I've taken on a car project...

[Mephistopheles Janx]

and if it turns out that people find it interesting I'll keep updating as things happen and if not I'll let the thread die.

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The car I own right now is my favorite car that I have ever owned. It is a 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP which means it is a dead platform on a dead brand that was only made for 4 years. I have decided that I am going to do everything possible to make this the last car I ever buy yet still use it as my daily driver and my race car. To that end... I bought a membership at Copart to find a donor car that I could harvest key components from.

Copart is a site that lets people buy salvaged vehicles in an auction. I can look all over the US, see what is available, and if the state allows individuals to do so... I can bid on cars that are busted up. After a few months of bidding and losing I came across an auction in Arizona that sparked interest. It didn't have mileage listed because they didn't have keys so I did a carfax and found that 3 months before the wreck it was reported as 27k miles.

I bid $400 and won the damn thing. There were $432 in fees but then I needed to get it to Missouri. After much struggle I secured transportation for $921. All in all... I am into this car for $1,853.90 if you include the membership to Copart. The car should be delivered tomorrow.

My intention is to keep:

* Engine
* Transmission
* Limited Slip Differential
* Wheels / Tires (Nice Yokohama tires with about 12k miles on them)
* Several Interior Panels
* Harvest Modifications To The Engine, Intake, and Exhaust (more on that in a bit)
* Every last gasket and seal related to the convertible top (no longer produced)
* Undamaged Body Panels which happen to be the same color as my car
* Both Cupholders (which are ludicrously expensive on eBay and no longer made)

Sell:

* Convertible Top (expect to recover around $700)
* Seats (expect to recover around $500)
* ECU (expect to recover around $200)
* Tail Lights (expect to recover around $300)
* Steering Wheel Control Switches (expect to recover $50)
* After Market Radio (expect to recover $50-100)
* Catalytic Converter (expect to recover $100-200)
* Fold Down Visors (expect to recover $75-100)
* Passenger Side Airbag (expect to recover $100)
* Interior and Trunk Carpeting (expect to recover $100-$150)
* Speedo Cluster (expect to recover $75-100)
* Whatever else I need to sell to ensure I break even so long as it doesn't appear on the keep list such as body panels, door cards, and trim

Each of the above items has sold on eBay within the past month and the expected recovery amount includes fees and shipping. From there I would sell bits and bobs as I saw fit but everything on the keep list is untouchable.

So about those engine mods...



There are 4 things that are instantly visible to me other than the outright damage. Those 3 pipes that are the same color as the car are, by themselves, $1k in modifications. The two pipes on the outside are charge pipes for the intercooler with an external BOV. The one in the center is a dual cone CAI.

Outside of that... if you look down below you will see a slightly beat up intercooler that I am hoping has survived because that is a $700 upgrade from an aftermarket manufacturer. The same one that made the pipes. The question is... did it all survive (or at least repairable)?

I asked Copart to take a few photos from inside the engine bay from different angles and it gave me good news and bad news. First... the bad.

The dual shot air intake definitely took damage. It split at one of the seams as you can see in the photo... but the good thing about it is that this is steel thus re-welding that sucker, rewelding the brace, and slapping a sticker on it before installing it in my car is not out of the question. Oh... and new cones.



The good news (and it is pretty dang good) is that, at first glance, it looks like the other two tubes survived (again... will know more when the car is delivered) AND... not only does this have an oil catch can system installed. It also has color matched powder coated valve covers.

But wait... there is more! There is a blanket on the turbo (which is nice) but the fact that this has the aftermarket intercooler, pipes, catch can, and it is all from the same place tells me this may very well be part of the kit that includes the upgraded turbo that, when matched with that intercooler, can safely push up to 32PSI of pressure in that car. The turbo, depending on which one it was upgraded to, could be a $700-$2700 come up.



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In the end:

* Will have spent time but zero money
* I keep all the most vital parts to keep my car, courtesy of this donor, running for as long as I'm around and they only have around 30K miles on them
* Bonus Go-Fast Parts

What is left of the car will be put on a car dolly and basically act as storage for the remaining components and tires. I'll build a shelf I can place the car under and have storage space above it. Then I will be able to simply slide the car out any time I want/need to do anything with it.

[tooge]

Should be a fun project. Im currently doing a 1966 Bronco

[Peter Gibbons]

Nice find and a good plan going forward. I hope it all works out as you as expected. You have my admiration for taking this on.

[Cheater5]

Become obsessed with this project to the point it changes your personality.

Paint it candy apple red.

Name it Christine.

Report back in one year.

[Stryker]

Jesus Christ that is a work in progress! Turn it into GOLD! Interested on the outcome!

[stumppy]

Sounds like a plan. The more air in and out the more go go zoom zoom.

[Eureka]

Pontiac parts will be harder to find and more costly. Def a cool platform though.

[TinyEvel]

Doesn't the Solstice share a platform with the Saturn Sky? swap away!

(Though, probably 1/3 as many Skys sold than Solstices)

[BlackHelicopters]

Great work.

[HemiEd]

Much respect and it looks like a very good choice. Those things intrigued me when they were new as they were so against the grain of what was selling well at the time (minivans and pickups) and looked like so much fun.

As you may know, mopar restoration was my hobby and obsession for close to 40 years, but it is not my intention to make your thread about me, just sharing in your conversation. I ended up doing 15 of them. Once done, they became garage princesses and I would get bored and sell them, then start another one.

The pinnacle was the '68 numbers matching Hemi road runner and the last one was this power wagon finished a couple years ago.

[JimNasium]

I admire the approach. It’s so far out of my wheelhouse and threads like this always cause me to wish I had this skill set. I’m curious as to why you still want it to be the daily driver. Knowing how hard those types of miles are on a car, why not just get a beater to take that abuse?

[HemiEd]

This reminds me of the time when a wealthy customer was bragging about buying a new one to us at trade show.
The owner of our company and I looked at each other and were on the same page
This guy is way too fat for that car. Sure enough, he had so much trouble getting in and out of it that he sold it right away.��

[RedRaider56]

Good luck with the project.

A friend of mine and I did an frame up on 64 Corvette and I can tell you it truly becomes a labor of love. Our wives couldn't understand why we wanted to to the restoration but gave us space to do so.

Enjoy your new hobby to its fullest extent

[crayzkirk]

Good Luck! I started something like that with my 86 Audi 5000. I ended up with two more parts cars and after years of throwing money into them, I ended up donating all to charity.

If you live in the city, people won't like your hobby because a wrecked car in the driveway isn't your property, it's a nuisance.

[Mephistopheles Janx]

Originally Posted by JimNasium

I’m curious as to why you still want it to be the daily driver. Knowing how hard those types of miles are on a car, why not just get a beater to take that abuse?

You have a smoking hot girlfriend with an electric smile an ass you could bounce a quarter off of. On top of that... she is an absolute freak and DTF whenever and wherever.

If you are headed out... do you want your hot girlfriend on your arm or do you want to take her acne riddled - buck toothed cousin that everyone, not so secretly, calls Fatty Patty?

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I just don't believe in Garage Queens. I've never seen the point of having a car like this, or spending the money for a car like this, just to let it sit or reserved for Sunday/Parade duty.