We scooped up this already-prepped Volkswagen Fox race car for $500, with the goal of getting on track for a minimal investment of time and money. Before we could get started, though, we needed to do something about our Fox's appearance. It sported rust, dents, dings, and the remnants of at least two previous liveries.
Why fix it? Sure–we …
What race will be it's debut?
I bought one of the wagon versions of this Fox, brand new. I really liked the car, it was a fun to drive car that could still carry a bunch of stuff. Put a ton of miles on the car. Wife wrecked it.
Curious to hear how this races compared to the string of Miatas.
It's impressive to get a fox body to look that good.
Wow, I need to find a friendly paint booth owner. I have some rust to remove and then paint the underbody and the repair spots topside.
Very nice to have new paint even on bumpy sheet metal. The harsh color changes from metal and Bondo peaking out through paint is very noticeable.
Then we reached the roof of the car… and gave up. In short, it was ruined.
We weren't willing to re-skin the roof,
When I read this I had to laugh. A Fox roof is not something that your are going to run down to the Pick & Pull and find.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
I like the fact that you didn’t obsess over perfection or using expensive paint. It’s a race car! Nice looking is nice, but not a priority.
I agree that a repaint reduces the tendency to treat it like a demo derby car, and helps it pass tech.
In reply to frenchyd :
>a repaint reduces the tendency to treat it like a demo derby car
So you're saying I need to paint my cars?
In reply to Nugi :
I’ll skip the smart comments
you are in a much better position to determine that than I am.
I will say that as I improved the appearance of my cars they got faster
We (The Flying Lumberjacks) race another VW Fox out in the PNW. We have the much cooler wagon though.
Our first piece of advice: Start looking for more 2P transmissions.
If you're getting decent power from the ABA they'll last a season or two. We gave up and switched to an 012 cased transmission from a FWD B5 Passat/A4. It required a lot of hammering on the trans tunnel, new trans mount, a custom shifter, switching to a hydraulic clutch, and the Passat flywheel/clutch combo. It was easier than finding more 2P transmissions up here.
Good luck!
White paint is a good choice, it helps hide any imperfections that may have been left behind. Good for adding race graphics, too. It would be even better if that shade of white matches some readily available spray can stuff, so you will be able to easily touch up the inevitable race rash that will happen as time goes on.
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