racing and safety Getting in to vintage racing help Seattle WA

[2002 Life]

Hello, I am new to the 2002 scene. Just got my self a 1971 base 2002 and would like to find a local 2002 club to race with in the area. Pacific raceways and what ever else.  

Also I need to know how to set up the car. What not to touch and what to go ahead and upgrade 

 

suspension, engine, body, rims and tires ect...  

 

It's a rust bucket right now but rinds and driver surprisingly really well 

 

 

[M3M3M3]

i am sure toby will chime in here, but...

 

do not modify anything on the car until you know what group you are going to race with.  then get a rule book from that group and only modify what is allowed.

 

do not just make a bunch of mods and THEN try to find a place to race it.  

 

do you have any racing experience?  if not, do a bunch of basic track driving schools first.   

[2002 Life]

I will do track schools once I set the car up With club rules

 

really need a to get cracking though so please someone pint me to a good group.  

 

I have some track experience driving a Lotus Elise but still need some schooling. 

[TobyB]

Since you insist, Marshall:

 

There are basically 2 ways to race a 2002  if you're in the Puglet sound-

SOVREN, which is strictly vintage,

and

ICSCC, which is a democratic regional rough- equivalent of the SCCA.  Known as "Conference".

 

Look at the SOVREN website, and be amazed- the rules are very vintage.  I know little about them-

we've raced with them as Pro3 in 325's, but only a couple times.  Nice people, decent crowds.

 

Look at the Conference website, and be underwhelmed- there is Production, and then there are a few other chassis- specific classes, but you'd think there wasn't

much going on until you realize that ALL of the SCCA classes can race in Conference.

So ITB, GT3, etc, are all fair game.

THEN you look at the results sheets from the last few  years and figure out where the cars are.

Group 5 is a good fit for a 2002 in SCCA E or F production, and you'd have someone to race with,

if not against.

Group 2 would be even better if you could find a class that the 2002 fits into- Conference F Production, maybe?

 

Some mechanics- we start in the spring, so you're just about at the end of the season.  You can still catch a SOVREN race, I think,

and there are a couple of Conference races left.  Go see what's going on, and if it interests you.  Work on the car all winter, and start

dragging it out to the track in early spring for testing and schools.

 

NASA and SCCA have made appearances around here, but they don't seem to attract all that many entries.  You can take a look at them, too, if you like.

 

 

A rustbucket's not a good way to start racing, IF the shell's a mess.  Unless you build a GT3 car, you have to use the shell as

your suspension holder- togetherer, and building a race car's too time consuming and expensive to NOT start with a sturdy (if ugly) shell.

 

Better is a slow street car- do a couple of seasons of lapping with Audi, BMW, ProFormance (the racing school at Pacific) BMWACA in Portland

(great bunch of people) and any other way you can get relatively inexpensive track time.

 

I lapped a rustbucket street car for 3 or 4 years, and then did what I'd recommend everyone do- BOUGHT my first race car.

I bought a 2002, because I was comfortable with the platform on track, but I'd REALLY recommend just shopping

on the local boards for ICSCC and IRDC, and buy someone's deal of a racecar.  Because an RX7 or a Miata's a great

way to start out, and for tiny money (1/3rd of a 2002 race car) you can get a couple of seasons of racing in- and THEN build the car you WANT to race.

 

Good luck!

 

t

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2016 by TobyB

[M3M3M3]

great answer T.

[2002 Life]

Is this an Alpina sport quick steering box? 

 

Im slowly learning stuff about the car

it also has a scheel racing seat installed that I will soon take in for re-apholstering

 

[Dirtsquirt]

That sheel seat is worthless for track duty, it won't pass inspection.

 

dont waste time reupholstering it

[ray_]

Tho the seat may be worth $500 to someone in present shape

 

We need the part number on the plate for the steering box ID.

 

Cheers,

[2002 Life]

I won't refinish if I won't use it ofcorse but why wouldn't it pass? Aren't those really good seats?

[2002 Life]

TobyB I would race my M3 or TT or even the Corrado but I really want to start racing at slower speeds in a Vintage car.  I looked at many other vintage cars and picked the 2002. I can restore the 2002 in no time and bring it back to a good condition shell. I can weld all of the seems on the shell to make a stronger structured shell (if that's allowed)  The inside wheel wells and the main body doesn't have any rust it's only in the turn signals fenders and rocker panels outer core. 

 

The engine runs good and it drives good so I'm wondering if I can just install all of the safety stuff fix the body and track it??

[AceAndrew]

They are a really nice period seat for a street car, however they are not an applicable race seat.

 

As Ray said, we need the number off of the riveted plate on the steering box if we are to confirm if it is a close ratio unit.

 

If you address the safety and take it racing as is, just be prepared to not be competitive.  Dare I say ChumpCar or Lemons may be a viable way to get on the track at that point (there are a handful of 02's racing in them, so it isn't unreasonable).

[2002 Life]

So do they all come in red like that and adjustable?

 

ill have it all cleaned up soon don't mind the oily mess. 

[2002 Life]

I can't find the BMW 2002 in any of the  categories from the years provided by SOVREN

 

I Seriously need more info on how I can build the 2002 for vintage racing. 

[M3M3M3]

Go to some races in your area and talk with people there.   different race groups have different personalities.  

 

There is no rush.   That car is a long way from any track time.  While you aye doing the basic repair work and researching mods,  take your m3 or tt to track schools and work on the art of driving quickly.   By the time the 2002 is ready to take to a track school, you will be more ready to work on the different skill of racing quickly.   They are different skills.  Gotta have the driving part before the racing part. 

[2002 Life]

Ok I'll do that. But in the rule book I think they said you have to race that car you are intending to race with SOVREN.  But maybe that's just a recommendation