I had a project car I was getting together for him, until I heard him call it a "disposable car".

It was a Suzuki Swift, that I was disguising as a three cyl GEO METRO (for various reasons).

When he said DISPOSABLE I said HELL NO! IT's MINE!!!!

He turned up in the driveway tonight, after I refused it him - WITH ANOTHER SUZUKI SWIFT THAT RUNS!!!!

He gave a grand for it, and we are already talking about modifications...

Now we will EACH have one....

 

Right or wrong, I have to agree with his assessment of calling it disposable. It's not like the days of old (when I was a kid, and I am only 36), that we had frames and the vehicles could be disassembled, and reassembled. All these new unibodies make it a lot more expensive as the cars get older to fix any damage, other then mechanical. I miss the older days (with the protection of a frame), as I have seen a few I would have liked to save, but it wasn't fiscally viable.

 

1st mod:

13b in engine bay!!!
Mind you - there goes the fuel mileage out the window...

A Hayabusa engine could be a more practical proposistion... the mind boggles.

 

1) The car is sound bodywise.
2) I have bodywork tools I am buying up left and right (brought home a palm sander tonight, and have a professional paint gun rig already)
3) I can glass the underbody if it needs it.
4) I've been doing some welding lately - a MILLER wirefeed is on my list. A subframe can be fabbed. It ain't no biggy... I DO THIS KIND OF STUFF!

I wonder if a Taurus engine and manual t-axle can be fitted????

 

i think i would go with a Lincoln mig, we have a Lincoln 135 Mig and i think its ideal for bodywork, most of the shops around here have a simliar machine, just my opinion. sounds cool though. gonna paint'em to match? ive got a 352 for you, that would make that little thing go, and lower it at the same time. hehehe

 

Ain't sure yet. And I am also about to grab a 1971 240ZX with a 280 parts car for a grand total of $1500.

- You have NO IDEA what I can do with THOSE CARS....

The 240 has dual SOLEX's, NOT Hitachi carbs.

Oh yeah - I can make it growl

 

Admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery...

 

The only problems I see are these:
1) I had a Geo and a plan to make it what this thing will be - but I let it go to someone who apparently sold it to fill up his crack pipe.

2) I used to work on Z's and know them inside and out. I always wanted one, but figured it would never happen.

3) I now have an excellent set of opportunities to turn back time and achieve closure on some of my wants and wishes that were interrupted - so buckle up, Skippy! It's gonna be a bumpy ride...

 

Without a doubt that would fit in the cat of a disposable car but to each thier own.

 

Didn't some of those Swifts come with turbo's? Build it a little stronger and bump up the boost with a little nitrous wowsers. If it was festiva I could name endless engines that would work but on the metro's i'm clueless.

 

There was a three cyl called a SPRINT made for someone, with a turbo.

That's where I expect to maybe rob a turbo for it. If it don't look like it will work I will skip right over that and go aftermarket.

"Life is short - SHORTER if we stress out over things"

Whoopee ding, man. POOP happens...

 

With all due respect one that questions the ability and quality of a small car has never had a good one on a good bit of road
Owner of a 63 Mini Cooper with a "big block" 1275 stroked out to 1336cc

 

Hey, there's nothing better then taking a cheap disposable item and making something great out of it. Believe me, I know what it's like. I'm just saying lets not get offended when people call it what it is. It's okay to have pride in something without being in denial of what it once was.

 

As far as unibodies go, the mustang had a unibody back in 64, and I believe the falcon before that, the unibody isn't a new invention, Also people don't have any quams about restoring a unibody mustang, now do they ?

 

The qualities I look for in any artisan of the trade are an open mind FIRST!

The skill and knowlege to reverse the damage done by the unskilled and ignorant.

An ability to apply current technology to older chassis'.

The resourcefulness to look at a machine (no matter what it is) in terms of the power to weight ratio, and suspension qualities, and find new ways to make it rage like a banker that just lost a DOLLAR!!!

To disparage any machine just because it "Ain't from around here" is a closed minded attitude which as the son of an engineer I am personally allergic to.

Mind your manners, we know well that of which we speak. I have no doubt you would consider the Z cars I am about to collect disposable as well - but then people who think like that never deserved them at all.

And one further note: At FTE we have always been polite to people who needed advice about machines that had nothing to do with FORD. It is a hallmark of who we truly are.

Stated simply: "We ARE the best"

- And that means we can work on anything...

~Wolf

PS: There is only one place on earth I can think of where people consider automobiles disposable. In Japan, they are forced to pay higher taxes on vehicles that get old - so they send them to the "GONE" pile....
Do you mean to tell me you are JAPANESE????