Joined
·
33 Posts
Hey everyone! After driving around my pretty much stock 2004 xB for the last 2 years i have finally decided to go ahead and start my very own build thread.
So where do i start? I bought the box back in July of 2013 from a guy that had purchased it for his daughter but ended up not wanting it because she couldn't get the hang of driving a manual transmission. Anyways, the box had about 130,000 miles on her and a clean California title so we settled for somewhere between $4200 and $4500 i cant remember exactly. Pretty good deal if you ask me. The interior was pretty much spotless considering i am only the third owner (besides the very faint tobacco smell. i don't think anybody ever actually smoked IN the car), and the exterior was an 8.5/10.
(Here is the box the day i brought her home)
I bought the car with my new job in mind. I knew i was going to be commuting about 150 miles round trip every day and the Chevy S10 i was driving before really wasn't ideal. I didn't really have any mods in mind at first really because i wouldn't ever have time to do them (i worked super long hours 6-7 days a week). Only thing i did have done was the exhaust purely because i love driving a car with some sound to it. Fab'd up a custom cat-back Aero Turbine 2540i back in December of 2013.
(forgot to mention my box came with 14" stealies for some odd reason)
After that all i did was drive the car and kept up on the routine maintenance. Never a problem until the biggest problem of all hit me earlier this year; ANOTHER CAR.
So in late January of 2015 some idiot t-boned the front of my car as i was sitting still waiting to pull out of a shopping center driveway. He was coming into the driveway and must have lost control or something. He hit me going at least 20 mph. The result of the driver side impact was the entire front end of my car being jammed over to the passenger side. From the outside the damage didn't look too bad but after stripping the car down it was evident that the frame rails had been bent a considerable amount. After months of going back and forth with the boneheads insurance company i finally just took him to small claims court an won.
(this is what she looked like right after the accident)
(Before having the frame straightened)
All of that brings us to now. I just got the B back from the frame shop and she is ready to be put back together! while i have the whole front end stripped i have taken it upon myself to start gathering up any parts that may need to be replaced/upgraded within the next few thousand miles. Clutch, half shafts, motor mounts, control arms, sway bar and the rest of the suspension components because 165,000 miles is long enough to ride on stock shocks/struts/springs. Not to mention the parts I NEED to replace like the radiator, ac condenser, core support, hood, fenders, bumper and headlights.
So naturally i have decided that if i am going to put the time and effort into fixing this car up i am going to finally make it the way i want it to be and i am going to be updating this thread as i go. let me know what you guys think i would appreciate any and all feedback.
(Here is where she sits now. all straight and square ready for the pile of new parts i have to be installed.)
If it still appears to be crooked up front its because i haven't taken an updated photo since cutting out the old core support.
So where do i start? I bought the box back in July of 2013 from a guy that had purchased it for his daughter but ended up not wanting it because she couldn't get the hang of driving a manual transmission. Anyways, the box had about 130,000 miles on her and a clean California title so we settled for somewhere between $4200 and $4500 i cant remember exactly. Pretty good deal if you ask me. The interior was pretty much spotless considering i am only the third owner (besides the very faint tobacco smell. i don't think anybody ever actually smoked IN the car), and the exterior was an 8.5/10.
(Here is the box the day i brought her home)
I bought the car with my new job in mind. I knew i was going to be commuting about 150 miles round trip every day and the Chevy S10 i was driving before really wasn't ideal. I didn't really have any mods in mind at first really because i wouldn't ever have time to do them (i worked super long hours 6-7 days a week). Only thing i did have done was the exhaust purely because i love driving a car with some sound to it. Fab'd up a custom cat-back Aero Turbine 2540i back in December of 2013.
(forgot to mention my box came with 14" stealies for some odd reason)
After that all i did was drive the car and kept up on the routine maintenance. Never a problem until the biggest problem of all hit me earlier this year; ANOTHER CAR.
So in late January of 2015 some idiot t-boned the front of my car as i was sitting still waiting to pull out of a shopping center driveway. He was coming into the driveway and must have lost control or something. He hit me going at least 20 mph. The result of the driver side impact was the entire front end of my car being jammed over to the passenger side. From the outside the damage didn't look too bad but after stripping the car down it was evident that the frame rails had been bent a considerable amount. After months of going back and forth with the boneheads insurance company i finally just took him to small claims court an won.
(this is what she looked like right after the accident)
(Before having the frame straightened)
All of that brings us to now. I just got the B back from the frame shop and she is ready to be put back together! while i have the whole front end stripped i have taken it upon myself to start gathering up any parts that may need to be replaced/upgraded within the next few thousand miles. Clutch, half shafts, motor mounts, control arms, sway bar and the rest of the suspension components because 165,000 miles is long enough to ride on stock shocks/struts/springs. Not to mention the parts I NEED to replace like the radiator, ac condenser, core support, hood, fenders, bumper and headlights.
So naturally i have decided that if i am going to put the time and effort into fixing this car up i am going to finally make it the way i want it to be and i am going to be updating this thread as i go. let me know what you guys think i would appreciate any and all feedback.
(Here is where she sits now. all straight and square ready for the pile of new parts i have to be installed.)
If it still appears to be crooked up front its because i haven't taken an updated photo since cutting out the old core support.
