I've been working on this for a while now, and it's finally at a point where things are moving forward at a good pace so I figured it's time for a build thread.
I was born in 1982 so the 90s were pretty influential for me...both in music (my shop XM is almost always on Lithium) and mechanical things. After a brainstorming session about two years ago about what would make a good East Coast racer on a budget, I came up with a weird combination of parts and started to see how I could make it work.
Donor #1: '94 Taurus SHO.
Bought as-is for $450 with a running motor and blown trans. Sold the wheels & tires for $200, all the 5-speed parts for $150, some trim for $100, pulled the motor and scrapped the rest.
Donor #2: '93 Explorer Sport
Paid $650 running & driving. Sold motor & trans for $450, wheels for $100, some random crap off the body, and kept the frame & axles.
Donor #3: '94 YJ
Paid $750 (with title), no motor or trans. Just wanted the tub. Axles were freshly rebuilt 4.10's and the frame was all sandblasted and POR'd so I got most of it back just from that.
So now I had a body, frame, and motor with almost no real investment...I knew it wasn't gonna stay that way (hehe) but at least I could see if the project was worth trying.
I was born in 1982 so the 90s were pretty influential for me...both in music (my shop XM is almost always on Lithium) and mechanical things. After a brainstorming session about two years ago about what would make a good East Coast racer on a budget, I came up with a weird combination of parts and started to see how I could make it work.
Donor #1: '94 Taurus SHO.
Bought as-is for $450 with a running motor and blown trans. Sold the wheels & tires for $200, all the 5-speed parts for $150, some trim for $100, pulled the motor and scrapped the rest.
Donor #2: '93 Explorer Sport
Paid $650 running & driving. Sold motor & trans for $450, wheels for $100, some random crap off the body, and kept the frame & axles.
Donor #3: '94 YJ
Paid $750 (with title), no motor or trans. Just wanted the tub. Axles were freshly rebuilt 4.10's and the frame was all sandblasted and POR'd so I got most of it back just from that.
So now I had a body, frame, and motor with almost no real investment...I knew it wasn't gonna stay that way (hehe) but at least I could see if the project was worth trying.