Maybe you should step away from the keyboard, have a cup of coffee, take a few deep breaths, and try not be so defensive. I, nor anyone, was being condescending or implying you are a twat for considering such a thing, only that you might be misunderstanding the purpose/intent of budget racing series (which some others who run it do). However, I was going to say sorry that you took my comments negatively, but then it's not my fault you got unnecessarily angry over nothing. So, I'll preemptively accept your apology.

To your original question, yes, a S2000 could run in Lemons or ChumpCar. Lemons, however, could have it voted to be destroyed and certainly run with a ton of penalty laps...so there's that risk. ChumpCar, you would run it in EC.

 

Fair enough and point taken, but the way you worded your response, if you re-read it, did come across as a bit condescending - just sayin. But I see where you are coming from - there are guys that get serious business with it, which is why you responded the way you did. I am obviously not one of those "serious business" dudes when it comes to LeChump. Thanks for preemptively accepting my apology. I preemptively accept your acknowledgement that the wording of your post unintentionally may have a been a bit sharp.

Regarding eligibility of the chassis, thanks for your feedback. A bunch of guys on our team were discussing the viability of such a car. Now that the AP1 chassis is a much as 14 years old and cars are rotting in junkyards, I think we could make it happen. I will start a thread here if such a venture begins...

 

man it would be tough to find an ap1 within those restrictions. chances of finding one in a junkyard would probably just be the shell.

 

The question you have to answer is whether or not a wrecked S2000 is valued at $500 or less. I would wager no, in which case they may not even let you on the track (with or without penalty laps).

 

Roger that. So that's the main concern, could I find a junked out cChassis and further mutilate it enough for it to be considered a $500 pile at B.S. inspection. I think on the premise of some cars I have seen this could be done, I could further smash the bodywork, throw dirt and oil on it, in combination with bribes and a very well done decoration on the car involving lemon bombs, JDMing, Mannikins with exposed female body parts, zebra and leopard print, testicles, Confederate and Japanese flags and a faux rocket launcher on the hood.

 

There is no more peoples curse in LeMons so there is little worry about it being destroyed but I can tell you that your chances of getting through BS inspection with ANY chance at all of being competitive due to sheer volume of penalty laps is pretty much non existent. Additionally yes there are lots of VERY fast cars competing in LeMons class A these days (turbo miatas, a few turbo BMW's as well as the usual assortment of E30's etc and some more exotic fare as well). A basket case AP1 (about the only state youll get one for $500 unless it had no drivetrain) would likely not fare any better than any of the corvettes that enter for the same reasons, making a basket case AP1 fast and durable is WAY more expensive than making a meh miata quick and durable. Besides when a part inevitably fails you in hour 13 you'll wish you had picked a car that was readily available in your local pick a part yards.

Why not just pick a chassis that wont get the lemons supreme court to target you with orbital death rays and then modify it to be what you want. Lemons is a lot more fun when you spend most of it being competitive on the racetrack.

Also its worth noting that while buying a seat in a lemons car is a relatively inexpensive way to get going in W2W, building a lemons car and racing it is often much more expensive than just buying a used racecar and racing spec miata. For perspective a weekend at LeMons often costs us $5k in entry fees/gas/diesel/tires BEFORE you get to food and lodging and that doesn't include anything we had to fix after the last event.

If you arent married to the idea of running the F20/F22 then running a AP chassis is reasonable if you start with a theft recovery chassis and sell the drivetrain out of it, replacing it with something less exotic you might even legitimately make budget.

However if you by some chance manage to get this going, Ill buy a seat and fly out just to see the look on judge phils face when you try and get it through BS.

 

I know a lot of guys will buy dirt cheap SHO's and go beat the piss out of them for these events. The motors are great for this type of stuff.

 

Roger that, great points there. And yes, the team I am on is no stranger to the costs associated with building/maintaining/racing even a bargain basement Lemons effort, including all of the costs that go in to a weekend. Though I am newer to the experience they have been at it for many years. We talked alot about that this past weekend - the costs only become reasonable with a team of 5 guys sharing them and we have a good mix of technical ability and driving talent to increase the likelihood of it remaining in one piece over the course of the weekend.

You did bring a good point I hadn't thought of - availability of parts should something fail. Hmm...

Again at the end of the day it would just be good old fasioned FUN to make a Lemons s2000! I can see it now - wood grain vinyl paneling on the doors, home made white wall tires...maybe even a Chevy Bowtie on the Hood. Just ridiculous stuff and mad VTEC up in the house as some Boat or upside down car is next to me.

 

THAT would be cool. Fun mix of reasonable and reliable power. And hell, it's a Ford Taurus, making BS inspection a breeze

 

Let me know if you want to know any more information on SHO's... I've wrote a thing or two on them.