we are in talks about getting a cupcar from kellymoss or elsewhere(have not committed anywhere) and I had a couple quick questions. Although I know most people rebuild at 40hrs I have also heard people go to about 80hrs. Typically how long have you guys gone before motor rebuilds and do you typically do the trans at this time as well? I also know the cost varies on how many rebuilds have been done and how many parts were changed each time. Given a car with a new motor, how much did most of you spend on your first rebuild? I am sorry about all the questions. I am trying to gather all the data I can from cupcar owners before purchase. Also anything else you want to add to help a potential new cupcar owner out would be nice. Maybe I will see you guys at the track this season in a new cupcar

 

I have spent some time with 997 Cup guys here at Sebring this weekend that say Porsche "recomends" motor rebuilds at 30 hours. Some of the costs are crazy.

 

The 996 Cup manual recommends rebuilds at 30 hours. If you run the 24 hours of Daytona (2-6 hours in duration) or the car you buy did) you need a new motor. If you run a lot of Grand Am type races you probably need a rebuild at 40 hours. If you clubrace and do a bunch of 30 minute sprint races and and 60-90 minute enduros then you can probably go to 60 to 80 hours.

You decision to rebuild will be based on both time on the motor as you approach high hours and the leak down of each cylinder. If the leak down is good, no need for a rebuild until you approach 80 hours. At some point you will be giving up a little power, but it may not be enough to justify the cost of a rebuild.

Now rebuilds if done by PMNA should be in the $20K-$25K range if you have not had a major failure (could be as low as $15K). Gearbox should be done as needed and is not so much based on hours, but more based on how hard you are on the transmission. If you are not hard on it, you may decide to rebuild when you do the motor since it is out of the car anyways. The tranny rebuild should be $1,500 plus parts. Gears are about $950 each (if you want to change ratios) or damage something. Figure $3K - $5K for a transmission rebuild.

Most expensive things about a Cup car is slicks and brakes. You will go through a lot of both. Realistically if you are club racing you will need 1.5 sets of slicks per weekend. A set for parctice and a new set to race on, which becomes your practice set for the next race weekend. Figure $1,600 per set. Rotors are $571 for fronts and $394 for rears. Fronts are needed every 4th race weekend and rears will go at least 8 race weekends. Firgure pads every other rotor change.

I figure it costs $3,000 per weekend (3 day club race weekend) to run the Cup car. Add to that about $750 per hour to amortize the cost of a motor rebuild and transmission rebuild.

As far as cars, check with Kelly Moss, Farnbacher Racing, Rennlist classifieds and pca.org classifieds. Most of the nice cars trade word of mouth. Buy a 2002 or newer as it has updated electronics and a 30% stiffer chassis.

Good luck

JCM

 

JCM brings up some good points- and since he has owned a few he can attest to the maintenance involved.

As he mentions purchase an 02 and newer car- updated electronics and the parts are less expensive, especially when it comes to the engine rebuilds.

If you are planning on running in the GT3 Cup series the engines must be done my PMNA just like we run in SPEED GT.

Costs are pretty reasonable when considering the speed potential of even a basic cup car-

I have heard of some guys running engines upto 100 hours before rebuilds when doing club racing- depending on how competitive you want to be will most likely determine how quickly you rebuild. @ 20-25k k for a rebuild not an inexpensive proposition but a bargain considering our WCGT spec engine cost about twice that to have it serviced- And must be done every 36 -40 hours - But the engine is different than the standard cup spec.