ProDarwin wrote:tuna55 wrote: I don't understand how you can spend $500 of your $80This.
Wow, tougher crowd than I expected...
ProDarwin wrote:tuna55 wrote: I don't understand how you can spend $500 of your $80This.
Wow, tougher crowd than I expected...
That car's pretty far gone... it's cool but the amount of work it looks to need doesn't seem worth it compared to some of the deals I've seen you get. For free it would be worth hauling away, but $500?
tuna55 wrote: I don't understand how you can spend $500 of your $80 either, though.
$80 - $500 = -$420, which is 42 days without buying anything, if nothing is sold. And since it's a parts car does it REALLY count towards "racing"? 
tuna55 wrote: I just had an unrelated thought. Your kid will be a tunakid, too, as both of us were there at the genesis of the Tunachuckers. What are you going to call him or her? Tunakid #5? VCHkid? This complicates things. As far as the topic, don't you already have a car that you're going to race? You have lots of cars. I don't understand how you can spend $500 of your $80 either, though. maybe I think too much like your wife. Is she a tunawife too, or a Miss VHC? Maybe I ought to change my name.
I've alternated between calling her Mrs. Volvoclearinghouse, or simply the less formal, "Mrs. Clearinghouse", but neither seems particularly catchy. "Mrs. VCH" could be an option, or VCHwife. Hmm. Not sure what to do about the impending offspring's nomenclature, either. No, seriously, VCHwife and I haven't picked out a name yet. Although we are having the ultrasound on Saturday, so that should narrow down the list of names by at least 50%. ;-)
I still say, if I buy 6,000 pounds worth of cars, that's worth at least $750 in scrap, so it only "costs" me whatever I pay the guy minus $750. Before you say anything, remember, I have a minor in economics.
Personally, to be authentic, stick to your budget as "everything required to race the car", be it the car, your new driving gloves, or gas. You probably have a few cars already, some of them may already be Volvo Amazons. Otherwise, this is how I am reading this thread:
"I want to go real racing for $10/day"
...[some time passes]...
"Or wait, maybe I'll buy another rusty Volvo for $500"
Wait, does he want $500 for all the cars or $500 for just the one?
A minor in economics! You could make dozens of dollars with that.
tuna55 wrote: Personally, to be authentic, stick to your budget as "everything required to race the car", be it the car, your new driving gloves, or gas. You probably have a few cars already, some of them may already be Volvo Amazons. Otherwise, this is how I am reading this thread: "I want to go real racing for $10/day" ...[some time passes]... "Or wait, maybe I'll buy another rusty Volvo for $500"
I appreciate you guys trying to keep me honest. And hey, it lasted...nearly 8 days! ;-) You're right, buying some parts cars doesn't really count towards the budget for "racing", unless parts of them are actually used for said racing. If they are, I'll count that towards my budget. Fair?
dculberson wrote: Wait, does he want $500 for all the cars or $500 for just the one? A minor in economics! You could make dozens of dollars with that.
He wants to get rid of the cars.
In response to your second point: This is why I'm an engineer.
For racing on a tiny budget you cannot afford to own anything that isn't rock-solid-reliable and is not only street-capable but could be a very practical daily driver if necessary. That means a Civic or Corolla...and the aftermarket and suspension geometry are way better on a Civic.
remember when tempted to get another car or 2, that the WDCR rallycross program doesn't even have a home right now
volvoclearinghouse wrote:dculberson wrote: Wait, does he want $500 for all the cars or $500 for just the one? A minor in economics! You could make dozens of dollars with that.He wants to get rid of the cars.
I'm a math minor.
Do you want X rusty Volvo Amazons or do you want one sweet Volvo Amazon Rally Car?
I am assuming that you don't have much more cash to spend, unless you have "feeding racing hobby for $10/day" AND "Feeding a collection of Rusty Volvo's on $500/month" type of accounting going on.
FWIW, I offered $750 for all three cars in that ad. He told me he'd get back to me, I guess he had to run it by the guy whose barn they came out of.
Whatever parts from these cars I end up using towards racing ends will count against the budget by the following equation:
Weight of Part / Weight of Car Said Part Came From * $250
On a non-Volvo-related racing topic, this weekend I went shopping for a replacement engine for the Tunachuckers' Ford LTD Landau. We're planning on making the May race at Carolina Motorsports Park, but decided we needed something a little more hotsauce than the 400M the car has now. (A little history: we had swapped in a 460 out of a '68 Lincoln, which was the BEST RACING ENGINE EVER, until we overheated it, blew a headgasket, put coolant into the oil, and wiped bearings. Then it became the HEAVIEST PAPERWEIGHT EVER, and got sold for scrap)
Since we already had the engine mounts set up for a 460, I scoured leads for running motors. And boy, Baltimore sure seemed to be Big Ford country. I had my pick! I finally settled on a "ran-when-pulled" BBF (and no, that doesn't mean anything dirty) out of an '87 Fx50 for $400. The guy even loaded it into my truck for me with his tractor.
Hey, my truck's got a 460 in it!
And a 100 lb tank of propane, for a completely unrelated reason...
Since there's 4 of us planning on racing in May, race costs are going 4 ways, and this engine draws down my budget by $100. We're now 41 days into the year, and this is my first racing-related expenditure of 2014, so out of the $410 I have in the budget right now, this engine puts me at $310 remaining.
The plan is for an ultra-low-buck freshening of the engine- a master gasket set, new main seals, a new timing chain, and blocking off all the smog stuff. We'll bolt on the rebuilt Edelbrock 600 CFM carb we used on the old 460 that we kept, and replace belts, hoses, plugs, wires, etc. I'll update the budget after my Summit Racing shopping spree...
good luck … I'll look for you at CMP
on a side note, I know it's very dangerous to lay acetylene tanks on their side … does the same apply to propane ?
I think it's more dangerous to have a 4 foot tall, 18" diameter cylinder perched upright waiting to fall over. 
I know when you're actually using them, they have to be upright, or liquid propane will come out, which is all kinds of bad. Never heard any problem with transporting them on their side, though.
One of my teamates (we call him "The Skeptic") doesn't believe that the stock timing chain is retarding the cam timing, and is wary of spending the $$ to replace it with a double roller chain. Anyone have any proof of cam timing in an '87 460 as compared to a pre-smog motor?
In retrospect, I kinda wish we'd kept the done-blowed-the-hell-up 460 we had in there from before. But I'm sure if we get ambitious we can find some pre '74 heads somewhere for cheap.
One other issue...the truck 460 has a rear sump oil pan. The LTD uses a front sump setup. Swapping pans is not a problem, and moving the pickup around should be easy enough, BUT the rear sump pan has the dipstick tube in it. If we get a front sumper, the dipstick has to go into the timing cover- which means getting a timing cover for a front sump engine. Or could we just drill a hole in the front sump pan and use the rear sump pan's dipstick?
Alternatively, we just use the engine with the rear sump and set the engine back about a foot. ;-)
Are you talking about me? That's a bit of a mischaracterization. Since I'm not racing, my money is not involved. And I never really said that I disagreed that the stock cam was installed retarded, I just asked if you had data to show that was the case.
I would be wary of drilling a hole in the oil pan. You really should have kept the blown up engine for its accessories.
This thread got me thinking, can I feed the hobby on $2/day by cutting a bottle of Coke/mt.dew out of my diet, thus also getting healthier? I already have a helmet, I'll use the car I have, and anything I was going to buy anyway I won't count, since this is a driver and autox or not I need it to have brakes/tires. I suppose it would just include extras, like the difference if I were to purchase more expensive tires/brake pads than the original ones, entry fees, scca dues, gas to and from events, etc... I'd have to save for any mods, but saving isn't a bad thing, plus if I stay in the stock class I can save $Texas. good plan? too little money? is it possible on $1 a day?
I'll also throw in my vote for Mrs.Volvoclearinghouse, volvowife, volvokid, etc...
As I got my inspiration from mazdaduece, I certainly endorse copying the concept and applying it to your own situation. The underlying principle of the "x dollars per y time" concept is to use budgeting to prioritize your spending and still have fun. In economics speak, to maximize your utility. I think a lot of guys (including myself) spend or spent way too much money on their hobby, without any real focus. The real point of this hobby is not to buy ceramic brake pads or fancy tires or trick heads, but the experiences those items can bring.
As the saying goes, Speed's just a question of money. How fast do you want to go? How much you wanna spend? I'd take that one step further and apply it to everything we do here. How many dollars per HP? How many dollars per 0.01g of lateral acceleration? How many dollars per lap around the track? If life imitated math we'd all be doing differential equations to figure out how to spend it. The best we can do is estimate. My own dollar figure works for me, I can fit it into my budget without sacrificing food, shelter, health care, or the occasional date night with my honey. For some folks, $10/ day might be TEXAS money, and $2/day might be more appropriate. For others, $25/ day might be doable. Figure out what works, go fun, and have fast!
Just plunked down a healthy piece of change on bits and pieces for the LTD- a new oil pan for the engine, timing cover (decided against drilling the new pan for a dipstick), timing chain, all manner of gaskets and seals, etc.
Also bought a manual brake pedal/ master cylinder combo. That's right, we're going to be stopping this 2 ton beast WITHOUT power brakes!
Total cost for all this goodness was $568, which included shipping. Split among the 4 drivers, that comes out to $167 each. Out of my $310 from last time, plus another $40 (it being 4 days later), minus $167, equals $183 in my budget currently.
Whew. If this flurry of spending keeps up, I'll be broke before the baby comes!
Tomorrow (Friday) I'm hopping in ye olde F350 to deliver the 460 to its new home in Raleigh, NC. (I hope there's enough money in my budget to cover the fuel costs for the round trip, or I might end up staying at my friend's house there for a few extra days!)
This weekend will be wrenchfest of installing all the goodies ordered above for said engine. To make this work party more enjoyable, I decided to clean the 25+ years of grime, gunk, sludge, and crud off of it. So, we have a basic equation:
$5 can of Engine Degreaser + $8 in quarters at the self-serve Car Wash = Hot Tank.
Before:
After:
My truckbed benefited tangentially from this self serve car wash hot tank. I hadn't so much as swept it out since I bought the truck back in July.
I'll be there in spirit. Sorry I can't make it... again.
tuna55 wrote: I'll be there in spirit. Sorry I can't make it... again.
That's OK. You've got Tunasprings to install!
volvoclearinghouse wrote:tuna55 wrote: I'll be there in spirit. Sorry I can't make it... again.That's OK. You've got Tunasprings to install!
Well, they won't be at the house this weekend, but certainly I'll be working on the fuel fill tube and other fun things. I may even get time to go to the junkyard for swaybars!
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