or RycheBuehl racing??
Got to be a Porsche though! I would go for your 87

911

Randy,

You wouldn't want to slowly convert your Carrera into a track car? If you just got the DAS rollbar, race seats, Bilstein HD/Sport combo, & harnesses, you'd already have a car ready for the track. The total for these four items comes out to approximately $3k. Also, depending on if you ran with the POC, you could easily choose from the following classes: Stock, Improved & Production. The Stock Class is a great place to start. I ran my '86 Carrera there in '99 & '00. Anyway, you could build your car up to Improved and then Production if you wanted to proceed w/ the mods. Btw, your car would be in the "J" class.

Just my .02. I'm sure you'll have fun which ever route you choose - especially if you team up w/ OG!

sweanders

Try a 944 turbo, they can be made into awesome track cars for little money.

Rand

Thanks everyone for the replies. I am now leaning toward working on the 88 and using it as a project car and do a few steps at a time as Rick has suggested. It would be an excellant project for my 16 year old son to help with. He says he wants the car as his driver, but if it turns into a track car he'll have to get a nice VW bug or an old civic, maybe an old pickup truck.

Hey Paul, I dont't think there's enought room on the side of the car to put our names.

Any more advice/ opinions would be appreciated.

Craig W.

I think the 88 or 89 911 is about the best car of all to run with POC. If I were to build another track car, that is what I'd get. I looked for one seriously for a dual purpose car while I was shopping for my 993. Never found a good late 80's 3.2 carerra, but did find the 993, so I went that route.

911

Randy,

One thing I forgot to mention is that if your car is in "Stock" condition (i.e. a car that would be classified in this class), then you could already take the car out to the track w/ the POC (Short Track Series @ Streets of Willow). I think I did my first year like that. Heck, I didn't even have any harnesses when I started!

Rich