Newbie help deciding on a car

I'm looking to buy my first late model. I've found a 2012 GRT with a set of Ohlins from Wolfpack, is this a good starter car? Will be racing on a 3/8 mile track. Any suggestions on a better car with about a $7k budget for a roller. Thanks

Just remember this . If it's for sale, especially from a top level team. It was either no good to begin with or it bent up and worn out. Otherwise why would they get rid of a good car ?

There are lots of good cars out there cheap. Start there because during your learning curve ask yourself do you really want to tear up an expensive piece or would you care a lot less about wrecking something cheap? Cause your going to wreck, be in one or just do some dumb things at first.

Also be careful and use your common judgment because there are tons of snakes in this industry! There will most likely be a few that will post right after they read this or pm you.

hey , double nickle , if this is the car from alabaster alabama , then i know the car and it is a good car , the owners are just getting burned out I think......

Lots of teams selling blue front Rockets off to get into a XR1. You want a 14 or newer if you go that route.....and not an old one that has been updated (usually means clipped car). Beware, a lot of expired parts end up on used rollers. It's nice if you can buy a car that is currently being raced and runs well in less than optimal track conditions. 2 sense worth

if you can pull it off, watch the car your after that's for sale and buy at track then you no what you got, if not the best ones I ever got where drop in motor deals with everything hanging in the car, fuel lines, ps, battery ,cables, rad, even fuel pressure and oil pressure lines, if it looks like they where gonna use it you'll be ok. like cchief said guys will clean out there garage of junk and bolt it on a used up car.

rak is correct... try to buy a car at the track and take it home...as raced. At least you know you will be getting what you paid for.

The other way is to buy a low buck deal knowing you will have to rebuild the whole car... but you would be better off buying a good running car that's complete.

I bought an ancient Mastersbilt that I'm slowly rebuilding....

Is there any way of telling if a car is bent or wore out without driving it or crawling under and working on it. Where is the most common place on a car for a weld to break and the most common place for frame to twist from be used or running a super motor.

I would say look closely around the motor mounts, specifically where the motor plate mounts/uprights are welded. I'd also look at the bottom side of the right frame rail, specifically where it kicks up in the front to form the stub, just to see how "beat up" it looks.

I'm only familiar with MastersBilt stuff, but I don't know of any manufacturers that have frame rails running parallel to each other, which can make it difficult to see if they are "in line" so to speak. And with interior, and especially a body on, looking for bent or not so straight bars can be that much harder.

One thing I learned the hard way buying a used chassis...when I looked at it, it was supported by three jack stands. Two in the rear (one on each side under the frame rails, just in front of where the tail section connected) and one in front of the radiator. Not how I would support a car, but I didn't think too much about it. Until I got it home and realized that with four jack stands, it teetered on the RF/LR. A little to be expected with a concrete floor possibly not level, but no matter where I placed the car in my garage, same thing. I should point out that it was not a raised right rail. But cars with a raised right rail can obviously make that aspect of checking for straightness even harder.

Might be a good idea to ask a knowledgeable person to look at a car with you... The more eyes the better.

jet, I dont think you will find any chassis that will sit level on 4 equal in height jack stands , they are all built with a raised right rail , some as much as 2 to 3 inches from rear of right rail to the front of it.....

^^^ The last two lines of my post addressed that, but yes, I understand. I still use four jack stands with my current car (a raised right rail), but the RF stand is under the crossmember support running up towards the R&P, and obviously set higher.