​Stock car racing involves taking beat-up old cars and converting them into race cars that can handle the dirt tracks and collisions in stock car racing. These cars are cherry-picked from ones sold at auction or from salvage yards. Then the real work begins. Here is what it takes to convert an old car into a stock car for this sport.

A LOT of Wire Mesh

Industrial and manufacturing plants buy wire mesh by the roll. You are going to want to do the same because these projects need a lot of wire mesh! Buy both large width and fine meshes. Make sure you have mesh cutters for the project too, as you will use the cutters almost as often as you use the mesh. Reach out to a company like Midwestern Industries Inc to learn more about wire mesh.

​Gut the Car

Well, do not gut it entirely. Leave the rear seat and the driver's seat. Rip out the passenger seat; racers never need that because they do not race with "dead weight" in their vehicles. Leave the controls for the car in there too. If you bought a project car with a bench seat in the front, rip the whole bench seat out to install just a driver's seat instead.

​Remove All Side Windows

Stock car racers cannot have side windows for safety reasons. The front and rear windshields are allowed, but all side windows have to go. Once those side windows are out, it is time to install the ton of wire mesh you purchased.

Wide Wire Mesh Installation

​Wide wire mesh is cut to fit the front windshield. It is adhered to the frame of the front windshield with a clear epoxy. The wide openings should still allow a driver to see clearly out of the front windshield, but prevent the glass from the front windshield from shattering into the face of the driver during a collision. If the front windshield becomes so damaged during an event the driver cannot see, the glass is removed and the wire mesh still acts as a protectant against flying debris on the track.

​Narrow Mesh Installation

The narrow mesh installation should still allow a reasonably clear view out of the rear window, but prevent rear window glass from shattering everywhere inside the vehicle. Since rear window glass is tempered, it breaks into cube-like pieces instead of shards and larger bits like the laminated glass of the front windshield. Ergo, having the finer mesh installed in the back keeps this glass from coming inside the car. You can use a middle-of-the-road grain mesh or your choice of fine or wide mesh to create a screen behind the driver from one side of the car to the other.

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