Brandon's Rustbucket Resto-builds

[Brandon G]

Had another cool find at the junkyard shortly before they closed. 2005 WRX that had definitely seen better days. Ended up buying the car for $700 and parted out some of the goodies it had (STI interior/seats, Brembos, Tomei ExpremeTi exhaust etc)
















Sold everything except the SSR's which I've kept as ornaments for the garage.


And in turn, that money went towards buying more goodies:

JDM hatch redlines:




Jblood rear bumper spats:




Koni Race 8610-1437 front shock inserts



TRD rear short stroke shocks (no pictures)



Coilovers assembled: Shortened spindles, Tein camber plates, Swift 7kg springs, Ground Control sleeve kit, Koni 8610 shock inserts. Hayashi's make a nice makeshift workbench! :P

[JOshua a]

Man I'm so jealous

[devast8]

That subbie was awesome find at the junk yard!

[Brandon G]

That subbie was awesome find at the junk yard!

Yeah, that junkyard was super awesome in general, lots of cool cars and reasonable prices. I had some pretty awesome finds there (some of the highlights being an R32 sedan, R33 coupe, 2x WRX's, and a running 2JZ-GTE out of an Aristo)

I was pretty bummed when they went out of business.

[Brandon G]

Well, I suppose I owe an explanation for my inactivity.

So as some of you may already know, a few weeks ago, I received some very unfortunate news regarding my father's health. I was told what no teenage kid ever wants to hear about his parent, and it has thrust me into a very uncomfortable situation in my life. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer and as a result, can no longer work/function/provide for my family. So naturally, me being the eldest son, that duty is now mine. And to say the least, I was not prepared for that kind of responsibility. I have a dozen new bills that I need to figure out how to pay and my minimum wage part-time job just isn't going to cut it. My car hobby costs me an uncomfortably large amount of money and I've come to realize that I will no longer be able to sustain it.

I've spent every day for the last 3 weeks debating whether I should just give up and let it all go. It would kill me to do it, but it's gotten to the point where it's keeping me awake at night and I just don't think I can ignore it any longer. I have a family to take care of now. I think it's time to grow up.

[slipNslide4age]

The day has finally come. When hoarding becomes more of a burden than a fun hobby. Life hits hard and you learn to decide whats worth keeping and what to sell. Take a look at your list of cars and choose wisely, its not forever but itll take time for you and your family to get back on your feet

[Serendipity]

My condolences, Brandon. I agree with slipNslide. Don't sell everything, but certainly sell what you won't use on a regular basis.

I don't really understand people's need for more than one hobby car, but to each their own. I'm sure you can find one project worth saving. For the rest, I think you know what to do. I don't envy your dilemma, as I would be hard pressed to sell my one and only Corolla.

In the meantime, keep your head up, and be the man you need to be.

~Adrian

[Serendipity]

I also just thought of something that might work. What if you sold a project car to a friend with the promise of being able to buy it back later? Best of both worlds.

[projectae86]

Terrible news Brandon, No one ever wants to hear that kind of stuff. I’m glad you’re ready to step up though. Your family needs that, maybe more than you know. As for selling stuff I’m sure you will do what you need to, but I would sell of all the replicable items first, the Nissans and Subaru’s and what not. Keep your corolla until it’s an absolute must. Seems they keep going up in value anyways. By summer it will be a better time to sell it, if needed.
You’re well liked around this community, post anything you want to sell and I’m sure we can all help spread the word to other sites for you.

[Brandon G]

Well, I'm not dead.

A little recap of the last 9 months: Unfortunately my dad ended up passing away shortly after my post, just 2 days after Christmas, so that sucked. I'd never experienced cancer first-hand until then, and let me tell you, it ****ing sucks. I can't tell you how soul crushingly depressing it is to just sit there and watch a loved one die, knowing that there's nothing you can do to help them.

On top of that, my mother had a mental breakdown following his death so I spent the next 3 months working my ass off at 3 jobs doing 12-16 hour days so I could pay the bills and take care of my kid brother. I also found out that the banks freeze your accounts after you die. So since my dad had all the money in the family, that REALLY sucked. This also meant that I had to sell a portion of my parts since we had no immediate cash and no income (my mother doesn't work) I was pretty ****ing bummed in the months following. And as if that weren't enough, I had 4 more family members pass away, along with one of my best friends, all within 6 months. Needless to say, I'm pretty sick of funerals, 2016 was a pretty ****ty year for me.

On a slightly brighter note, I got back into my auto-wrecking gig over the summer. The junkyard I used to frequent went out of business so I've been buying wrecked cars from ICBC through a friend and parting them out instead. It keeps my hands occupied, and my wallet full, so I'm happy.

So after a few months of busting my ass off, I ended up recovering (financially) much quicker than I thought, so I decided to treat myself:

I ended up buying back some of the parts that I had originally sold.

Genuine TRD wing:




Along with a few additional goodies:

NOS OEM fog lights:


Just kidding. I wish I could say these were mine. I bought them for another member on here, who, for now I will leave unnamed to preserve the suspense. They cost a seriously pretty penny.




Brand new OEM hatch privacy cover:




Digital dash *insert Future/Drake quote here*



ARP wheel studs:



Scored this JDM zenki grill for my coupe for 5000 JPY on YAJ (this was the last piece of the puzzle I needed to complete the zenki setup on that car)



Traded a blue dash for this pair of brand new reproduction fenders from a guy down in Portland:






I decided to fully re and re my exhaust setup for the hatch. I wanted something quiet so I decided to go with a full 2" dual muffler system.

RS*R 4-2-1 header (fun fact: this header will actually also clear a power steering rack setup)



Trust BLS 2" catback (dual muffler setup, super quiet, super nice) I have to cut that stupid tip and take that cap off...



Custom made 2" stainless test pipe courtesy of Stefen:




I also decided to put my manual rack in while I was in there. I messed up centering the rack on re-installment, so I had to have it redone when I went in for an alignment.





URAS inner tie rods because they were the same price as OEM ones:




Messing around with my wheels... I need to buy tires for these things...




So yeah, this is basically how the car sits now.

[clay72]

Good to hear you are powering through. Car looks great.

Those fenders are an awesome score. Did you get your studs though Summit, or is there a better option? is300 studs?

[Brandon G]

Good to hear you are powering through. Car looks great.

Those fenders are an awesome score. Did you get your studs though Summit, or is there a better option? is300 studs?

IS300 studs, last I checked, Amazon was cheapest.



You guys remember that $700+ uber rare JDM OEM rear window shade I had? Welp, Mother Nature decided she didn't like it. We had a major windstorm last year that knocked the power out for 3 days and caused a lot of damage. One of the casualties being that very expensive visor...





Soooo I bought another one




This one now stays inside a locked box in my bedroom at all times and only comes out when I bring the car to meets...

[Harjeet]

Sorry to hear about all the loss you've experienced in such a short time.

It's great that you have worked through it and taken up the responsibilities in an admirable manner.

Happy to see that your hard work has paid off and you can enjoy some time with your cars.

Look forward to seeing more. I wish I could find parts the way you do!!

[Sparkie]

Very sharp, maybe more pictures of dual muffler setup?

[Brandon G]

It's been a minute. I have like 9 more Corollas now. I don't know if I should post about all of them in here.

I got some new wheelz for the black hatch. 14x8 -4 SuperStar SS-01's wrapped in 185/55/R14 Yokohama S-Drives.





Finally have the car where I want it mechanically and aesthetically. Rust repair will be needed in future, but no immediate plans for that now.

[Spence]

Dope **** mang.

[dano]

curious where did you buy the URAS inner tie rods? keep that build going!