Category: Project Cars
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The Peugeot 106 Rallye: The French Hatch I Didn’t Know I Needed
Some cars come with stories built in. Others start writing the story the moment they land in your garage. My new project car, a 1995 Peugeot 106 Rallye, somehow manages to do both. It’s a featherweight ball of French energy that has already captured my heart, despite being nearly as old as I am. This
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From Rust Holes to Recaro Seats: My Journey Learning to Weld
There’s nothing quite like the sinking feeling you get when you jack up your project car and discover that your floor has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese. That’s exactly what happened to me with my 1981 BMW 3-series, a car I’d been nursing back to health one weekend at a time. What
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Project E21 Part 4: The Road Home and a New Chapter
If you’ve been following along with Project E21, you probably know by now that things rarely go according to plan. Part 1 was about falling down the rabbit hole. Part 2 was a war against grime and regret. Part 3 brought an engine swap that almost, but not quite, worked. And here we are at
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Project E21 Part 3: Engine Swap Setbacks, Small Victories, and a Change of Scenery
There’s a special kind of joy that comes with hearing your project car come to life for the first time after months or in this case, years of setbacks. If you’ve been following along with Project E21 on The Late Brake, you already know that Part 2 ended in a mess of engine trouble and
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Project E21 Part 2: The Devil is in the Detailing
After the initial excitement of purchasing my E21, reality set in as the first major challenge reared its head in the form of obliterated engine internals. Part two of my journey is all about overcoming challenges, namely, the unexpected engine issues that turned my project into a full-blown mission. But as any car enthusiast knows,
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Project E21 Part 1: The Beginning of My Descend into Madness
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by classic BMWs. There’s something about their design, simplicity, and focus on driving that sets them apart from the rest. I regrettable sold an e30 1991 318is about 12 years ago for $1200 and it has haunted me since. About 8 years ago I was
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GTI Series Part 8: Upgrading by Downgrading
It’s been a while since I last shared an update on my Project GTI. Like many ongoing things in life, progress isn’t always linear, and sometimes it takes a step back to realize where improvements can be made. Over the past few months, I’ve learned a valuable lesson—more modifications don’t always equal better performance. This
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GTI Series Part 7: New Brakes, New Wheels
The Late Brake is back with another GTI update. This time we actually fix the car and realize just how bad the brakes were after that track day at COTA almost a year ago. If you haven’t been following the series, long story short, make sure you have good brake fluid and brake pads rated
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GTI Series Part #6: Adding Roll Center Correction
The last time you heard about the GTI, I was limping it home from COTA after melting the brakes. Not literally, but pretty damn close. As it turns out, I’m an idiot. I’m not sure if something changed between my research and buying them or if I was wrong the whole time, but I thought
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GTI Series Part 5: Aero Modifications
As an avid car enthusiast, I’m always looking for new ways to modify my cars. Over the last few years, I have focused mostly on performance-specific upgrades. After waiting a very long time for the release of some new parts, I’m finally ready to share my thoughts on the new lineup from Aerofabb. Aerofabb is
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GTI Series Part 4: New Parts, New House
It’s been a long time, but I’m back! It’s been a crazy few months, but I finally was able to purchase my first home and have an actual garage to work in again—no more shitty apartment living for me. And, I return to The Late Brake with not just a home but with the holiest
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Should you Ceramic Coat your Wheels?
Recently, I purchased a brand-new set of wheels for my GTI. With my crazed addiction to cars, I decided that it was high time I got myself a set of wheels that would generally be out of my price range. I opted for Neuspeed’s RSe10 wheel in satin bronze. Perfect offset and color for the
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Need Some Project Car Inspiration? Here Are the Best Project Cars to Follow
Need Some Project Car Inspiration? Here Are the Best Project Cars to Follow The best way to get the extra kick to get your own project done, is to watch someone else completing theirs. It gives you a sense that it is possible to put together the heap of parts in your garage. I compiled
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GTI Series Part 3: Lions, Tigers, and Handling Upgrade, Oh My!
Now that you’ve upgraded the power of your GTI, you have come to the right place. Handling modifications are often the most overlooked upgrades, but they are the most effective. These mods are genuinely where you get the most performance from your car. If you don’t believe me, watch this race between a classic Mini
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Why You Need a Project Car?
They are expensive. They are painful. They are annoying. But nothing worth doing is rarely easy. The Project Car is a rite of passage for any self-proclaimed car enthusiast. Most dive into this world for the actual car part, but there are hidden benefits to project cars that many overlook. The most important part of
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GTI Series Part 2: Easy Power
One of the first things I did with my GTI added more power. The MK7 platform, specifically the 2.0T EA888 Gen 3 engine, is one of the more upgradable engines. It won’t make 2JZ power in stock form, but you can crank out some killer numbers with some simple modifications. I added a few items
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GTI Series Part 1: Why you should buy a MK7 GTI
When it comes to deciding what is the best enthusiast car for the money, the answer is always GTI. The Mk7 GTI specifically that is. Back in 2016, I was fortunate enough to be able to cash in on a post-dieselgate priced GTI at the dealer. At the time, I was just happy to get
The Late Brake 