I have not been on to do a build in awhile so here goes! This is a commission build and it will be a targa, I have not done one before, that being the first of many firsts on this car for me and I want to share the experience.
First thing was to find a good donor, we looked for a little bit tried a couple M491's but one was pure junk and $100k not off to a good start. So after not being able to source the 491 we switched gears and started looking for a carrera preferably a G50, but, prices were pretty high and we did not need a minty car to just tear it all down! We did want a good car with solid body, as little rust as possible and as original as we could find. after a few more days I started really beating the internet bushes and found an 86 Carrera in Miami advertised for $39,500, kinda inexpensive right? The car had been on the site for a minute so I reached out to the owner and we connected he was really good about face timing me and answering all the questions I had. I booked a flight and within 8 hours I was on an overnite flight to Miami. I arrived about 10am and got an Uber to the owners house, he met me there a couple minutes after I arrived. We talked and checked the car, I tried to look under it the best I could but without a lift not much I could do. It did look to have original paint except for the left front fender and door. The interior was intact and not to far from original, car started right up and after a minute while driving it warmed up and I was really surprised by how well it ran and drove.
Well after that a bit of negotiating and we had a deal, I contacted my client and waited for the wire to come in grabbed some killer food at a Cuban restaurant, (thanks Rick!) then a hotel at the Hilton a few blocks from where the car was and took a nap as I had been up for close to 24 hours at this time. I woke up at 9:30 the owner said he received the wire and if I wanted to come pick it up, sure was my answer. He came and collected me and I drove back to the hotel went back to sleep for a bit but ended up getting back up before midnight and hit the road. Yes I was driving this car that I had known for about 30 minutes from Miami to San Diego on 9/11/2023, btw 9/11 is my sons birthday. I drove thru the night finally stopping at 10am in Chipley Florida at a Quality Inn, so tired I could not go any further. Let me tell ya it is not that easy to sleep at 10am even though I was dead tired!
I ended up sleeping for a couple hours then back on the road. Turns out my sister was visiting my nephew and had an air bnb on Dauphin Island, Alabama so that was where I was headed. I got there around 5pm hung out had dinner and back on the road, next stop Lafayette Louisiana. Didn't plan to stop there but at 2:30 am spent again that's where I stopped. Woke up the next day and remembered I had a guy there that I had met a couple years ago. It turned out I sold his brother a truck on BaT a few years before I met him. Anyway I called and he said lets go have breakfast as he lives 10 minutes away we met at The Coffee Depot and had southern breakfast with grits and mini beignets, yum! After breakfast we went to a sho[p nearby that was building a car for him, he bought a Z1 BMW on bat and was transplanting the driveline from an E39 M5 into this little car, first class fab and install but it was not finished yet.
I'll tell you this little carrera ran so well I had been cruising at about 110 for a while, when I pulled over for fuel I thought I should check the tire pressures and dates. Well sure enough the tires were about 13 years old, yowza! No more 110 cruising, dialed it back to 85 after that, but that car drove for 4 days like that. I drove thru all the southern states temperature was never below 90 during the day and 106 was the hottest, the temp gauge never got above 9 o'clock, ever! and it did not miss a beat. Averaged about 26mpg on premium, NO AC, No Radio but I had my wireless speaker and blue tooth. It was a great adventure and would have been better if I had more time. But I wanted to get back home and start on the build!!!
This is going to be a really high end build, wide body 4.0L monster, I'll start adding more pictures of what we're doing stay tuned!
The first 4 pics ar at Ricks house and the Hilton Dadeland around the corner from him.
The next was on my way to Dauphin Island, Alabama and my nephew on the dock at the air bnb. The next picture is Sequin Texas just before I got to the hotel. The last one was somewhere in west Texas about 104 degrees I had to pull over and just kick it for a minute.
