"zipfuel" (zipfuel)
04/13/2020 at 21:40 • Filed to: Aztec, Pontiac Aztek, Kill It With Fire, custom, slammed, Cheap
1
15|
"zipfuel" (zipfuel)
04/13/2020 at 21:40 • Filed to: Aztec, Pontiac Aztek, Kill It With Fire, custom, slammed, Cheap | 1
| 15 |
This ‘shop’ popped up on my Facebook Timeline last week and I really like it, so started thinking about if you could you actually do something like this for real on the cheap.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
So like you do I went Aztek shopping... And found barely any at all, here’s one on FB for $500 CAD, no year, no mileage, in what looks like a backyard junk yard in described as sorta running condition.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
For $700 CAD this one comes with the tent! They couldn’t be bothered to get out the car to take pics...
http://www.autotrader.ca/go/19-11418832
I’ve only seen a handful of Azteks in the wild, the last one was ahead of me in a McDonald’s drive thru and I had to admire the double glass tailgate and general unusualness of it all.
They’ve always kind of struck me because despite failing pretty hard it was at least interesting.
In the past I’ve wondered what it would take to “fix” an Aztek so it lived up to its concept car promise, y’know; big off road tires, lift kit, prerunner type offroad bits etc.
But that sounds expensive and foolish, clearly slamming it, adding big rims and a widebody is the better way.
There’s something terribly freeing about the idea of customizing a worthless car, you haven’t destroyed any value because there was none to start with.
Plus you’re free to take every shortcut out there. With that in mind do you think it could be done with cheapo scrap parts off GM platform mates?
#1 - Engine, I have to believe at least the FWD 3800 supercharged motor from the regal GS etc would fit this (those take boooost right?) I wonder if the subframe with the transverse LS motor from the impala SS would go? Seems like the 3.6 V6 with 300hp that went into base Camaros etc was used in its Buick rendezvous equivalent at one point which opens up a lot of options. Worst case leave it stock, we’re building a cruiser anyway.
#2 suspension: airbags would be best but that’s gonna cost more than the car, there apparently was a 2003 “Rally” edition (OMFG) that had lowered suspension so there’s already some stuff out there. Since there’s so little ground clearance already I’d always assumed these were built on the common GM sedan platform but turns out the lambda platform was only shared with the Montana minivans etc. I feel there must be some Chinese coilovers out there for this.
#3 Body - cut the wheel arches, 3d print some custom flares. LED light bulbs or projectors plus RGB underglow, silver exhaust tips and a big wing off Aliexpress. Plasti-dip, cheapo wrap or MAACO paint the thing then add a ton of clear coat layers and a heavy tint.
#4 Rimz - surprisingly large selection of 20" wheels on FB for less than $500, not all are hideous either, just most of them.
#5 interior - dear god it’s exactly the same as a 90s Sunfire in there but a flatscreen double DIN radio, some better knobs and Toni’s trick of wrapping the door cards in graphic faux suede and might liven things up. At least the seats look comfy.
What do you reckon Oppo? How would you configure your $500 Aztec (aside from with a gas can and match, that’s lazy)
Azrek
> zipfuel
04/13/2020 at 21:50 |
|
My poor cousin...his name comes up when folks are looking for me!
PyroHoltz f@h Oppo 261120
> zipfuel
04/13/2020 at 21:59 |
|
I don't hate a murdered out aztek....who'da thunk it?
PyramidHat
> zipfuel
04/13/2020 at 21:59 |
|
That...looks good.
To be fair, the 2nd gen Aztek wasn’t horrible...but by that time, the damage was done...
themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
> zipfuel
04/13/2020 at 22:10 |
|
I have long believed that if you took about a foot out of the total height of the body, but kept the wild angles and whatnot, you could make a really badass looking hot hatch based on the aztek.
boredalways
> zipfuel
04/13/2020 at 22:17 |
|
I would just swap a 3800 supercharged from a Park Avenue Ultra, use the front assembly from a Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, and call it.
ETA: maybe just swap the front and rear setup from the GXP. I like the LS4 swap but wouldn’t swapping pulleys on the SC offer more flexibility?
|
zipfuel
> themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
04/13/2020 at 22:27 |
|
I suspect there’s a bit of that going on with this render
here and any attempts to replicate this look would be met by an awkward jellybean shaped blob and a sad trombone sound
|
zipfuel
> boredalways
04/13/2020 at 22:29 |
|
That was along my line of thinking too. When
the baseline is 185hp and a 4spd automatic the bar for improvement isn’t set high...
Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
> zipfuel
04/13/2020 at 23:03 |
|
I think I’d take out the lights at the top of the fender, just leaving the lower lights. It’d make for a cleaner look. Otherwise, that’d be a sick ass ride. Really piss off the F-Body crowd, if there is such a thing.
Get one with the AWD system, figure out how to disengage the front axle, smokey burnouts. :)
coqui70
> zipfuel
04/13/2020 at 23:12 |
|
Yep ... if it had evolved this way from the concept it would have been a winner.
|
zipfuel
> coqui70
04/13/2020 at 23:32 |
|
Its
basically in line with the huge wheels on a fastback
sportycrossover trend that seems to be selling now.
oldmxer
> zipfuel
04/14/2020 at 00:54 |
|
and the pontiac trans van while we’re at it
Derpwagon
> zipfuel
04/14/2020 at 21:40 |
|
Thousands of pounds of tannerite and a Mosin Nagant.
And several hundred meters of distance.
|
zipfuel
> Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
04/14/2020 at 22:52 |
|
I feel like fwd burnouts may be the order of the day here as
there’s no way that GM minivan AWD system
is withstanding such abuse
.
Actually I just looked up how GM’s “Versatrak” AWD system worked and holy shit it was an analog
mechanical dinosaur!
Basically there were hydraulic pumps tied to the front and rear differentials, if the front and rear wheels spun the same speed no fluid flowed, however if the front wheels spun faster than the rears (ie slipping) then that speed diffence caused oil to get pumped into clutch packs either side of the rear diff to put power to those wheels....
https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/getting-to-know-todays-domestic-awd-systems
|
zipfuel
> Derpwagon
04/15/2020 at 18:34 |
|
I like your thinking, sounds like a good way to get on a watch list though...
|
Derpwagon
> zipfuel
04/15/2020 at 21:47 |
|
Th e government already knows me, consequences of being in the army.