$2019 Gastropods - come join us.

In reply to Jason McRoberts :

Yeah, that's the intent of starting the gastropod class. Where you can build up lightly prepared car and not have to be a master fabricator to participate. The amazing thing about the event is that it is such a warm and welcoming group of guys, from the guy that just brings a bone stock Centra to run or builds a 9-second drag strip Terror. Although there are vast levels of a builds, no one is excluded from enjoying the festivities regardless of what they did or didn't bring to the event. Many people go back just to enjoy the festivities and, camaraderie. It's really more of a social event where are race broke out.

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :

That's the feeling I've been getting.  It is only in the last few years that dragging a trailer full of car from Texas to Florida has been a realistic idea from a real world budget standpoint.  Gastropod class just makes the graph lines come together.

In reply to Jason McRoberts :

Duuuuuuude, I just clicked on your name, we're basically neighbors in the whole east Texas scheme of things. Awesome.

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Your threads are the main reason I started posting occasionally instead of just lurking!  I figured that if another semi-local boy could put in as much as you do I could at least contribute when I had something useful to add to the conversation, also why I switched to my actual name.

I have a few cars that could fit in well here.   

Also,  I haven’t had a chance to read all 9 pages,  but are vans allowed?  Like a 78 Ford short wheelbase,  or are there concerns around something like that flipping over?

In reply to Cotton :

So long is there track is as wide or wider than height, Vans are okay

I have been ignoring this thread because ( in my mind) the tittle suggested a a gathering of the Texas clan to get together and eat BBQ.

Ten pages in, I figure this must be some good BBQ cause its like ten pages long. Damn!

Turns out Mazdeuce is proposing the exact class that I am shooting for with the Mold-Vo. ( Note window that was left partially down for 2 years to understand the name)  Arrive, drive and drive home. Being competitive is not on the program; we win if the car comes back and we don't require legal services.  (I consider the car disposable if it breaks)

Plan is to transport in as much comfort as possible, three Petes, from London Ontario return trip to the challenge in this Q-ship for under $2000.  Consider me a Gastropod. I will bring my own garlic butter recipe.

Pete

Ovid_and_Flem said:

In reply to Cotton :

So long is there track is as wide or wider than height, Vans are okay

Cool,  I think I can make that happen. 

I started a thread for FMV discussions:

FMV some Gastropods

2 value questions.

1) 15+ year old sub box with a pair of 10" subs and 400w amp. It's not authentic high school me unless I pull up to Big Tymers "Get your roll on" thumping

2) though it'd be grossly non-competitive, my daily driver, a 2006 Scion xB, was in fact won in a radio station contest that was open to the general public. I called in, won a spot to sit in the sit, sat the longest (crashing Toyota's internet servers in the process), but there was no entry fee or raffle involved. Now taxes on the winnings did exceed $2000. 

captdownshift said:

a 2006 Scion xB

The track width vs height is going to be a huge problem for this one...

In reply to captdownshift :

That’s good stuff!  Mndsm got me thinking about teenage me, and that me would have had a sub in the trunk.  And a Pixies sticker in the back window.

After reading the challenge rules I'm thinking I might be able to give it a shot. I'd have no choice but to drive to Gainsville from Nebraska since I have no truck or trailer but if the car is cheap it could be worth the risk. I've never paid more than $3000 for a car so at least this is familiar territory. I don't have a chance at winning with my limited experience but losing in a special class for "daily drivers" does add to the appeal.

Now off to Craigslist...

In reply to NOHOME :

Does it have boost yet?

Matthew Kennedy said:

In reply to NOHOME :

Does it have boost yet?

Well, it been boosted alright, but not via forced induction : Project Bucket-List

Can we talk about the drags event for a little minute?

The Challenge rules reference the NHRA rules, and they require a roll bar.  If a roll bar requires removal of the back seat, that would limit passenger seating for trips to Taco Bell.

Is it safe to say our modest builds will need to include a roll bar?

In reply to paranoid_android :

Only if you're fast.  IIRC 13.49 in an open vehicle and 11.49 in a closed vehicle. 

In reply to paranoid_android :

Only if you plan on running faster than 11.99, 13.99 in a vert, in the quarter. I have seen some of these builds first hand, ~95% of them won't or don't even come close to reaching that standard, even with nitrous on top of boost.

I don't have a gastropod in this fight...yet. 

Ah, ok!  I won’t be fast, I know this already.

@svrex- maybe we can be paddock pals.  #rabbitlife 

I believe the standard is 9.99 seconds in a closed car is the for roll cage. Not 11.99

Last time I looked I think 11.49 is the cut off for NHRA.  13.99 needs a helmet. If its a convertible it's 13.99 for a cage.

paranoid_android said:

Ah, ok!  I won’t be fast, I know this already.

@svrex- maybe we can be paddock pals.  #rabbitlife 

Multiplying like rabbits. 

There are separate roll bar and roll cage requirements based on ET.  The 9.99 ET would need an NHRA approved cage. Slower cars (9.99-11.49) can run a roll bar. A convertible needs a roll bar at 13.49 and a full face helmet. 

Another potential first time Challenger chiming in!

The Challenge has always fascinated me. The build levels some people have been able to do while staying in budget are incredible. It was like watching Usain Bolt run- I knew I could never compete at that level, but it was fun to follow along, anyhow. I don't have the skills, facilities or knowledge to even come close. So, finding a car, building it (or not) talking time off from work, getting a hotel room, etc. and so on didn't seem like something worth doing. 

Then I found the neglected truck I didn't know about.  And I posted about it, and somebody mentioned it would be a good Challenge car and somebody else had the brilliant idea to get my Father-in-Law and his cousin involved. So I started to get interested, beyond a hypothetical. 

And won a car with what I thought was a throwaway bid, as a potential first car for one of my kids. And we have to get that running , and I have zero mods planned for it, and it will remain a street car.

So, if I plan this right and things work out, I'll have two potential Challenge cars that I'll be wrenching on in any case. So, I started to consider it - really consider it, just to show up and experience the event. I figured I'd be DFL. I suggested the CAM class in the "what special class for 2019"  thread to try and get a prep level that I could maybe work within and maybe handicap things a bit so I could see how well I'd do within a rule set.

Then this Gastropod class pops up. Suddenly I'd  have a pool of cars to actually *really* compete against. So now I'm thrilled. I'm not hyper-competitive, by any means, but I do like to see how well I can do when as many other factors are the same. And after reading this thread, I don't even want to win (I'd prefer some high school team to do that. to be honest), but I can jump in, against similarly prepared cars and give it a shot.

I don't know what car I'll bring, but I'm going to try to bring something. I'm also going to try to get my father-in-law working on his Belvedere to bring down. I'd pay his way if we can get that thing back on the road. There is so much history with that car and he's such a car guy I think he might have the time of his life if he could get a picture of it in a magazine, even if it is just as an also-ran.

So yeah. Thanks for this idea. Really. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy :

We'll be glad to have you, and try your hardest to get the Belevedere down. Cool cars are cool.