When I was 18, I bought my first car: $800 in crumpled up ones bought me a 1970 Fiat Spyder. I loved that car more than any object I've owned before or since. It was a piece of shit, and I was James Fucking Bond. I have spent a lifetime, and larger and larger sums of money trying to rekindle that level of love. What I've noticed is that, along the way, I've come into a few beaters that I nursed back to life for little or no money, and enjoyed them more than fancy sports cars that I took out irresponsible loans for. One of the best beaters was a total accident.
I was driving along and saw a roll-back screeching a BMW 2002 onto the flatbed out of somebody's back yard. A couple of wheels were not turning, grass was stuck in the doors. There was rust under the front bumper and on the rear quarters. I hopped out and asked what was going on. The owner said that he had planned to fix it at some point but gave up and was selling it to a junk yard for $275. I offered the tow truck driver $300 for him to drop the car off at my place, which he did. No start. Flat, cracked tires. Exhaust broken in half. Rust.
For fewer than $600 more, I had that thing running like a champ, and looking like a winner (sort of). Here's what I did.
-Bought sheet metal and welded it into the cut out rust holes
-New fuel lines
-Body filler and glaze
-New exhaust, made from a discarded R50 MINI Cooper, cut and reversed, so the front resonator was the 'muffler'. A piece of 3" Pep Boys tubing as the exhaust tip.
-New battery
-4 tires
-1 Quart PPG Gulf blue paint
-2 rattle cans orange paint
-Hella light kit
-Fluids
The result. A neat little rat rod that served me well for several years.
Any other beater love stories in the DVDniverse?
In celebration of the beater
- razr390
- Command Chief Master Sirloin
- Posts: 19644
- Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 12:08 am
- Drives: MK7.5 on 87
This is awesome.
Desertbreh wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 3:05 pm DFD. The forum where everybody makes the same choices and then tells anybody trying to join the club that they are the stupidest motherfucker to ever walk the earth.
- wap
- Chief Master Sirloin of the Wasteful Steak
- Posts: 45211
- Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 11:52 pm
- Drives: Blue Meanie
- Location: Pepperland
My first car was a 1970 Beetle that I bought in 1984. I dropped the engine and rebuilt it with a ton of high-perf parts and installed a new suspension and did a bunch of other shit, but even though I've been looking for my pics that I took during the build I haven't yet been able to find them, so I guess it didn't happen.
If I ever do find them I'll scan them and make a thread here.
If I ever do find them I'll scan them and make a thread here.
- Barnes93cb
- Senior Chief Patty Officer
- Posts: 3401
- Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 7:20 am
- Drives: Turbro Go Kart/ Yamaha Bolt
- Location: West Tejas
Ive never owned a true beater. Then again ive only owned 3 cars in my 24 years on this earth. I really need to get a true project car instead of destroying my daily.
- goIftdibrad
- Chief Master Soft Brain
- Posts: 16746
- Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:01 am
- Drives: straight past the apex
I've had beaters. They are fun because you can beat on them. Gives them a personality.
brain go brrrrrr