I have spent most of my life at the race track. From Karting to MotoX to Roadracing and AutoX Ive had a ton of fun.
I spent a lot of my life Drag Racing as well. But I have been out of the game for a long time. There is something about dropping $25 to go to our local 1/4mile Making some passes and heading home.
BUDGET Is the name of the game. I want to build something on the cheap that I can unload from the trailer. Run a few 12 to 13 second passes and go home just for fun! Recently we have rented the Uhaul Pickups with the Chevy 6.0 and taken them to the strip just for fun. We ran a 15.3 at 92MPH. Yeah that's right.... judge me!
Right now I like the idea of one of the many GM Supercharged 3800 Cars out there. Super cheap and with some minor tweaks and about ($1500) you can be in the low 13s.... Strip the living day lights out of it and you can be in the 12s. Now look... I know there are people who build crazy cars for the GRM Challenge. Im not thinking that type of effort on this project.
No Motor swaps now crazy fab work. Just Weight loss, Bolt ons maybe Loads of NOS.. You get the idea.
WHAT WOULD YOU BUILD? WHY WOULD YOU BUILD IT? You have $3000 ready set go!
Ready set Go!
Do we care if it breaks on like 50% of the launches? No? Then I'm going DSM, just buy one that is already blown up, fix it, make sure it has enough fuel for the boost you're running, put sticky tires on all four wheels and have fun until it nukes itself again.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
LOVE this idea. But having a greater than 50% reliability probability is key.
Dang that car looks sooo mean squatting like that... Tempting for sure.
You know what? I dont even care what you do from here. The fact you rented a U-Haul and dragged it, you've already won! 
In that case, a Lexus LS400/SC400 with a ratty interior should be relatively cheap and rumor has it the 1UZ-FE is pretty robust, although I'm not sure how much they like nitrous. There's certainly a lot of weight to be stripped out of them!
Hungary Bill said:
You know what? I dont even care what you do from here. The fact you rented a U-Haul and dragged it, you've already won!
What if you just developed an easy to install nitrous kit for the Uhaul pickup and invested in a set of slicks on wheels with the correct bolt pattern 
You can probably get away with blowing up a few of them if you rent them cash and send a different person to get them each time...
In reply to Hungary Bill :
It was hilarious. We got some white Gaff tape and covered some of the key "numbers" that would let Uhaul track any photos back to us. LOADS of people took video and pictures. Its was the best $20 i have ever spent.
This Sucker did some AWESOME burnouts and was faster than many of the cars out there who were SERIOUS about it.
How about a SCSB Chevy truck with a 4.8 or 5.3?
100 HP is pretty easy, without the bottle.
1000 HP isn't that insane any more. Boost it, mild pump gas tune, limit it to about 700 on pump gas, and high tens, here we come.
The Uhaul drag kit is now all I can think about. Slicks, skinnies, nitrous bottle with a clamp that attaches to one of the stake pockets, run the line outside the truck, nitrous plate which installs behind the throttle body, maybe even some sort of traction bar setup which can connect quickly, magnetic sheets sized to cover the ID numbers... all stored in a box which you can keep in the bed, and install at the track in minutes.
You do know that home depot also rents trucks?
dean1484 said:
You do know that home depot also rents trucks?
I thought Lowes also rented them?
It could be a rental truck spec class: HD vs Lowes vs Uhaul vs Enterprise
In reply to No Time :
"Yea, I race for Team Penske"
I think if budget is the name of the game, 4th gen f body. 93 to 97 with the lt1 can be had for dirt cheap. The 98-02 with the ls1 can be found reasonable, especially with an auto. Pretty quick stock and a ridiculously good aftermarket.
The main trouble with the 3800 SC cars is the transmission. The usual comment I've heard is that they make good 13 second cars but awful 12 second cars. It's why I haven't cranked up the boost in mine - I've got a pretty long commute. I've sometimes daydreamed about a manual transmission swap - either using the 6 speed out of a G6, or turning the engine 90 degrees and making it rear wheel drive.
But if I were trying to do a cheap drag car, I'd probably use this proven formula:
- Something cheap with RWD and a solid axle
- Truck LSx motor
- Chinese turbo
Ls swap something light and throw bottle after bottle at it 
seriously though i’d probably go s10, lightened as much as possible, 8.8 exploder rear axle and a nitroused ls truck engine
Sn95 mustang? Tons of aftermarket, and examples with drag mods run a pretty low price
Rodan
HalfDork
5/10/18 1:27 p.m.
Cheapest Mustang you can find with a decent body. Junkyard 5.3 swap. Churbo or big bottle...
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
My Dad is already in the process of doing that LOL. He is crazy. I don't have a good attorney like he does. (who by the way looked over the rental agreement and there is nothing in there about racing the rental trucks) I guess its a good thing they have a "one size fits all" rental agreement that started with their box trucks. He wanted to create a YouTube video on how to modify the Uhaul trucks to run 12's...I told him if he did that our fun would be spoiled really quickly.
***He has already has a NOS setup, Slicks and A Kirkey Seat to bolt into it instead of the HUGE bench seat in the works... STAND BY... Testing is being done. ***
We are onto the second iteration of the magnetic strip coverups for the UHAUL stuff... Our first attempt blew off on the track... They track workers didn't find that too funny.
Drag Truck in a box coming soon...
I was going to say what MadScientistMatt Said. A lot of people actually give up trying to make them go fast because the transmissions are such a weak spot.
If i was shooting for budget i'd say some 80's rwd car with a 5.3/th400 NOS and Slicks. I'm not sure of many options for a stock car but swaps can be cost effective and fast.
I ran a 12.84 with my turbo ls zephyr on 8 pounds and it can only go faster from there.
I’d gut my GS430 and throw some nitrous and drag radials at it. If I was towing it to the track, maybe straight pipe it.
In reply to B13Birk :
I'd buy an already stripped out 2002 Q45 for $860 and then add turbo (450ish hp at 7lbs boost) and NO2 until I'd gotten it as fast as I wanted. I might know a guy that can supply the Q45.
ace37
New Reader
5/10/18 2:32 p.m.
An old Honda with a turbo might be worth considering. Might be FWD though. Edit: Nah, an old mustang would be better.
How about upgrading to a rental mustang GT? $5000 will pay for a lot of rentals. Get some MTs for it...
...and maybe if you’re feeling really devious, check the $15 insurance box and run a 150 wet shot that day...
Makes me think of that time Johnny Knoxville on Jackass rented a car, got the insurance, and entered it into a demolition derby...
In reply to Stampie :
OH TRUST ME>>>> YOU are on my list. Haha.
Gutted C4?
Orrrrr.....
Rental Ecoboost mustang
Buy Tuner + wheels with Drag Radials
**Edit someone already mentioned this lol
