[Barrels]

Ok. So some friends and I are entering the 24 Hours of Lemons race at Columbia Motorsports Park in Columbia, SC in mid-September. For those of you unfamiliar with these events, it is a 24-hour endurance race pitting $500 cars against each other. You can buy any car you want and do whatever you want to it, but you can't spend more than $500 total (car, parts, and modifications).

I have found a 1986 MR2 that I can get for around $150. It needs a crapload of work, but if it could be done for less than $500 then I think I would have a pretty good racer on my hands. Labor and tools are not an issue, I have access to several shops with every tool anyone could possibly need.

So here are my questions:
1- Is the MR2 a good choice for this purpose?
2- What kind of issues should I look for when I check out this car?
3- What kind of dirt-cheap-but-effective performance mods could I do?
4- Where can I get a good set of cheap hubs?

Thanks for helping out a newbie!