Menesing_Drifter

Hey everyone, I'm Brandon! My bad in advance if I write a novel here, I tend to get carried away when it comes to cars and going fast. Anyway I've been cruising the forums here for a few months now trying to gather as much information as I could before I finally pulled the plug on my dream project. Ever since I was in high school I have wanted to own a Starion. I seriously think it is one of the best looking cars made to this day and I longed to own one but I was enveloped in my past addiction.... Mustangs! I had an S197 for years and made it into a beast of a car. I showed it, I raced it, had it in SEMA a couple times, and even drifted it. Drifting is kinda my current obsession (hence the name) I was doing it for fun for a few years before I moved away to attend college. So now I've had to step back and focus on school, of course with the occasional messing around in the rain and track days. I do plan to get back into in hopes of competing in Formula Drift one day. With these current goals of mine I new my current car had reached its potential as a drift car and I could simply not afford to run it. So to everyone's surprise I sold the car I once said I was gonna past on to my kids one day and decided what I was gonna do. I was ready to finally get serious and buy a starion but there was a problem, I have been driving American V8 cars all my life and couldn't see myself driving a 4-banger. I loved the look of the body so much but just wanted to put a gnarly motor in it. After looking over build forums I was confident in my goals and well, I bought a SUPER CLEAN 1988 Starion in Oklahoma for a steal (I live in Texas when i bought the car ). Then shortly after I bought the drivetrain out of a F-body Camaro in the hopes of building the ultimate drift sleeper keeping my focus on drivetrain and chassis, while ignoring the outside for now. For now this is gunna be my daily driver and also take it to local open drift days but over time I plan to really build this thing. Right now the surgery is underway. The new motor is currently put in along with a whole new floor, role cage, custom tunnel, and many many other things. I'm super excited about this whole project and also hope to take advantage of all y'alls advice and knowledge as I am truly a newb to this car and the LS platform. The car is currently in Texas while Im living in florida but I am moving back California where the car will live and be driven daily.

This is what I got








First thing was to place the motor in the car to mock it up. I wanted to try and not cut into the fire wall as regulation for most drift competitions states there can be no modification to the firewall.




This obviously wasn't going to work... So we went ahead and cut the firewall



This gave us plenty more room to be able to work on the engine down the road and have space for a big radiator.





Motor mounts were next



It was decided to mount it to the A support so the motor can just be dropped and easy to work on as I plan to build the motor down the line. Its basically stock right now besides a few bolt ons.



These cars are know for there rust so I was lucky that this was the only rust I had to fix



Then one day I came into the shop to find that the whole floor was missing.





I was not very happy. This build was already 5 months behind schedule at this point so the fact that this was done without me knowing kinda pissed me off. I was assured that it was for the better though. This would allow for more ground clearance and would integrate with the role cage and tunnel much better.









I was excited to see some seats in the car, starts looking like progress.



Engine is sitting pretty too





Just last week I got this picture, it is finally sitting on the ground for the first time in 8 months.



Interior is finally coming along too













Thats all i got for now, I will keep this up to date as much as possible.

zTimbo

This escalated quickly in the first post

mahone30

iTrader: (3)

this is going to be a fun build when its done, in for more updates

GDL

Please tell me it was just a shell that you bought...

joyridin'

iTrader: (1)

I had a Chrysler Conquest I put a Mopar 360 in years ago. The 4 banger ran fine, but always seemed a little low on power. I drove it for about a year before selling it.

SWAGON

Absolutely loving this!! One of my favorite car designs of all time. Can't wait to see more progress!

army11b

Very nice builds. I love starions... that's one LARGE paragraph.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

MOAR!!!

Andrew

btlegacy

iTrader: (1)

I always liked Starions/Conquests and this one looks like it will be fun

PEPFAB

iTrader: (1)

always liked the style of those, too bad they were not offered in canada...

static low 92

iTrader: (2)

That chassis/cage work looks phenomenal. I like the the tunnel being integrated into cage etc. Killer.

I've always loved these cars as well. I would love to do an ls swapped one. But unfortunately looking at cost involved in swapping and building any car really, there are more desirable builds for me. And we can't have it all lol.


Keep updates coming

Isolde

iTrader: (4)

I remember driving one of those, a turbo 2.6 factory widebody with a 5 speed manual, it was more fun than I expected. Always wanted to try a twin turbo Magnum 5.2L V8, but finding the right car at the right price never happened.
If you get a chance, I'm curious if one of those stock 8-inch-wide rear wheels will fit on the front, without sticking out? I'd try a 225/50 on the 8s on the front, if it was mine. But back then 245/45R16s were still common.
I'll be watching your build with interest.