Doug, The car wasn't even close to being "race ready and turnkey". I worked about 4 hours a day for 2 months to get it "reliable", "safe", "rock solid" and "ready to put on the start line.
My receipts for all the work right now is $10,081...not including my labor, of course.
The car was a mess, but it is not a mess now. IT IS READY.
The list went on and on as to what needed to be done as to the motor, transmission, rear end, suspension, wiring, tires both front and rear, 1 rear wheel, brakes, etc, etc,.
But....I knew most all of that when I bought the car and before I put it on the trailer to bring it home and that is the reason the asking price on the car was low. Sure, some of the things came to light AFTER I brought it home but I kinda expected that.
The NHRA Chassis Cert fella came up to the shop 2 weeks ago where I was getting some of the work done and he was able to certify the car to 8.50. So I got the new sticker on the roll cage.
He is also the head Tech Inspector for the recent NHRA California Hot Rod ReUnion and he looked the whole car over and said it now would have no problem passing tech for up to 8.50.