Frankencars

Creatively, think $201X Challenge-esque, but street legal and more expensive. Do you ever get a silly idea for building such a car? I know I do.

'93 Fox body Mustang, Mustang Cobra IRS and 5-lug front, built and turbocharged 2.3 Duratec, SVO hood and rear spoiler, with 18in Porsche 911 wheels just to mess with people

'56 Chevy made front wheel drive with a Porsche 911 drivetrain

C4 Corvette with an Audi V10

'65 Impala with a full STS-V driveline and interior

Locost with a BMW motorcycle flat twin

Locost with Audi 2.1 turbo 5cyl

Add your own!

I'm doing one now....

My signature is relevant. Old outdated SOHC i4 "truck motor." Into a Miata.

FB RX-7 with an FC front suspension, WRX struts, 3-linked rear suspension using Nissan Pathfinder springs, Miata transmission, 13B engine made with as big a birdge port as can be done without compromising the coolant seals, FC internals, 12A end plates and GSL-SE everything else, with a Racing Beat intake manifold topped by a Holley 750cfm carburetor, converted to 1:1 linkage and used as the throttle body for Megasquirt EFI, fabbed motor mounts to mate the GSL-SE center iron to the FC subframe. And a Rotary Engineering header mated to a Racing Beat long primary exhaust system.

This is my daily driver.

For my next trick, I want to put Audi 12V heads on a 3.0l V6 aluminum block, mate it to an Audi 4000 transmission because the gearing rules, and stuff it into the front of a VW Fox, with MkIV Golf uprights welded to the strut tubes to get a better front roll center. Rear suspension will be borrowed from a Quantum Syncro, suitably converted to 5 lug if I can't figure out how to make the Golf4 stuff four-lug.

1987 Foxes are now emissions exempt where I live. The hunt for a suitable donor shell begins.

In reply to Swank Force One:

What engine your using, Swankie?

Mazda5 with a full Mazdaspeed3 drivetrain swap, including the 6-speed.

A 6-71 roots blower through the hood but a Pro Touring coilover suspension and 3-link swap on the Javelin, with 315's in the back and 285's up front.

A Catera with a 3.8/3800 hybrid in the engine bay, twin-charged, with all the Monaro body bits and a T56.

A 70 Gremlin, in brown, with steelies and poverty caps, with a 4.6L I-6 (258 + 4.0 = 281!), EFI, turbo, 727TF with a trans brake so it'll scrape the back bumper on the street.

A bone yard twin turbo Jag V12, in a mid-late 50's sedan, painted like a period stock car.

My current obsession is a Mercedes W123 wagon with a LSx and T56.

I wanted to swap the drivetrain from my '91 Honda RealTime 4WD wagon into a CRX.

JeffHarbert wrote: Creatively, think $201X Challenge-esque, but street legal and more expensive. Do you ever get a silly idea for building such a car? I know I do.

That's exactly my thought process and end goal for the Zetec Europa. It should certainly be fast enough to keep me entertained(the numbers look like it should have similar performance to an Exiege ), for less than the cost of a new Kia. So while the build its self won't be anything that hasn't been done before, the fact there are so few Europas in running/driving condition will make it real oddball regardless.

78 MG midget with tube frame RX7 running gear and silly fat flares... Oh wait

63-64 falcon on miata subframes with a ecoboost 1.4l

1938 dodge brothers in 3/4 ton 2wd diesel dodge chassis with six speed trans (on the tree if possible) on bags

I have a few others rattling around in my head.

302 with auto transmission and FI.

Miata control arms, suspension and brakes. (Not using the frames)

Custom tube frame to pick up Miata bits.

Drop MGB body over frame and suspension

Add flares as needed.

Keith beat me to most of this with the LS1 MGB GT. What he inspired me to do was not force myself to work around the MGB unibody bits.

MazdaSpeed 6 drivetrain in 323 GLX.

Same drivetrain under Focus.

EVO drivetrain swapped around so the engine is in the back with a transfer case running a driveshaft to a flipped diff up front on a Geo Metro or Geo Storm.

Saab 93x AWD drivetrain under a Cobalt SS.

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to Swank Force One: What engine your using, Swankie?

F2T, naturally!

JFX001 wrote: A bone yard twin turbo Jag V12, in a mid-late 50's sedan, painted like a period stock car.

OH MY.

I like this.

92-95 Civic (emissions exempt here in NC) with VW 1.2 TDI from the European Polo.

Pre-Ford Mazda B-series pickup, Mercedes OM617, GM 6L50, redrilled hubs, Ansen wheels.

Miata with GM 2.8 V6. (Heresy, maybe, but I've always loved the sound of the 60 degree V6.)

E36 with Vortec L33 and T5.

85 fiat spider body, abarth front suspension, vw rear brakes, porsche 915 transaxle, Subaru twin turbo ej20

My impending Challenge car. 1987 Pontiac Firefly (Chevy Sprint). SBC, TH350, narrowed 10-bolt. I'm into it for $1400 so far.

I've always wanted to do a Toyota (Lexus) 1uzfe into a Volvo 242 with a T56 manual transmission.

JeffHarbert wrote: Creatively, think $201X Challenge-esque, but street legal and more expensive. Do you ever get a silly idea for building such a car? I know I do. Add your own!

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/2130/

SkinnyG wrote: My impending Challenge car. 1987 Pontiac Firefly (Chevy Sprint). SBC, TH350, narrowed 10-bolt. I'm into it for $1400 so far.

That should be a runner! I really like it.

My, Swap Meet King (street legal), Frank'en'bination:

Moldy 57 Morris Minor, Rear Twin Turbo, intercooled, 5.3l L33, Megasquirt, Full Frame, Automatic, Mark VIII 8.8" IRS, Explorer Posi w/ 31 spline stubs, Crown Vic P71 3.27 gears X 25.6" height tires X 1:1 transmission X 6,500rpm = Parachute, 5X4.5" pattern, 315/275 V710's, Lots and lots of aluminum... That is enough. The rest (best part) is a secret.

O' Yea, Sumter Fla, Swap Meet is Saturday.

The 928 thread got me to thinking. Strip one to its shell and treat it like a street rod project. C5 transaxle, LSx or Coyote (or heck, a 5.0 or L98), gut the interior, replace the dash with a fiberglass job (I'm thinking early 911-esque), rewire the whole thing, and top it off with some Vintage Air bits.

Street Prepared Mercedes Benz W115 Coupe with OM603 and lots of power

Post facelift, coil on plug, manual Jaguar XJS coupe with supercharger from DB7 and mucho suspension upgrades.

Morgan three wheeler style locost with Moto Guzzi motor

Take run of the mill '0Xs Taurus and a MN12 Tbird. Keep taurus looking stock (especially the interior) and shove the 4.6 and IRS beneath the taurus. I want an Aussie Ford Falcon.

Volvo S40 t5 AWD powerplant and drivetrain into mazda3 hatch

Knurled wrote: FB RX-7 with an FC front suspension, WRX struts, 3-linked rear suspension using Nissan Pathfinder springs, Miata transmission, 13B engine made with as big a birdge port as can be done without compromising the coolant seals, FC internals, 12A end plates and GSL-SE everything else, with a Racing Beat intake manifold topped by a Holley 750cfm carburetor, converted to 1:1 linkage and used as the throttle body for Megasquirt EFI, fabbed motor mounts to mate the GSL-SE center iron to the FC subframe. And a Rotary Engineering header mated to a Racing Beat long primary exhaust system. *This is my daily driver*. For my next trick, I want to put Audi 12V heads on a 3.0l V6 aluminum block, mate it to an Audi 4000 transmission because the gearing rules, and stuff it into the front of a VW Fox, with MkIV Golf uprights welded to the strut tubes to get a better front roll center. Rear suspension will be borrowed from a Quantum Syncro, suitably converted to 5 lug if I can't figure out how to make the Golf4 stuff four-lug. 1987 Foxes are now emissions exempt where I live. The hunt for a suitable donor shell begins.

Pete? Also, I didn't know you ran WRX struts...

I realized the other day that a suprising number of my cars have had engine swaps - LS1 in an MGB, L33 in a Miata, MSM engine in a 1990 Miata, Subaru engine in a Vanagon and well, the the Locost. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the Cadillac (6.0 LS engine from an Escalade) and the old Land Rover (there's a Discovery for sale next door). I have a sickness.