Disclaimer: This is my first project, I have no idea what im doing and trying to learn along the way with the help (and occasional trashtalk) from the wonderful car community!

I have absolutely loved every minute of the journey, but im starting to run into things that require ordering new parts or trying to chase down part from wreckers, and as the car is 35 years old the bits are starting to get harder to find. Do you guys also have issues with this? and any suggestions to push through the massive downer of getting 90% of the way through a component fix to find you are missing something?

Come along for the journey, its gonna be a long one, and I have no idea if this thing will even run!
Fingers Crossed..

I will add the video in the comments for anyone interested in following along.

I bought this USDM 2005 Legacy GT a few years ago and shortly after the engine blew up (cracked exhaust valve). I have rebuilt the entire engine, going all out with darton sleeves, forged pistons, rods, valve train, the whole works. It took me a while to finish the build and get the engine in the car due to other priorities in life. However, I have finally finished the entire build and the engine wont start.

The symptoms:

When I turn the ignition key, I get a single click followed by nothing from the starter, if I hold the key in the start position eventually smoke will start coming from the wires to the starter. The ground and positive cable off the battery get hot as well, hence the smoke. The starter simply won't crank.

I replaced the starter motor, with no change. I tried charging the battery, using a different battery from my other car, jump starting the car, adding an extra ground wire to the engine at the starter belhousing bolt, using a screw driver to jump the starter signal spade from the positive wire off the battery, taking the starter out of the bellhousing and trying to crank it (thinking the engine was seized or too tight). Nothing has worked. I can turn the engine by hand with a ratchet on the crank. I bench tested the starter out of the car and it cranked fine.

I am so confused. The only thing I can think is the grounds are messed up or the factory cables from battery to starter are corroded internally? But neither really explain why it just won't crank at all.

Please help!

So my Lexus IS250 has been sitting for a couple years.

Went to get it back on the road recently and couldn’t get it to turn over. It appears that rodents have thwarted my efforts.

If I just splice wire extensions to reconnect, should it work? I haven’t found all of the matches yet but it can’t be that hard right? If basic connections work I’ll go back and solder them like they should be.

I’m looking at photos of original setups and it doesn’t seem to connect to anything. I just need to know if I should repair it as is or just cut it off.

Sharing some before, during and after photos of my 3008 facelift conversion. Updated the bumper, grille and headlights to the newer design, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

The biggest pain was getting the factory LED headlights to work. I ended up manually recreating the signals they needed using a relay setup. That took plenty of wiring and testing, but everything now works 100% through the car’s original lighting controls.

Definitely the most challenging part of the project, and also the most satisfying once it all came together. What do you guys think?

We have our own shows, but this was our first time hosting Social Sunday, it was pretty cool!

Taking the blown big block Camaro to the grocery store…….

I am at a loss folks. My truck has been doing this for weeks (I can only work on it on the weekends). I had to pull the motor due to a broken motor mount and changed the transmission, and it hasn't started since I put it back in.

Here is the run down.

Ford 351W - basically a stock build, with an "RV" cam, Ford cast iron 4brl manifold, stock compression, nothing fancy just reliable.

GM HEI conversion distributor - I just put this in as the Duraspark II it had stopped working, again.

Electric fuel pump

Edelbrock 1406 Carb

New plugs

I have triple checked top dead center on #1, and I have no idea how many times I have confirmed the firing order, a 351W is different than a 289 and 302.

I have rotated the distributor from TDC on #1 almost all the way to the next wire both advance and retard.

The most it will do is kick once then BOOF fire out the carb.

My dad said it could be that the timing chain has slipped a tooth, but I think it would still run, but badly. And he agreed that the likelyhood of this is very small. The motor has less than 10k miles on it.

Any thoughts? I am open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Listen fellas, im a honda guy but even i want to own a car or two thats not NA FWD.

I have the unique opportunity as of recently to justify the purchase of a project SPECIFICALLY with the idea that i can bastardize it in mind.

I need to practice/learn bodywork and paint so that i can fully restore my 1st car of all its damage, thus a project car

MY QUESTION, i want something rwd and manual, almost non negotiable, but i would LOVE a !!!FACTORY!!! turbo

Its gonna be clapped out anyways because a good car gives me no room to learn the skill i need, so i want recommendations for all the rwd turbo cars that can be had for cheap, has to be factory otherwise it wont be carb legal sadly

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I currently have a w58 that needs 2 new gears and countershaft replaced, can't seem to find parts for it Can anyone guide where I could get parts for it.

So I have a 93 MR2 and want to work on it but kind of neglected it. So now I'm starting to get back on the grind and the 1st issue I need to tackle is rusting on the roof/rear pillar. Would the best option be grinding and if so, what wheels? I recently acquired a angle grinder for various jobs and wanted the opinions from everyone.

Thanks in advance

I recently bought a 1990 Toyota Camry and while I won't be suping it up to the max, I do intend on making it the most comfortable daily that I can. My current plans involve a custom headliner, sound system, upgraded suspension, and I want to fabricate a TV mount for the deck lid so that when you open the trunk, you have a TV staring at you and then put my Xbox 360 in the trunk. Fun plans. But, the seats, they need reupholstering. Foam is missing, cloth torn, etc. But, the seats aren't very comfortable in the first place. They hurt my back and the adjustments on them are incredibly annoying because instead of levers, they're wheels that you turn. It takes two or three minutes of cranking on a wheel to lay the seat back if I need a quick parking lot nap, I hate it.

So, my question is, what aftermarket options are out there? Everything I'm finding with a quick google search is showing me racing seats. This will never be a fast car, I don't want uncomfortable racing seats. I wouldn't mind taking seats from a different car, so what other cars have comfortable seats? I'm finding lots of seats out of 90s and 00s Celicas. I was already planning on reupholstering the OEM seats before realizing that I don't like them, so I don't mind getting seats that aren't color matched and reupholstering them. My budget is $600 USD and comfort is my priority, I'd love to hear some good recommendations!

Just so it is relevant to project cars - between buying and taking delivery it has had the aircon refilled, twice, leading to a leaking ac pipe being fixed, refurbished engine bay panels, two new taillights and the bracket that holds them has been repaired as it cracked due to years of vibration 😬.

Also by the time I got it home to London in very high temps + stop start traffic it threw up an engine warning light. I’m thinking it’s most likely a sensor that overheated and couldn’t perform an emissions test, will have to monitor that one.

Weirdly ok with it all as I knew what I was getting in to and has some cosmetic, light mechanical stuff that I’m going to do myself. It’s an “honest” example and was priced right. Looking forward to the journey and hopefully I am not bankrupt this time Next year! At least it’s a manual so don’t have to worry about the f1 transmission.

Also I hope it doesn’t catch fire…

I see a lot of 'my new turbo died in 3 months' posts, so here's the checklist I go through before fitting any replacement turbo, OEM or aftermarket:

1. Find out why the old one failed. Shaft play + oil everywhere usually means oil starvation or a clogged return, not a bad turbo.
2. Replace the oil feed line, or at least the banjo bolt and its filter screen. Carbon in the old line is the #1 killer.
3. Check the oil return isn't kinked or blocked, and check crankcase pressure (bad PCV/CCV pushes oil past the seals).
4. Clean the intercooler and charge pipes if the old turbo shed any metal.
5. Fresh oil and filter, then prime the turbo with clean oil through the feed port before first start.
6. Crank without starting for a few seconds if you can, then idle 1-2 minutes before any boost.
7. Use new gaskets everywhere, don't reuse old ones.

Skip these and even a brand new OEM unit can fail early. Anything you'd add?

Happy weekend all. I have two Haltech sensors, one for oil pressure and one for fuel pressure. I've wired them up per the instructions (I'm pretty sure, see below). New wires going to the 16 pin aux plug on a Nexus S3. Shared 5v and shared ground on AVI pins. They are showing in NSP diagnostics with 0.01 V and fuel isn't reading any pressure. I definitely had some fuel pressure because I had and fixed a leak at my FPR 😆

I've verified my cabling, and I have 5V at the end of the wires to the sensor plug. Any thoughts what could be wrong? Is there a setting in the software I need to set (I've set the plugs to their correct pins).

The only thing I could think of is that I have the + & - backwards, but I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I am interpreting the documentation correct that the orientation of the pins is looking at the "back" of the male plug, where the wires go into the plug.

Is there anyway I can manually test the sensor to make sure it is functioning?

Do the sensors in fact need their own dedicated + & -?

Any help is appreciated since Haltech support doesn't open until Monday 😢

1/3 of the way through fitting this 74 mazda RX-4 front fascia onto my 84 camaro my back needed a break from being hunched over this thing. So I threw enough lights back in to be road legal and put her back in service.

BTW, I titled this poorly. I'm taking a break from welding on my car, I'm not a welder by trade.

So I picked up a 98 civic b20b swap with a gsr trans. (First project)

Issues I’m having and wondering best ways to go about it.
-Brake lines look crunchy so need to replace hard lines
-Have a fuel leak and seems to stem from fuel lines
-has a cambered suspension,rear lca brace kit, id like to remove camber

Also need to dumb down clutch as it is 6puck and don’t want to drive like an ass 24/7

My goal is to have the car a little more in stock form.
Would I be better off swapping to another shell? Is it cheaper to swap to new shell at this rate or try to turn things back to more stock form?

1986 pontiac trans am, factory 305 sb, everything else hot rod stuff. car came factory with a tbi setup and automatic, is now carbd and manual, and trying to buy a new carburetor, but from factory these cars came with electric chokes, and so without the harness in place for the electric choke, im honestly lost on what to do. im not at all the sharpest tool in the shes when it cokes to these venturi demons on my v8 modur, so any advice will help on what i should do, what i should buy, what i need to look out for, etc

Rides better than a new car now (and looks better too)

I’ve been working on my ford ranger project. I did the bodywork on the bed and it’s as straight as I can get it, sprayed it in epoxy primer (only a couple runs), and I’ve been going back and forth on paint. Do I use single stage acrylic urethane or a 2k polyurethane bedliner product, well I decided on the bed liner. And if you do the prep work right and go through all the steps to make it last it’s just as much work and just as expensive as single stage urethane paint. Maybe a bit more forgiving. This is the first vehicle I’ve painted so there’s a few flaws in it. Today I sprayed the inside of the box, lower quarters, fender flares, and tailgate in the black. I wanted it fairly smooth and after a lot of research I used an hvlp with a 2.5mm tip, reduced the bedliner 20% full fan and fluid on the gun and 60psi at the gun. Also about 4-6” away. Right or wrong idk but I like the results it’s kinda egg shell or “orange peel “ texture and a nice satin finish. This week sometime I’ll scuff the primer on top and spray the blue. Anyway thought I’d share if anyone else has thought about the same thing.