NickD
MegaDork
12/21/21 4:18 p.m.
Oh, it's the supercharged Miata I built in my garage without a lift or really any power tools. It started life as a bone-stock 1990, and now it's got a '99-'00 1.8L swap with a Track Dog Rotrex supercharger kit and makes 245whp, a 6-speed swap with a 3.63:1 Torsen, crazy Xida coilovers, Wilwood front brakes, 15x9 wheels with 245-width tires. It's a mean SOB that frightens me a little, scares a lot of co-drivers and passengers, got me my literal 15 minutes of internet fame on YouTube, and is kind of locally famous. The only thing I personally haven't done on the car was the dyno-tuning. I built the engine, regeared the rearend, installed the blower kit, everything.
Tom1200
UltraDork
12/21/21 4:25 p.m.
This is the one isn't a whole car but the engine cowling on my F500.
I made it out of aluminum using simple tools (HF shrinker, stretcher & bending brake). It's kind of ugly but I managed to make something that fits. I suck at fabrication and usually give up, but my fabricator pal managed to coach me through the hard bits like the mounts. It took me ages to do, something like 40-50hrs, but I managed to actually finish it.
This car started as a tired out old 400,000 km euro car that had major rust issues and ready to be parted out. The suspension, brakes, engine, trans and interior were all cooked but that single stage red paint still had some life in it. I spent a year on my back in my little garage cutting out the rot in the rocker panels, floor pans and everywhere else and replaced everything else to get it where it is today. It's still a bit ratty on the outside (lots of patina) but is easily handles 30 minute sessions on track and drives home afterwards. The replacement drivetrain also has 400,000 km and handles the abuse fine.
The day it arrived on cut springs and blown out shocks
This past summer at Mosport (Big_D from the forum in the right seat)
I really need to start a build thread for it as the project is never done.
Personal projects?
Building a Ford 9" rear-end that fits where a Mazda 7" went, weighs only 30lb more, uses the stock driveshaft and e-brake cables and wheels, and retains the Watts link. And I redid the Watts geometry for a better roll center.
I'm cooking up something cooler.
Thinking about it, the projects I'm most proud of aren't my own...
So not to most peoples taste. But I touched, massaged, built and fabricated almost every single piece on this car to an extent that I have never done before.
It's like picking a favorite kid. But since I was able to sell the Locost and I'll never be able to sell this one, I'm going to say this beastie.
Built from a bare shell in my garage. Built the whole thing on jackstands. Built the engine. Did a bunch of new engineering including developing the suspension from scratch and a whole bunch of skid plates. Painted it at home - including the stripes. Ran the Targa Newfoundland as a novice and was responsible for the whole thing from logistics to driving. Then converted it to a V8, ran the Targa again, almost won it, put in a bigger engine, developed a new suspension, did cool aero stuff, converted it back into a street car. It's been underway 15 years at least and this morning I was planning new modifications to the homebrew analog race gauge cluster that will involve more development from scratch.
As the kids say...
How it started.
How it's going.
