I sold my 1972 Camaro about 15 years ago.....now I've got the " I want to build a car" bug again. It was mostly a drag car that was streetable, but I'd like to now build something that would be a capable daily drive.  Good street manners, good brakes, fast steering, and plenty of power.

I'd love an older Foxbody notch back Mustang, but it seems like they are hard to find...and if you do find one it's either all cut up, or they want a fortune for it.  Some of the early 2000 Camaros with the LS motors and 6-speed transmissions go for pretty cheap....I've seen some nice ones or under $6K.  The early 2000 Mustangs are cheap, and everywhere....but I'm not sure on the power they can make, and they look boring to me.

Any ideas for a nice base car to built? What's the best bang for the buck??

Thanks!

I just got a '76 cobra 2 for my son's first car, so far I'm the only one spending and turning wrenches

It is a solid car and I thought it looked pretty cool.

Gmt800 regular cab 2wd truck with a v8

Add boost and a 4L80 swap.

DONE

That's not a car.........it's a heavy ass pickup truck.

3 series?

That will absolutely spank everything you listed equipped with a side order of chinese spool and be way easy to wrench on.

Not if you put that same turbo LS in any of those cars I listed. Why would anyone waste their time putting a big hp motor in a heavy truck?? Doesn't make sense....it takes power to push around that extra 1,000+ lbs that truck is carrying.

Not to mention that it would handle like crap...like a typical pickup truck.

I really like the E46 M3's......but even the early 2000 models are $8k+ if you can find one in decent shape. I would love to drop an LS motor in one though!

Lol and ya are looking at one of the poorest handling Mustang chassis ever. Designed in the 70’s and bloated into the 00’s

People do it because they haul ass and you have room to grow with mods. Ever look under the hood of a 4th gen camaro? The engine comes out the bottom! Half the engine is underneath the dash.  You don’t just move the battery box and flip the manifolds for a turbo on one like you can a truck.

Making the power these days is so easy a few hundred extra pounds are meaningless to all but poverty NA build people

A cheap ass s95 v6 mustang with a LS truck engine will haul the mail and be easy enough to work on but  it’s always gonna handle like crap too

Always wanted a first gen chevy S10 with a V8. When younger a sbc 350, now a LS 5.3 or 6.0/6.2.

With a curb weight of about 2700 lbs hardest part is getting it to hook up on the gas.

Yes its not a car but the curb weight is similar to most passenger cars anymore.

How about a Volvo wagon.  Those look awesome when done right.  With a nice engine swap, they would make one heck of a sleeper.

N54 engines are one of the few out that can hang with LS engines when it comes to power so no need for a swap.

Those engines are in the 2007-2010 335, 2011-2013 335is and the 2007-2015 Z4is.

2 door or 4 door, automatic, manual or DCT and RWD or AWD.
Choose your flavor, they are all cheap as hell now.

Just got to know how to turn a wrench and load a few programs on your computer/phone for troubleshooting/coding.

Just drove my 2007 335 6speed manual RWD 100 miles today to a jobsite and back, got near 30mpg and had 450+hp/tq on tap the few times I needed to pass some clown camping in the passing lane, very comfortable inside, rides so sweet down the road, 80mph feels like 40mph.

Rewarding cars and not overly difficult to repair/maintain IMO.

Something AWD with a 4G63 Turbo motor in it circa 1990-1996;

Laser
Eclipse
Talon
Galant

Cheap speed. Still a large aftermarket. Just add bigger boost... the bottom end of those motors and the drive trains can take a lot before requiring attention.

Most modern turbo engines are setup that way. No need to go with such an old platform to get that.

I do trucks.  You can put shit in the back of a truck.  

There aren't a lot of cars I would build, but a 63 1/2 Galaxie remains on the list.

I’m working on bringing a c30 back to life. A 9 foot bed stepside!

A turbo aluminum 5.3 and 4l80 is in the works

I'm partial to the C5 corvette.

What is your initial purchase budget and which side of MO do you live on?  I know of a PERFECT hardtop 6spd SS LS1 for sale that has all the good mods already done to it.

C6 base model manual corvette. Can be found in the mid teens on the LS2 cars, lighter weight, handles well. Nasty with a D1SC or a wet kit.

In

Because nothing I do car related is inexpensive.

Ain't that the truth.

LOL I like that way too much. The next rig up in the shop is a 74 D100 club cab... because its different and will make a neat old school street muscle truck.

3rd gen Camaro.

Are the N54 engines turbo'd? I'm not really family with most of the BMW stuff.  I'm assuming to get that kind of power out of them, you are putting boost to them.

Thanks for the info!

Yep. Turbo'd 3.0l straight six.

It's a lot of bang for the buck though.  I'd say any flavor g body.  El Caminos tend to bring a premium.

OP won’t approve but taking a $3k MX-5 and adding $10k worth of Flying Miata parts produces jaw dropping results.

My man!

My wife saw this a week or so ago and took a picture.

Attached File

this exact car is for sale in St. Louis for $10,000obo right now.  Bilstein SLP suspension, hawk brakes, SLP parts here and there, GMMG Berger style catback, TT2's painted like a Tom Henry SS, SS grille, HARDTOP 6spd leather NO traciton control.  This car ordered new the right way.  And honestly every navy blue one I see has the light grey or tan interior which is hideious.  this was one SUPER hard to find with the dark black leather.

Miatas are super fucking fun.

No homo.

No project car is practical. None will give you any return on investment.  All are a labor of love.

OP should go to some car shows, and see what speaks to his heart.  Then start saving money till he can afford whatever it is.

If you want to build X, but start project Y(-a) because it's "more affordable" you will never be really happy.

By the way, what your heart desires will change while you are saving money.

Neither do I. I do have good taste in cars. Attached File

N54 is twin turbo.
Few mods and a $100 app on your phone will get you over 400whp/wtq on pump gas.
Much more with E85/Meth injection.
Much much more with bigger turbos or single turbo conversion.

Lots of hardware from the factory for cheap.
Just got to know how to keep em running.

These cars can be had all day for $6k-$12k depending on miles/condition.

You sure?


That thing looks like it rides like a bucket of turds just looking at it in a picture.

There's a fox body convertible for sale by me for $750.  The body looks real decent.  But it said, runs, but won't move.  LOL.  It's got the 2.3 4 cyl.  But that could be yanked.

I think the early 2000 and previous mustangs are a good choice cuz they are cheap and one upside to them is they are very light in comparison to a lot of Mustangs.  And personally I test drove a Cobra in 1999 I think it was, or 98, or 97.  Somewhere around there.  And I also test drove the Camaro SS at the time...  And the Camaro felt like a tractor compared to the Mustang.  Both were manual trannies.  I grew up a Chevy guy and wanted to like the Camaro but the Cobra was just like light years ahead in how it felt to drive.  IMHO.

I use to not like the 97ish mustang bodies I really dislike the rear tailights and the sort of....  I don't know what kind of styling you call that.  I liked them better when that body got a bit more squared off in 2000.  BUT, I think those pre 2000s can look pretty cool if done right.

I think the late 90's trucks are a good suggestion cuz I think they'd go for cheap.  Yeah, not a car but I think when you say low buck you have to keep your options open.  There isn't a lot of options.  Just looking at motorcycles lately and anything that people consider "vintage" which just means old people are jacking up the price.   The stuff no one wants right now are late 80's and early 90's stuff because cars were just bad and not real pretty.  And even motorcycles looked kind of wonky.  Powertrains were just dogs a lot in the 80's.  But that can be changed......   And some boxy cars can be made to look good.

Probably in a few years and maybe even now the 80's stuff will be considered cool.

This is just my small perspective on the matter of looking at things lately.  I think the most part, people are right when they say there isn't such a thing as a low buck project.  But I do think there are a few choices that will be a lot cheaper than others.  I mean anything 60s and early 70's is through the roof.  Or anything older than that.   I remember in the early 2000's you could get a Ferrari 308 for not a lot of money.  I don't think that is the case any longer.....  Although I haven't seriously looked at prices lately...

A 4th gen f body from a chassis standpoint has no redeeming qualities. Paper mache interior, a complete lack of comfort or human shaped ergonomics. A major chore to wrench on thanks to the engine being under the windshield. Great engine options shit rear end though.

The mustang is the opposite with terrible engine options

The best of both worlds is to combine the two. LS engine lightweight easy to work on chassis. An LS swap into anything fox based is a bolt in affair nowadays.

I live third gen f body styling and at least they are easy to work on. Finding a usable example is very difficult nowadays though

1999-2004 Mustangs can be had pretty cheap.  Start with a clean v6 car and do an LS swap.

There’s a reason people say that if a truck in Texas tries to race you, don’t expect to win. Throw a little money into the suspension and it’ll handle better than the cars you’re looking at.

And yet they are discussing cars from the 70's and 80's, which platform is old now?

OP asked for a bang for buck project car.  You can get a early 90's 4g63 with AWD running 10's pretty easily and cheap.  Not saying it's for everyone and up to OP's taste, but they are a good option.

Nice Car!  That's actually pretty close to what I'm looking for.

Foxbody prices are starting to come up as more and more people want to relive their childhood and #'s in the wild dwindle.

But what's the point?   No matter what you do to that truck, you have to overcome the extra 1000+lbs that's going to negatively affect acceleration, handling, braking, etc, etc.........

Besides it just being "a truck"......I just don't see the point. Put that same amout of money into a lighter car, and it's Mo-Better in every way.

This is what I'm finding too. They are getting harder and harder to come by.......and if you find one, they are either a complete basket case that isn't work the money.....or completely built, and they want $20K+ for it.