"Build" is being very generous with this car.

Haha!! I hear you, but I stand by my statement. I love stuff like this!

My friends & I have had expensive cars and dirt cheap cars, but a lot of the FUN is similar to build either.

Dirt cheap budget builds make you think really hard how to get the maximum for zero-to-minimal dollars.

I'd have already had the buffer on the paint of this car to 1) improve my correction/scratch repair skills with zero concern of damage if I made a mistake 2) experiment if really damaged paint is even repairable (I've been very surprised what Presta Ultra Cutting Creme & wool pad on a rotary can do to completely dead paint)

I'd also be in the junkyard for a P71 intake & complete axle assembly with gears deeper than 2.73. (at my yard the cost would be $100 for both)

Ebay for a dirt cheap unlocked SCT X3 ($75-100) & then Marty tune ($150)

Of course all of this is not counting the value of your labor...
But if you were willing to fight with an exhaust manifold that rotted in half....obviously you ain't afraid of a little hard work!!!

Got some free parts from a pal. Lipstick on a pig - engine cover edition:


Also tried my hand at smoking headlights and was surprised that they came out better than the picture indicates. Unfortunately, upon install, the cheapo housings have such terrible fit and finish that they look crooked AND won't aim properly. They're so bad that I might go back to the hazed over stockers.

Fixing hazed headlights is pretty easy. Rubbing compound and elbow grease. Toothpaste works if you don't have compound.

Still nicer than the $1100 PI I saw at the Pick-a-Part lot.

Oh, I've tried every trick in the book with the old housings. Gone so far as to sand them and try to polish them out with rubbing compound. They are atrocious.

Can you swap the adjustment/mounting hardware over from the old housings? I've seen a few where that got them to fit properly. The smoked lights turned out good. Its relatively easy to do. But why no projector retrofit while you had em out? That's just another 10 minutes of work once they're already open. Can be done for less than half what you paid for the car, so no need to worry about increasing its value too much.

That's an idea. I hadn't even considered it.

That is entirely too much work and money to put into this car. The smoked headlights cost me maybe $15, since I had to buy a new X-acto Knife to replace the one I lost.

x2 on re using the oem headlights hardware.
probably gonna give them a try too for my 04

I bet the original hardware is too rusty to adjust.

EDIT: Now I've got Johnnie Cochran yelling in my head: "They is too much rust, you can't adjust!" If I have to hear it, so do you.

Me, putting gloves on before working on a filthy Panther.

D’OH!




Time to buy some fiberglass!

Well that looks like fun.

Bah. Lemme know when you can see the full width of both rear tires from inside the trunk.

I won't let it get that far.
Gonna 'glass it on Sunday if I have the energy after work. If I can make it last through this winter, I'll consider it a major win...and probably send it to pasture afterward.

It'll last thru the winter as long as the fuel tank doesn't fall out. Looks like the anchor points are still semi-solid.