Building cars is not for the faint-hearted. It’s not something anyone can do, and the statistics of unfinished barn finds, decades-long car builds on stands tell that story. Ever wonder why the ‘Built not Bought’ movement is so cult-like? Anyone who’s completed a successful build without going broke, signing up for therapy, or giving up altogether understands why they deserve a medal.
There’s nothing like a perfect build. This is a story YouTuber Devin Niemela understands too well. It is never a perfect build for the builder, and it will always feel incomplete until they hand over their keys to the next owner.
Starting a car project build is easy either. Rebuilding one up from scratch is a whole different story.
Niemela has worked on a dozen builds since he started his channel - his girlfriend and best friend all drive his iconic rebuilds. But perhaps the most exciting project car he’s ever worked on is a 3rd generation Subaru Impreza WRX STI, nicknamed “SusTI.”
Like most project cars start, it always seems like a simple fix, and all he needed to do was an easy widebody. Well, the ‘SusTI’ name didn’t come by chance. He went from suspecting it wasn’t a legit 3rd generation WRX STI to doing a complete overhaul of the powerplant.
Eight months later, after a thousand man-hours of labor and tens of thousands of dollars in repair parts and upgrades, he’s unsurprisingly not satisfied with the build. There are still a few gaps on the body kit, it doesn’t drive as smoothly as he’d like, and there are a couple of pesky warning lights on the dash that need attention.
Car projects like this face problems all the time. It could be something as simple as a loose bolt, leaking fluid, incorrectly matched components, or complex as inadequate power supply and faulty generic parts.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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