Hi, I'm Terry and I'm a car addict.
I plan to satrt my project here in November 2017. It will be a tube chassis built around my current poject car. A Subaru Forester. My Forester is a turbo AWD i swapped myself and puts down about 450whp. But i have a problem, the vehicles stock body and chassis is rotting away in PA. So being bored and frustrated with the current situation, i have decided to build a brand new chassis around my drivetrain.
The catch is that it needs to be PA street legal. This means, fenders, safety glass type windshield, wipers, lights etc..
What I have going for me is that I have a complete running donor vehicle with a stupid amount of horsepower. I also built, wired and tuned it myself. And even better, I work at a steel fabrication facility with welders, benders, press brakes, saws, 2 HD plasma tables and any other tool anyone could ever think of. I do project management and material purchasing. So i have plenty of contacts in the steel, aluminum and stainless departments and have a good knowledge of different materials like A500 ERW tube vs DOM tube, A36 plate vs A572 plate etc.. At home i have a MIG and TIG machine, air and a garage full of basic tools. I love projects, need to have on at all times really and I always wanted a tube chassis car.
From the donor car I'll be using:
Intercooler
Radiator
Engine w/turbo (may leave it off for enhanced inspection)
transmission
driveshaft
rear differential
engine front suspension cradle
rear suspension cradle
control arms
spindles
brakes
springs/shocks (but in coilover form)
axles
steering rack
steering wheel
wiper/turn signal controls
gauge cluster
ecu
body harness for lighting
bucket seats
fuel tank
What I'm stumped on:
Windshield choice, it needs to be laminated safety glass like a standard vehicle, and it needs wipers.
If i want chassis mounted fenders or spindle mounted fenders
If i should try and use my forester firewall, cowl, wipers and windshield, or just do all new
more to follow, but it will be slow to start until after my trip in October. Cars still fun to drive and all until end of season..