Fun Friday - Help pick a powertrain for a '31 Model A hot rod

I've always wanted a 30's hot rod. I have this thing in my garage. I want to start on it after the Challenge. I want it to be unique. It will start off kinda ratty and progressively become a nice hot rod over a year or 10 or so.

I am open to:

• Interesting, unique engines
• 300 to 400 whp
• Foreign and domestic
• Any kind of aspiration
• Any cylinder arrangement
• Angering crotchety old men at car shows

I am not open to:

• American V8s. They've all been done before.
• Automatics
• BIG diesels
• Engines that are just downright ugly
• High dollar

To get the ball rolling:

• 2JZ turbo or N/A with W58 manual. Lexus Sc300 donor car
• Saab B234 turbo and a T5. Someone out there makes a bellhousing adapter. Why do I know this.
• 4.2 Atlas straight six
• 1UZ V8
• ???

Keep It Ford

Make it electric with a bigass solenoid V8:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/uhYEdD94vH0

Barring that my vote is a 20b 3-rotor with peripheral ports, or maybe 2 13bs hooked together.

How mad do you want the crotchety old men to be?

A subaru turbo motor would really, really anger them. And they are not exactly good looking engines.

Even better if you put it behind the cab.

Jag V12

/thread

I'm going to go with mild SR20 or an F20C. Then put a decent chassis under it and a hood so people can't see what it's packing and go autocrossing.

Also, although it might miss the power requirement, how about a turbo Corvair engine and then just toss the grille shell and hood entirely

Similar to NickD's 4 cylinder suggestions, a BEAMS 3sge could be fun and they're somewhat cheap. Also the RBxxDET series of engines.

In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:

The trick is making those 4 cylinder engines RWD. Basically I have the same problems Locost guys have.

The BEAMS can be had on Ebay, with harness and a 6spd rwd transmission for $1200ish. I very badly want to put one in something small and light.

i may be selling Sadie the Budget-Friendly E36 M3. that would be a good powertrain for a hot rod.

i have a love for the 4.2 atlas that even I dont understand, its hard to beat 275 hp completely stock and from what ive seen they take to boost pretty well with the tuning abilities of an LS. The one downside is that there isnt any good manual trans option for them. They use the colorado/canyon 4/5 cylinder bellhousing pattern the the manuals from those trucks inst known for its strength.

One more and then I'll stop with the electric crap: electric motor transaxle in the back similar to a Tesla (is it possible to get a wrecked Tesla?) exposed with just the fenders and a tube frame. All batteries, controllers, etc. up front with as many exposed wires as possible visible through the sides of the hood area, the only bodywork being what you have in your picture.

Stroker 4.0 Jeep I6? Vulcan V6? Turbo Slant Six?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: One more and then I'll stop with the electric crap: electric motor transaxle in the back similar to a Tesla (is it possible to get a wrecked Tesla?) exposed with just the fenders and a tube frame. All batteries, controllers, etc. up front with as many exposed wires as possible visible through the sides of the hood area, the only bodywork being what you have in your picture.

or do the electric motor transaxle like you stated but instead of all the batteries just drop in a generator that is sized to keep the electric motor spinning at max power at all times, homemade hybrid

I know you said no American V8s, But I don't believe the new Flat Plain Coyote engine has been done yet. So, instead of a Flathead, a Flat Plain! It will surely SOUND like no other Model A rod.

In reply to edizzle89:

And make that generator an APU!

Air-cooled diesel tractor engine?

BMW V12 would have a lot of visual impact.

For angering crotchety old men at car shows, I like the idea of a rotary - particularly if you did a lakes pipe style easily uncorked exhaust, or a Honda K or J series. Although picturing it with Subaru cylinder heads poking through each side of the hood might be even better.

Yes, that's BMW 4.4 liter V8 from a 540i/740i and they can be had with a 6 speed manual behind them in the 5ers for pretty cheap these days.

I thought for years about building a 'glass ford hiboy with an SR20DET in it with a single lake pipe. You could piss off everyone at once.

OTOH, I think the drive line out of a wrecked S2000 would be really killer. You'll have to bump it a little to get 300HP though.

MadScientistMatt wrote: BMW V12 would have a lot of visual impact. For angering crotchety old men at car shows, I like the idea of a rotary - particularly if you did a lakes pipe style easily uncorked exhaust, or a Honda K or J series. Although picturing it with Subaru cylinder heads poking through each side of the hood might be even better.

In reply to Chris_V:

Whoa. That's a cool pickup.

I love the idea of simple lake pipe headers on a foreign little inline. Make them look like flathead pipes, but just one side. It would almost look normal from a distance.

MadScientistMatt wrote: BMW V12 would have a lot of visual impact.

Like this one:

Getting a stick behind it would be difficult/expensive, but BMW or Mercedes V12? I'd say Jag but they don't meet the power requirement and hotrodders seem kinda ok with using jag parts.

If you go 2JZ I'd recommend painting it Chevy Orange or Ford Blue for max confusion factor.

alfadriver wrote: How mad do you want the crotchety old men to be? A subaru turbo motor would really, really anger them. And they are not exactly good looking engines. Even better if you put it behind the cab.

Why not keep the AWD? It would look goofy as hell with the front suspension set way back to get the engine behind the radiator.

WildScotsRacing wrote: I know you said no American V8s, But I don't believe the new Flat Plain Coyote engine has been done yet. So, instead of a Flathead, a Flat Plain! It will surely SOUND like no other Model A rod.

That's "plane" not plain. I know they sound the same. That's why many people have trouble with spelling. I still do.