4 struts, 17 inches, 2 switches: MKIII Jetta

I’ll admit it, when I first received a link to this thread, I thought “oh no, I can’t feature a car whose main purpose is to get as low as possible, the fans will destroy me in the comments!”, but then I dug a little deeper. As build thread aficionados, I think we all agree that the journey is more important than the destination, and this car takes one hell of a journey, regardless of it’s intended purpose. Among the many modifications, the owner/builder installs a front subframe into the rear of the car to achieve his ride height goals, and then custom fabricates a set of hydraulically controlled adjustable spring perches for his coilovers. There’s also plenty of milling, lathing, welding, general fabrication, bodywork, spray painting, lots of tool porn (I hope you like hammers!), and plenty of high quality details, like the ARP bolts being used for engine accessories. I mean, the guy even hammers out his own damn shoe-horn from a piece of 16ga stainless steel! Once the suspension is finalised, the car is torn down and it’s rebuild is currently in progress. This build has held my attention on-and-off for over a week now, and I’ve loved every page of it, plus the name of his blog is Wrinkle Red, and we all know I’m a fan of wrinkle red paint!

Submitted by one of the owners friends who wishes to remain anonymous. Click here for more MKIII builds.

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Holden HR Ute – Pro Street build

This next build was found via Instagram of all places. I noticed a new follower pop up in my feed, clicked on his profile and I was greeted with images of this Pro Street ute build. After a few comments back-and-forth I located the build thread online and now I want to share it with you. The car in question is a 1966 HR Holden – an Australian car manufactured under our local GM banner – being transformed to a full chassis drag car in the owners garage. By the way, there is no official Build Threads Instagram account, but feel free to tag your projects with #buildthreads to share and connect with other readers.

Click here for more ute builds.

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Turbine powered Spitfire

This build is only in it’s early stages, but it is of such an extreme nature that I just had to feature it straight away. I think it’s one of those projects that will get a lot of exposure very quickly, and then I’d be all butt hurt about the fact I didn’t feature it sooner (as has happened in the past), so here it is. It’s quite simple really, the car is a Triumph Spitfire, and the engine is from a helicopter. Yep, nothing to it…

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Project 510: FMIC + more (pt 3)

Part 3, here we go. To quickly re-cap, Part 1 was all about relocating the alternator with custom mounts, and Part 2 saw the intercooler and radiator bolted into place, and the intercooler piping tacked together. Now we’re getting down to the finer details.

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Project 510: FMIC + more (pt 1)

Well, where do I start? This is going to be easily the biggest update I’ve ever posted about the car, as I’ve just completed 8 months of on/off work under the bonnet in my spare time. During those 8 months I also sadly lost two of my beloved grandparents, went a holiday to Europe, and have attended 4 weddings, so things may have taken a little bit longer than usual.

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Greengoon – retro afficionado

Since I’m a regular Ratsun browser from way back, I became very familiar with a certain green 510 wagon belonging to Greengoon, aka Duane. This wagon was always a bit different from the others, especially with it’s folding ragtop. I always looked forward to updates over the past few years, especially enjoying his DIY solutions to getting the ‘goon sitting closer to the ground and various tyre size testing on later-model OEM wheels. Heading over to the Non-Datsun section of the forum made me realise Duane’s penchant for old cars wasn’t restricted to just Datsuns, as he had another 2 project cars under his belt from the Toyota stable, including one very charismatic ’71 Hilux. I’m not the only one to sit up and take note of Duane’s skills, he was even the subject of his own Depth of Speed video, arguably the best series of automotive videos on the net (if you ask me). Head below to familiarise yourself with this trio of vintage vehicles.

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Peugeot 205 Hillclimber

A few months ago I took a step forward in this little hobby of ours and bought myself a Mig welder. Since then I’ve made a few custom parts and brackets, added some new metal to my radiator support panel, and even helped a mate plug up some holes in his engine bay. I was starting to feel pretty proud of my accomplishments; then I received an email from Cameron about his Peugeot 205 build and I came crashing back down to reality. You see, Cameron studied Motorsport Engineering and now works for Ford in the UK as a suspension systems engineer, so he knows a thing or two about how cars work, especially his Peugeot 205. The plan for this little hatch is a space-frame chassis with double wishbone and push-rod suspension, front engine (ish), rear wheel drive, ~350bhp and carbon panels for a target weight of 600kg including the driver. Be sure to keep an eye out for an update in the future when the car is closer to completion.

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F1300T Hillclimb Racer

For some people, modifying an existing car isn’t enough, even completely dismantling one and reassembling it 10x better just won’t satisfy them. Oh no, they just have to show off their amazing amount of talent and build a car from scratch, the jerks! As you can tell by my jealousy, this is one impressive creation, based on an aluminium tube frame with a Hyabusa engine (to be turbocharged at a later date). It’s not quite finished yet so I’ll be sure to update again when it hits the road.

Click here for more Hayabusa powered builds.

Thanks to Andy for submitting.

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BMW M1

Don’t you hate it when you find an original Le Mans bodyshell of a BMW M1 Group 5 race car, and you have to build your own chassis for it? What a drag! Oh wait, that doesn’t usually happen, does it? Well it does in this thread, prepare yourself…

Thanks to Bastien for submitting via the Facebook page.

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Bagged 52 Chev

Like I said on the Facebook page the other day, it’s a bout time for some American muscle to grace the front page! During my frequent browsing of one of my favourite hod rod and custom resources, the H.A.M.B., I found a great build of a 1952 Chev. This mid-century 2-door sits lower than a [insert something low here] on a custom frame with airbags. The thread is full of enough bare -metal fabrication of both frame and body to wet your never ending appetite for automotive construction.

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