i whant to build a race car for circit and hill climb
i know the 1200 is competative but i was thinking maby i might give a stanza a go as they already have the L motor and easy 5 speed adaption which makes for much stronger running gear.
what i was wondering is how competative thease cars can be on the track my other choice is (dont shoot me dont shoot me)
a ford mk1 escort with a 2l pinto engine as a know these cars are competative what i am after is a car that is strong streight of the block which i can pick up at a reasonably cheap price and is not to hard to get parts for at a good price.

Escorts are a money pit. Stick with a datsun. You can spend >$100K on a BDA Escort motor and only achieve 210hp. You can get figure like that out of an L-series for a tenth (or less) than the price.

good to know so what dose a stanz handle like on the track

Feral Errol would be able to give you the good oil on the potential of a stanza. [be it possibly biased, as Erol quite likes a stanza or two.].

Benny

What class racing are you talking. For best bang for your buck Improved Production under 2 litre is the way to go.
The stanza would be OK but theres quite a bit of weight. i would go a sunny if you like the stanzas...same floorpan but lighter....
Or you can stick with the 1200..much lighter and stiffer again, still plenty around and very competitive.

go for the lightest car you can easily get a big engine into. 120Y with 180B crossmember and Lseries.

i havnt got a cams licence yet so i was just
going to go to a few open track days with my green frog
and see what i can do and take it from there i do still have a couple of 1200 sedan bodys so maby i will spend the money on putting an L motor in one of thease
i just whant somthing that is stong i dont whant to be replacing gear boxes all the time