I know several others on here have built their own car, done swaps, built trucks, restored autos...

post up some stuff that's helped you out

a few I've got:

plan out what you want to do in the beginning.
do the build in stages.
accumulate parts before you start that stage.
don't be in a rush.

9/16/2011 2:42:03 PM

don't be afraid to do stuff yourself
stick to the plan

9/16/2011 2:47:44 PM

don't hesitate to do something over if it sucks the first time (try not to dread it)

don't use shitty electrical connections/parts

check and re-check connections and fittings

uh, don't stop working on it for tooo long

9/16/2011 2:52:32 PM

Take LOTS of pictures (to remember for later reassembly if it takes months) and also for documentation.

Label Nuts, bolts, screws, parts, ect

Keep track of the cost. Set a budget and stick to it. Plan for an extra 20% of odds and ends you dont think about. Tape, shop rags, soap, ect.

DETAILS ARE KEY!!!. The small details will bring the whole package together in the long run.

Use the right tool for the job. An extra trip to the toolbox or even to the store is alot easier than breaking a valuable part or injuring yourself.

9/16/2011 3:07:12 PM

Yes! Pictures will save your ass.

9/16/2011 3:10:34 PM

- always carry some tools on that first test drive after
- can never have too many zip-ties
- keep your intake/intercooler/exhaust manifold openings taped over when you're disassembled

9/16/2011 4:19:47 PM

Quote :

"Keep track of the cost"

Yes. I use Excel spreadsheets on big projects.

9/16/2011 4:29:05 PM

Never underestimate how much engineering and craftmanship you take for granted in modern automobiles. When you've spent 20 man hours on fabricating a decent hood latch you'll know what I mean. Allow plenty of time to come up with ways to make it easy to work on, like captive nuts, bolts that thread easily and no sharp edges. It can be a pain when no one local really sells good parts, but you'll thank yourself when you're beside the road later. A shortcut here and a zip tie there will eventually add up to a car that feels like an unmanageable hulk that's falling apart beneath you. You might say, "Oh, I'll go back and refine this part later." No. No you won't.

Take into account ergonomics and some rudimentary crash zones from the very start. Mockup, mockup, mockup. Don't back yourself into a corner with frame design that forces you to build a death trap.

[Edited on September 16, 2011 at 7:26 PM. Reason : .]

9/16/2011 7:21:56 PM

1. cars aren't fast
2. modifying them to make them faster is generally compromise I'm not willing to make
3. buy them fast to start with
4. sell and buy better, don't waste your time trying to polish a turd

9/16/2011 11:41:15 PM

You are assuming that the only reason to do anything to a vehicle is to make it faster?

Just to pick a bit, you say "cars aren't fast" then you say "buy them fast to start with" Which is it?

Some people get a lot from working on things, building things, and learning by doing. You can't get that from buying something pre-built.

I didn't want to respond to your troll post but somebody had to I suppose.

9/16/2011 11:57:27 PM

Quote :

"don't be afraid to do stuff yourself stick to the plan do the build in stages. accumulate parts before you start that stage. don't be in a rush. "

+1

9/17/2011 12:11:00 AM

dont be afraid to ask for help.

If you think its half assed...it is. Do it right the first time.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

9/17/2011 1:45:16 AM

Remember that you're out there for a reason. For the sake of the project and to prove to yourself that you can do it. Don't go pipe dreaming. Buy good quality parts. Peruse the forums for people who have done it before. Do it right the first time. Redoing a timing belt sucks (). Dont expect to impress people by your build. You're doing it for yourself. No matter how many little problems initially arise after the swap, look at all that you have accomplished and slowly but surely you will work all of those issues out.

Also now is a good time to connect and ask questions of you mechanically inclined friends and family members. 2nd opinions are always nice. Even if just for the sake of talking about it


Set some sort of timeline goals for yourself. Funny mine didn't run till 1 week before I had to move. Amazing what a fire poker under the bum will do for motivation
Have fun

remember: NO PIPE DREAMIN

[Edited on September 17, 2011 at 8:21 AM. Reason : .]

9/17/2011 8:18:03 AM

Quote :

"1. cars aren't fast 2. modifying them to make them faster is generally compromise I'm not willing to make 3. buy them fast to start with 4. sell and buy better, don't waste your time trying to polish a turd"

spoken like a frustrated former DSM owner...

9/17/2011 9:37:41 AM

He's just mad that he pipe
Dreamed, took on too big of a project and couldn't pull it altogether

9/17/2011 11:46:04 AM

what was his project?

9/17/2011 12:01:45 PM

A stroked out DSM. It was cool. But I think he just gave up then got into bikes. I think it ran too

9/17/2011 1:09:41 PM

smoothcrim raised good points.

I still may boost my s2k. Actually.... i'll spend that money on another bike.

9/17/2011 2:03:48 PM

Buy one already built

9/17/2011 4:00:06 PM

Even if you buy one built, realize you will be re-doing half the stuff that you thought was "done" when you bought it.

9/17/2011 4:56:20 PM

Yeah buying one built is probably the worst idea ever.

You'd have to trust whom ever did build your car nd I don't hardly trust shops.

9/17/2011 5:10:35 PM

well no shit.

9/17/2011 6:04:11 PM

When wiring, draw out a diagram on paper or on your computer. If on paper, take pictures and save them on your computer. Then actually wire whatever you are doing according to your diagram. Saved me a lot of time and when I had an issue later on down the line it was super easy to diagnose.

Overbuild things to begin with.

Do your research, that way you can improve on other's improvements rather than ending up in the same or worse boat and avoid potential shitty situations.

9/17/2011 7:16:21 PM

I would do it myself. It's easy and Id rather fix my own problems. Maybe next spring....unless I buy another bike instead .

The ems cost has stopped me from doing it.

9/17/2011 7:32:45 PM

Quote :

"Buy one already built"

This was not in the budget.

Not to mention, there are none like what I'm building for sale.

9/17/2011 11:47:25 PM

What are you building?

9/18/2011 12:00:17 AM

another subaru swap

with a few modifications

I'll share a few details later on

9/18/2011 12:06:20 AM

Cool man

9/19/2011 4:49:22 PM

Quote :

"Just to pick a bit, you say "cars aren't fast" then you say "buy them fast to start with" Which is it?"

cars aren't fast for the most part. if you want something fast with 4 wheels, buy it. don't waste your time trying to build it. whatever you're modifying wasn't meant for what you want it to do and you will compromise in building it to do so. whether it be in reliability, handling, or you'll spend so much to do it "right" that it would have been cheaper to buy something better to start with.

9/19/2011 9:24:02 PM

It is then still fast, just cost a shit ton.

9/19/2011 9:34:10 PM

^^ what you should say is, pick a platform worthy of building, don't just build what you have.

A Honda accord can have 40k thrown at it and it'll still be an over weight un blalanced pos.

A ford gt takes to a 3.3liter blower like a fish takes to water.

9/19/2011 10:44:19 PM

I think he made his point very clear and it isnt what youre morphing it into.

9/19/2011 10:48:28 PM

Yeah he did and imho he is completely wrong. There is a point jumping from that 70k zo6 to the 100k zr1 where it is financially viable 30k worth of bottom end work and blower can do a lot. In this range the cars will make a bike look retarded around a track. (or at 150+ for that matter)


Not to mention half of it is about making something yours... Not just being another toolbag with $$ that thinks he can drive, or another squid on a bike.

9/19/2011 11:13:56 PM

I see nothing wrong with buying a zr1 and being a toolbag and blowing anyone's project off the road. And being proud of every penny I spent. Not to mention running the squid off the road too.

[Edited on September 19, 2011 at 11:27 PM. Reason : ]

9/19/2011 11:26:26 PM

if the goal is blowing someone's doors off at the track (read: not drag strip), the money spent going from a z06 to zr1 would be better spent on seat time in said z06, not polishing your z06 turd (relative) or buying something better. if you're skill capped in said car, then you should be looking for someone to foot the bill for your track ride.

look man, i'm not saying there's no benefit to building your own car. personal satisfaction is the reason to spend most money and if polishing a turd gets you jollies, who am I to call you stupid? my point is that I'd rather go fast or spend more time learning to go faster than trying to take my vehicle out of its engineered specs in the hopes that it will make me faster and wasting time in my fucking garage. i don't exactly feel some major sense of accomplishment doing something 8932489327472 people have done before me.

all of that is why I stick to bikes. the chassis on a modern sport bike is for the most part the most capable thing you can get at reasonable price levels. I could take the same frame with a 600cc motor at 100hp to a built superbike motor at ~200hp and the frame makes no compromises. i'm not saying bikes are better, i'm saying that's why /i/ ride them, among other reasons. the lessons /i/ have learned, is that i don't care to kid myself that i'm engineering anything new and that i'd rather spend all my spare time and effort on seat time.

i mean if someone said, hey you can spend $1500 this weekend on a set of brakes and installing them or you could spend $500 on entry, tires, gas, and hotel and hammer the track for a few hours; which would you choose?

i read about so many people doing (rather pipe dreamin about doing, very little doing) this or that because it'll make the car this much faster, stop this much harder, etc etc. what i don't read about is these same people doing a meaningful number of track events to actually know the difference or degree of benefit of each mod. if you can't hold a consistent line, and extra 30hp isnt going to help.

i guess the biggest thing i learned in building a car is that saying you got a fast car or a bunch of cool shit on your car isn't cool or fun, learning to go fast and ACTUALLY DOING IT with what you got is what's fun. im sure Ray and K had some of the most fun they've ever had doing rallyX in a corolla, not swapping a motor in a garage somewhere.

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 1:21 AM. Reason : talking/prepping vs doing]

9/20/2011 1:08:12 AM

^some people live for the build, others live for the driving/events.


but this thread is about building a car, and the lessons learned therein.

9/20/2011 7:52:33 AM

and those lessons were learned building a car

9/20/2011 9:05:27 AM

^you got it!

9/20/2011 9:26:16 AM

just to clarify a few things on my build

I'm building it to drive it

not to look at it, or blow doors off between stoplights

ultimately to increase driver's skill & improvement

but it's gonna look similar to nothing else on the road

when you see it, you'll have no doubt what it's purpose is

that is all.

9/20/2011 10:52:36 AM

oh, and when something breaks, I'll have no qualms about tearing it apart to fix it myself.

I can't say that about some mid engined supercar or z06 that I only paid payments on.

maybe one day...

9/20/2011 10:55:30 AM

Here is the picture of it

9/20/2011 11:03:04 AM

9/20/2011 11:26:58 AM

He's building a monster corolla rally car. 95 corolla WRC

9/20/2011 12:55:31 PM

actually, right now, this stage of my build is fabricating a steel widebody for my RS

9/20/2011 1:34:37 PM

when i was thinking about building my car someone said this to me instead of trusting another dude to do the work:

'hell yea man. I say screw trusting some guy who is apparently a flake. Do it yourself and learn a lot and have mch more love for the car afterwards.'


super true.

I just like to have mine be reliable and kinda quick. i know lots more cars are faster. but that is an endless money pit battle. 250whp on street is fun

9/20/2011 2:26:39 PM

everyone should file piston rings and size bottom end bearings at least once......and only once.

9/20/2011 4:45:27 PM

Giving Quinn access to a garage is a quick way to never see the aforementioned garage again.

[Edited on September 20, 2011 at 5:20 PM. Reason : Oh and lowered Hondas excel at the hill climb]

9/20/2011 5:19:19 PM

start with the best condition car/truck you can afford.

have reasonable goal and shoot for a short build (or have $texas and a big stash of parts before you start)

my 8yr Duster build is a month or so from being finished and looking back I could have done some things differently and savedspent some money elsewhere.

9/23/2011 2:12:07 PM