Porsche 911 Budget Build from Basket Case to Finished Car (Under $12.5k)

Almost three years of blood, sweat, and tears into one Porsche 911 budget build. This has been a challenging Porsche project because it started as an abandoned shell. I had to search high and low for affordable parts that I could fix or refurbish for my track car. It is street legal too.
Projects like these can rack up a big price tag if not careful. Everything I did was with a budget in mind, but I also care about build quality. This is a tough balance to manage well.
As you see in this video, there aren't many new parts going on this car. And there no sense in buying parts that aren't needed just for originalities sake. I wanted a minimalistic car, so a bare shell is a good place to start in my opinion.
This was also a good candidate to backdate because it will never be original again.

If you want to see more detail here is the entire playlist from start to finish. It's about 170 videos showing every step on this restoration.

Ahh Garage Time Email Stories:

Artist: FABLE
Track: Orbiting (Instrumental)
License: syncvault:yZPluofmAIIME5w2XTZ2VxWfI2n
Artist: July 7
Track: Waistline (Instrumental)
License: syncvault:6qyfoaIkPZOLkvEsYNZr8e74zv2
00:00 Porsche 911 Budget Build
00:12 Before Condition
00:44 Backdate front fenders
01:09 Shaping front longhood extension panel
01:38 Welding longer panels to short hood
02:02 Removing Rear Impact Bumper Parts
02:15 Improve rear bumper fit
02:27 Custom Aluminum Bumperettes
02:48 Add rear RS Flares
03:14 TIG Weld new flares and Plannish to remove distortion
03:42 Aligning panel fitments
04:02 Adding lead to door gaps
04:15 Replace Rusted Suspension Pan
04:35 Several items to strengthen chassis
05:24 Front mounted oil cooler scoop
06:01 Adjustable Rear Camber Boxes
06:33 Remove dents from the underside of car
06:48 Paint engine bay
07:01 Most of car painted in booth
07:15 Modify Fuel Tank for In-Tank Pump
07:55 Install Painted hood
08:12 Temporary 912 Engine
09:09 First Start
09:28 Install Doors
09:48 Install Glass
10:36 First Drive

[GarageTimeAutoResto]

Thanks for celebrating my Porsche's journey! This highlight video is the one to share with your friends and give a thumbs up!

[aliabbas]

The transformation of the car shows how smart, profisional and hard you worked on it .

[TAG]

Great work Tom. Time and patience always wins. A few dollars as well. Now drive her like you stole her!

[amraceway]

This build captures every cool Porsche feature.

[dannoyes]

One of the first things I did is watch this channel when the power came back (no thanks to Green Energy & corrupt politicians!)
Dropped my blood pressure about 50 points.
Your channel is one of the best... Thank you so much for this.

[toddybahama]

What an absolute joy it must be to road that car. So impressive. What an artist.

[rennch.]

Great job Tom! Lots of early fab in there that I missed! I can’t believe you converted a short hood to a long hood!Serious skills there!

[bisonuberti]

After watching this video as a whole it gave me a prospective of the quality it has become as a personal build. As the saying goes... when you want something done right... you have to do it yourself. The work you have placed in this build is just outstanding. Great fabrication work.

[dominicmccartan]

Nice little compilation of all your hard work and endeavor 👍🏼

[mikeemery]

Well done Tom. The adventure has been awesome!!

[jeffharrison]

So glad I found your channel a few weeks ago! I have enjoyed the binge watching. Lol. Great work. An inspiration for my rolling restoration I'm doing on a 72 Jaguar XJ6. Thanks.

[Bigguy]

Outstanding project! Cannot wait to see it. Congratulations. Colt

[NikosDIY]

I watch the video and recall all the steps you went through and how much hard skilled work you have put into this car. If someone sees only this is missing out a ton of amazing detailed bits, like the roll cage build, the fuel tank etc. Great job!
Wishing you justice from YT's algorithm.

[donrossi]

Very Cool Summary Video...!!! 👍👍👍
Looking forward for more...!!

[SF_Native]

Wow, really impressive! The end result will truly be a labor of love. My dream is to one day wrench on a Porsche with my son. Cheers.

[berponteberponte]

Awesome! Inspiring!!!! Absolutely mind blowing, literally from basket to actual car!!! By one man, wow. I would just adjust the door frame ( 10:41) to close that gap, and is a BAT action

[grantroberts]

awesome. 🤘🏼 thanks for documenting this entire thing. can’t believe you still have all the footage. you’ve created an online early 911 restomod encyclopedia - one i reference fairly often when different projects come up with my car.

[vinh]

You must be proud, I know I would be if I put this much time and effort in creating something this beautiful. Nice job Tom and looking forward to seeing more videos of this car to come.

[fillupmichaelhobson]

Looking at a nearly complete car like yours, it’s easy to tell oneself, I could do that. How hard could it be? Well, this video shows how much determination, sweat, and perseverance goes into a build (not to mention more than just a bit of skill and ingenuity). Congratulations on a project well done, and can’t wait to see phase two!

[dra]

An amazing journey Tom. Thanks for sharing it with us!