I’ve told most of the adventures of my 1996 318ti project / daily. Since acquisition last fall I’ve:
– Replaced both mirrors
– New motor mounts
– New trans mounts
– New diff mount & cover
– New oil filter housing gasket, o-rings and bushing
– New lower control arms
– Repair non-operational sunroof
– New JVC head unit
– New tire (picked up a nail or something)
I’ve also driven it some 13K miles (just turned 252K yesterday).
On the list:
– Diagnose & repair non-functional cooling fan
– Repair or replace crumbling door panels
– Re-cover the headliner
– Repair broken / rusted stabilizer mount
Pics of it, including some project pics, at Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/d_schaefer/albums/72157659081172482
Oddly, my real toy car (1960 Thunderbird) has gotten little love over the last couple of years, but it runs & drives fairly well, so I’ve just been enjoying it. It has gotten hard to start and a fresh battery this spring didn’t cure it, so I’m thinking a new starter is on the horizon. Otherwise, I’d love to fix a few of the numerous leaks, get the alignment done properly to it perhaps will handle at least without drama, flush the block so it’ll run a bit cooler and then maybe put the new top on or get the seats repaired.
The 2005 Mazda3 (not really a project car) has gotten new struts, brakes and lower control arms in he last couple of years, plus a bit of ghetto bodywork (new headlights and pounding things back into roughly the right shape) after my daughter had an unfortunate incident with an SUV.
(BTW – If you want a write up on patching your teenage daughter’s cars back together after an accident, I can help you out there. I’ve put the Escort back together twice, the Protege once (the second time killed it) and now the Mazda3.)
The Escort hasn’t been too needy, but it recently broke a rear strut mount, so that’ll need fixed soon.
The wife’s Prius just keeps running and sipping fuel.

This is 45, my art car. To the keen of eye, a 1982 Volvo DL. Why did they call it that? Everyone knows it’s a 240.
45’s origin, design, artwork and life on the road is too much to go into for this thread, so I’ll stick to its nature as a project car. I bought it specifically to do a roof-ectomy and create a homebrew convertible. I made an all-weather top out of boat cover material, with snaps to hold it in place and magnetic strips along the perimeter to seal it. The stock back window can be removed, and is held in place with three nylon straps. This is all much less hinky than it sounds, and keeps the inside dry even in the Pacific NW.
The body has well over 300K miles on it and its original drivetrain had nearly that much. But through a stroke of Craigslist luck, I found a freshly wrecked 1982 240 donor car with all of 83K on the clock, so clean you could eat off it, clearly someone’s garaged baby until it was stuffed into a ditch. I brought it home and gutted it like a Thanksgiving turkey, swapping the entire drivetrain into my artcar. Engine, transmission, complete rear end, even the speedo cable and gauge cluster. I also put in a new IPD turbo exhaust system and cat.
I’ve done more electrical modifications to 45 than I can recall, with particular focus on the (damn) fuel pump wiring and relays, ignition switch and charging system. I pity the poor fool who expects a wiring diagram to guide them.
I overhauled the entire front suspension in June – new ball joints, bushings, tie rod ends, urethane sway bar mounts. New rubber window seals are halfway done (rather labor intensive). And, I just installed a used but very clean-looking Nissen plastic/aluminum radiator to replace 45’s stock brass radiator, and now the stupid thing leaks below the lower hose fitting, possibly cracked. It’s always something.
Bits of other cars live on in 45. That’s a Mercedes grille, not sure from what model, and the chrome rings in front of the headlights are from a ’63 Riviera. The cowl light on the front is from a 1927 Cadillac (or so I’ve been informed). I also installed the factory four-horn set up from my old ’69 Electra, far too much fun to blast it tunnels, it sounds like a freight train bearing down on you.
45 has been to artcar shows up and down the West Coast for over 10 years now. It’ll be at Artcarfest in the Bay Area in October, along with dozens of other cars from around the country. Check this show out if you can!

The stable as of July 2016 (I only own vehicles that I think of as project vehicles):
The Jeep: runs good. It’s still my workhorse. It just crossed the 170,000 mile mark, of which 30,000 were me at the wheel. I’ve owned it for 5 and a half years now. I love it just as much as ever. It just got new brake pads and rotors a month ago, and other than that and the normal oil, spark plugs and air filters I haven’t done much to it. I have some dreams of selectable lockers and at 4.7L engine, but it’s doing pretty good on the ain’t-broke-don’t-fix plan for right now. It’s time to check the diff fluid and I suspect the front driveshaft could do with a rebuild, but it isn’t actively causing problems or making noise.
I’ve got Cooper Discoverer A/T3s on there that are around 2 years old right now, and they’ve been great.
The TDub: I’ve got about 1700 miles on it, and I bought it new just over a year ago. I didn’t ride it much during the winter due to tuning issues, but it’s doing great. Big plans for the TDub: I’m going to give it a vinyl wrap make-over for the inaugural Hell On Wheels rally. It’s also getting a rear rack and a couple 1 gallon rotopax fuel cans. It’s going to get an oil change and a couple adjustments ahead of the rally, but, mechanically, it’s mostly ready. I’m really looking forward to the rally.
The FZ-07: It’s at 7400 miles. I bought it on bill-of-sale with a salvage cert last October, got it back up to spec with new lights and a brake bleed and then got it registered. The major modification I’ve done to it so far is that bucket headlamp. Which really. It fixes the styling on that bike all on its own. It’s still pretty beaten up and street-fightery, but it runs hard and I’ve put 2000 miles on it. Major plans for the FZ-07: I want to get rid of the rest of the fairings, put a custom tank on it, cut 3in off the tail, redo the rear lights and build a rear cowl for behind the seat. It also needs a guard for the radiator and some tank canards to act as covers for some electronics mounted up front. I’m going to keep the white & black color scheme.
The picture is all three in their new driveway. I’ve got plenty of work space at the new place and I’m hoping to make some significant headway on the FZ-07 after the rally. My goal is to have it done-ish for the next Any Two Wheels.