What Was The First Car You Built With Your Own Two Hands

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Always worked on my own stuff too, but my current mustang is by far the most complex I have ever gotten. I have learned a lot and become much more confident in my skills.

-built a 331 in my garage for it
-refreshed that engine once
-built two different rearends for it
-5 lug conversion
-all suspension replaced, changed
-lots of wiring and trouble shooting

Just the same ole stuff everyone else has done, but it has been fun.

Joe
 
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Why does this^

remind me of this:
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VERY @Noobz347 esk Mike.
 
My first (by Stangnet measures) progress car was a '72 mustang back in '78. So it was fairly new then.

I had to replace the right 1/4, worked on the suspension and not much else. It had a 302 with a two barrel carburetor on it. It was an automatic as well. Yellow in color.

I have yet to do a real build. I have learned though how to tear a car down (see Doby for confirmation).:nice:
 
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I've always worked on my own cars/bikes. Had a '67VW and '77 F150 that needed a lot to keep on the road. My '86 GT was my nice fair weather driver at the time.

But, the first car I really tore apart and modified is my '90 Miata.

I bought it mostly stock and turned it into a track toy



IMG_20120819_174406.jpg
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I put no fewer than 5 different suspensions in it over the course of 10 years:

IMG_20120826_093011.jpg


Finally welded a cage in:

IMG_20140725_141925635_zps3q5z6tkp.jpg


Turned it into a SCCA road race car:

IMG_20150329_084442433_HDR_zpswz4pfpbx.jpg


Looks a little worse for wear these days

I really like the complete portability of the race day stuff you drag along with you. I'm almost motivated to build something just so I can drag along the spare LS engine I'll need when the current explosion waiting to happen decides to let go.
Thanks for the idea,...I'm stealing it.
 
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I've always worked on my own cars/bikes. Had a '67VW and '77 F150 that needed a lot to keep on the road. My '86 GT was my nice fair weather driver at the time.

But, the first car I really tore apart and modified is my '90 Miata.

I bought it mostly stock and turned it into a track toy



IMG_20120819_174406.jpg
[/IMG][/URL]

I put no fewer than 5 different suspensions in it over the course of 10 years:

IMG_20120826_093011.jpg


Finally welded a cage in:

IMG_20140725_141925635_zps3q5z6tkp.jpg


Turned it into a SCCA road race car:

IMG_20150329_084442433_HDR_zpswz4pfpbx.jpg


Looks a little worse for wear these days
I gotta ask, have you ever seen Regular Car Reviews on YouTube?
 
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I really like the complete portability of the race day stuff you drag along with you. I'm almost motivated to build something just so I can drag along the spare LS engine I'll need when the current explosion waiting to happen decides to let go.
Thanks for the idea,...I'm stealing it.

You're gonna need a bigger trailer. Just sayin.
 
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My 70 Nova SS. Rebuilt a 327 sbc. Added camel hump heads,the old 30/30 solid lifter cam,edelbrock rpm intake and Holley 650 double pumper,hooker headers and 2 1/2" dual exhaust with flowmasters and switched to an HEI/MSD ignition. R&R'd the clutch and added a Hurst shifter. Had a buddy install a moroso brute strength differential and 4.10 gears. Had a shop paint it and did some rear quarter work. Added some welds and regular radial tires. Drove it on weekends and a couple shows with 2 trips to the track(13.80's at low 100's spinning like nobody's business lol) Sold it because the ex wanted/got new furniture/bedroom set/bigger diamond ring...:doh: Here's how it sat a couple years ago at local show. Excuse the bad cell phone pic. Only one I have.
 
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I really like the complete portability of the race day stuff you drag along with you. I'm almost motivated to build something just so I can drag along the spare LS engine I'll need when the current explosion waiting to happen decides to let go.
Thanks for the idea,...I'm stealing it.

Yeah, I miss those days. Kind of regret going too far with it now. Hopefully I'll get the Mustang to the point where it can be a fun autox/track day car and I'll quit racing.

Not so portable any more. The Excursion is almost full of tires/tools/tent/spares/etc.

IMG_20150313_132855672_zpsnrtinr4p.jpg
 
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image.jpeg
My 70 Nova SS. Rebuilt a 327 sbc. Added camel hump heads,the old 30/30 solid lifter cam,edelbrock rpm intake and Holley 650 double pumper,hooker headers and 2 1/2" dual exhaust with flowmasters and switched to an HEI/MSD ignition. R&R'd the clutch and added a Hurst shifter. Had a buddy install a moroso brute strength differential and 4.10 gears. Had a shop paint it and did some rear quarter work. Added some welds and regular radial tires. Drove it on weekends and a couple shows with 2 trips to the track(13.80's at low 100's spinning like nobody's business lol) Sold it because the ex wanted/got new furniture/bedroom set/bigger diamond ring...:doh: Here's how it sat a couple years ago at local show. Excuse the bad cell phone pic. Only one I have.


I had a 72. Sold it to a buddy for $100.


Yeah.
 
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The first car I built with my own hands was an 89 Geo spectrum 4 door 5 speed black exterior. A lot of folks no nothing of these little cars. They dominated the rally race scene from 86 to 89 or 90. I swapped the entire engine ecu and wiring harness from the Isuzu I mark turbo. Even took the front bumper from the Isuzu and rattle canned it black.

Made a makeshift boost controller and had so much fun with that car. This was in 98 before the import scene took off. The car was pretty quick ( for what it was ).

The police ended up impounding it and selling it at auction.

Every once and a while I search eBay and CL to find another one for sale- no luck. I'd love to have another one to bring back my old memories.

This is not a pic of my old car. They're all long gone [emoji20]
uploadfromtaptalk1471216125468.jpg
 
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The first car I built with my own hands was an 89 Geo spectrum 4 door 5 speed black exterior. A lot of folks no nothing of these little cars. They dominated the rally race scene from 86 to 89 or 90. I swapped the entire engine ecu and wiring harness from the Isuzu I mark turbo. Even took the front bumper from the Isuzu and rattle canned it black.

Made a makeshift boost controller and had so much fun with that car. This was in 98 before the import scene took off. The car was pretty quick ( for what it was ).

The police ended up impounding it and selling it at auction.

Every once and a while I search eBay and CL to find another one for sale- no luck. I'd love to have another one to bring back my old memories.

This is not a pic of my old car. They're all long gone [emoji20]
uploadfromtaptalk1471216125468.jpg

Impounded and auctioned?!
 
Impounded and auctioned?!
Yup....I actually ran into the guy that bought it....but didn't have enough to buy it back. It still had the same seat covers and the same sound system in it.

I got locked up on an assault charge that was deemed bogus after 32 days in jail. Not enough money to bail out before court. They only held cars in impound for 30 days before they put it on the auction list. Needed 700 bucks to get my car out ( didn't have it ) so they sold it for 500....lost my job, too.....and eventually my apartment.

I did break the guys jaw....but that was after he spit on my face and pushed the crap out me. Smh....the days of being young. Lol
 
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Yup....I actually ran into the guy that bought it....but didn't have enough to buy it back. It still had the same seat covers and the same sound system in it.

I got locked up on an assault charge that was deemed bogus after 32 days in jail. Not enough money to bail out before court. They only held cars in impound for 30 days before they put it on the auction list. Needed 700 bucks to get my car out ( didn't have it ) so they sold it for 500....lost my job, too.....and eventually my apartment.

I did break the guys jaw....but that was after he spit on my face and pushed the crap out me. Smh....the days of being young. Lol

LOL! Sounds like a pretty legit assault charge.. Haha!

Can't say I'd have handled it differently though..
 
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71 Olds Cutlass S. It came with a 350 Rocket. After a while a friend gave me a 455 from a 69 Tornado. I built that up and dropped it in with a TH400 and 12 bolt 3.73. The car wouldn't go around a turn too good and the brakes were scary at best. But from 0 to 100 in a straight line, man o man....
 
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