Bad Automotive Ideas That You've Always Wanted To Try

Big block in my wagon. Ive already done a few small blocks and turbo 2.3 foxes. Smallblock with easily fill all my needs cheaper but bigblock.

Always wanted an early 90s taurus with 16inch steelies, mildly built 3.8 and a 3-4 inch drop.

Another escort (preferbly wagon) with a bp and better axles.

75-79F150 2wd with the 300 i6. Brake upgrades, intake/cam/exhaust, load range E all terrains and a good hitch for DD/hauling duty.

In reply to Nick (LUCAS) Comstock: I really like the way you think.

Without thinking about it too hard, I always wondered if:

1. You drop a fully-charged car battery off a bridge, will it explode with flash when it hits?

2. If you take a carbureted-engine car and coast down a hill backwards, and drop the clutch when you're in first gear, will the engine start and run in reverse? I assume not, but still fun to think about.

Yes I am a bit twisted.

I know someone with a 4-rotor Mazda engine... boy, the possibilities...

So, I came to the realization that, thanks to the place I'm at in life and the realities of depreciation, I can afford to buy a Cayenne with a V8. Because one of the other realities is that I probably need (deep breath, slowly in, slowly out... slowly in, slowly out...) a truck (breathe in... breathe out...) and they have a crazy high tow rating.

So $15k eight year old Porsche SUV, what could possibly go wrong?

Lincoln Continental Intech 4.6L V8 swap +100 shot of nitrous into a ratty '96 Taurus GL. I was actually pretty far down the rabbit hole on this one at one point. My grandma had one and I was itching to borrow it to take various measurements to see if it would clear the Taurus hood.

Stripped down it should weigh close to 3000 lbs.

For the money I spent on the MX-5, I could have instead bought an early Cayman. Probably best that I did not.

Reply to KB58: The engine won't run backward unless you install a camshaft designed to do just that. There has been much experimentation with reverse rotation engines in the circle track world. I thought the title to this thread was BAD automotive ideas. So far most of these ideas are anything but bad. I've always wanted a RWD Eclipse. Bonus points if it were V8 and rwd. Even more points for forced induction.

ncjay wrote: I've always wanted a RWD Eclipse. Bonus points if it were V8 and rwd. Even more points for forced induction.

Ask and ye shall receive

In reply to ncjay:

Diesels will run backwards. The old mechanical injected ones will any way. But they are sucking air through the exhaust so it's probably not great for the engine.

Great! That makes me want to do one even more. I'd like to keep mine street legal though and engineer it more for road racing. Nice to see that guy keep the factory dash in place. A little bit of work, that could be one ultimate sleeper car.

Independent front and rear suspension from an Explorer, a T-5 from a Jeep, find a transfer case with a differential in it that bolts to a T-5, Turbo a Zetec, put in a blender for two minutes on high, and install into a Fox body. A four door would work but so would a LX Mustang.

I've always wanted to get a small block Chevy with a dual quad setup on it and run two completely different carbs on it to fight for supremacy. Doing this with one carb and a TBI setup on the other pad would be funny too.

I also have this twisted image of getting two throw-away SBC's on separate test stands, attaching long throttle cables to both that can be actuated by hand, and getting a friend to challenge me to see who can make the poor thing vomit a rod faster. Beer would be involved.

A couple bad ideas I've thought of that don't seem to go away:

1. Older Camry, preferably beige or gray. Swap in a 3S-GTE with drivetrain from a RAV4, boost to the moon, put dumbest stick family sticker I can find on back window.

2. Clone the Men In Black Crown Vic using Coyote motor instead of alien technology. "Fasten your seat belt."

This

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Bigass hotrod sort of build made out of a Dodge Cummins truck.

and also this

84FSP wrote: Ls3 swapped RX8 for a daily....

you wierdos are reading my mind

A buddy always wanted to take an old Chevy van and stick a 427 and 4x4 transaxle in the back, add 4 racing seats, and do the Baja 1000 with three of his buddies. Still seems like a good idea.

Most of my bad ideas involve old Escorts, RWD drivetrains, and turbos.

It would be a lot of money sunk into a crappy car that wouldn't ever be worth anything and it probably wouldn't ever be that fast compared to cars I could by for less $$.

But man, it would be cool.

ncjay wrote: Reply to KB58: The engine won't run backward unless you install a camshaft designed to do just that. There has been much experimentation with reverse rotation engines in the circle track world. I thought the title to this thread was BAD automotive ideas. So far most of these ideas are anything but bad. I've always wanted a RWD Eclipse. Bonus points if it were V8 and rwd. Even more points for forced induction.

Engines with carbs and huge cams will run backwards when you shut them off. The throttle is open a bunch and the exhaust is full of raw fuel, and with hot spots in the chambers, you shut them off and they kick back and run backwards on the fuel in the exhaust for a few seconds.

I think it would be fun to build an all out GM Iron Duke.

In fact, I think it would be fun to have an all Iron Duke racing series. Any vehicle that came with one is elegable, engine must be in the same orientation as the vehicle was built. Must be a production body/chassis (no tube frames). Must have an actual GM production block, crank and head, modifications to those parts are permitted. All else is open. Forced induction is OK, dry sump is OK, engine setback on the RWD models is OK (as long as its still in the engine compartment). Any gearbox that keeps the correct driveline configuration is OK.

So any number of cars and small trucks could get in on this, IIRC there were even some AMCs that used the Iron Duke. I think I'd go for an F body, but I would see which, if any, AMCs are elegable first.

I just want to own a 2001-02 XJR. The only thing stopping me is logic. The cars are cheap to buy, buy keeping it going, oh my...

Most of my craziest automotive ideas aren't bad other than in the amount of work and/or money they'd require, but there are a couple that stand out:

• Building a real-life Cyber Formula car. Maximum budget, maximum tech, minimum safety considerations. Required technologies include extensive variable aero, "rally mode" transformation (more ride height, more travel, different overall spring rate, flip-up fogs hidden somewhere), big crazy engine, a big satisfying lever that activates a crazy boost in power (scramble boost mode would do, but bonus for axial turbines or rockets), voice-interfaced onboard computer. It would be somewhere between crazy-fun and terrifying to use on a track, but only remotely safe to use on the salt flats due to how much energy you could carry into an accident.

• A landspeed car as a testbed for wacky engine setups. Technically very interesting, but also a big toy that's not a whole lot of fun to drive, which you can only do on the salt flats in good conditions. First I'd stuff something like The Jed's bomb engine into it and try to set a new mph-per-liter record for cars. Then I'd get a WW2 fighter engine and put a somewhat sensible amount of boost on that with big semi truck turbos and see how it does. Next maybe I'd try putting in as many sportbike engines as I can fit and call it "The Bee Swarm"

Oh and I want a turbo 924.

In reply to HappyAndy:

Are you aware that they DID build a racing-oriented Iron Duke?

Hemmings Motor News said: Pontiac did develop a beefed-up, Super Duty racing version of the four that was the basis for NASCAR's Touring Car series; that engine, rated at 232hp, powered the 136 MPH Fiero that paced the 1984 Indianapolis 500. But the SD4 was never offered to the general public.

They still make blocks and heads for these!

http://www.nickariasjr.com/engine-blocks-gm-pontiac4.asp

I'd love your concept, but toss one of these "Super Duty" Iron Dukes in there! Whether it came in a 3rd Gen F-Body, a Fiero, or some front wheel drive 80's GM trash, they are all eligible. They must look and appear stock, with stock sized tires and everything, but with one of these under the hood.

In reply to SilverFleet:

This thread is about bad ideas, the SD Iron Duke sounds to much like a good idea

How far you can push a stockish Iron Duke with out blowing it up is an important part of my concept.