Speedhunters: One year on

I’m pretty sure that the majority of you who read this blog also read Speedhunters. If that’s the case, you no doubt would have seen that I recently contributed to Build Month. This is the second year in a row that I have been asked to guest post, and I am very grateful to be able to do so. I like to re-post my contributions on my own blog, mainly for archiving purposes, so here is the first one for 2011. You can read the post on Speedhunters here.

Around this time last year I was lucky enough to contribute to build month right here on Speedhunters, and I’m happy to say I’ve been asked back again for 2011. I thought it would be a nice idea to see how far along the 4 projects I featured back then have progressed in the last 12 months.

First up we have the Kaiser Drag’n Build, which was sitting patiently in the shop of Gene Winfield when we last saw it.

Since then, the long and sleek sled has had it’s body massaged…

…it’s chrome has been brought back to life…

…and finally, a striking fade paint job has been applied to it’s flowing panels by none other than Mr Winfield himself.

The cars owner, Keith, has been there every step of the way, investing much of his own blood sweat and tears into the build.

And it’s more than worth it. Honestly, when’s the last time you saw paint like this? To get up to date with the progress this amazing Kaiser, including lights, trims, and engine work, click here to head over to the full build thread.

The second feature had a bit more of an import flavour, as the car in the spotlight was being fitted with an F20C. The Sunbeam Minx isn’t a car we regularly see modified, but Mike certainly didn’t back down from the challenge.

At the time of writing last year, the car had it’s new heart sitting in a very modified engine bay, complete with inner arches sculpted in from the donor S2000. Since then, even more fabrication goodness has been bestowed upon this unassuming beast…

…from the steering rack mount…

…to the tubular front control arms…

…to some upcoming surgery to house the S2000 upper rear suspension mounts. I’d love to be the guy who takes care of Mike’s welding gas account. To see what else is in store for the Minx, click here to read the build thread.

Probably the most attention-grabbing guest-post I did was that of Liam’s tube framed Hyundai Excel sports sedan (link:http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/03/18/guest-blog-anthony-crivelli-build-threads-com-hyundai-excel-sports-sedan.aspx), and it’s not hard to see why.

Just after the build was featured on Speedhunters, work continued on the mould for the fiberglass front clip.

The front and rear suspension setup was slightly tweaked, now using Penske dampers and blade adjustable swaybars.

Sitting next to a regular road-going Excel, the difference in height and width is immediately apparent.

The wheels of choice have changed from Enkei RPF-1s to new 3-piece centerlock items.

Not only have the wheels changed, but so has something else…or has it? You’ll have to read the full build thread to find out.

Lastly, we get to my final guest-post from 2010, the one about my own pride and joy. I wish I had a long list of mods that have taken place in the last 12 months to fill you guys in on, but sadly that isn’t the case. Apart from a rear bumper that has been stuck at the re-chromers for over 10 months, the only other item of significance to be amended on the car was some maintenance items including new caster rod bushes, an idler arm bush, and a steering box rebuild.

That’s not to say I haven’t been stocking up on some parts for future work. A handy little collection is starting to pile up. There’s a front mount intercooler, an electric water pump, a modified & high-temp coated intake manifold/plenum, a full set of classic Smiths gauges (thank you eBay), another pair of 7″ Ewing III’s, an RB20DET gearbox, and some 250lb front springs. So why haven’t they been fitted yet?…

…Because I’m too busy driving the damn thing.

I hope this post has brought you up to speed on some diverse projects, and for those of you who have never seen them before, you now have a heap of reading material to get through.

Anthony Crivelli
Build-Threads.com