so i accidently bought a car and started a challenge team last night. have questions.

Table of contents:

Build starts page 2
2017 challenge page 38

Robbie and ian bought page 43
2019 challenge page 45

Reboot page 46

a good friend of 20+ years is going through a very ugly time in his life right now. we were hanging out last night, and he offered me his 80 amc spirit for $200 and a cigarette. without even thinking of the ramifications, or even really looking at the car, I said yes. (more to help him out without giving him a handout than anything else) now, this car was setup with addco sway bars, prothane bushings, stiffer springs, kyb shocks, and had a 5.0 and t5 stuffed in it. he was dailying the car, and hit a concrete barrier in a parking lot square in the engine crossmember, hard enough to push the crossmember through the oil pan. he pulled the t5 and 5.0 for his 66 mustang, assumed the car was totaled, and started throwing spare parts and junk in it for scrapping it. 5 years ago. its still sitting under the lean to at his dads pole barn. I know for a fact he dumped thousands in rust repair and parts, and I bought it for $200. inside the car, I spotted flowmasters/xpipe exhaust, a couple of copper/brass radiators, electric fans, some autometer gauges, c4 corvette buckets, and all sorts of other miscellaneous E36 M3. im assuming that I would use the $200 purchase price for my challenge budget, even though it wasn't publically advertised. correct? do all the crap inside count as part of that purchase price, as it all came with the car? is this fair? next step was dinner with another 20+ year friend. the three of us, over the course of Chinese, decided we were going to use this thing as a challenge car. so now the guy I bought it from is a teammate. but this happened after purchase. so, am I already sunk for the challenge? up next, assuming im still valid for a $200 wrecked spirit roller with unknown amounts of crap stuffed inside, is stuff we have laying around already. things like the AMX console I have in storage that was given to me. the nitrous plate system I bught the guys dinner for 10 years ago so I could collect all their leftover misc nitrous stuff. gauges that are in a box in my shop from god knows where. etc. to put it bluntly, I have no idea what/when/where we paid/procured most of this crap over the years. so no receipts. no posts. no records. what do we do here? we want to be COMPLETELY HONEST AND TRANSPARANT throughout the challenge. we also want to use as much crap as we can that is taking up space in our garages. so, what says the hive? this will be a 2017 car. also, as far as budget, does welding wire count? cut off wheels? wire brushes?

200 starting point, all crap inside can be sold(up to $200), stuff you have laying around is FMV'ed to budget. So if an amx console is worth a grand you might want to not use it.

I wish the amx console was worth a grand. I couldn't even get $5 off craigslist for it. same with the 17X9.5 corvette sawblades. no bites at $50 on craigslist. so would the failed craigslist pricing be a good indicator of FMV? or would that be something to post pictures of and ask the hive about?

and thanks for letting me know that im not already sank here. im pretty excited about doing a challenge car with my two best friends. I kow we wont be competitive, but its a bucket list thing for me.

heres to hoping the car isn't too bent to save as well.

Subscribed

FMV for some stuff can be found pretty easily by looking for sold ebay listings of the item if it's common enough.

Dusterbd13 wrote: I wish the amx console was worth a grand. I couldn't even get $5 off craigslist for it. same with the 17X9.5 corvette sawblades. no bites at $50 on craigslist. so would the failed craigslist pricing be a good indicator of FMV? or would that be something to post pictures of and ask the hive about? and thanks for letting me know that im not already sank here. im pretty excited about doing a challenge car with my two best friends. I kow we wont be competitive, but its a bucket list thing for me. heres to hoping the car isn't too bent to save as well.

Just remember that your limit on challenge value of the un-needed stuff is $200. Everything after that is gravy.

I'd also start putting a plan together of what you want it to be. That way you can spend more time going to swap meets and events to see if you can find the parts for cheap. For instance, my Alfas used a spring size that was very common to circle track cars, and I've seen close to the ones I wanted most for $15/pair.

Basically- you have this summer to figure out what you have, assemble the parts you need, and fix some of the major parts; the winter for the assembly; next spring for debugging; next summer for sorting and tuning.

Plan that out so that the challenge weekend is for driving and having fun instead of wrenching to fix it. Unless that IS the fun... Then pile all of it up, show up in Florida on Wed, thrash Thur, compete on Friday.

alfadriver wrote: Basically- you have this summer to figure out what you have, assemble the parts you need, and fix some of the major parts; the winter for the assembly; next spring for debugging; next summer for sorting and tuning. Plan that out so that the challenge weekend is for driving and having fun instead of wrenching to fix it. Unless that IS the fun... Then pile all of it up, show up in Florida on Wed, thrash Thur, compete on Friday.

pretty much exactly the plan. I have to get the duster back together before I start on the challenge car. which means this fall/winter will be a thrash build, so we can make the most of the spring and summer seasons for debugging and fine tuning. then show up and have fun in gainseville. none of us drink, but all of us love a good parking lot party. and none of our ideas of a good time are thrashing to put something together in a parking lot. fixing what breaks is part of the game, but we hope to minimize that.

I do need to figure out just what we have. between our garages, barns, sheds, scrap piles, and whats in the car, we probably have everything but a engine and transmission.

the eventual goal is to channel our inner chapman: simplify and add lightness. car was set up for ford, im a mopar and chevy guy, dustin is a Japanese guy. well see what we have the most parts of, and decide from there.

I do need to find frame drawings to pull measurements to see how bent this thing is. any ideas?

rslifkin wrote: FMV for some stuff can be found pretty easily by looking for sold ebay listings of the item if it's common enough.

This. Generally, I'd put pick&pull prices as the floor and backup for FMV, unless you can find evidence of sales for lower. IE: craigslist adds for wheels for $100, instead of the ~$200 they'd cost at a yard.

Dusterbd13 wrote: same with the 17X9.5 corvette sawblades. no bites at $50 on craigslist.

Whoa whoa whoa I'll gladly take that set of sawblades off your hands for my Challenge car. Much better than my $60 set of 16x8.5 salad shooters. Where are you? I'm in southern Indiana.

If we can actually attend the Challenge next year, there may be TWO AMC Spirit Challenge Cars in attendance!

Malaise Class anyone?

Number 1 - congratulations
Number 2 - agree on $200 initial value (what the heck is an AMC spirit with a hard front impact possibly worth on craigslist?), and that parts you already own are thrown in at FMV

Number 3 - Pics or it didn't happen

I'll get pics on Sunday when I'm out that way. We may even pull all the crap out and see what we have.

Already got a line on a 75 dollar vortec 350 with a spun main bearing. Wonder if a ring and bearing kit would save it?

Also got a line on a 500 Explorer with burned out wiring and 5.0. Could use engine and rear.....

Oh E36 M3. This is going to get nuts.

Dusterbd13 wrote: I'll get pics on Sunday when I'm out that way. We may even pull all the crap out and see what we have. Already got a line on a 75 dollar vortec 350 with a spun main bearing. Wonder if a ring and bearing kit would save it? Also got a line on a 500 Explorer with burned out wiring and 5.0. Could use engine and rear..... Oh E36 M3. This is going to get nuts.

You say that like it is a bad thing.

Embrace and enjoy the insanity.

All I hear is Win-Win-Win

Found an old thread from when we started this thing in 07. Before Ford swap, rust repair, wrecking, etc. But the beginning of it.

http://amccars.net/cgi/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1186800979

Stupid question : does a challenge car have to be self contained? As in, can we start it with jumper cables every time? Batteries are heavy and expensive.

Also, I get an employee discount working at the parts store. Do we budget the employee price, or street person price?

Dusterbd13 wrote: Stupid question : does a challenge car have to be self contained? As in, can we start it with jumper cables every time? Batteries are heavy and expensive.

How about a really small battery and use a jump box to get it started if needed. I have been using a lawn tractor battery in my car to start it and it does not seem to be an issue for multiple start attempts while I sort the cold/hot start settings.

Dusterbd13 wrote: Stupid question : does a challenge car have to be self contained? As in, can we start it with jumper cables every time? Batteries are heavy and expensive.

F1 cars need to be hooked up to a separate machine to start... just saying.

You need to wear lab coats when you start it though.

Chadeux wrote: You need to wear lab coats when you start it though.

Only if they can figure out how to connect the jump battery with defibrillator paddles, and make sure to yell CLEAR before hitting the starter.

Honestly, the chassis was made for an AMC v-8, and they all share a common block. Look for a wrecked wagoneer or something with a 401. Lots of power potential there with minimal fab work. IIRC a wagoneer rear axle also drops right in.

In reply to hhaase:

I thought he said the car already had a Ford in once already.

between us, be have NO amc drivetrain parts, or knowledge. so, as much as an AMC v8 would rock, its probably not going to happen. small block chevy is the current front runner, due to cost. the increased price of ford v8 in the area more than offsets the fact that its already set up for one.

Fair enough, but in all honesty it is a challenge car, so keep your mind open to ANY good deal on a strong performing engine for cheap. Though you'll probably have to upgrade that AMC15 axle, unless the car was originally an AMX which may have had an AMC20 (can't remember). If it's got the 20, the center pumpkin is plenty strong, just need to strengthen the shaft to hub connection.

There's a LOT of weight to lose in that chassis for no money spent. AMC really went crazy on sound insulation and undercoating. That rear hatch glass is seriously heavy. At the same time it's a very strong and stout unibody structure, one of AMC's best talents. Fun fact, the AMC Spirit AMX was the first American car to race the 24 Hours of the Nurbugring, and took 1st and 2nd in class with their 2 car team.

Many of the interior and trim parts are worth something to the right people. Screw craigslist, go straight to the AMC forums. If you have good bumper caps in particular.... those things are always in demand. Rare will work against you restoring a spirit, but will work for you in selling parts. Just need the right venue. GoPak gauge consoles, AMX specific stuff, there's a market for sure. Not so much though on the generic dash things that were in every car. When I was trying to do my SX4, I was able to sell almost every trim piece from the interior but the dash and seats. Hell, somebody even bought the seat belts.

Best of luck, I have a soft spot for AMC's for some reason.

-Hans