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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47 Chevy AutoX Truck

Here’s another car that’s already done the internet rounds, so there’s a good chance you might have already seen it, but I don’t care, it needs to be on the site. Retrieve a half-burried ’47 Chevy pickup from a farm (after a tree has fallen on it), mate it to a modded ’84 S-10 frame, throw in a bunch of free and/or cheap parts, and create one very unlikely Auto-X car.

Thanks to Carl for submitting. Click here for more Chevrolet builds.

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Daily grind (and weld) – Fluid MotorUnion

Just west of Chicago in Plainfield, Illinois, resides an automotive workshop named Fluid MotorUnion. What sets this shop apart from others isn’t just the diverse range of cars they work on, nor is it the fact they do everything from minor servicing to bespoke fabrication, bodywork, engine conversions and tuning under the one roof. No, what sets them apart is the fact that they have a full-time web guru on the payroll who constantly updates their blog with the daily goings-on of the shop, taking sharp DSLR photos of all their work, including their gorgeous TIG welded exhausts. I don’t know of any other workshop that posts this frequently and in such detail about what they do behind closed (or open) doors. If you do, then let me know.

I’ve been following their frequent and witty-titled updates on Stanceworks for years now, and always like what I see, so I thought I’d share this source of automotive indulgence with you all. In fact, I have previously featured one of their builds, the FMU BMW X5, where I briefly touched on my penchant for these guys. Let me be clear, this is not an advertisement, I just really like what they do and how they do it. Head below to see what I’m talking about.

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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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Aluminium ’71 Cuda Scale Model

The last scale model I featured was the insanely detailed scratch-built XE Falcon, but we’re going to go one step further this time. This scale model, instead of using plastic and resin, is actually built using aluminium and brass using the a mill. In the words of Bart Simpson; “fellow students, prepare to be dazzled!”

Thanks to Tim for submitting. Click here for more scale model builds.

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1953 Business Coupe

Back in November I made a post on the Facebook page noting the abundance of European and Japanese rides on the front page. I asked you if you wanted to see some American iron, and the response was overwhelming, so I featured the Bagged 52 Chev. But you were duped! The picture of the car I posted when I asked the question wasn’t actually the 52 that I ended up featuring, it was this gorgeous airbagged and chopped 1953 Business Coupe. So put some time aside, make yourself comfortable, and get ready for an extremely cool car with some top notch DIY metal work.

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Mach 40 Mustang/GT

Buried inside one of the many great 2012 SEMA posts on Speedhunters was this highly customised Ford Mustang, a car that some might dismiss at first glance. Actually, calling it a Mustang is probably a bit of a stretch, because this extreme 1-off build is actually based on a rear-engined 2006 Ford GT, with the appearance of a lower and longer ’69 Mach 1. While there isn’t a build thread as such, you can still head to the bottom of the post to see hundreds of photos of the build process on the creator’s own website, Eckert’s Rod & Custom.

Click here for more Mustang builds.

Thanks to Geoff for submitting.

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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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Top 10 builds of 2012

Everyone else seems to be doing it, so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon. I’ve never done a “top 10” or “best of” list, but I like the idea of it, so I’ve just checked through my stats to find out which builds received the most amount of hits over the past 12 months…

10. Starting off the list is the LS3 NC MX5 posted in back Feburary. Not much was left of the original NC, but the end result was one of the toughest late-model MX5’s I’ve ever seen.

9. Next up was the aptly named Upstairs Audi Quattro, a build that started out on the second floor of the owners garage.

8. Coming in at number 8 is the Twins Turbo Motorsports Viper, definitely an extravagant build from every angle.

7. The number 7 spot wasn’t actually a build thread at all, but rather a spotlight on the shenanigans taking place at Area 52, an ever-growing communal garage and hangout spot in the UK.

6. Next in line was an engineering masterpiece, the 4-Rotor FC RX7, proving that people love the technical nitty gritty.

5. Half way now, number 5 was taken by one of my favourite builds of the year, the WRX-powered tube-framed Porsche 914. I still love the way the front and rear ends are detachable from the center tub.

4. Getting closer to the top, number 4 – the Lifted MKV Golf – was definitely a hit with readers, showing that taking a different approach to a popular platform really gets peoples attention.

3. Inside the top 3 now, the third spot belonged to the Teenage Dirtbag – NA MX5, a build undertaken by someone I’ll gladly call a build thread expert, Bruce (a.k.a. Mystery Machine) who coincidentally is the man behind Area 52, as seen a few spots back in number 7.

2. Taking 2nd was a budget race car, the BMW E30 V8 $2010 Challenge, featured almost 1 year ago. This (and many other popular builds) proves the point that a big budget does not necessarily equal a good build thread.

*insert funny drumroll gif that doesn’t exist*

1. Top honours for 2012, with just shy of 20,000 views in under 10 months was the bright green and very wide Subaru powered Porsche Boxster. With a hero image like the one above, who couldn’t help but click on it?

That rounds out the top 10, as voted by you, and by vote I mean you clicked on it. I hope you all had a great 2012 and I may the best of luck come to you in 2013. I don’t really have any grand plans for the site this year (as usual) so I can’t make any big claims like other blogs, I’m just going to keep doing what I do and post good builds way too infrequently with short-and-sweet intro’s haha, so, uh, keep reading! Don’t forget you can email me at buildthreads(at)gmail if you have a good build to submit, or even feedback or ideas, I always love hearing from readers (but can’t always respond straight away). Lastly, if you haven’t already, be sure to like the Build Threads Facebook page or follow me on Twitter, they’re definitely the best way to find out when the latest build is going to drop.

Peace!

Driftworks 2013 ASCAR/AE86

After extracting a very impressive amount of track time from their previous drift car, a 2JZ S15, the staff at Driftworks are about to embark on a properly bonkers build for 2013. Their plan is to take the chassis from an ASCAR (British NASCAR equivalent) and drape the body of an AE86 around it. Sounds like a perfect candidate for the chassis-swap post tag to me! Head below to find out how to follow their progress.

UPDATE: (March 2014) Car is now pretty much complete, and it’s amazing. New pics below.

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