So, hello all. It's been a little bit since my last post and life just kept happening. To start off, I've had this idea that I stole from a rendering that came up on a forum somewhere. It turns out that it's on the Google as well. So I have stored it away and been thinking about it for a while now, and it is time to turn an idea into reality. I bought this 2006 Scion xB a couple of years ago with the intension of this project. This thing had hit a curb in it's previous life and ended up with a leaky head gasket, which meant it was gonna be a cheap purchase (for me it was). I ended up paying $500 for it, running and driving (with the head gasket issue). 2020-10-18_08-27-36 by Jason James, on Flickr
I stashed this guy behind the building ,where I work, for a year or two. And once the fabulous gift from China arrived, our shop slowed down. This meant it's time to start playing. I yanked the motor and transmission outright away! Sold it, and now I'm in it for half. So......there are some people out there that will say" No..you shoulda kept it!". And here is where things are gonna get a little sideways. While these have a sort of cult following, it's just not my style. After messing with this thing, I get it. They are practicle, some what fun to drive, but they aren't FAST. And lets face it, project cars are not "practicle". For those who are going to want to argue that, please hold that and allow me to finish.
I found this rendering and I gotta say,......it spoke to me. Some of you guys may have seen this and some mit may be the first time. My intensions are to chop, cut, mold, and whittle this xB into this! Screenshot_2018-06-10-15-37-47 by Jason James, on Flickr
While the rendering has the rear tires illustrated on the outside, my plans are to have them tucked within the quarter panels. Also this shows the roof being chopped, that is not going to happen. I want to keep all of the creature comforts that this came with, A/C, heater, power windows, and the rear hatch to be functional so chopping the top isn't going to happen. That is whole mess that I don't want to get into. I have searched the Google looking for someone else project like this and I found a couple, one was a body work/stereo guy with air bags and a V8. The other one was a car show guy, stock appearing and a V8. But in researching them neither one told what was involved in this whole ordeal. Now I'm a drag racer not really the car show guy. While I appreciate those and the effort the other guy put into their cars, neither one is my style. So..........I'm gonna take a stab at it and try to make it what I like. This is going to be a long build process so stay tuned if you're intrigued.
First order of business is the front end has got to go. By being a drag racer its's all about power to weight. Took this by the truck stop as I was towing it home and after 2 trips I found out the the xB weighs 2000 lbs, no motor no transmission. After weighing everything as I removed it, so far I've taken 500 lbs off this guy. Next time I work on it I will be removing unnecessary stuff from the back end. 20201018_162355 by Jason James, on Flickr