FV Rolling Chassis/Project

[kingbunz]

Hello,

I have recently began to find more interest in open wheel racing. I have experience building and racing primarily in autocross however I am looking for a good entry point to open wheel racing. I was considering fabricating a chassis; however, I wanted to first see if there was some readily available options that could save me a good bit of research/development/fabrication time.

I am located in the south eastern region of the United States (SC) but I do have a truck and trailer and can travel depending on location. Not really looking for anything race ready because I prefer to customize items to my specs anyway. I personally enjoy that almost as much as the racing. I also believe there is a guy located near my shop that has a lot of VW engines because either now or at some point he did a lot of work with off-road kart builds. He also has a good supply of drivetrain components.

If anyone has or knows someone with a bare chassis/roller/project that is currently looking to sell or maybe even some advice all is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Rich_G_SC]

HI, I live in the Irmo area. Happy to show you my Citation FV and discuss if you'd like. I don't know of a chassis per se but I know some folks who may. You may also want to put your question on the FV USA and Challenge Cup facebook sites.

PM me if interested and I'll send you my contact info.

Regards,
Rich

[killerken53]

If you are looking for a road racing FV, buy a complete "ready to race" car. You will never assemble a legal, competitive car for what you can buy a complete setup for. A SCCA legal, competitive FV engine has very little resemblance to the hopped-up VW engines used in buggies and racers.

I know exactly where you are coming from, I assembled an Autocross FV from a basket case and had a lot of fun, but it never would have made a road racer.

If you start with a complete "ready to go" car, you can still fine tune it to your spec, but you don't have to spend serious time sourcing and spending on all the FV specific little parts that make a competitive car.

[Rich_G_SC]

If you start with a complete "ready to go" car, you can still fine tune it to your spec, but you don't have to spend serious time sourcing and spending on all the FV specific little parts that make a competitive car.

Ken, I agree completely, There was a Caracal with a trailer and spares that sold last week on Apex for like $8k. You can't beat that, it would cost around half the price just to buy a decent regional engine.

Like the original poster I started out AutoXing an FV and this is my first year in FV & DriverZ Cup focusing on regional level racing. I've been tracking my costs pretty carefully from buying a near race-ready car & open trailer thru schools, entry fees, parts, expenses and an engine repair. Happy to share my experience with folks looking to get into FV .

[HB280ZT]

Morning,

If you want to talk about FVs there a lot of people in the SE region that can help you out. A good place to start is with Fred Clark in Jacksonville, FL as he builds and maintains the Caracal/Lynx line of cars:

http://www.caracalcars.com/index.htm

Another thing you can do is check out this site as it covers all racing in the SE Division of the SCCA racing. Check the calendar out and go to a race and talk with the FV drivers, you can even check out there cars to get a better idea of what is up.

http://sedivracing.com/road-racing/

Good Luck hope to see you at the races.

R/--
Harry Bradley
FV#77 CFR

[kingbunz]

Ken, I agree completely, There was a Caracal with a trailer and spares that sold last week on Apex for like $8k. You can't beat that, it would cost around half the price just to buy a decent regional engine.

Like the original poster I started out AutoXing an FV and this is my first year in FV & DriverZ Cup focusing on regional level racing. I've been tracking my costs pretty carefully from buying a near race-ready car & open trailer thru schools, entry fees, parts, expenses and an engine repair. Happy to share my experience with folks looking to get into FV .

We will have to talk, I also live in the Irmo area. I am still not sure about buying race-ready however; I can definitely understand that point of view. My main reasoning is the enjoyment of doing so and being able to learn those cars/engines inside and out so when something goes wrong I can easily pin-point the issue. My close friends own a performance motorcycle building shop and I help out there so I have access to machining and milling equipment, welders, paint booth, etc., all engine building measuring equipment, I think because of that it reduces the cost.

With that being said, I still wouldn't be opposed to a race-ready. I need to do more research and read all the FV requirements/regulations, I got the PDF just haven't had time to read through it all yet.

I would love to get in contact and get more information about all the particular events you attend and the things you do related to FV local to us tho.

[Jnovak]

, I got the PDF just haven't had time to read through it all yet.

If you cant find the time to read a pdf you will never find the time to build a car!

[Rich_G_SC]

The concept of starting from ground up may sound good but, honestly, there is so much specialized work that goes into these things to make them fast, LEGAL and reliable It would be a massive undertaking to start from scratch. I don't do engine or transmission work myself but it is my understanding there are a myriad of tricks/techniques that go into them and there is no instruction manual - it comes from decades of experience. I suggest finding a solid car then take it apart if you want to learn & improve.

We have some great builders right here in SC that I can direct you to. As mentioned by Jay, Fred down in Jacksonville and Dietmar at quixoteracing.com are all wonderful go-to's for parts, services & questions.

This is a great place to start with FV - a real gift to the community written a long time ago by Jim Schings "Getting Started in FV" https://www.facebook.com/groups/form...9031599958115/

The file is in an FV Facebook group, I suggest you join. If you're not on FB then PM me with your email and I'll send you a copy. Its too big for Apex to allow me to post here.

Check out https://driverzcup.com/ as well, Greg who is a constructor and racer, put this group together and is based in the Spartanburg area. I got into FV because of DriverZ Cup and so have at least 6 other new drivers in SC in the past 2 years. We've got some great momentum brewing!

Happy to help any way I can,
Rich

[BLS]

"My main reasoning is the enjoyment of doing so and being able to learn those cars/engines inside and out so when something goes wrong I can easily pin-point the issue."

No rule against buying a complete car and tearing it down to check and rebuild...

[kingbunz]

Thank you all for the information and help. I printed and read the guide created by Jim Schings you recommended to me Rich. That is an extremely helpful piece of information. Thank you very much for linking me that. I do appreciate you all for helping me comprehend just how competitive this class is.

I do think I am going to source out a already-built competitive engine for my first go, then as someone else stated, I can learn from that build and especially learn after I make more contact with more experienced specialized Vee engine builders.

Thank you all for helping guide me in the right direction. I have learned a lot and I now think I have a beginning of an understanding at just how highly specialized and unique these awesome machines are.

I hope I get to see most of you sometime at a race track soon!