Saab 96/9-3

It’s time for another chassis-swap build, and this time the donor car and recipient are both Saabs. The builders are combining the classic shell of a Saab 96 with the modern underpinnings of a Saab 9-3, with the goal of creating a little unassuming Swedish track tearer.

Thanks to James from Car Throttle for submitting.

Update: This build is now complete, I have added new images and links at the bottom of the post.

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Jeep Buggy Racer

On Friday, a reader by the name of Brad made a request on the Build-Threads Facebook page for a Jeep build. Not wanting to disappoint, I headed to my submissions list and fished out some Jeep links from long-time submitter, Cereal. This particular Jeep starts out with little more than a cab and a grille, which the owner then custom fabricates everything around until a completely custom race-spec buggy is born. What I love about this build is the pure strength and size of the parts used and fabrication techniques that go with them, everything is built to take extreme punishment, including the beefiest skid-plate I’ve ever seen!

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Turbo KTM 950 Supermoto

For most people, a 950cc motorbike would be more than adequate in the power stakes, but ‘adequate’ isn’t a term commonly used in the vocabulary of a modifier, is it? Why settle for adequate when you have the means to slap a turbo on the side of your KTM and produce a one-off boost-fed supermotard? Come and see how a former race mechanic works his magic on his own personal machine with some very neat and OEM looking fabrication. Thanks to Jake for submitting.

Did you know this is the 10th bike build featured on Build-Threads.com? Click here to see the others.

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BMW E46 V8 Drift build

I saw a video of this beastly creation a couple of weeks ago and the first thing that struck me about it was the appearance of the car without it’s rear bodywork. I love how the builder has almost created the car in a ute/pickup fashion, making the bodywork rear of the b-pillar detachable for easy access to the rear section of the chassis and driveline. To my delight, a Latvian reader submitted a link which showcases the build of this unique BMW (or what’s left of it), read on for more details…

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RWD VW Golf MkIII

From the same forum that brought you the Viper powered Saab 93 Wagon comes another frankenstein build. Function-over-form readers will be pleased to notice the absence hectic stance, bags vs static arguments, ground clearance measurements or rusted body panels. This Golf is different…very different. I’ve featured a few MKIII Golfs before, each with their own impressive qualities, but none as all-out as this one with it’s Volvo T5 power, a change in driveline direction from FWD to RWD, and a whole lot of one-off fabricated goodness. I think I’ve made up my mind, when I die I want to be reincarnated as a Scandinavian car builder. Race quality fabrication, bodywork, carbon fiber…is there anything they can’t do?

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Hand-built LS1 MR track car

Attention tech-heads, here’s one for you. If you like CAD drawings, stress-tests, loading simulations, suspension pickup point design, and a whole bunch of other stuff that’s way over my head, then you’ll enjoy this build. This is one mans quest to design and build his own mid-mounted turbo LS1 powered track car over in Germany, reminding me a bit of the previously featured Bentley Speed 8 replica build.

Thanks to James from carthrottle.com for submitting.

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Layed-out Datsun 620

I need to be careful about what I post on the Facebook page, I seem to have created more work for myself! Today I found a picture of a car I thought looked pretty cool, edited it slightly, then posted it up. I didn’t realise it would prompt a handful of the 1700+ followers to request a full build thread. Well, who am I to decline such a request? Although, I’d hate to imagine what would happen if I couldn’t provide a thread to go with an image in the future, I’m imagining an angry mob with home-made TIG’d pitch forks and high-octane gas powered torches.

So, by poplular demand, here’s a Datsun 620 pickup with a very funky oldschool paint job, having it’s undergarments torn out and replaced with fresh metal and airbag suspension.

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73 Plymouth Cuda

Aaron Beck is a concept designer and die-hard car guy from New Zealand, and if you’ve ‘liked’ the Build Threads Facebook page you would have seen me post a link to his amazing E-body photoshops a while back. Aaron contacted me to tell me all about his Cuda project that he’s been documenting, so I’ll let his words give you a quick rundown:

I’m currently building up my ’73 Plymouth ‘Cuda into a tough street/track car. It’s old-school mopar through and through, with a 440 big block and 4 speed. It’s my first car, first build, and I’m doing all the work myself. Here’s a bit of detail about the plans: – Fully stitch welded body, lots of custom bracing, including 8 point half cage. – Fiberglass fenders and hood. – Hotchkis suspension. – Lots of custom touches, including steering quickener, hood tach, handbrake, camera mounts etc…

Interested? Read on…

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Nissan Patrol Duramax V8TT

And now for something completely different, a twin-turbo Duramax powered Nissan Patrol 4wD built for street/strip duties, aiming for 1200rwhp and an 8.XX second ET…wanna read that again? This chassis has been through a few different incarnations during it’s lifetime before being torn down for its current rebuild, so it’s fair to say the owner has definitely made full use of this rig. If this isn’t enough Duramax action for you, check out this previous feature of a Chevelle using a similar powerplant.

Thanks to Kriss for submitting.

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’65 Harley Ironhead Cafe masterpiece

I can’t beleive it’s been almost 4 months since the last bike build. Well let’s get back on two wheels again, shall we, and take a look at an incredibly detailed cafe racer build based on a 1965 Harley Ironhead. Yep, you heard right, a Harley Davidson built in cafe racer styling, affectionately titled “War Crimes”. Just take one look at those bespoke fabricated motor mounts in the first image below – which took over 40 hrs of work alone to create – and you’ll get a feel for how this build takes shape. Read on…

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