While the writing has been on the wall for car forums for a long time, there are still a few people out there flying the forum flag for us tragics. One of them is a talented young bloke by the name of Heath, who has been building his dream car for over 8 years, taking it from a daily driver to a show-stopping and track-attacking stunner. Like most people in 2013, he started to document his progress on a model-specific forum. The difference is, he stuck with it, and still keeps that thread updated, even up until the present day.
Continue reading “V8 Torana Hatch with the lot”Project 510: Suspension Development
In the opening paragraph of my previous Project 510 update, I eluded to the fact that I’m in a bit of a refinement phase with the car, and that methodology continues to the undercarriage with some front and rear suspension (re)development that took place earlier this year.
Continue reading “Project 510: Suspension Development”RWD KA24+T EK Civic Coupe
Jimmy Oakes is a guy I’ve been following on YouTube since around 2016 when he decided to film his LS1 300ZX swap. From there he never put the camera down and his channel has well and truly taken off.
Continue reading “RWD KA24+T EK Civic Coupe”L98 V8 FD RX7
Yes, yes, I know! “Another LS-swapped RX7!?” I hear you scream. I only need to say the names Hert, Vargas, and Dahm to explain that rotaries are the darling of the internet at the moment, and don’t get me wrong, I love rotaries too. However Luke doesn’t care for dorito engines or premix, Luke just wants to go fast around race tracks. Great handling car + reliable engine that makes easy power = lots of roundy-round laps at high speed. There’s only one problem. Luke is tall, VERY tall, and he doesn’t exactly fit into little Mazdas, so you’ll need to check out how he goes about rectifying that situation in his very detailed thread.
Click here for another V8 RX7 build.
Click here for more LS swaps.
Or, if your jimmies are rustled and you need to restore balance to the universe, click here for something really unique.
Z31 300zx – Project Z432
You might not know Brandon by his first name, but you might recognise his internet monikers, RVAE34 and RVAE38, a pair of labels tied to a number of high quality builds that have graced websites, forums and more recently Instagram.
You also might recognise him from another build on this site, the LSX E39 wagon. Make sure you head to that post where I write about Brandon’s prowess in not only car building but also his ability to make a killer build thread, which is why any thread of his that makes it onto this site will always be hit with the People Who Get It post tag.
Brandon is currently deep into a passion project, a no-stone-left-unturned restomod of a Nissan Z31 300zx. The car is being built with a philosophy in mind, namely what the Z31 chassis could have been if Nissan bestowed onto it the same level of attention as the Z432 s30z.
There’s no way I can tell the story even half as good as Brandon, so hit the link at the bottom of the post and lose yourself in a good old fashioned build thread (remember those!?) The build isn’t quite complete yet, but with the Safari Gold paint layed down and the ITB’d RB28DE engine assembled it looks like we’re getting close to the finish line.
Continue reading “Z31 300zx – Project Z432”Isolation Hero: Iain Kelly
Not all heroes wear capes, some drink beer.
In this strange situation we all find ourselves in (COVID-19, for anyone reading this in the future), most of us are turning to our digital devices even more than usual, trying to find every last crumb of automotive content to keep us sane and distracted while we’re staying indoors.
In times of desperation, heroes emerge, and one such hero is Iain Kelly. You might know him from his musings in Street Machine Magazine, or the LSX Tuner magazine that he collates, or maybe you’ve seen him swilling beer and swinging spanners on Mighty Car Mods. He has an affinity for big body Pontiacs, loves deep diving into car history, and knows how to string a sentence together.
Iain has used his time in isolation to bring salvation to the car world through the elaborate story telling of automotive folklore, crossing over many genres, decades and personalities. To give you some quick examples, amongst his 30 or so posts, he’s covered land speed record chasers, monster trucks, Japanese touring cars, Le Mans, Pikes Peak, and even some hilariously ugly VW Beetles made to look like Porsche 911s that have spent a bit too long in a microwave.
Iain’s posts show no signs of slowing down, so make sure you head on over to his instagram, read his back catalogue, and keep an eye out for future posts.
Follow: @aka_marv
Thank you, Iain! Keep it up mate.
What I’m Watching: 3 Guys 1 Berg-Cup
Mike FPE is someone I’ve enjoyed following on both Instagram and Youtube for a while, and his content is based around older Ford Fiestas. Small-fords in Australia are usually concentrated on the Mk1/Mk2 Escort platform, so it’s nice to get my fix of models I don’t usually see here. Recently, Mike made the enviable trek to Berg Cup in Germany, and was gracious enough to film the experience to share with his audience. Check out Pt1 below and don’t forget to follow up with Pt2 straight after!
Project 510: Interior Refresh
With this site now into it’s tenth year, that means my ownership of Project 510 is into it’s 11th. In the early years I pushed hard to knock out a lot of the “big ticket” items, like wheels, suspension, ECU, FMIC, etc. Now that I’m older and (questionably) wiser, I’m trying to tidy the car up, make it a nicer place to be in, and consider what I want it’s “final form” to be. Apart from seats and a steering wheel, I’ve neglected the interior, until now…
Zakspeed MkII Escort
While it’s not uncommon to have a few of the same build type appear on this site (chassis-swap, anyone?), one style that I didn’t think I’d double up on (letalone triple!), is the Zakspeed Escort, but here we are. What I particularly like about this one is that not only does it reside in my own home town, but it’s owner, Matt, informed me that the other two Zakspeed’s featured here inspired his build. I hope I get the chance to see it in person one day.
Click here for more Ford builds.
Project 510: Still working on it!
After a slow couple of years things are happening in the garage again! Hint: The seats I fitted in my last interior update are no longer in the car. Expect a full update once it’s complete.