The Cars
Two platforms, one purpose: learn cars, learn engineering, and build toward the business.
Audi A4: the daily that earns its keep
My 2005 Audi A4 is a daily driver that doubles as a classroom. It's currently getting my first full engine rebuild, done properly: parts researched and sourced, torque specs verified against factory documentation, and the engine built on a stand rather than rushed in the car. Timing, flywheel, and clutch are the last steps before it goes back in.
The valved exhaust
Before the rebuild, the A4 got a valved exhaust I designed and built myself. That meant cutting and welding the piping (and learning the hard way why you tack weld before committing instead of eyeballing it), wiring up remote electronic valve control, and later diagnosing an actuator failure where a cheap heat barrier melted the motor. I rebuilt it, ran the numbers, and replaced it when replacement proved cheaper. The result is the part I'm proud of: everything tucked away with no rattles, and a seamless transition between quiet and loud. Full build evidence is on the Instagram.
BMW E36: the long game
The E36 is a project car in the most honest sense: it breaks constantly, and fixing it is the point. After almost three years of ownership it's finally running with no oil leaks. The chassis still needs work, including repairs at the jack points, fresh bushings, and engine mounts, and that's all part of the plan.
The supercharged M54 swap
The real build is sitting in front of the house: a spare M54B30 in teardown, with fresh bearings on the shopping list and an Audi 3.0T water-cooled supercharger already purchased and waiting. The plan is to build the blown M54 on the stand, swap it into the E36 as an OBD2 conversion, and run it on the MS43 ECU, effectively convincing the car it's an E46 so it can be tuned with well-documented open resources. Forced induction, engine management, and platform integration, all on my own hardware.
Why bother
Every hour in the garage is deliberate practice. These cars teach the diagnostics, fabrication, and systems integration that classrooms can't, and they're the working proof behind Carson.Engineers. Watch the builds unfold on Instagram.