Although I've always had a knack for tinkering and building throughout my life, it was in 2019 as a rising senior in high school that my passion for engineering really took off.
After a couple months of searching I took a leap of faith and bought a 1986 Porsche 944 for $1700. It was as far as I could stretch my budget at the time given my part-time job hosting at a restaurant.
It was in a rough state with 200,000+ miles on the odometer before the odometer gears had broken and stopped recording. Although I had never worked on this scale before, I was determined to learn and make my dream a reality. I bought some cheap tools from Harbor Freight and Amazon and went to work climbing the learning curve.
Even after an initial round of basic maintenance and fixing known problems with these cars, the car was unreliable. To make things worse, after only around 20 miles of intermittent driving my timing belt snapped and my engine broke.
In response, I bought a parts car for $1000 and brought it home on a U-Haul trailer. I worked more shifts at the restaurant, bought more tools, read more forums, watched more videos, and eventually pulled both engines out.
From there I went all in. Engine rebuilds, suspension and brake overhauls, interior replacements, paint. Everything to turn this car into a daily driver.
6 years and almost every spare dime I have made through co-ops and part-time work later, and my 944 is finally out of the garage. More than anything, this car has taught me perseverance and the value of hard work.
I made more mistakes than I'd like to admit and spent more time fixing those mistakes than I can count up.
If you have any questions about the journey, please ask! I am always happy to talk about the adventure that this car was and will continue to be.