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It Runs! Project Snake Charmer


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Hey guys,

 On Friday a good friend and I started a project we had been planning since My wife and I moved to our new place. I had to pull the car cover off of my 1972 parts car to move it to the new shop on our new property. I was out side looking at the parts car thought how about a low budget autocross car. I texted my friend and said "how about a race car out of my parts car". His reply: "Then we need to put a 302 into it" He is a ford mechanic. I said sounds good. 

So for the last couple of months we have been talking different ideas for the build, but each having our own car and truck projects already (he is building a 1951 Merc grain truck onto a newer f250 truck frame with its motor and suspension making a tonne of hp)  never had time to actually do anything with our race car. He had a wrecked 2015 Ecoboost Mustang write off he bought. He was going to put all the 2015 mustang Goodies into his Fox Body Mustang. One day he said if our race car was 1600 lbs and we threw all the eco boost stuff into it it would be a riot! and so it began. 

The car is a budget build so cosmetics are not a priority. If it makes it fast on a budget then it is a winner for the car. This means using what we can find for free or cheap or repurposing stuff we have. The rough dead line for this build is not this summer but next summer where we can put more time in to the build next winter. So updates are going to be a while for one to the next.  I had to smile at how light the car is. We could literally slide it side ways in the garage by lifting it with our hands and sliding it over no floor jack needed. I could not stop smiling on Friday while we were working on the car!

Here is the Part one of this build:

Thanks for checking out our build.

Edited by white_cross
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Here is part 3 of the build: 

On Friday we got together to finish fabricating and installing the Riverside subframe connector. It came out really well and is super strong. Was a bit of a challenge welding the heavy gauge steel upside down on my back.

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Actually a friend and I are doing this one together so it is kind of a once a week hang out and build a race car enjoy a drink or two kind of deal. I take turns between the two work on one while I wait for parts for the other :).  I would like to be fitting the 1/4 panel on the other celica but Canada post not shipping stuff for their strike is keeping my door pins from Thailand from getting to my house. Need the door pins to line up the door to get proper gaps for the 1/4 panel. Hopefully we can have this car running by spring. Wont be pretty (think General Mayhem) but would be cool to get to an autocross or two with it this summer for a couple of shake down runs to see what will need improving over the winter after this winter. 

 

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How did I never notice that title for your build before?? 

11.5 @ 127 mph is the time to beat at the strip on street tires, after driving there with the AC blasting... just to set the bar, you know.  I'll work on getting you a proper TA lap time this summer.    :P

I'll have to pay more attention to this build now, you've got my attention.

Looks like you're doing a killer job so far!

 

Dason

 

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On 1/22/2019 at 3:27 PM, Rare Snake said:

How did I never notice that title for your build before?? 

11.5 @ 127 mph is the time to beat at the strip on street tires, after driving there with the AC blasting... just to set the bar, you know.  I'll work on getting you a proper TA lap time this summer.    :P

I'll have to pay more attention to this build now, you've got my attention.

Looks like you're doing a killer job so far!

 

Dason

 

Sweet Dason! Thanks for the statistics! I imagine on street tires traction is a challenge in your car for sure! We hope to be running it some time this summer. Probably not fully completed but finished enough do have some fun with.

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Time for the next update. we are aiming to have this car at the last autocross events of the season on September 21-22 I think? Tony is finishing engine bay plumbing and I am getting ready to get the 2015 IRS installed. No idea where this car will class but don't care at this point just want to rip it at the track!:

 

 

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Devin/Tony,

I've been following your Snake Charmer project since day one and can't count the number of times I've said "are you kidding me?"  You guys take on the impossible and somehow make it happen.

The latest rear suspension swap (putting a 2015 Mustang suspension into a 1972 Celica) seems to defy the laws of physics. But, again, you somehow managed to get it done.

Even the little things, as detailed in your last video on the intercooler plumbing, would bring mere mortals to their knees.

Snake Charmer is a cool name, but I think you guys should rename this project, or at least the car, to "PERSERVERANCE"

PS - never got a chance to talk much on Sunday but would like to get the back story on the Fiesta ST.  Seems like it's a dragstrip car that could easily be turned into an autocross beast.  Looked like you and Tony we're having a blast.

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I, too, am following this build with interest. One of my questions would be: Are you still within your budget?

Of course you can't put a price on man hours. But in my past I have tackled a few projects, and I have learned that my estimations as to how much something cost to build were always wrong. I am probably not the best mathematician, but at the end I often spent twice as much than what I thought it would be (which was already three times as much as I told everyone else I could do it for ;-) 

Realistically speaking, while including welding wire, cutting discs and pizza & beer, do you think you are still within your financial projections?

It definitely is a cool project, and it makes me wishing back my '76 Celica with the 2.0 TwinCam and four poorly adjusted 45mm Weber on it. To this day I still don't know why I sold it...

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Hey guys, I have been finding posting on here and keeping up with youtube videos is a bit much. So I currently I only post updates on my Instagram and youtube channel. so I have not been on the forums much. My Instagram @dadstoyfabshop you will see the most current updates on my builds. My you tube will have the same content just more in depth and typically a few weeks-months behind what I post on Instagram.  My builds are still in progress!  Covid has put a halt to the snake charmer build for like a year as Tony and I have not connected much. We had planned on being done last summer but covid hit and the car cover went on and it became a parts bench. Tony and I have made plans to start up again and hopefully get it out for testing this spring/summer.  Not working on the snake charmer allowed me to make a tonne of progress on my other celica show car build which should be ready for paint hopefully in spring time. 

@weebly thanks for the complements. Tony and I both agree that the "snake charmer" name needs a change but we just have not come up with a better one yet.

@Donrolandoforious  budget is at about $6800 right now. Totally right probably double the initial thought when we started the build by the time we get it on the track. As far as hours in it I have lost count probably north of 600hours at this point.  did your 76 celica have the twin cam 18rg? I would love an rg!

 

 

 

 

Edited by white_cross
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