For those who dream of building their own race car

Inspired as young boy by the CanAm racing series and driving hero Bruce McLaren, a man who was successful in both designing race cars and winning races during the 60’s and 70’s, Dick Bear decided he’d build his own "replica" racer, simply because he could. The first step involved researching and gathering all the necessary equipment, a process that took almost three years.

Called the McBearen, in honour of the aforementioned racer, Bear’s car is powered by a Honda Vtec 2.0L Si engine and will ride on a full custom chassis. The car’s primary use will be as “a street legal, sunny day driver that I can enjoy whenever I feel the need to silence the irritating whine of the rice-racers as they weave through traffic with their 8-inch diameter exhaust pipe extensions,” Bear commented. Funny then, that he decided to go with the king of all “rice” engines, the 2.0L Civic motor with Vtec Yo!

Slowly, scheduled tasks would be completed, a process that involved endless days of measuring, figuring, adjusting and planning the next step. Eventually all the sheets of aluminum and steel piping started looking something like a race car, however, the project is made all the more interesting when you consider that Bear has no formal training as a mechanic or engineer at all. Follow the jump to see Bear’s own step-by-step guide reposted on Metal Meet Forums, including images of the racer being built from scratch.