Engine swaps have been the lifeblood of hot rodding for near a century now and while we tend to totally freak out over the ones that make huge horsepower or engines that seem like they shouldn’t fit where they landed, this video highlights a more practical end of the engine swapping realm. Rather than stuff a turbocharged LS engine that makes 1000hp and can propel this vintage dune buggy over standing water, the 1968 Meyers Manx has a 2.4L naturally aspirated EcoTec engine swapped into the area where a weak little VW mill was living before. The result? About 160hp to the wheels on the dyno.
This doesn’t seem like much but it’s likely twice PLUS some as compared to the engine that was on the back of the plastic fantastic before. There’s no boost to deal with, there’s no nitrous, no worry of folding the connecting rods up like origami, or sending a crank out the bottom of the block. This session seems to have been used to fine tune the little engine and make it as drivable and as snappy as possible. We bet this Meyers Manx is now really pretty quick and hugely fun to drive.
Just a few simple dyno rips and man do we want a Meyrs Manx now.
