Cars that with just a little tweaking go from bland to much better.

How about the Grand National treatment on a normal Buick?

MadScientistMatt wrote: I've sometimes thought about this as a recipe for a cheap beater / amusing sleeper. 1. Take a 4 cylinder Camry, 1995 or earlier to avoid worrying about OBD2, with a manual transmission. 2.

Why avoid OBDII? Heck, you'd WANT that, I think. Much easier to make a swap pass emissions.

I was thinking more of the above when I saw this thread. Different wheels and trim that change the look of the car for the better, not actually altering the car significantly. In real life a little tweaking isn't smooshing a Prius down with a giant Monty Python foot.

In reply to Dave:

Oh I like that A LOT!

Dave wrote: How about the Grand National treatment on a normal Buick?

Almost.

I'd do something about the grill (black mesh or smaller/tighter straight horizontal lines) and maybe delete the fog lamps.

is bland and dull.

Add

and it really wakes up the power arrangement nicely. And now that it can accelerate well, you can take advantage of the huge (for a 3000lb car) brakes and the chassis dynamics that actually are pretty durn good.

Bagged Taurus wagon of justice:

I was behind a focus st today and realized how much I hate center exhaust on any car, so I'd get rid of that. And that Taurus is sweet

BlueInGreen44 wrote: I'll have to get some good pictures of the beater Escort that my brother drives. Miata daisy wheels, a little more tire, mud flaps, and an Escort GT grill make that '90s box look like something cool.

Different springs and more rear swaybar made mine a ball to drive.

In reply to rodknock:

Thanks a lot.

I had already convinced myself I don't want a Taurus Wagon and you go and post that.

oldtin wrote: Every time someone mentions 911 these get mentioned as boring or sort of disconnected. A tune, an exhaust - little suspension tweak and they will come alive.

Mid shaft Bearing, too (IMS shaft). LN engineering has a ceramic one, it's a little costly, but it apparently lasts forever. You don't need to pull the whole motor to do it, which may not be that big of a deal for some people, you can do it at the same time you swap, upgrade or replace the clutch.

rodknock wrote: Bagged Taurus wagon of justice:

This needs wider tires and fender flairs. . My sedan version of that car went darn near 300K (it had the 3.0l) The thing leaked so much oil it did not rust underneath.

dean1484 wrote:

rodknock wrote: Bagged Taurus wagon of justice:

This needs wider tires and fender flairs. . My sedan version of that car went darn near 300K (it had the 3.0l) The thing leaked so much oil it did not rust underneath.

I hate those cars with a passion and I used to work on them, but that actually looks good.

Dave wrote: How about the Grand National treatment on a normal Buick?

I really liked the look of my GS with the 20s, but it was crap to drive with the stick. I do like this look though having owned an 87 GN.

In reply to dean1484: Sometimes, cars just need a little work to make them look cooler.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: In reply to dean1484: Sometimes, cars just need a little work to make them look cooler.

but now no one can see the brake lights I like the blacked out look, but safety overrides the desire to look cool in people with enough brain cells to not try to piss on a flat rock while standing down wind and upside-down

I like some junk in the trunk as much as he next guy but the Prius has a bit to much "Kardashian" going on there.

Wonder if there are any Prius in the junk yard. Get a rolling chaise with the driveling removed and the batteries taken out and I could have a bunch of fun. If I remember those are alu so I would have to learn to tig weld but hay it could be a fun project. Then to keep it in the family put a modern 4 cylinder turbo with a standard trans and have fun!!!!

You know I basicly made a 2005 out of a later model LOL

pic of a 2005

dean1484 wrote:

rodknock wrote: Bagged Taurus wagon of justice:

This needs wider tires and fender flairs. . My sedan version of that car went darn near 300K (it had the 3.0l) The thing leaked so much oil it did not rust underneath.

I like your thinking . Also a SHO V8 swap would be icing on the cake

Ian F wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: So exactly what did you do there? The windshield is the same height but tilted back, I wonder how hard that would be to pull off in reality?

Well... let's see: cut the firewall and roof; re-weld at the desired angle. Cut the door glass to match the new A-pillar angle. Re-angle the wiper mechanism. Looks easy. You should get right on that.

Plus because I skewed the windscreen rather than rotated it, it is physically longer and now has a different radius of curvature. ;) I'm sure some of the Challenge regulars could do it for a few hundred bucks though.