Ok so the post title may be a bit misleading. I’m not actually going to tell you how to build a car from scratch, but I will tell you how to build a car from a starting point…an actual car. The wisdom I have to impart to you is how to build a car that will not only be fast but good looking as well. Although you may not think that this is at all possible just by looking at the cars with aftermarket exhausts hanging loosely under their rear bumpers and the incomplete body kits that run the streets, it is. You haven’t heard anything like this before, trust me.
Like the beginning of any build you’re going to need a starting point. A skeleton, if you will, on which to hang your numerous parts. Now I’m not going to go down the road of getting a car that can be good looking, but it isn’t when you get it, and you have to get a bunch of body work done, then you get a body kit, etc., etc. The point we are going to start at is with a car that is already good looking, because why would you buy something to drive that is ugly? Depending on how much people hauling you may want a two or four door car. Many cars come with a coupe or sedan option. So there’s your first spot of luck. To narrow the field and give you a picture in your head I’m going to use the 2000-2004 Ford Focus sedan as my jumping off point. I chose this car partly because I will soon have one, and partly because I will build it like this. You can choose other cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer, Chevrolet Cobalt and if you just have to the Honda Civic. All of these cars can be purchased in excellent condition good miles for around $5,000.
Make sure you get the nice engine and transmission combination. Manual is recommended but not mandatory. With the Focus the best engine in the first part of the American production was the 2.0L Zetec motor and in 2004 the best one was the 2.3L Duratec. Learn how to read VIN codes or engine covers to get the right engine and for the love of God do some research on the best engine for you build.
Now that you’ve got your car or have your car in mind, it’s time to do some work. Rims a.k.a. wheels are usually one of the first things that people go for when customizing their car. If I was a douche from some magazine like Import Tuner or Super Street I would tell you to do that so I could phone in my article and get to work on my own car, but I won’t, because I care about you. Just getting rims is a bad choice. If you like function, as well as appearance, just getting rims are stupid. They are usually heavier than stock and make the car sit higher if you’re getting a bigger size. My recommendation would be to stick with the stockies for now. Go for suspension. Not just lowering springs either. You’ll need some new shock absorbers, springs and anti-roll bars. Depending on how extreme you want to go companies like Eibach, Tein and H&R will usually kit and misc. parts to complete your suspension.
Now that the car is handling well it’s time for some rubber and maybe some rims. As I said before, function is key in a build. Only go with rims that are lighter than the ones that came on your car or are only a couple pounds lighter. Also, depending on the car don’t go bigger than 18” in size or your just being dumb. An alternative to this would be to keep stock wheels and put new tires on them that are more performance oriented. ZR rated summer tires are good unless you live in Seattle. If you live in Seattle then you might want to get an all-weather tire. Tire makers like Goodyear and Yokohama are excellent choices. The best website to find tires and some wheels is TireRack.com, they sell everything. If you’re going the stock wheel/new tire route this allows the saving of money and adding of performance to spend on lightweight wheels later.
So now the car is handling well and you’ve got some new rollers. Now what? Now would be the time to get your air intake, exhaust (full or cat-back), underdrive pulleys and short shifter. The first three add a little extra horsepower and the last is to quicken up your shifts. All these upgrades are very tasteful and can help a car perform way mo’ betta. We haven’t even done a thing to the exterior yet.
Exterior is a tricky thing. Body kits and be functional and garbage. I recommend a front lip or splitter to start off with. Both of these can improve handling (if installed correctly) and look pretty good at the same time. Body kits are weird, because unless you're going to get a widebody one or one that works they're pointless weight adders. We did assume that you liked your car in the first place, right? Use your discretion when working on the body of a car. Only do it if it'll help the car perform. A hood that lets heat out of the engine or a lightweight trunk (only front wheel drive) can be nice, functional, additions.
It’s a proven fact (what I think is cool) that cars with upgrades done to them gradually are way cooler than cars done all at once. Tasteful upgrades followed by increasingly more extreme ones are the best. Plan ahead and make sure you have your money lined up. Depending on how far you're going to take this project it is advisable to make hard decisions in advance. Whether you're going to go for big horsepower is a good question to answer. How fast do you wan to go? Will it be legal? Do I want to be legal? Do I want to look stupid or awesome? Answer these and you'll be well on your way to an awesome car.
Now go do it.
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