Challenge Newbie-How to find car

Howdy folks! I've got a burning itch to do the challenge this year and I have a few questions.

1) where are you guys finding these cars for so cheap? FB marketplace? There's some in my area but not that many

2) how to maximize fun at the challenge with minimal equipment? I have a small garage, no lift, 110V flux core welder, etc

Welcome to the madness. If you really want to attend and get a feel for the event, you don't even need to bring a car. Show up and offer to help any team that looks interesting to you. This will give you a better idea of how some of us get these seemingly unlikely deals.

If you are set on building and bringing a car, then the source for cheap cars is the typical social media/auction sites, plus lots of keeping your eyes open for cars/projects that are being unloaded for what may be simple issues. Mostly it turns out to be a willingness to jump at something that looks interesting as soon as it hits the market. Having a trailer and cash ready to go at a moments notice go a long way to getting those deals.

For a first build, I would suggest a mild preparation. The challenge is full of folks that are really having fun and a few that are set on winning. Showing up and competing is the first step.

I am sure other will chime in on this, so be prepared to take notes.

Finding your FIRST cheap car is the hard part. 

Finding 57 more after that is the easy part. Once you get plugged in with certain circles (usually determined by geographic location and/or whether or not you've met Stampie) cheap cars just....appear. It's a thing. There's also the method I've employed more than once in my life and that's have $500 cash in your wallet and be ready to make a stupid life choice at any given point. That's worked at least half a dozen times for me. 

I've been to challenge twice. I've never brought more than a bicycle. Been a bunch of fun both times. Show up and be ready to pitch in, ask questions, observe, etc. People will generally fold you into whatever they're doing. In my case I've been sought out for things I do (Dusturbd13's helmet in particular) . Some people bring nearly stock cars. Some people DO bring stock cars. Doesn't mean you gotta win. Ask the Gastropod guys. 

I wrote a little guide a few years ago, scroll halfway down here:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1993-volkswagen-fox/project-fox-we-bought-used-race-car/
 

Facebook for-sale groups are a gold mine, as is our forum here. Join everything you can get into, and check them religiously.

Mine kinda found me, although I haven't turned it into challenge car yet.  A buddy had an 83 Corolla wagon that he parked ten years ago when the oil pump went south.  He sold it to me for $200.  The plan is to slap some junkyard panels on it, paint it with a roller, and maybe K-swap it.  I do have a Cadillac 500 and TH400 sitting in front of the garage that I'm trying to not just take the low hanging fruit and wedge that in.

Some folks will just buy a ready-to run thing for $1800, like a stock Civic or Miata and throw some 200tw tires on it.  They can be very good mid-pack runners.  The lady who won the autocross the last time I was there was in a Corolla with some carefully executed mods.

Where do you live?  Are you willing to drive?  Have a trailer?  Some areas like Atlanta, suburbs of L.A., Pittsburgh, and Baltimore have some cheap cars.  I have a theory on that.  Cities that have a wide separation of wealth (ritzy areas combined with struggling folks) tend to have lower car prices.  I think it's because when Dr. Moneybags wants to sell his Nissan for $10,000 in the Ritzyville neighborhood, they have to compete with John selling the same car in Skidstown for $6000.  It's also simply a supply/demand thing.  Most cities have public transport and fewer cars per capita, which means demand is sometimes lower, but the overall number of cars is high.

My first year, I didn't field a car.  I joined up with another team.  My second year, captdownshift loaned me his challenge car to take and it was a blast.  I found, though, that I loved just showing up as a driver with no team.  There are an equal number of teams who really put a ton of work and effort in their cars, and teams that bought a $500 rear-ended Cavalier last week and they are going to throw it in the dumpster on Sunday.  That means there are some teams that are kinda in their own competitive world and only let their person drive, and there are also plenty of cars that you can just ask teams if you can drive.  I drove a Subaru, a Civic, an Ford Econobox, the Zoomboni, and a few other cars down there.  If I ever get off my ass and build my Corolla, I'll toss you the keys and you can ride it like the town slut.

Either way, you'll have fun.  I was a complete racing noob.  I had never raced other than treeing a Camaro on Maple St.  I found that talking with folks about the rules helped me become confident enough to field a car.... once I actually build it.

If you think these people here are great on the forum, just wait and see what they're like in person.  Truly awesome people.  Take a bunch of old and young, rich and poor, liberal and conservative people, throw in copious amounts of adult beverages, and you would think it wouldn't work, but we're all there for cars and fun, and man do we HAVE FUN.  Non stop happy place.

Anyway, back to the topic.  Cars kinda find me.  I don't even work or hang out in automotive circles.  I'm in the Arts.  People know I'm a car freak and they tell me about cars for sale or free.  I find FBM to be pretty helpful (if not an awkward search format).  Craigslist around here is all but dead.  SearchTempest doesn't really do it for me because it includes AutoTrader and Carmax and other retail places.  I just see the same listings from the cheap sources layered in with retail stuff. 

Just show up.  Now you can bring anything, even over budget, and still compete.

I did that last year.  I bought an rx8 for 1k and put a gm v6 in it.  Even though it qualified for under budget, I ran it over budget so I didn't need to worry about a presentation or build book.

Now that I have 1 challenge under my belt, it's coming back in the under budget class.

I have done autocross, won Lemons races, won Champcar races,won WRL races.  This was more fun than any of that.

I got to help fabricobble parts on at least 3 different cars and do as many autocross runs and drag passes as I wanted.  

It's all about the people and hanging out and making friends.

Bring anything.

Next year, build the ultimate killer sub 2k car!

In reply to budget_bandit :

Where do you live? There might be a challenger nearby who'd be glad to take you under their wing.

Or ask here on the forum.  Give your approximate location and ask for help finding a project in a dedicated thread. There are a few here (Mr. Asa, I'm looking at you) who excel beyond measure at finding weird, cheap pipe dreams with potential. 

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to budget_bandit :

Where do you live? There might be a challenger nearby who'd be glad to take you under their wing.

I'm in Knoxville, TN. A sensei would be awesome!

Thank you all for the advice. I've almost been convinced this year to just be a spectator

budget_bandit said:

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to budget_bandit :

Where do you live? There might be a challenger nearby who'd be glad to take you under their wing.

I'm in Knoxville, TN. A sensei would be awesome!

Dang, only 8.5 hours too far south to join Team MonZora.

Civic

https://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/d/sevierville-2002-mazda-miata-runs-and/7709566018.html

https://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/d/lenoir-city-2008-bmw-335xi/7708934586.html

https://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/d/somerset-rsx/7703023248.html

https://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/d/knoxville-91-firebird/7701160075.html

In reply to Stampie :

I appreciate you stampie! Somehow i overlooked Craigslist entirely...

In reply to budget_bandit :

I'm finding good deals on CL lately because it tends to be overlooked.  I like that Firebird the most.  

In reply to Stampie :

That firebird is interesting...I see a plastic timing cover on that SBC, which means L31, which means factory roller cam and vortec heads...that's a cam and carb away from making 400/400