buck531
New member
So this build started as a budget build (it still is). I bought the car for my wife in 05 or so. 90k miles. $4300. My wife drove it for a while and then my son took it over. About a year or two later the trans died. I got a trans from craiglist for $100. Dropped that in and two days later 2nd gear was gone. I told my son to buy another car as I didn't want to screw with this anymore. So the car sat for a good year.
I had a friend take the trans apart and rebuild it for $200 (total was $450) I pulled the motor (180k miles) and got a top swap from another friend for $200. Also got an XP cam for $200. Found some used 105 springs/retainers for $80 or so. Friend who built the trans had a set of SD headers for $50 so I scored those. Replaced the flex for $30.
I wanted to make this a budget build. My goal was 12's for $1000 including the car. That kinda blew out the window. Right as I put the car together and got it started, the brake line blew (the one that goes to the passenger front wheel). Found a replacement on amazon for $50 or so. Put that on and one of the trans cooler lines busted (rust). $30 later it was running. Then the starter took a dump. Friend had one of those so that's good.
I wanted a light exhaust so I decided to dump it out the side in front of the passenger tire. I had two maganaflow resonators and that was it.. It was WAYY too loud to drive on the street. So I got rid of that and put the 3" exhaust from my 03 onto the '99. I ended up doing a 2.5" setup on the 03 but that's another story.
Here's a few pics of the progress over the past year.
Yes, I painted the transmission chrome.. why not?
this was the exhaust I had on the car.. it's different now.
Then I gutted the interior.
got bored.
Swapped the drivers side power seat for a manual rack from a GP SE from the yard.
Found some ST springs on craigslist for $50.. Just installed the fronts.I left the rear stock height. Also had a set of GP wheels in the shed to get rid of the junk chromies that were peeling.
So fast forward to yesterday (Sunday). Finally made it to the track. Threw the ET streets on and made a few passes.
First one was 13.4, then 13.3, then the last pass was a 13.1 @ 103. I still have some tuning issues I need to figure out but it's a start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzouy9k2a7Q
I had a friend take the trans apart and rebuild it for $200 (total was $450) I pulled the motor (180k miles) and got a top swap from another friend for $200. Also got an XP cam for $200. Found some used 105 springs/retainers for $80 or so. Friend who built the trans had a set of SD headers for $50 so I scored those. Replaced the flex for $30.
I wanted to make this a budget build. My goal was 12's for $1000 including the car. That kinda blew out the window. Right as I put the car together and got it started, the brake line blew (the one that goes to the passenger front wheel). Found a replacement on amazon for $50 or so. Put that on and one of the trans cooler lines busted (rust). $30 later it was running. Then the starter took a dump. Friend had one of those so that's good.
I wanted a light exhaust so I decided to dump it out the side in front of the passenger tire. I had two maganaflow resonators and that was it.. It was WAYY too loud to drive on the street. So I got rid of that and put the 3" exhaust from my 03 onto the '99. I ended up doing a 2.5" setup on the 03 but that's another story.
Here's a few pics of the progress over the past year.
Yes, I painted the transmission chrome.. why not?
this was the exhaust I had on the car.. it's different now.
Then I gutted the interior.
got bored.
Swapped the drivers side power seat for a manual rack from a GP SE from the yard.
Found some ST springs on craigslist for $50.. Just installed the fronts.I left the rear stock height. Also had a set of GP wheels in the shed to get rid of the junk chromies that were peeling.
So fast forward to yesterday (Sunday). Finally made it to the track. Threw the ET streets on and made a few passes.
First one was 13.4, then 13.3, then the last pass was a 13.1 @ 103. I still have some tuning issues I need to figure out but it's a start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzouy9k2a7Q
