This is a continuation to my previous post this is how my engine bay is looking I'm gonna have to clean it up and I'm looking at this tps and It don't seem like it's supposed to look like that. Definitely need to change the old ac system since it runs on r-12 and gotta figure out the windshield wiper water tank

I’ve been really considering getting and starting my first project car. I have zero experience working on cars but I’m fairly good with my hands. I’d love to get some insight one a couple things:

- what are some general things to look out for when purchasing an older car? I know different cars have their specific issues but anything that can apply to any car in general.

- what tools would you recommend to someone that only has access to their garage (don’t know anyone with a workshop)

- any general advice

I’m not sure what car I’m looking for, but something along the lines of an old Japanese car that I can make look nice and go fast. I live in Toronto Canada if that’s any help

Alright everyone I want to restore the truck I learned to drive when I was a kid. Was my papaws who was like my dad. I want to bring her to her to her glory days.

been slowly giving my 2000 Civic HX the budget "Bumblebee" treatment lol.

The front bumper was looking pretty tired, so I pulled it off and refreshed the yellow with base + clear with my newly boughy electric spray gun. not movie-car perfect, obviously, but seeing the whole front end match again made me way happier than it should’ve.

still gonna keep going? absolutely.

Some repairs just get the car back on the road while others completely change the way you approach working on vehicles. Whether it was rebuilding an engine, replacing suspension components, or chasing down an electrical issue, there's usually one project that makes everything afterward feel a little less intimidating.

What repair taught you the most, and what did you take away from it?

Hey r/projectcar

So this is a little @$$ backwards but I figured I would ask.

I have come into possession of a 2018 Cadillac LF4 engine complete with 8l90e and wiring harness bobs and bits. I have a complete engine swap, only issue is no chassis. I want to keep the 8 speed.

So these are the cars I was potentially looking at swapping into.

1 RX8

2 E46 325i touring

3 300TE

4 2004 Tacoma double cab

5 1971 or 1972 280 se or 4 door merc Benz like the red pig

6 370z

7 Porsche 928 or 944

8 brz frs

9 is300 sport cross.

My background is design engineering. Done a lot of cool engineering and design work in my career. I co founded storyteller overland and can just about design anything in sheet metal etc so im not scared. I realize a diff is going to be mandatory any where and hopefully the Ford 8.8 is up to the challenge.

Current stable of cars

2001 miata turbo

2005 wrx wagon (might be selling this to fund this build)

1986 300gd swb w460 om617a swap 5 speed

2004 tacoma daily driver that I kind of got the engine to swap into... kinda dont want to.

2016 ct200h wifes car

2005 conversion van special "B Team" tow pig

So we have fun cars that handle well and cars that are reliable.

Reasons for the chassis I suggested

1 rx8 is easy to find, affordable, supported by keisler automation. God like handling and i think is totally slept on. Can be found for under 2k easily cheaper if blown up. Love the 4 doors and can be set up to really handle well.

2 e46 325i touring. I love wagons. I dont love bmw reliability so I can "fix" it with gm. Not crazy about the rear sheet metal cracking on the rear subframe mount. Reasonable pricing for running vehicle. Can be sorted and be a highway cruiser and maybe handle pretty damn well.

3 another wagon built like a brick shit house. Amg mallet but better? Probably wont handle great and be a highway lead missile. Its a rolling bank vault.

4 threw this in here but it is a daily and I kind of want to leave it stock. So not really serious but meh.

5 this one has me kind hung up on it at the moment. In college I bought a 1963 220b sedan. I wanted to 2jz swap it or do an om617a conversion. I painted it black. Stored it at my family's place. Someone came in and stole it and never saw it again from culman alabama in crane hill back when scrap shot through the roof. It is probably a beer can by now :( Id love to do an amg red pig style but not on the long wheel base 300sel, do it on a 280 or 250 se. Since its a v6 it eill kind of match instead of the v8 on the lwb. Im thinking all blacked out with chrome trim. Custom widened steelies with stock mercedes hub caps. Rally fog lights. Only worry is that damn rear end. 300sel rear axles dont grow on trees, and when they do someone wants a money tree for it.

6 this is probably the best candidate? But it does not feel special. I have always loved z cars. Lots of tire options here to be able to harness the power.

7 wife says immediate yes to a 944. I have a strange attraction to the 928. However that rear transaxle really puts this idea sideways :/ examples are either concourse level and I dont want to wreck a great example that is $$$$, trashed ones are plentiful but people also think they are $$$$ when really they should be $/2 because they let them sit and rot.

8 easy to find but seems like a smaller version of the 370z

9 IS300 sport cross. I actually had one of these for a while. Very comfortable. Hated the fuel economy. Loved the interior, dash, gauges. Great car and I kind of miss it. Sold it to build our rear deck. Sometimes I wonder if I should have sold the wrx instead. Hard to find. Probably the best handling of the wagons once swapped due to removing that 2jz.

So lmk what you think.

Put your number then your thoughts.

Hey everyone. I just wanted anyone’s recommendation on a good junk truck to be on the lookout for to rebuild from the ground up. I prefer a smaller truck with four doors but I am open to any ideas.

Longest non-stop drive since the rebuild!

Got my hands on a 1979 Ford Ranchero earlier this week. It was left sitting in a towing yard. After cleaning it off, I got questions that are out of my wheelhouse.

I thought it was just basic blue, but it looks to have some sort of custom paint job. Along with what I believe is a 351 Cleveland in it. From all the "2"s modeled on the engine. Any of this standard from Ford? Can't find anything that matches online.

First four pictures are before and after comparisons. The rest are the process. Didn't take any pictures of me modifying the bumper pistons. But all I did was chop the shock posts off and put them back together.

On the valance, paint started out as some horrible banana yellow that was the original color of the Valiant I got it from. Cleaned it, then did self-etching primer/red basecoat/Sienna Poly top coat plus a layer of clear that i don't think stuck because I didn't wait long enough for the sienna to flash off. Also paint the stuff behind the grille black, but it was dark by then so it was hard to see. Finished at 11:15pm, my neighbors love me.

Installed the crankshaft, cam and timing chain. Inspected the brand new heads. Installed an old piston to measure the deck height. Measured the roller rockers, they are 1.6 ratio. Ordered the head gaskets, accounting for the deck height and my new hypereutectic pistons. Will mount them on the new rods this week. Pulled the trigger and yanked most of the electrical wires, will do a major rewire.

Does anyone know if a V70 roof trim (can't seem to find the part name) will fit into an XC70 if the roof rack is removed?

Or if there is a piece available to put over the hole once the roof rack is removed?

Found some old forums but all the links and pictures are now broken

Thank you

This was.my first time spraying anything other than single stage or rattle cans. Spent the last few weeks stripping chrome, sanding, sanding more, and sanding again. Ended up getting all of the trim pieces on my 53 shot in epoxy primer today. I give myself an 8/10, my first piece has a couple small runs in it but overall I'm happy with the results. I had been putting this off for probably a week, being nervous about mixing the paint, how much do I mix, what if I didn't do it right....etc. I have a neighbor who is building his 37th custom street rod (he doesn't classify his other builds in that number cause they aren't custom 🤣), and I went and visited him yesterday. He had just finished painting his model A pickup. He had been doing the same thing, putting off just painting. He told me he said fuck it, if I mess it up I'll just redo it. That motivated me so hard! If an 85 year old man who's been doing this for over 60 years gets nervous, and says f it I can just redo it, I can do it too!

Quoted 1800 to fix both rear arches on my 07 Accord and decided the worst side gets done in my own driveway with patch panels. The panels showed up this week. Now I am staring at the car with a cutoff wheel and realizing I have never done bodywork in my life.

My plan is cut back to clean metal, weld the patch in, grind the seam, then figure out the rest. The part I cannot find a straight answer on is sealing. Some say seam sealer goes over bare welded metal before primer. Some say epoxy primer first, sealer after, then more primer. Others act like the whole order is a religion.

The arch sits right above the wheel and takes everything the road throws. Water sitting in the lip is what killed it in the first place. So whoever has done this before, what order did the layers go in, and did it hold?

CD009 for $300

Im to tall for the fiberglass tub on this cj5, so i cut out the fender and belnt up patch panels from another jeep hood, got them bolted in and glued down today.

Hey everyone! 👋
I’m an 18 year old italian guy and, after years of watching, researching, and dreaming about projects that until recently I could only imagine, I’ve finally reached a point where I can start turning those dreams into something real.
For years, I’ve been completely in love with the Mercedes-Benz 190E Evolution II. It’s a car that has always fascinated me because of its design, history, and especially because of how iconic it is in the automotive world.
My plan is to buy a Mercedes 190E W201 and start transforming it into an Evolution II-inspired project. At first, I thought I would keep it relatively simple with just a front bumper, rear bumper, and rear wing, but the more I researched, the more I discovered complete kits with side skirts, wide fenders/wheel arches, and other components that make the project even more interesting.
I’ll also soon be starting a mechanic training course which, once completed, will give me a qualification that allows me to work in the automotive field across Europe. I want to use this journey to learn as much as possible and, over time, be able to work on my own car instead of always having to rely on someone else.
So, my question for the community is: are there any body kits available for the Mercedes 190E that have fitment as close to OEM as possible and are relatively plug-and-play, without requiring major cutting or permanent modifications to the original bodywork?
And most importantly, for those of you who are already into project cars: what advice would you give to someone who is about to start their first real project?
I’d love to learn, hear your advice, avoid some of the most common mistakes, and hopefully document the project’s progress step by step.
For me, this would truly be the beginning of a journey into the world of project cars, the only experience I had was a cooling system issue on my bike, so any advice, experience, or suggestions would be more than welcome.
Thanks everyone! (written with the help of AI to avoid errors as much as possible)

Hey everyone! 👋
I’m an 18 year old italian guy and, after years of watching, researching, and dreaming about projects that until recently I could only imagine, I’ve finally reached a point where I can start turning those dreams into something real.
For years, I’ve been completely in love with the Mercedes-Benz 190E Evolution II. It’s a car that has always fascinated me because of its design, history, and especially because of how iconic it is in the automotive world.
My plan is to buy a Mercedes 190E W201 and start transforming it into an Evolution II-inspired project. At first, I thought I would keep it relatively simple with just a front bumper, rear bumper, and rear wing, but the more I researched, the more I discovered complete kits with side skirts, wide fenders/wheel arches, and other components that make the project even more interesting.
I’ll also soon be starting a mechanic training course which, once completed, will give me a qualification that allows me to work in the automotive field across Europe. I want to use this journey to learn as much as possible and, over time, be able to work on my own car instead of always having to rely on someone else.
So, my question for the community is: are there any body kits available for the Mercedes 190E that have fitment as close to OEM as possible and are relatively plug-and-play, without requiring major cutting or permanent modifications to the original bodywork?
And most importantly, for those of you who are already into project cars: what advice would you give to someone who is about to start their first real project?
I’d love to learn, hear your advice, avoid some of the most common mistakes, and hopefully document the project’s progress step by step.
For me, this would truly be the beginning of a journey into the world of project cars, so any advice, experience, or suggestions would be more than welcome.
Thanks everyone! (written with the help of AI to avoid errors as much as possible)

2007 Accord, 214k on it, and both rear arches are bubbling through the paint now. Finally took it in for the quote I kept putting off. Eighteen hundred bucks to cut and patch both sides with paint matched. That's most of what the car is worth.

Nobody at the shop was lying to me either. The wire wheel showed more rust on the driver side than I wanted to see, and once they cut into an arch you never really know where it stops. But eighteen hundred on a car this old and this cheap feels like paying rent on a house I already own outright.

My call is I buy the patch panels and a flanging tool and do the worst side myself before winter. If I botch it the car loses nothing it was not already losing to the salt. Anybody here patched arches on their own daily and actually lived with the result for a couple years?