I am an avid sprint car fan, but am too much of a wuss to race one. I am considering building one and making it street-legal, and even racing some scca and drag events. I have seen this done before, but would like some opinions on vehicle registration, insurance, transmission ideas, costs (less engine), etc. Thanks

I went about the same project here a year or so ago... I learned the hardway that it was way harder than it looked to do and once it came to getting it licenced it was a very big mess.. my opinion on this is... Work in compliance to your state laws. Never try to cut a corner and put something in it that isn't quite legal but looks real.. The inspectors know everything.. they basicly dissasembled my car down to the frame and put it back together the way I had it... and found tons of things wrong with it. It took 4 trys before it passed inspection... it looks good and runs great but the problem is getting insurance for the machine... I am required by my insurrance company to keep 100% full coverage due to the high risk factor of the vehicle. Also keep all reciepts that you spent.. when the inspect they run a complete stolen parts check by every serial number on the car.. it usually takes a complete day just to copy the numbers down.. also as far as gears in the rear end go.. stay normal if you are using a transmission that is meant for a car.. the access torque of turing oversized gears ruins stock trannys...

Mike
good luck..

Mike- I am curious as to what state you live in. I have heard that rules for making a racecar street legal vary greatly between states. I have heard (not officially verified) that certain states will license the cars, but will only allow them to run the streets with a special permit. It doesn't sound like what I would call "Street Legal", but then not everyone sees things the same way.

Mike-sounds like you went through hell with the state trying to get the car legal. There was an article in (i think) road and track a couple years ago on a street legal sprinter. He lived in Ca, and had it registered as an older street-rod type vehicle. I will definitely study the issue further before getting too serious about the project.

I'm glad to know that I am not the only one that wants a sprint car on the street. I have raced karts and owned a harley, but this project would be a grin! I am triing to find a older silver crown car to start with instead of a sprinter. Any one have a old non down tube roller for sale? I di not want to pay for history! I live in MI. The state law here requires hot rod-home built cars to have fenders. That could be a problem. I am open to all advise.
ken

I am from MI too; damn if they didn't spoil my fun by requiring fenders on hot rods (or street legal sprint cars). Any loopholes to get around this law?

SDC writes:
>>> I am from MI too; damn if they didn't spoil my fun by requiring fenders on hot rods (or street legal sprint cars). Any loopholes to get around this law? <<<

You might check to see what the regulations say about the allowed materials, size, and function of fenders on open-wheeled street cars. Street rods sometimes can get by with no fenders as long as they don't weight more than 1,500 pounds.

Determine what the function of the fenders is to be. If it's to keep water from spraying on other drivers' windshields, design a fender to do that and keep it close enough to the tire to reduce notice.

Material could be a dark Lexan polycarbonate plastic. It's bulletproof and the color would be similar to the tire color and reduce notice.

Just some thoughts.