What car do you want to build?

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth : The wedding is going to delay my projects likely until this fall. Then I need to choose between either my MGuar or the JagXJS 

the cheap project will be the MGuar because so much is already there but it’s not the real priority. I’m fighting my age so the race car should have priority.  

On  the other hand the MGuar will get a lot more use while the race car is a one or at most two race a year car.  

A Lotus 7 built in the early style with rounded fenders and narrow tires.  

Or a Lotus 11.     

If money were no object, I would order up one of the early Cobra replica bodies from Poland and drop in a properly updated 289.    

A Lotus 7 built in the early style with rounded fenders and narrow tires.  

Or a Lotus 11.     

I may know where to get chassis drawings for either of those....

My turn, what to build...  first off finish the Europa which should be very very soon.  Off load the Europa if I don't enjoy driving it, then find a rusty pre 1986 XJ6 and build myself either a C-type replica or something that resembles a mash up between a Lister-Jag, D-type, and Aston Martin DBR1.  

A realistic one is putting an Audi 20VT into a 924/944

mazdeuce - Seth said:

kevinatfms said:

A close second would be a 98 5.9L Grand Cherokee restoration. I fell in love with the screw it attitude of the Jeep engineers who wanted a fast as hell SUV in a time where they werent an option. 

This has crossed my mind as well. I feel like an open exhaust and  a gnarly cam would be enough to make it sound spectacular and realy, how much faster do you really want to push the chassis? They're cheap.

I know someone who is building an E/Street Prepared autocross 2WD Grand Cherokee with a 5.9L Magnum. He was a Jeep guy, then got into autocross with an automatic Maxima that actually did well for itself, and now is mixing the two. Knowing the owner/driver, it should be absolutely hilarious and I will push little old ladies face-first into mud puddles to get a chance to drive it.

In reply to wheelsmithy :

BRAT for the win.  I cant believe those seats in the bed facing backwards with skipole grab handles were ever legal. Do they have seatbelts?   So much awesome.

In reply to Hungary Bill :  Exactly.  A neighbor of mine bought a salvage title prius at auction and grafted a Morris Minor Convertible on top of it.  Widened it to fit with ghettotastic flair, no flares.  Added meat in the middle.  Truly fantastic.

I want to literally build everything, including finishing my projects:

1. Add onboard air to frankenburban

2. Complete rx8 gearbox swap in 10ae without cutting the floor and while were in there overhaul the LSD in the diff

3. Have the rally car rx7 race worthy from an EMS standpoint and allow budget for new front dampeners...

4. V6 swap a 5th gen prelude.

5. Turbo the 8.1 in the suburban and give it a circle D 6l90E?? who doesn't want to see a turbo big block!

6. lsx swap a BMW or MB wagon

7. 13b swap some E36 M3ty boat and go hog wild on a lake

8. K5 blazer and 8.1 swap

just spitballin here... :)

In reply to RoddyMac17 :

I may know where to get chassis drawings for either of those....

Really??

I have 3 "attainable goal cars".

1- My current RX7. OK maybe I'm cheating since I already have the car, but even though I've had it a decade, I'd like to take it from "summer beater and autocrosser" to "weekend cruiser and track day" car. Not having a garage currently... or for the past 10+ years really... has made this more of a task than it needs to be. Hopefully that will be remedied before I hit 40.

2- A mid-50's Ford. '55-57 Fairlane/Crown Victoria/etc. or any '50-56 pickup. I actually had a '51 F3 flatbed at one point, 20+ years ago. Back then, it was too rough to be saved. I don't want much, just a 302 powered automatic cruiser. Maybe use a Fox or P71 as a donor car all around for suspension and drivetrain. Again, something I could build... if I had the place to do it.

3- A Mazda RX2, RX4 or RX5 ('70s Cosmo). Not a big fan of the RX3 (not that I'd turn one down), but man do I love the RX2, 4 and 5. Maybe I'm just a rotary fanboi. Not a track car or even an autocrosser... just a cool summer car. A large streetport 13b with a Weber IDA, header and loud gilmer drive... in a family-friendly (rear seat) package.

RoddyMac17 said:

A Lotus 7 built in the early style with rounded fenders and narrow tires.  

Or a Lotus 11.     

I may know where to get chassis drawings for either of those....

 

My turn, what to build...  first off finish the Europa which should be very very soon.  Off load the Europa if I don't enjoy driving it, then find a rusty pre 1986 XJ6 and build myself either a C-type replica or something that resembles a mash up between a Lister-Jag, D-type, and Aston Martin DBR1.  

Start watching the wrecking yard auctions.  The cast Iron block Jag was used in tens of thousands of Jaguars from 1949 until 1987.  You should be able to pick one up for a couple of hundred.  All you really need is the engine and suspension.  Use a later manual gear box, it’s possible to adapt a Chevy 4/5/6 speed gearbox without a lot of work 

To look proper you can either use the earlier smooth valve covers or grind the fins off and round it by hand. 

You will need to narrow up the suspension.  All of those specials had very narrow track widths. 50 inches wide was typical. 

In reply to spitfirebill :

Send me an email at rod underscore mac at hotmail dot com and I can fill you in on what I have in my archive of CAD and PDF files.

In reply to frenchyd :

That's what I'm currently searching for.  There were a few rusty XJ6s just south of the border for next to nothing, but getting one across the 49th parallel would put the cost way up.  And, it seems people up here think Jags are worth big bucks.  

In reply to RoddyMac17 : why not just take the bits you need and scrap the rust er rest :) 

Where do you live?  If above Minnesota I’ll keep an eye out for cheap cars and help you.  Not sure what those bits would be taxed at but I’d think a lot less than a whole car. 

In reply to NickD :

Any way you could convince the Grand Cherokee guy to stop by and tell us all about it? We're the kind of people that like things like that. 

In reply to frenchyd :

Thanks for the offer, unfortunately I'm in Vancouver.  I'm sure shipping from Minnesota would probably be more than what a car is worth. 

A 1uz itb first gen celica coupe, with jdm smiley bumpers and this wing \/

The rest like this only in a dark gray like is300 ggp. 

A turbo hyabusa powered lotus elan, painted krypton green, with revarie seats and steering wheel, volk te37v wheels

A high compression, race cammed, 1gz itb swapped mkiv supra, target 100hp per liter. Like a jap 550 maranello vibe. 

An ariel atom 3s with big wings and tires like a 70s formula 1 car only street legal. All that grip would make it drive worse but it'd look bad ass and be fast on tight tracks. Like this only on dishy 245s or somethin, probably ruin it dynamically but... 

A lotus esprit on some really barreley wheels (think 70s f1 again), rotisserie built wide body and super high quality like it shoulda been in the first place. Modern powertrain (not an ls, probably a 2gr or a rc-f motor), and lots of suede. Im not a fan of the wing on that one at all but the wheel fitment is very nice

Ask me tomorrow and it'll be different from what I'm thinking today.

John Welsh said:

In reply to buzzboy :

Interesting because that body would be fwd originally.  Also, that body would be 4 door.  My guess is the long front door is taken from the Eldorado that shared the same frame.  Rough, but that profile is a good look.  

If I remember correctly. That car is actually a 3rd gen Camaro dressed up as a Seville.

3rd gen with a 5.3 and t56. It's a well sorted car and hella fast.

Hungary Bill said:

Scratchbuilt Mark 1 GT40 in gulf colors.  289 mated to a Porsche G50.  8-pack fuel injected ITB's that look like old webers and home made 180deg headers.

 

I already have blueprints for the space frame

 

You know, I gave up on this about 2 years ago and sold off all the parts i accumulated, but I kept all my drawings and all my notes.  Reading this thread, I might pick this back up.

I'm need to move again in about 4 years, but if I played my cards right i could work on re-gathering the small items, work on my welding abilities and really hit this with some momentum when we land at our next place...

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to NickD :

Any way you could convince the Grand Cherokee guy to stop by and tell us all about it? We're the kind of people that like things like that. 

Not sure if I can get him on here, but I'll definitely give you guys a breakdown when it's done and hopefully a test drive. Pretty much he's just dropping it on the ground with low-profile tires and some QA1 generic coil springs, then running wide/high-offset wheels to widen it and get it under the height-by-width requirement. Likely hacking the fenders, gutting it and slicing off the exhaust too. It'll be loud, and silly, and crude and a total sledgehammer

At this point I just want a car again.  We're down to 1 vehicle for the move, and it's an SUV.  Once #BigMove2018 is finished, then I can get a car again.

kevinatfms said:

A close second would be a 98 5.9L Grand Cherokee restoration. I fell in love with the screw it attitude of the Jeep engineers who wanted a fast as hell SUV in a time where they werent an option. Really wish Jeep would do an SRT8 with the hood louvers just as a nod to the old 5.9L model.
 

Was this a one year only thing?  I'm assuming that's a Mopar V8?