We had a Festiva towed in last week. Long story short, you can stick the camera probe in the spark plug hole and see all the way to the crank, so...
One of the curses of having an active imagination is the need to create. I keep seeing box flares and a mid engine setup, but how? Would the original SHO be the way to go? Keep it all Mazda based? Maybe SRT4 stuffed in the back....
What is the recipe, if a guy were to try to keep it to a challenge budget? Fabrication is not really an issue- I got pipe.
SRT-4 probably would not require as much widebody work as a SHO setup. If you want to stay all Mazda, I'm sure there are wrecked MS3 donors out there... or if you want total insanity, scare up an MS6 transplant.
I say doo eeeet. I'd love to have one.
I really like the MS3 donor idea. Should be less weight and more power than the SHO motor.
If you can find a V6 6 with a manual, it's a better engine than the sho. that's the same motor that Noble uses for their supercar.
(If you can find the right box, the same V6 out of the taurus is a lot cheaper. Just that it's really hard to find a manual for that)
Another possible alternative is the V6 5speed from a Contour/Cougar/Probe/Mx6. Only 2.5l is a problem.
SHO engines are neat. But there are better choices out there. That are cheaper, too.
Driving to work today, how about a Festang? 5.0, T5, 8.8...
I know off a FWD Caddy V8 for $200.
What about the motor from a Focus? The SVT motor put out decent numbers and there are a ton of parts out there.
I was thinking about grabbing an air cooled VW transaxle, a Zetec, and the corresponding kennedy adaptor to make a longitudinal-mid engine Focus... It migh be too long for a Fiestiva though...
LS motors bolt up to the GM F40 manual transaxle. Fiero guys have been doing it for a while.
F40 transaxle comes in the Cobalt SS.
Just so ya know...
Don't the Chrysler large FWD V-6 run the motors North-South? (Concorde, etc.) ISTR some mid engined projects discussed here that used these drivetrains.
Carter
erohslc wrote: Don't the Chrysler large FWD V-6 run the motors North-South? (Concorde, etc.) ISTR some mid engined projects discussed here that used these drivetrains.
They do, but you're almost certainly limited to automatic trans going that way.
O_o that in a metro would be brilliantly overkill.
It's been done with a Metro and a SHO engine on a LeMons budget, so I don't see why you couldn't make it work for the Challenge.
http://murileemartin.com/wordpress/?p=382
They had an excellent theme this year, a parody of the Silk Cut Jaguars.
I know the guy who runs the team. The fenders are made from light fixtures pulled out of a construction dumpster. The front bumper is from a Scion xB, narrowed.
Installing the engine he said is "simple." Pull the front subframe out of the SHO. Line it up with the Metro frame rails. Weld. Drill new holes in the strut towers and bolt the struts on. You can probably hit the guy up for tips.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/24-Hours-of-Lemons-Charnal-House-Racing/184683464930982
Shouldn't be too much different to do that to a Festiva.
I've wanted to do something like this for a looooong time.
In reply to Alan Cesar:
That is the most awesome Metro EVAR!
The Honda J series motors are pretty cheap last I checked, and they make great power.
http://www.j32a.com/showthread.php?t=2
doesn't the Capri XRsometing-something turbo motor just bolt right in place of the stock engine?
then add a second motor to the back at a later time.
If you wanted to keep it all Ford, you could adapt the FWD version of the 4.6 DOHC V8 from the Lincoln Continental.
belteshazzar wrote: doesn't the Capri XRsometing-something turbo motor just bolt right in place of the stock engine?
If you're talking about the little 2 seater ones, that'd be the b6t. Them'r fun, but kinda fragile. If you wanna stick with Mazda, i'd say either FE3 or F2T.
Maybe a mid 90's Honda Accord motor, that's what, an H series? Should be plentiful and dirt cheap. IIRC the 'long' CV axle on that one is hollow, makes it super easy to shorten, just get another one to cut down for the 'short' side. On that: also IIRC VW Rabbit 'long' CV's were hollow tubing, again very easy to shorten at home.
Or if you can find a V6 Probe/MX6 (that's what, the FE motor?), probably not as plentiful or cheap.
an h22a would be a hoot in the trunk of a festiva
Conquest351 wrote: LS motors bolt up to the GM F40 manual transaxle. Fiero guys have been doing it for a while. F40 transaxle comes in the Cobalt SS. Just so ya know...
there is only one LS engine that bolts up to a fwd bellhousing- the 300hp 5.3 that was used in Monte Carlos, Impalas, and Grand Prixs for a couple of years.. but, yeah.. that would be awesome in the back seat of a Festiva..
novaderrik wrote:Conquest351 wrote: LS motors bolt up to the GM F40 manual transaxle. Fiero guys have been doing it for a while. F40 transaxle comes in the Cobalt SS. Just so ya know...there is only one LS engine that bolts up to a fwd bellhousing- the 300hp 5.3 that was used in Monte Carlos, Impalas, and Grand Prixs for a couple of years.. but, yeah.. that would be awesome in the back seat of a Festiva..
Did you see the Hot Rod article where they made like 900 hp from a turbo version of this motor put together with junkyard parts and a used motor? Wait... That was the 4.7L V8... Nevermind. Still, turbo 5.3L LS motor = A whole boat load of win in my book.
It would need a massive flares and a big berkeleyin snorkel!
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