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Jan. 13, 2009 1:02 p.m. fastbmw New Reader

I'm trying to compile a list of the best grassroots fabricators out there. Some of these links are recent but some you may not have seen before. If you know of some guy's homebuilt car, can you please post it here? Thanks!

Suzuki Swift - I'd love to have this guy's skills... http://www.teamswift.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9156

RX-7 - the guy building it looks like he's 18 http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=695029&highlight=sweden

This guy builds his own hummer out of an old F150 http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25748

An older build but a homemade Countach http://kiengineering.com/History.php
Jan. 13, 2009 3:27 p.m. scardeal New Reader

The RX-7 link is broken.
Jan. 13, 2009 3:32 p.m. fastbmw New Reader

Sorry, fixed now.
Jan. 13, 2009 3:51 p.m. GameboyRMH SuperDork

There are so many I don't know where to start!

Sean Graber's La Bala of course (sgraber on these boards)

http://www.grabercars.com/

The M85 bike:

http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135255

Homemade Hummer:

http://www.hummerforums.com/m_155317/tm.htm

Mid-engined Golf:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3277830

Durocco (builder also on this board):

http://www.durocco.com/

There was a site called "pete's manta montage" with a kit car restoration, used to be on a site called tfs.net, I can't find it now.

Oh I see you beat me to some of them...
Jan. 13, 2009 3:52 p.m. noisycricket Reader

The RX-7 just looks like Group B fender flares (still available according to the regional rallycrossers) and an FC subframe (as close to a bolt-in as you could believe) and a 20B (meh). Credit-card fabrication.

I like to think of Coupe Chuck when I think of insane fabrication... he wanted a replica of a Daytona Coupe (Cobra). Nobody made a decent one. He wanted to commission someone to do it. Nobody would. So, he taught himself the ways of shotbags, English Wheels, planishing hammers, and Cleco pins, and made his own from scratch and a 289 Cobra frame, just like the originals were.

Sadly, his site is now gone with the AOL shutdown.
Jan. 13, 2009 4:37 p.m. fastbmw New Reader

I got a fabrication boner. haha Thanks for the additional posts Gameboy!
Jan. 13, 2009 4:39 p.m. driver109x Reader

The Kimini dude. btw, did he sell it already? and some guy named Guido.
Jan. 13, 2009 5:43 p.m. Carson HalfDork

noisycricket wrote:

The RX-7 just looks like Group B fender flares (still available according to the regional rallycrossers) and an FC subframe (as close to a bolt-in as you could believe) and a 20B (meh). Credit-card fabrication.

The flares in the first picture are 'glass and purchased, but the carbon fiber ones he installs later in the build are all hand laid. As are the headlight buckets, hood, rear hatch and a number of other things.

Oops, sorry , I went back and look at the thread, (I was posting on memory before, I was the one who posted it here originally) the fiberglass ones are also hand laid.
Jan. 13, 2009 5:55 p.m. Carson HalfDork

I'll also add these awesome SAABs. These builds are a bit older but still amazing:

Mid-engined Sonett and 96 Turbo. http://www.martin-roth.com/

He also built this but I can't find the link to the build anymore.
Jan. 13, 2009 6:55 p.m. fastbmw New Reader

I almost forgot about project Raucous, 450cc powered honda ruckus http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2297467
Jan. 13, 2009 9:58 p.m. kreb Dork

Kerry Pinkerton

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=18569

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://allshops.org/community/CommunityAlbu...
Jan. 13, 2009 11:56 p.m. impulsive New Reader

one of my all time favorites included the most decrepit IH Scouts on the planet.

the project vehicle is completely secondary to the captain insano booty fabbed hairdryer/alternator plasma cutter and home made CNC table madness sprinkled throughout:

Project merkwürdig
Jan. 14, 2009 7:00 a.m. Raze Reader

What about that Mustang build that was posted a while ago with all CF body parts among the full tube frame chasis, that was sick...
Jan. 14, 2009 7:48 a.m. Ian_F New Reader

Yeah... the C-Prepared Mustang... that is pretty cool. I kinda miss the old "projects" forum that was here...

There is a body guy out in York, PA who is pretty good at fabricating. My g/f had some work done by him on her Volvo 1800ES and he showed us some of the personal projects he's done and has in process (current one is semi-secret ). Not sure if it's truely "grassroots" since he does it for a living, but his shop is uber-cool. A custom-built 3-level "barn" with a paint booth, frame rack, and room for 2 - 3 cars at a time (he's a one-man operation). Other cool features include: circular stairs built into a silo, waste-oil heating system and a tunnel connecting the shop to the basement of his house (so he can go to "work" without going outside). Unfortunately, I have no pictures and he doesn't have a website...
Jan. 14, 2009 9:37 a.m. 4cylndrfury New Reader

fastbmw wrote: An older build but a homemade Countach http://kiengineering.com/History.php

If you look at one of the last pics in this link, there is a human skull on the desk!

Mad scientist lol!!!
Jan. 14, 2009 10:17 p.m. modernbeat HalfDork

Raze wrote:

What about that Mustang build that was posted a while ago with all CF body parts among the full tube frame chasis, that was sick...

That's Paul Bird's AIX Mustang.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=660756

For something even more crazy, look at his buddy's (Gene Young) XR4ti.

http://www.sirscca.org/gene/index.html
Jan. 14, 2009 11:11 p.m. fastbmw New Reader

impulsive wrote:

one of my all time favorites included the most decrepit IH Scouts on the planet.

the project vehicle is completely secondary to the captain insano booty fabbed hairdryer/alternator plasma cutter and home made CNC table madness sprinkled throughout:

Insane!!! I love it. Here's a video of his home made plasma cutter http://media.diywelder.com/alttest500k.wmv

I love his post on page 5 of the thread where he takes apart his Canon camera to fix it. This guy has some serious tinkering issues.
Jan. 15, 2009 1:25 a.m. Opus HalfDork

2 different vw builds. Both are nuts, but the 62 is by far the crazier with all of the work he as done to it.

62 Type 1 with Twin Turbo GT3 driveline

T3 Transporter with EJ20T Turbo Subie
Jan. 15, 2009 7:01 a.m. Ian_F New Reader

modernbeat wrote: That's Paul Bird's AIX Mustang.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=660756

Nice, but not the car I was thinking of... I was remembering a thread about a found in a field, rusted-to-hell '69 fast-back that was rebuilt into a CP autocross car.
Jan. 15, 2009 8:05 a.m. Will Reader

That's Bill Headlee's '70 fastback. Green, insane fender flares, right?
Jan. 15, 2009 8:34 a.m. Thinkkker UltraDork

modernbeat wrote: For something even more crazy, look at his buddy's (Gene Young) XR4ti.

http://www.sirscca.org/gene/index.html

Thanks, just thanks. Ive watched Paul's build, Ive seen Preston's car 68 coupe mustang built as a American Touring Car in a carport all of them.

I am already planning what to start on once I get into the new house with shop. AND NOW I have to deal with all of this in my head to...... No really, thanks
Jan. 15, 2009 12:33 p.m. noisycricket Reader

Ian_F wrote: I kinda miss the old "projects" forum that was here...

Absolutely. GRM honcho dudes, can we have this back?
Jan. 15, 2009 12:40 p.m. Tim Baxter Online Editor

What projects forum? You mean the old Reader Ride's forum? The Reader Rides section now does everything it did and a whole lot more.
Jan. 15, 2009 1:22 p.m. Carson HalfDork

In reply to Tim Baxter:

I agree, at first I was resistant to the new Reader's Rides section, but now I really appreciate how organized everything is. You can search by make and add updates with pictures and people can comment just like the old way.

For instance, if I pick up a gnarly MR2 and I want to see other reader's MR2s I can just go over to the Reader's Ride section instead of scrolling through pages upon pages of thread topics. Also, if I know that somebody has an awesome build, I can just look up their name and follow their profile link to their car.
Jan. 15, 2009 10:24 p.m. neon4891 SuperDork

All the more proof that anything is possible

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