one i thought of the other day - the hyundai/kia 300hp? sonata/optima motor, in an accent or forte.
or a soul!
ReverendDexter wrote: And then I go back to thinking about what vehicles might make a more-than-just-the-sum-of-their-parts improvement with just a straight-across stock-for-stock same company motor swap; i.e. IS300 + 2JZ-GTE, Miata + 3.7L V6, F150 + V6 Powerstroke, Element + Odyssey V6, that sort of stuff.
In reply to Conquest351:
I'm not sure this is crazy, but I'd sure like to get everyone's input on it.
Last summer I took my family on a northwestern vacation. We took y wife's SUV and stayed in hotels every night. 4800 miles in 14 days. It was expensive. I saw a lot of people pulling campers on that trip.
I want to take them on a southwestern vacation, but am considering doing it differently. I'm thinking about camping instead of hotels, but not just camping. I was thinking of buying an older wagon and camper and doing it that way. Something like a late 60's-early 70's Vista Cruiser and a nice older camper. And then sell them when we're done.
What do you guys think? If I buy the right equipment for the right price, think I can save money??
Okay a little more off the wall:
Mid engined '90 Civic hatch.
Mounting a '55 Chevy truck cab on my crew cab dually chassis. Then building a two piece bed, one that dumps and one that's stationary.
Putting the Honda 650 four engine I have on my off road go kart.
Building a vintage looking open wheel Indy Car for the street.
Duplicating a car that a kid up the street from me had in the 60's. A '65 Belvedere gasser, candy apple green, sky high, chrome straight axle, 440 with dual quad tunnel ram, big and littles, cragar SS's. I just loved that car. He rolled it - surprise, surprise...
I've had lots of nasty thoughts..... LS7/T56 in a B-body Caprice and a cage.
ThetaII/5spd swap from a 2006 Sonata into the Elantra with standalone tunes.
Beta in the Accent.
4.8 crank into a 6.0L block to create a short stroke, big bore, high rpm (8500) LSx and stuff it into a C4.
L98/T-56 into a 1950 Chevy truck.
L98/T-56 into a 1952 Chevy panel truck.
Duramax/Allison into a 1990 Suburban with 1-T axles rolling on 38's with a custom interior and 70-gallon fule tank to drive to Alaska.
That's just the couple that instantly popped into my head when I read the title
Procure 4WD 2008+ Nissan Pathfinder V8.
Remove Body
Roll Cage
Racing Seats/Harnesses
Slicks
Surely somebody has already put a Lexus V8 in an IS300, but I like the idea.
Better yet, how about a Lexus V8 in a first generation RX-7.
bike engined (modern triumph triple), vintage styled single seater - maybe a bunch of them with a race series or better yet, own oversized kart track or short road track...
tube-framed, mid-engined renault dauphine
My other stupid idea pertains to attractive cars with hideous, gut wrenching mechanical expenses and unreliability.
So, transplant a Rolls Royce body and interior onto a Crown Vic chassis. Or maybe a BiTurbo body with all E30 mechanicals.
Twin pulse jets on the roof of the Challenge Festiva. 2 55-gallon drums, beefy metal fans, row of injectors up front, row of spark plugs in the back.
Otto Maddox wrote: Surely somebody has already put a Lexus V8 in an IS300, but I like the idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgZCIxk7bfo
Yes. Good looking car with a great sound, I keep pushing the idea to my cousin who has one.
My recent idea involves an undesirable(to anyone but me) Chrysler product of the 70s, and a 4BT swap.
30+ mpg Diesel Aspen fastback, yes plz. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr4dF-7QHuU
And another is a small Japanese car with a built to crap 273 V8 or if I'm feeling extra special crazy a six pack 340. An old RWD Colt with a rev happy 320 hp v8 seems awesome to me.
ReverendDexter wrote: My mind's been coming back to what would seriously be involved in starting a car company, specifically one focused on lightweight, simple, easy-to-work-on cars, and if there's any way to make that remotely successful. Basically it swirls around in my brain, and the closest anything gets is to emulate what Factory Five does, only using clean-sheet designs and having more than ZOMG sports cars (for instance, a small 2WD pickup akin to the minitrucks of the '80s and early '90s).
I think if you actually went this route doing retro fits you'd have less loopholes to jump through than meeting new vehicle manufacturer requirement laws.
There has to be a market out there for simple efficient work trucks. Buy and strip old rust free square body S-10/Ranger/etc. shells and fit them with mechanical injection 4 cylinder VW ALH TDI diesels mated to an overhauled drivetrain with reman manual trans. Toss in all new suspension bushings/brakes, etc. 40mpg fleet trucks would pay for themselves over time if simple and reliable. I assume costs would still creep up quickly though factoring in facility/insurance/labor/parts sourcing/etc. vs. the dirty math of what it would take one of us to build in a garage... and all of a sudden you're competing with a fleet sourced base model warranteed "brand new" truck from a major mfgr.
I've also thought hoarding and "restoring" the '80's era 40+ mpg vehicles and selling them on an online based storefront when gas hits $5/gal for way too much money with an eco-green/recyle mantra based sales approach. mk1 VW diesels were going for stupid money on EBay during the gas spikes in '07/'08 or whenever that was.
I've also thought hoarding and "restoring" the '80's era 40+ mpg vehicles and selling them on an online based storefront when gas hits $5/gal for way too much money with an eco-green/recyle mantra based sales approach. mk1 VW diesels were going for stupid money on EBay during the gas spikes in '07/'08 or whenever that was.
You and me both. Unfortanately, I think $4.50 - $5.00 gallon gas is just a Spring away.
1971 Mini. Honda V-Tec swap. 4WD (kills the torque steer, he says)
http://bringatrailer.com/2012/02/21/bat-exclusive-awd-1971-mini-vtec-rocketship/
can you surgically attach muscle to yourself. all the benefits of working out with having to try. oooooh especially if you use chimpanzee muscle they are way stronger than us. i bet i could be a super human
In reply to Conquest351:
Use Narwhale genes.
You'll either get a unicorn, or a horse that's hung like a ...whale.
How could you go wrong? 
ReverendDexter wrote: My mind's been coming back to what would seriously be involved in starting a car company, specifically one focused on lightweight, simple, easy-to-work-on cars, and if there's any way to make that remotely successful.
Let me know.
I sometimes think of becoming Amish minus the religion. Becoming an off the grid self sufficient farmer. Plowing my fields with a team of horses.
Funny... I just typed a long detailed list of many of my ideas and odd thoughts and realized that far too many of them have significant potential and to post them here would be a huge mistake. Sorry.
mndsm wrote: I have an mx6 GT, and I know where to get a Festiva shell. It starts to get fuzzy from there, but something about my own version of a SHOgun......
I've had SHOgun on my mind too, but a little different. The SHO subframe and everything fits in the back, and I know the subframe isn't too large to be shoehorned in up front, so why not a little twin-SHO'd hatch? I'd like to keep it a two seater, however... So where do the fuel tanks go?
Digging the Reatta idea, as well. Gorgeous car, bland underpinnings.
ValuePack wrote: The SHO subframe and everything fits in the back, and I know the subframe isn't too large to be shoehorned in up front, so why not a little twin-SHO'd hatch? I'd like to keep it a two seater, however... So where do the fuel tanks go?
There are two early 80 Olds Toronados in the junk yard. Cut the front clip off each, replace the 307s with 455s, and stuff them under each end of my Cavalier..
SVreX wrote: In reply to Conquest351: Use Narwhale genes. You'll either get a unicorn, or a horse that's hung like a ...whale. How could you go wrong?
He'd be dragging his "package" across the ground. Watch out for cactus there buddy!! LOL
Yes, Narwhale horn is perfect. Now if I could just harvest the horn producing gland and put it on a horse...
Conquest351 wrote: Yes, Narwhale horn is perfect. Now if I could just harvest the horn producing gland and put it on a horse...
The "horn" on a Narwhale is actually a tusk.
Can I be a unicorn too?
In reply to Taiden:
Rooftop carrier? Brilliant! And here I thought I'd have to procure a Harbor Freight trailer for the tanks.
And you're already a unicorn to us. Wait... what?
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