Potential FM buyer-to buy or not to buy?
Ill try to keep this short-My long time dream is the race open wheelers. I have about a years worth of experience racing spec miatas. Ive raced with all sanctioning bodies, ive won, and ive come midpack ect. ect. Quality racing no doubt, but the miatas just arent where my heart is. Ive learned a ton about going fast and i know i could learn more. However, the opportunity to buy a race winning FM has come about for a great deal and im really trying to decide if now is the time. Ive gotten all the feedback i can get from the miata guys, but truthfully i feel like they dont see anything outside of the miata circle. I know there are other avenues to pursue and thats why im asking for some guidance for those of you experienced in the field.
Things to note-Im very green when it comes to FM. I did a little shopping around and it would seem that parts are cheap. Tires however seem like theyre expensive @ a set per weekend. Any other odds and ends that i should consider when making the jump?
Also i will be running this solo-no team backing or paid backing or whatever you want to call it. I am a proficient and experienced tech so the workload wont be an issue. The learning curve is where i will run into trouble. Small issues that come about on a platform i am unfamiliar with can quickly get very annoying. From what I hear these are pretty basic, and easy to keep running. Thoughts?
The car in question is a 1998 FM with a rebuilt engine and transmission. Car was completely gone through last year and has won races this year. From what im told its 100% ready to go and many extras can be included. Theyre even offering a test day.
Thanks for all the forthcoming guidance!
I came in very similar to you
I enjoy racing the car, but race a partial schedule each year to stay within budget I have established. I maintain the car and have a guy that is local that handles the rebuild of the transmission, which is good since I was unlucky enough to break a main input shaft and the shift fork that tore up a lot of gears.
If you have some skills as a mechanic you should be able to handle the service and repairs. Since the engine is sealed, nothing to do there. The engines seem to have a long life between rebuilds. I think the toughest part of the learning curve is setting up the car and making adjustments. There are people on this forum that have been very helpful.
Still waiting to see what will happen in the SCCA classes as now we are racing against cars that may have a better chance at winning. You can read up on that in the forum as well.
The car is fun, and the racing is good and that is why I have the car. Hope that helps.