So let’s say you are a former motorcycle road racer, a Wisconsin native, a guy in need of a project car, and pretty darned good with your hands and a set of tools. How do you stay entertained through the long winters in the land of the cheese heads? You score a 1969 Javelin project and completely rebuild it over the course of a couple years. 

BangShift member Mike343Sharpstick is the man with the plan behind this car. He bought it from the original owner who was a co-worker of his. The car had been lovingly cared for but not used very often by the time Mike got his mitts on it, so he was expecting a pretty solid foundation to begin his project with. Unfortunately those hopes were dashed when he stripped the car and found it to be about 10 minutes from rotting in half.

Where others may have thrown in the towel, Mike dug in his heels and made a plan. He found a shell from the west coast that was not rusty and began the long and arduous process of swapping all the good stuff from his original car over. The coolest part of this deal for us is that Mike is doing all the work in his home garage (aside from the paint and body, which were handled by professionals). There’s dozens of photos in this thread that show the car from start to finish, well, not quite finish as Mike has the car evolving in phases. He’s been driving it for a year now and enjoying the car with his family, but like the rest of us, he’s always messing with something.

If you pick up the story from the end and work back toward the front, you’ll see that Mike is in the closing stages of a manual transmission swap. The road racer in him wanted a stir stick badly, and he assembled the transmission himself and completed the installation of the unit and all the associated parts by himself. Greatness.

We also dig the fact that Mike has a good plan on the power side as well. The car currently has a 343 AMC V8 in it which is not a firebreather, but provides a nice balanced powerplant for the capable Javelin chassis. Mike is trolling for a 401 to build for the car, because AMC power is the only option for this machine. While the 401 will provide a lot more tire shredding power, the 343ci engine should be a laugh riot for the current time with the stick behind it.

Hit the link below to learn about a truly great 1969 Javelin build from the land of the NFL Champs!

Project Car Build Thread: A Ground Up 1969 Javelin Build