Vintage B-Sedan Racecars

Hey everyone.

I have recently been very interested in vintage B-Sedan racing. It is pretty healthy out here in CA, and it would be a lot of fun to go flog a small vintage sedan around a racetrack.

However, I am having a hard time finding the specs of cars the typically run in this series. Specifically, how much power do they make? Obviously, 1600s are going to make less than 2000s. I want to see how hard/expensive it is going to be to build a decent motor for this class of racing. Anyone know what, say, a Datsun 510 with a 1600 is putting down?

Thanks.

Power is very dependant on cost.

I can't imagine the cost it would be to make a copy of the BRE 1600 that spun to 10k rpm.

I do know that the Alfa motors are far from cheap, though.

I am also pretty sure that a decent car will have other cars around it to play with. Decent as in Grassroots'ish.

A lot of those cars are seriously de-tuned from what they actually ran when "new". Not just the ex-T/A 2.5 cars, but the Club cars too. Club racing actually sold cars back in the '70s, a lot of the Prod/Sedan classes had some serious money thrown into them.

From working Vintage Races, I've seen everything from guys just building something that will last to people trying to recreate T/A engines. Everyone I've talked to says they love it, though.

Not a sedan, but I'm building the TR4 for vintage. It costs about 10-12k to run with the fastest TR4s and fingers crossed it would make it through a season. A mid-pack engine is more along the $2-4k range and should get through several seasons with some bearing changes and have some driving company.. I think the math will apply to you - think of what a decent "hot build" would cost - that will get you on the playground. Then triple that number if you want to go for the top spots - and consider that you may need a back-up motor.

Imho, the answer to your question is Volvo. Either an 1800 or a 122. The venerable engine was produced in 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 liter forms. Costs can range from bone stock to all-out race. VClassics on this forum (although moreso on the CMS side) would be the first person I'd contact for a race engine. IIRC, they range from $4k-ish for a healthy stock rebuild to north of $10k if you really want to go fast.

My humble plan is to build the car and run a totally stock engine (the one I already have) until I get more experience.

Ian F wrote: Imho, the answer to your question is Volvo. Either an 1800 or a 122. The venerable engine was produced in 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 liter forms. Costs can range from bone stock to all-out race. VClassics on this forum (although moreso on the CMS side) would be the first person I'd contact for a race engine. IIRC, they range from $4k-ish for a healthy stock rebuild to north of $10k if you really want to go fast. My humble plan is to build the car and run a totally stock engine (the one I already have) until I get more experience.

Are you serious? A healthy stock rebuild is $4000?

Thanks for the reply guys.

I am actually looking at Volvos, Cortinas, Pintos/Capris, or, just to be different, Karmann Ghias. I THINK the Ghias are legal, but I will need to double-check. I know I can build the others, but I was curious about the VW, since it would be limited to the 1600.

Anyway, I really like what I see with the B-Sedan groups. I would indeed like to build something not so fast but durable that I don't have to rebuild constantly. Simple is better.

BMW 2002 is the one I'd like.

They are not too hard to find - seems like a lot more of them survived than 510's, they are cheaper than Alfas, and cooler than Cortinas, Volvos, Pintos, Capris or Ghias. Engines are easy to come by since the M10 was still around for E30 318 cars. Parts are available.

That's my opinion any way.