This is yet another build I’ve had stashed away for a while, one that I keep checking on for updates, hoping to see a bit more progress before I feature it. But with these builds there always comes a time when I realise that enough is enough, you all need to see it, no matter if it’s finished or not. The essentials are: 1978 Mini Clubman Estate (wag0n), rear mounted 20V turbo Passat VW engine, flat floor and raised suspension mounting points.
Tag: fabrication
Thai Kombi Restoration
Have you heard the one about the Thai guy who makes his own replacement metal panels for air-cooled VW’s? Well you have now! This build has been doing the rounds for a while, I always see it pop up on forums within various “best builds” style threads, and for good reason. The man with all the skill is Pat, a metal magician from Thailand who works in a very humble shop, bringing classic VW’s back to life, one hand-formed piece of metal at a time. Come and see for yourself how he restores his brothers very rusty 67 split-window Kombi ute, you won’t believe your eyes.
SR20 RWD Toyota Platz
I’ll admit, when I first saw an online image of this car in a Drift Tengoku magazine spread, I automatically assumed it was one of those weird front wheel drive ass-dragging drifters from Japan. But that was far from the case, you see this is little Toyota Platz (Echo/Yaris sedan) is actually powered by a black-top SR20DET, driving the rear wheels through an S13 diff/subframe.
Of course my friend Mike (resident Echo and general obscure small car guru) would be the guy to come up with a link to the build process, thanks Mike!
Fiat 126 Supercharged 1100cc
This little Fiat had no idea what it was in for when it left the factory. Produced in Italy for 8 years and Poland for a staggering 27 years, this lucky example of a 126 was plucked from its mundane life of basic transportation and blessed with a second chance. The team at RetroPower stripped it down until it was merely a bare shell, then fabricated a new tube frame chassis to sit beneath it. A 330bhp Rotrex supercharged Honda Blackbird motor was mounted in the rear, ensuring that the appearance of this car is all that remains of the original DNA.
Thanks to Kai from Motoraver for submitting, all the way from Berlin.
’69 FJ40 Rock Crawler
Keeping things off paved roads just like the last post, we’ll now turning our attention to an FJ40 Landcruiser build. Born out of necessity after his last FJ was written-off in an accident, Jon took the opportunity to build the dedicated rock-crawler that he’d always wanted, complete with LS1 power. This is a great build for those of you who like a lot of detail and enjoy a good read.
I’ve featured a modern FJ cruiser build from the same forum, back when Build Threads first started, you can read about that one here.
Thanks to Dickson for submitting.
Extreme Camper Build
Every now and then I like to change it up completely on you guys, just to break the chain of the drift/race cars, engine conversions, and uber cool tig welding shots that we all love so much. Whether it be a left-of-field car, a trike, or even something electric powered, a bit of variety keeps things fresh. Well, today I’m really gonna change it up! Jake emailed me a link to this build a while back, and to be honest I didn’t know what to expect when I saw the title, but a quick browse of the first page had me hooked.
An ex-military truck converted into a camper van? Yeah, I think that qualifies as “different”.
Saab 93 + Viper V10
Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for the crazy people out there who are willing to tackle insane driveline swaps. I mean seriously, at what point in your life do you sit there and think to yourself “You know what, I think I’m going to put a Viper V10 into a Saab 93 wagon?”. Pure insanity, I love it.
Thanks to Paul JDMST for submitting.
V12 MGB-GT
When you’re sick of autocrossing your stock Porsche Boxster and you have an MGB and a Jaguar V12 sitting in the garage, you’d do what any sane and rational human being would do and throw the V12 in the MGB, right? Well that’s what Mark from Canada did, creating a custom chassis & rollcage to hold both the Jag powerplant and the severely lightened MGB body. A Ford 9″ diff get’s the power to the 13″ wide slicks, while pushrod coilover suspension and a 4-link rear end help with cornering. I think it might just be a bit more fun than his Porsche, just maybe.
Thanks to David for submitting.
Bentley EXP Speed ​​8 replica
One very dedicated Swedish builder has been spending the last 3 years creating his own Bentley Speed 8 replica. By taking a 1:18 scale model and having it scanned in 3D, he was able to recreate the body shape in full-size and drape it over a hand fabricated tube-frame chassis. With a 4.2lt Audi V8 sitting behind the two lucky occupants, this home-made creation will surely have the performance to back up supercar looks. At the start of the thread there appears to be a twin-turbo setup in the works, but sadly it disappears later in the thread, so let’s hope it makes a return somewhere down the track. After you see the home-made CNC machine & plasma cutting table, you’ll agree with me when I say “chalk up another build to the crazy Scandinavians!”
Thanks to Ger from Ireland for the submission.
Kimini
Oh man, I’m scared to even figure out how long ago this was submitted. It takes me a while to get through all the submissions, so if you email me a build and it doesn’t get posted straight away, don’t fret! This is another great build submitted by Cereal, a loyal reader who has emailed me some of the best projects to grace this site.
If you like in-depth builds and have the time to sit down and read through a comprehensive and well-documented website, you’ll appreciate this one. To give you a rough outline, it’s a H22A powered, home built car with a carbon fiber body based on an original Mini.