Just to introduce myself. My name is Marty and I recently have been reading up on the F500/F600 cars. I come from road racing 125 and 250cc GP motorcycles so these cars seem to be that perfect fit I have been looking for in a formula style car/kart. I recently had a daughter and even though I will always keep a road race bike, my heart isn’t in it to compete like I used to.
Currently I am selling off one of my RS125s and a TZ250 so when they are gone and paid for I will be in the market for a car. I love my 2 strokes, don’t get me wrong, but I think it would be a blast to have a 600 motor and gears to shift. I figured I would run the 2 stroke motor to get through this year and get the car converted over the winter and drive it more next year.
I have found a lot of good info on this site as well as the 2 others but still have a few newbie questions.
What are some good chassis for the conversion? Do early 2000s Red Devils convert well?
I saw a thread saying the Mavericks convert well, do any usually come up for sale in the $5000ish range?
Are there any others I should be checking out? Invaders, KBS, etc.
What companies are still making crash replacement parts? I wouldn’t want to get into something that I couldn’t find body or mechanical parts for. I love to tinker with mechanical bits but I don’t have the artistic ability to fabricate very well. Will that be a problem or are most things off the shelf replacements with the F500/600s?
What safety items do I need to look for in a car? Ie crush boxes, roll cage diameter, belt age, etc?
Do most people buy sight unseen and have the cars shipped? I know there are a lot of factors but what is a ball park estimate of what shipping a car or chassis be?
Who are the most experienced fabricators doing the F600 conversions? I have been checking out a lot of threads about Jay Novak’s builds and they look super clean. Any other builders that may be closer to Colorado?
I live in Denver, is there anyone up here that you guys could recommend I talk to about F500/600 cars or any of the small displacement formula cars?
Thanks for any feedback
Marty