Building a dream

[airmenair]

Lotsa cool ideas here. I've got a couple of projects already going.

1967 Ford Mustang: Work in progress, I just pulled the old 289 out and am in the midst of putting in 302 out of a 90s Mustang in with all forged internals. Long term goals, I haven't decided yet, right now I'm looking at just getting a solid (non smoking) engine in the car, and get the body work straightened out and primed. I'm definately looking to overall the entire suspension and do alot of chassis stiffening. Oh, I also want to put a top loader four speed in there as well. Some ideas have gone through my head about possible goals, one being vintage racer, another being resto-mod.

1989 Merkur XR4Ti: Currently the car has a blown head gasket and is sitting. I now have the engine apart and I'm waiting on getting the head checked for cracks before rebuilding it. Saw someone else on here wants to turn this car into a RS500 clone As for me, I want to bring it back to a really good stock form, with a solid engine (current one has 180K+ miles on it), then maybe add some Cossie body parts to improve the appearance (bumper, grill, and headlights come to mind, maybe whale tale) and call it a mild cossie clone.

Some other projects I've had running through my head of late have been:

Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Total stock restore (maybe some performace goodies )

I'd also like to get a 60s Ford Panel Van, do a flat black paint job, a big block V8, side pipes, hehe. Someone said it would be like the A-Team van.

A guy at work recently picked up a 1966 Ford Ranchero ($600), I actually liked the looks of it. (had a Comet front end) I may look at getting one as sort of a utility vehicle for hauling parts, maybe cars, who knows. I'd of course have to beef it up to handle it, but it would be a piece of cake. Here's one



I have the itch to do a hot station wagon too, like a turbo brick Volvo...

[Punisher Bass]

Car: A 1969 Chevy Camaro SS.



Build type: Clone/Restomod.

Thanks to the popularity of this car, it's now possible to build one from the ground up using all new aftermarket parts. I'd start with a brand new 69 body shell from Dynacorn and locate an OEM front subframe. Once again I'd put in the best suspension possible including an IRS which the aftermarket does make.

I'm not sure what I'd engine I'd use. Maybe one of the upcoming recast 427 ZL1's or a 502 crate engine with a supercharger. The choice is practically unlimited.

As for the body, I would raise the arch on the rear quarter pannels by an inch or so so it would look more like the 68 Camaro. I'd also make fit the front end of the 68 with its hidden headlights.



And I'd leave the interior alone. It'd be painted black with white ralley stripes and get a black leather interior.

[Spazatao]

• A Opala Caravan SS , with a V8 small block swap. Which one, I don't know... But it's been done over here before! Something like this:

There are other ideas too... one that's a little weird but I always liked is to put a modern Diesel engine, modded, in a 80's Mercedes Benz diesel... those were the last Diesels allowed here, before that kind of engine was forbidden for cars...

[airmenair]

Originally Posted by Jacobfox

60's Mustang fastback with a RB26DETT and drift suspension and a naff paint job in japan racing teh drift king
F&F Tokyo Drift joke.

Haha I saw that earlier and I thought to myself, PLEASE let him be joking.


How could I forget, Factory 5!!! Gotta do one of those, friend at work is in the process of putting one together for $22k.


I'd also like to do a GT40 replica, probably more so than doing a Daytona coupe.

[smib]

Well, it's not me, but my dad has been working on a 1972 Triumph TR6. He's had a '72 TR6 Tiger 650 motorcycle since 74 and about 6 years ago he saw that someone was selling the car. He got a complete car, two engine blocks, an extra chassis, and a dresser full of parts and parts books all for 1000USD. I don't have any pics of his stuff so I'm just gonna post what the filtered internet connection here at work will let me find. The bike is black and he plans on painting the car black with a 2ish inch silver stripe along the bottom and a thin red stripe above it. Black leather interior with some red touches.

[thedguy]

Alright, I'll elaborate on my Corvair

1965 or newer body style, something like:


Not sure if I'd have it white, maroon red, or black.

The chassis would receive full seam/stitch welding, and probably some more re-enforcements. The front suspension/steering/uprights/brakes would be pulled from a C4 or newer corvette (though likely without the lolsprings).

The engine, transmission, and subframe complete with suspension from a Porsche GT3. hubs would have corvette units adapted and modified to use Corvette brakes and wheel pattern (keep everything consistent when buying wheels/brakes).

The engine I'm a bit on the fence about, as newer Porsche's being water cooled, I may be inclined to go with a modified 993 Carrera engine. Hell I may even go against my better judgment and have an air cooled VW motor built to keep the weight down.

Lastly I'd have the interior made simple and elegant, like the Maserati 450GT sans wood steering wheel.

[matyas]

Originally Posted by Beni

...plus "building a dream" shouldn't be about spending as little money as possible anyways . I won't do it anyways, I have enough work with my Fiat already.

Sorry, I didn't know that was the first AMG. I assumed it was some stripped out "homemade" rally car

[Elmo187]

-1971 Chevy Vega
-stripped interior
-Banks Power built 6.6L Duramax pumping out well over 1,000ft. lbs. of torque
-Mickey Thompson 20" HR-1's wrapped in Mickey Thompson ET Drags for the rear and a set of Mickey Thompson ET skinnies up front
-hand fabricated twin stacks coming out the back of the hood with a turnback diagnally cut tip
-full matte black paint job with fiberglass bumpers, hood, trunk, front fenders, and doors

[starfox07]

Lincoln mk Viii with a built triton v10

Merkur XR4ti (which I have) with a honda h22

97+ mercury cougar with SHO V6

Ae86 Corolla with worked n/a 12a rotary

Honda del sol with mid mounted NSX v6

And lastly, my ultimate creation...

97+ Honda Prelude. Custom designed and fabricated flat plane crank 4.4 liter,65 degree v8 utilizing the architecture and heads of two H22 vtec engines, running on a custom megasquirt map made by me, installed longitudinally with an S2000 rear axle and T56 transmission. Fully gusseted and swiss cheesed chassis with each body panel replaced with custom laid carbon kevlar. Mostly stock appearing on the outside, painted metallic silver, with a late model accord full interior. That for me, would be the ultimate. Target power would be 440hp (achieved with ported heads and individual throttle bodies) and a weight of 2200lbs would be entirely possible. Throw on some Acura TSX retrofitted HID's and call it a day. The sound of an ITB, 4.4 liter vtec V8 would be simply incredible.

[BlaRo]

My dream is simple...spend my junior spring semester abroad in London, and while I'm over there I'll buy one of these.



Because you don't seriously expect me to spend 4 months there, surrounded by some of the greatest driving roads, and sit on my ass wondering how I haven't made use of the fact that France (and the rest of Europe) is only 2 hours away from me?

Afterwards, I'll find a way to import it. Shouldn't be too impossible; it's been done before and I can hopefully get a "show car" plate for it perhaps. I don't know too much but I've got a year to do my research.

[Blind_Io]

The Base Vehicle:

(Stock photo, ours has different rims and no roof rack)

Things to do:

• ARB front bumper with winch and integrated fog lamps
• ARB rear bumper with tire swing, jerry can holder and hi-boy jack mount
• Rocker panel rails
• Underside, front and rear skid protection
• 4" (max) lift, new springs, shocks, etc.
• Larger tires
• Onboard air compressor
• ARB Air lockers
• Snorkel
• Off road illumination front, back and under the chassis (you would be surprised how useful that is)
• Snorkel
• 2-way radio
• CB radio
• Extra power outlets
• Recovery gear including a hi-boy jack, tree strap, pulley block, land anchor, tow/recovery strap, etc.
• Parts of the car are staring to rust, so they need to be stripped and repainted.
• I'd like to see about some high-intensity headlamps to replace the stock halogens. The low-beams are really inadequate right now.

[starfox07]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

My dream is simple...spend my junior spring semester abroad in London, and while I'm over there I'll buy one of these.



Because you don't seriously expect me to spend 4 months there, surrounded by some of the greatest driving roads, and sit on my ass wondering how I haven't made use of the fact that France (and the rest of Europe) is only 2 hours away from me?

Afterwards, I'll find a way to import it. Shouldn't be too impossible; it's been done before and I can hopefully get a "show car" plate for it perhaps. I don't know too much but I've got a year to do my research.

If you do get to Europe, and you DO buy a mini, you need to do at least two things. Drive through tuscany, and drive through the Amalfi Coast, both in italy. The mini is probably the best car on earth for the latter.

[Crazyjeeper]

A 1971 Chevrolet Camaro

Type: Resto Mod



Probably do a twin turbo LS3 motor going for 700hp on 93 octane, t-56, ford 9 rear end. Keep the exterior and interior as stock appearing as possible. Probably put on some real good mufflers too, then have a cutout for when I want it loud.

[starfox07]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

The Base Vehicle:
(Stock photo, ours has different rims and no roof rack)

Things to do:

• ARB front bumper with winch and integrated fog lamps
• ARB rear bumper with tire swing, jerry can holder and hi-boy jack mount
• Rocker panel rails
• Underside, front and rear skid protection
• 4" (max) lift, new springs, shocks, etc.
• Larger tires
• Onboard air compressor
• ARB Air lockers
• Snorkel
• Off road illumination front, back and under the chassis (you would be surprised how useful that is)
• Snorkel
• 2-way radio
• CB radio
• Extra power outlets
• Recovery gear including a hi-boy jack, tree strap, pulley block, land anchor, tow/recovery strap, etc.
• Parts of the car are staring to rust, so they need to be stripped and repainted.
• I'd like to see about some high-intensity headlamps to replace the stock halogens. The low-beams are really inadequate right now.

One for you and one for the engine?

[Blind_Io]

Do'h!

Ok, let me explain why the snorkel is important. We have this running joke in my family that we need a snorkel for the 'Cruiser since a particular four wheeling trip in Colorado. We came to a stream (more like a river) fording, and my mom was at the wheel and decided to take it. The interesting thing was that there was a perfectly good bridge not 10 yards away; she just wanted to show off. My dad got out and walked to the far side to take some photos of her exit (no idea where those are now, or I would post them). Anyway, in we go and about half way through we discover that a major storm had washed a deep channel down the middle of the stream and we had not seen it because of the texture of the riverbed. The front end took a dive and as soon as the front wheels touched bottom my mom floored it. The Land Cruiser is built so that if the front end is submerged for a brief period, the fender forms an air bubble that allows the engine to breathe for a short period (very short). She powered down and through the trench, with a bow-wave that was 4-6 inches up the windscreen.

It was by far the diciest position we've been in when it comes to fordings, and we've never let her live it down. There was an old cowboy in an FJ40 who stopped on the bridge to watch the show - he tipped his hat to my mom before he drove away.

So that's why I didn't want to forget the snorkel.

[The_Finn]

oh boy oh boy... i could literally do this all day but for the sake for brevity i willl just do the one i was just researching.

Project Super Supra

Basic concept: Make a resonable daily driver and weekend fun/track car out of a supra in a unique way and without spending much more than 30K*

Base Car: Early mkIV NA Supra 5speed (actualy any MkIV supra 5-6spd with a blown motor would be alright)
cost for this varies but as of today i could lay hands on 2 NA 5spds for 8-9K so i am going to say 8.5

Step 1: Strip everything out and seam weld the chassis fill hollow sections of the frame with structural foam and reinforce any spots that need work. This is also the time to look for rust or anything of that sort. Goodbye sound deadening

Step 2: sell 2JZ-GE. I just checked Ebay by it now prices are inbetween 500 and 1100 depending on age so lets say i sell it for $750 which just so happens to be the cost of a used 1UZ-FE lexus V8 (256 hp 260 ft·lbf) Also sell any interior trim for as much money as possible.

Step 4. Build motor. basically we want to strip it down make sure everything is in good working order. Now the 1uz by all accounts LOVES the boost but just to be on the safe side we are going to drop compression down to 9.5:1 from stock 10.6:1 this will alow me to run forced induction of some sort Either a Rotrex multispeed centrifugal Supercharger or a custom Twin Turbo setup. Frankly at this point i am a little unsure my "just for fun research" didn't get deep enough for me to think about which trubos to run but i know i am going to want to keep lag to the absolute minimum so i am guessing GT28RS. These turbos are are pretty lag free in 2L nissans so i am guessing 2 on a 4L v8 should do nicely. we will ocourse be running standalone engine management (autronic SM4) along with revised intake manifold/plenum (maybe ITBs using GSXR TBs) and different cams intercooler headers the works . total cost should be a ballpark less cost of motor 11Kish

Step4b: we will be replacing the internals of the R156 5speed gearbox with one of the gearsets from PPG obviously straight cut 5speed again there may be some other options for R156 internals my reasearch didn't get that far but looking around i am guessing about 5-6K total for the gearset and installation

Step 5 Motor swap they already make bellhousing adapters between the R156 and the 1uze so thats just a matter of buying the parts sadly Mounts will be completely custom but it looks like i can use the same powersteering rack from the supra. i am going to assume that total cost of swap should be in the 2-3k range**

Step 6: Suspension. Good christ there are so many options for supra suspensions it hurts my head but basiaclly figuring i could drop 2-3k on suspension when you include springs and struts + braces and bushings

Step 7: Wheels most likley i will be going with one piece magnesium racing wheels from either Speedline or Compmotive so lets just call it 1-2K a set of wheels + Falken RT-615s for the sake of DOT street legality (hey i can dream)

step8: everything else: this will be the section for installation of lighter seats a new stack dash and body modifications like areo (i really really like the supra TRD wing) lets call it 3K

total cost 32Kish so not that far over budget and i am willing to bet that if i did alll the work mylself i would save 5ish or so grand maybe more.

so yeah thats my dream.


*i think 30K for a weekend only car is pretty reasonable i mean i assume that since this is a dream i make 250+K a year in a job which allows me to work from home where i have my garage with all the tools i will ever need.
** along with that awesome job comes a number of friends with lots of mechanical experiance/know how but i am still going to assume the swap cost to keep everyone honest if however we assume that i am getting all this work for free then any left over money would be put directly into weight savings... carbonfibre anyone?

The base Car:


1uz-fe


Autronic SM4


GT28RS


Rotrex


Compomotive wheels:


Speedline wheels


dash:


TRD wing:



BONUS SECTION (this actually poped into my head while writing up my supra plan)

Project Suzuki CSX-R

weekend only time attack/hillclimb car after motor swap all money into weight reduction suspension and a nice wheel tire combo

Suzuki Cappuccino


+

GSXR1000 motor

[Spazatao]

^That Cappuccino thing is brilliant! I like this style... wolf in a sheep's body!

[tigger]

Originally Posted by thedguy

The engine I'm a bit on the fence about, as newer Porsches being watercooled, I may be inclined to go with a modified 993 Carrera engine. Hell I may even go against my better judgement and have an aircooled VW motor built to keep the weight down.

I love Corvairs, gorgeous little cars. I'm sure you already know this, but there have been a few people who have mid-mounted SBCs in them. And in the spirit of this thread, why not an LS7, or an LS9? From the little I've read on V8 Corvairs it really turns them into monsters, with perfect weight distribution and downright scary (good ) handling.


Great thread Bass, I could do this all night if I didn't have to leave for work shortly. My first car would be a 2nd generation F-Body, either an early Camaro or a '77-'78 Firebird.

Here's a '71 split-bumper car.


Body
- The car would be semi-gloss black, with fiberglass hood, trunk lid and door panels.
- 8-10 point roll cage tied to chassis, subframe connectors with aluminum front subframe bushings.

Suspension
This is where things get good.
- C5 front suspension, brakes, steering etc. converted to coilovers. Custom spring rates, damping and sway bars. Poly bushings throughout.
- Hot Rods to Hell Centerdrive rear suspension. http://www.hotrodstohell.net/ This is the whole reason for the build right here.
- Sheetmetal Ford 9in rear axle, Auburn limited slip, C5 rear discs.

Drivetrain
This is where things get ... gooder
- Aluminum SBC V8, something like what they run in sprint cars (just w/o the methanol ). Hillborn mechanical fuel injection or a Predator carburetter. Mounted as low and as far back in the chassis as possible. 5-600hp @ 8,000rpm
- T56 manual transmission.


And I'm late for work.

[thedguy]

Ok round 2:



This is a "I've got more money than I know what to do with" one.

I'd have the 300sl body/chassis built using modern engineering. Basically it would be a modern carbon fiber tub/body/chassis rather than the tube frame with body mounted on it.

Engine: v12 would be the obvious choice. I'll be more than happy with the best 6.2 v8 AMG is pumping out.

Transmission: DSG/SMG/flappy paddle unit. Mounted at the back. I wouldn't use paddles to shift it though, instead I'd use the original style shifter, but it would work sequentially.

Suspension design would be bespoke to the chassis (engineered by the same people I paid to do the body), brakes would be carbon/ceramic... hell just yank the system off the Mclaren SLR.

Originally Posted by tigger

I love Corvairs, gorgeous little cars. I'm sure you already know this, but there have been a few people who have mid-mounted SBCs in them. And in the spirit of this thread, why not an LS7, or an LS9? From the little I've read on V8 Corvairs it really turns them into monsters, with perfect weight distribution and downright scary (good ) handling.

The whole midengined thing ruins it for me, and going with the most powerful GM v8 is just a bit obvious. The idea is to try and keep the spirit of the Corvair while making it a disturbingly fast canyon carver (hence considering an aircooled vw engine). I'd like to park it at a show and most people just look at and think "nice corvair" but a real car/corvair guy will see all the little details and wonder whats up....

Then shit bricks when I pop the lid and he's staring at 400hp of Porsche.

[Punisher Bass]

Car: 1998 Buick Park Avenue Ultra



Build type: Total rebuild.

People who know me know exactly why I have such love for this car. The car would be taken apart down to the bare unibody where it would get media blasted. It would be stiffened up and prepped for an AWD conversion using the suspension out of a Cadillac STS-V.

I would keep my current supercharged 3.8 and put it aside for a rebuild and later power improvments. I'm not sure what engine I'd put in its place, possibly the supercharged Northstar, or maybe a supercharged LS motor. I'd back it up with a 6 speed manual, or maybe a 6 speed auto if I'm feeling lazy.

The body would be reworked a bit to give it cues from the old 50's Roadmasters, such as slight fins on the rear quarters. The paint would be a nice rich black that would almost look silver depending on how the light hits it, and it would have a nice silver dual pinstripe following the beltline. Inside I picture an interior like a cross between Cadillac and something Holden would design.

One thing I'd pay close attention to is how the doors close. I know it sounds silly but the noise you here these days when you close a car door is nothing like what it used to be. It was this nice solid BOOMCLICK like you could crack open a sack of coconuts (or skulls) and not even think twice about it. It's a luxury tank, but it's also one that will rip your face off in half a second.