Race car bad idea?

[mofish]

I'm looking into a 1971 Plymouth that been a drag race car most of its life. Anybody have an opinion on if that's a good thing or a bad thing? I've only seen pics and it looks good 

[Cudakiller70]

Are you thinking of turning it back into a street car?

[mofish]

Yes. I am told it has never been cut up or crashed. He has all the parts to change it back to the street car. I'm basically wondering if these cars normally twisted under the strain or if they are fine to be made back into street cars.

[Haddixj]

 Best way to tell is to push it and see how easy it rolls. I had a 68 barracuda race car that was fine after being raced for a long time. They are usually rust free cars and don't have body damage. If it is a good deal then go for it. Make sure the vin and title are there

[HP2]

They do twist and bend some with the loading they experience. However, unlike a street car, they are usually reinforced to deal with the stress and are overall pretty straight and square.

Like Haddixj said, make sure it has a vin and matching title. This is why a lot of race cars fail the reversal to a street car again.

 

[HP_Cuda]

The pain points of bringing back a race car is that to race usually folks want to lighten the car as much as possible. So in addition to missing a ton of stock parts you will have all sorts of metal work including taking out the cage.

I have rarely found a race car that I would put back to stock condition but ymmv.

 

[burdar]

If it hasn't been cut up to make it lighter AND all the parts that were taken off come with it, then I don't see a problem.  Most of the time, you are left with a shell and need to buy most of the original parts to put it back together.  That gets tedious and expensive. 

[Racer57]

If it had enough power to lift the front end off the ground, check all suspension mounting areas for cracks while its on a lift.

[mofish]

Thanks for all the great tips guys. No regi unfortunately. Somebody doesn't care as there is a sale pending on it already. 

[Chryco Psycho]

tto bad should have grabbed it maybe !

[mofish]

I heard last night that the pending sale fell through.  Maybe I can get there on the weekend

[jordan]

I looked at a race car once.  Mostly stock looking.  Dude wanted to keep the drivetrain.  He took me for a ride.  What a pile of junk!!  As we cruised easily down the road, I could see the fenders flexing up and down with every little bump we hit.  The whole car was "loose" from flexing repeatedly.  I totally passed on that one and bought a cream puff 318 body car with a big block added to it for the first time just before I bought it.  My car is "tight" and feels very solid driving.  After having this experience, I don't see myself looking to buy a race car again.