He's got a case of TSS - twenty-something-syndrome - and won't listen to any of us old farts, Boswoj. Gotta love him for it, though - you MUST look back fondly on all of the symptoms...
** Tools don't count as expenses because they are "capital" that you will have as investments in the racing career
** The hardware, plumbing, wiring, and cans of paint/fluids/etc to install part X will not cost anything
** This will be cool and it only costs $50
** I will be earning money as I build the car so it won't matter that I am currently spending more than I can pay off each month
** The time when I am not working or building the car can be spent putting together sponsor deals
** I heard somewhere that only NERDS really care if you take out the rear wiper, passenger door window, dashboard and stock wiring harness
** I don't care if I am competitive or not
** Nobody will care if I use this "street" cam, since I'm not competitive
** If I subtract from the cost, what I could sell the car for when done, I haven't spent THAT much
** Since I've been driving it, I know how it handles, so it will be easier to learn to go really fast
** $1500 to rent a race car for just ONE WEEKEND? That's insane! I could do it for way less than that
** I will start with the stuff that I know how to do (like stripping the interior) before budgeting $1000 a cage - it has to be done first, anyway, right?
** I already have X dollars sunk into this project - it would be stupid to not spend whatever it takes to finish it. (Remember the hemorrhage of money before the first school? Drunken sailors got nothin' on someone with a novice permit in his hands!)
Seriously, 323. I know that some people have to touch the stove to find out that it is hot - I was one of those guys - but it is possible to learn from others' mistakes. If you do start to build your car, you do so only by promising that you will come back to this forum in the spring of 2005 and give us a full report. It might work out wonderfully and, if so, I will do the "I was wrong" dance in front of the entire board. On the other hand, the odds are against it.
Best,
Kirk