How Would You Build a JY "Hot Rod?"

[Gateclyve Photographic]

That sounds a LOT like this.....

http://bangshift.com/general-news/ba...wered-mustang/



Or you COULD get that stance by putting a straight axle under a Chevy II and altering the wheelbase..... Wait, that's been done too.

Good luck finding a WWII tank engine

In 120 years of gasoline and electric motoring, most everything HAS been done in some form.

[Monster]

In 120 years of gasoline and electric motoring, most everything HAS been done in some form.

Exactly .. which is why this thread will not generate any new ideas.
Although already done to death, I've always wanted to do an Opel GT with a blown BBC.

[Gateclyve Photographic]

Exactly .. which is why this thread will not generate any new ideas.
Although already done to death, I've always wanted to do an Opel GT with a blown BBC.

It depends on how one defines a "new idea." Adaptation of proven or forgotten ideas to a new platform or with a different twist can certainly create something that's not in currency and not ordinary. That's a lot of what the big celebrity car builders with TV shows and lots of magazine ink do. I submit that average hot rodders working on a budget can do the same kind of things if they're daring enough.

Example: We once bench-raced together an unwanted RB Mopar into a Japanese micro SUV . . . just for fun . . . Then one of the group built it. It took a fair amount of shade tree engineering to pull off. It was the only one around most places. While not a "new" idea, there were some who saw it as an eye-opener and it eventually sold for a nice profit. It was not the most creative project, but it was something that dared to be different. The Roadkillers have made a decent niche for their show cobbling together such mashups . . . .

Sorry if you're already disappointed, but at least we've moved the needle a bit off of everything in the JY is useless . . . .

[Matt Cramer]

V8 Swap Miata has always appealed to me. But just buying a C4 Corvette might be cheaper.

I've often thought a C4 Corvette with a cheap 4.8 LS build would be a pretty fun track day weapon. Get one with the Z51 suspension package, throw some good shocks and tires in it, and a wilder cam so it revs to the moon. Maybe save the TPI motor and put it in the donor truck to test my theory that swapping a 350 TPI from a Corvette and a 4.8 from a 2000s era truck would improve both vehicles.

[Russell]

I've often thought a C4 Corvette with a cheap 4.8 LS build would be a pretty fun track day weapon. Get one with the Z51 suspension package, throw some good shocks and tires in it, and a wilder cam so it revs to the moon. Maybe save the TPI motor and put it in the donor truck to test my theory that swapping a 350 TPI from a Corvette and a 4.8 from a 2000s era truck would improve both vehicles.

I really think Chevy missed the mark by not putting the 4.8 in the camaro. Kind of like the old 305 RS. I think a 4.8 in a Vette might be a good option for a fun fuel efficient commuter. A friend had a 97 Vette with the 5.7 LS 6 speed and it got 30 on the highway.

[RockJustRock]

I have always held two junkyard wonder combos based of two engines. Either a FWD car with a second drivetrain in the trunk or a station wagon with the second engine in the front seat and the driver in the back. The FWD ones have been done all over, the wagon not so much.

[Russell]

I have always held two junkyard wonder combos based of two engines. Either a FWD car with a second drivetrain in the trunk or a station wagon with the second engine in the front seat and the driver in the back. The FWD ones have been done all over, the wagon not so much.

I like that idea, get a 4 door so the driver sits in the back and couple two engines together.

[RockJustRock]

I forgot my swap-a-thon, also previously mentioned. Get a buggy frame, a VW, a Corvair, a small block Nova and a big block full size or truck. Move all engines left one space.

[Gateclyve Photographic]

There are some modernized derivations of the multiple-engine idea on the list . . . . Patience . . . .

[Gateclyve Photographic]

I have always held two junkyard wonder combos based of two engines. Either a FWD car with a second drivetrain in the trunk or a station wagon with the second engine in the front seat and the driver in the back. The FWD ones have been done all over, the wagon not so much.

Not two engines, just one really, really big one with a back seat driver . . . .

[oletrux4evr]

Geez, I'm so old-fashioned you guys make my head hurt.

[tedly]

This is going to sound familiar, maybe, but...

MN12 Thunderbird or Cougar (think the 90's models). Pumpkin and lower control arms from a similar vintage Mark VIII (IRS 8.8, aluminum). Cheap quick and easy way to power is to drop in a 5.0 that's been gone over, speed parts are pretty easy to find used, early versions of this model TBird had the 5.0, so computers, brackets, etc... are not too difficult to find. Brakes can be upgraded with Cobra calipers and rotors. Transmissions get tricky, due to hydraulic clutch requirement, but they are still out there. They handle great and are comfy to cruise in. When they came out they were hefty, but compared to modern cars not so much. Aero is slicker than snot on a doorknob. People practically give them away used.

[squirrel]

sounds like deja vu all over again

[Matt Cramer]

I really think Chevy missed the mark by not putting the 4.8 in the camaro. Kind of like the old 305 RS. I think a 4.8 in a Vette might be a good option for a fun fuel efficient commuter. A friend had a 97 Vette with the 5.7 LS 6 speed and it got 30 on the highway.

Chevy seems to have a policy of making weird decisions with downsized V8s. First it was the 307 - OK as a truck motor, I guess. Then there was the 262, built for the '70s, but couldn't pass '70s emissions rules like the 350. Next, they de-bored the 350 to make the 305 and put it in a Camaro even though the engine really didn't like to rev and would have been happier in a truck. Then somebody got the idea to revive the 4.3 liter size for an LT1 variant that has nearly been forgotten. Then the latest weird choice was to destroke the 5.3 into an engine that's happiest at 5000-6000 RPM bone stock... and make that the base engine for U-haul moving vans and other heavy trucks. I don't get it...

[tedly]

sounds like deja vu all over again

Some day it shall rise from storage shed purgatory.