So I wanna build me a car...

Hey everyone --

I'm making a few designs of this car I want on my computer. It's not done yet - think El Camino-ish, but not really - and I want to build my custom parts, then somehow turn that into a car. I want it to run on electricity. I have no experience with working on cars any more than changing a flat tire. Would I be able to purchase the internals of the car, then assemble it?
Or am I just crazy?

Hope to hear from y'all soon,
Ethan

takes yeras of experience and tons of money. not worth it, unless its really unique and quality. Just go and buy one. There are better things in life

Or am I just crazy?



Yip.


Its a nice dream, but not one many people can expect to accomplish in thier life time.


Of course, if your crazy enough nothing is impossible. :sunglasse

It will take plenty of $$$. But i say go for it. thats my dream (to have my own car company), and i figure if i start early enough, i can do it. DO IT!!!

http://neonstream.us/car/car_1.jpg
http://neonstream.us/car/car_2.jpg
http://neonstream.us/car/car_3.jpg

Here's what my car looks like - could I get the engine, suspension, transmission, fuelsystem, etc. pre-built and then somehow attach my custom parts?

I'm sure you could. i just am not sure where. you could buy a whole car and just take off the body and set yours on. (that might be hard to find a perfect match though).

WTF is this? Are you on PCP or something?

What is up with you negative people?! How many of you have actually TRIED and subsequently either failed or succeeded at building your own car... Zero?

Of course you can build your own car. It does take time and patience. But certainly NOT a lot of money!

Here are photos of the car that I built in one 1/2 of my 2 car garage. It's called La Bala and you can read all about it at www.grabercars.com .

It's an original design, built completely from scratch using my own ideas, using simple tools and a little mig welder that weighs 1,200Lbs. I had never built a car before, but I read a lot of books, surfed the web for a long time, and then just DID IT. And why can't you do it? YOU CAN! :D

http://www.grabercars.com/gallery2/d/1197-4/IMG_0021.jpg

I have been working on the bodywork too, which is a lot harder than building the chassis. Here is a picture taken on Jan 12,2006.

http://www.grabercars.com/gallery2/d/3253-2/LaBala_Primer_Second_Coat_Day2+006.jpg

And another:

http://www.grabercars.com/gallery2/d/3256-2/LaBala_Primer_Second_Coat_Day2+010.jpg


Your body design looks very simple to manufacture out of mainly flat panels and it looks like it would sit well on a stock ladder frame from a pickup truck. You should look into that.

iam building a 1982 BMW 320i monster mouse 350 and a t56/t5

wow!graber

that is amazing!

do you make kits?i mean to sell to the public?are u even running a buisness or is that a one off?

i am amazed at that work man,mainly at the bodywork :O

amazing

wow!graber

that is amazing!

do you make kits?i mean to sell to the public?are u even running a buisness or is that a one off?

i am amazed at that work man,mainly at the bodywork :O

amazing
Visit his site man. I was amazed at it too.:)

yeah i id,but it shut down on me twice and i cant see the pics :dunno:

Hmm, odd.

You can't see my site? What problem are you having with it? I don't understand what you mean by 'shut down'...


I am definitely developing the car into a kit. But not oferring anything out to the public until I finish the prototype, develop the kit more fully and above all make sure that everything works as planned.

Right now you could say that I am just your average car guy building a sportscar from scratch car in his garage! :screwy:

it shows up,the skin and layout,but there arent any pictures,then it stops responding

i'll try tonight,i still need to reconfigure my internet,i did some crazy things,now sites i used to go on do the same lol


but it is great man,i seen a small thumbnail of the car in red>very nice

I've gotta say, thats pretty damn cool. Somewhat rudementary at first, but I think that will turn out to be a damn good looking car. Question, How exactly do you get into the engine right now? It looks as though you sealed it off with the glassing. I'm assuming the body is fiberglass is it not? Either way, I respect anyone who can do a body like that from scratch, cause bodywork sucks ass. To the guy who wants to start on his oldschool jeep/model-t car, I'd suggest looking into people who build dune buggys first. Basically, what you're looking at doing is putting a custom shell on a frame I spose. People who build dune buggys do the drive train and the frame and nothing else, thats what ya wanna be concerned with first. I've only done one buggy project, and revamped two cars similar to do doing a kit car. But It will take some time and money no doubt, It'd be cool to start young, but if ya don't have a great income yet, I wouldn't try to get past the design phase quite yet.

Coming back to the first poster, unless you're really sure why don't you work with upgrading a pre-built first? This way you'll gain more experience...