Who doesn’t enjoy a good engine swap? Yes, putting an LS7 into anything and everything is a cliché, but I still dig those builds. But what I like even more are weirdo swaps, such as, I dunno, putting a helicopter engine into a Porsche 928.
That’s the sort of swap I would never think of, but I’m glad someone did (and you can click that link to learn all about it). My engine-swap ideas tend to be more practical than the usual “but something bigger/more powerful in there.” For example, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to build up a Cobra replica with a turbo four in place of the expected 351 or 427 Ford V8. I imagine the driving experience would be plenty exciting but much less sphincter-clenching compared to having instant tire-spinning power. (And yes, this is more a “choosing an engine” situation than it is a “swap,” but you get it).
Regular readers already know weird swaps are very much our jam at The Autopian:
There are links in that caption so you can check out those stories, which may inspire your answer to today’s ask. Without concern for feasibility or cost or practicality, what engines would you like to see transplanted into which cars?
Top graphic images: eBay seller; iOS
Take a Honda V8 from the 350hp outboard, reworked for high revs, then swap into an S2000 chasis.
The only Honda V8 road car ever.
In the 70s Honda made a modified CVCC V8 Impala as a one-off just to prove that emissions regulations weren’t what was killing American engines, they were just badly designed. But I guess technically that was still a GM car.
Yeah that one doesn’t count, but it was definitely a glorious moment for Honda, and should have been a good learning experience for GM as well.
Back in the Aussie 80’s, the most famous (notorious?) engine swaps were a small-block V8 into a Datsun 1600 (Datsun 510), a big-block chevy engine into a VW Combi (I guess you could call it a mid-engine?), and the most insane one of all was a Jag XJ6 engine into a Bug-eye… the motoring journalist who took a ride in it admitted to shitting his pants.
As for something I’d like to see? Wouldn’t mind an AWD electric old-school Mini. Hub-drives perhaps?
I once measured up a Leyland P76 V8 engine swap into one of the Datsun 1600s I had, which was a column auto with a Borg Warner 35 auto (same as the P76 auto setup). It would have fit almost perfectly with some clearancing to fit a radiator, since the transmission mount, tailshaft, speedo cable and shift linkages would all fit the P76 auto, and the P76 engine mount brackets lined up perfectly with the Datsun rubber mounts.
Later on, when I owned a Fiat 850 Sport Coupe and found online a method for swapping in a VW transmission, I measured that up for a P76 V8 swap too (since adapter plates were readily available for the P76/VW combo for offrioad buggies). With the inner skin of the rear panel between the taillight trimmed, it would have just fit – perfect for wheelstands on demand! Although a Mada rotary in the Fiat would have made an awesome swap too!
Mercedes wrote about the Turbine Mack, Your writing about a boeing powered car. Hear me out Turbine Tuesday articles
Forget “engines”. Electrify everything.
I don’t feel much life when driving an electric car.
Maybe you’re not driving the right electric car.
What do you recommend for under $60k?
I might drive an Ioniq5. That one sounds promising.
Unfortunately not sold in the States anymore, but my MINI Cooper SE puts a smile on my face every time I get behind the wheel.
I want to swap an entire EVO8/9 driveline into a K Car, they are pretty close on wheelbase and width, so proportionally it will fit, it’d be quite the fabrication experience for sure. Well beyond my capabilities and financial means unfortunately.
Anything steam.
But not like something quickly cobbled together in a shed. But real, useable steampower swap. Think flashboiler and condenser and that sort of thing.
Think Leno’s DOBLE, which he claims only needs half a minute to start up and will happily cruise at 100 mph all day long.
A Falconer V12 in a factory 5 Daytona.
I know someone with a new helicopter turbine he wants to put in a car.
When I was introduced to real hot rodding culture, I was taught how to spot a hidden supercharger.
Showed me an open roadster with no hood.
Told me it was a sleeper, asked me to figure out why.
It had no hood, exposed chromed engine with a big blower on top, and 427 cast valve covers!
Sleeper?
What was hidden was a 600 cubic inch or larger engine behind 427 badging!
As long as we’re talking swaps, a friend is selling a 90s 5.0 cheap, after the body was vandalized. Good for swap, race build or restoration. Good drivetrain.
Not sure if I can agree that a 427 with a big blower is a “sleeper”…
Pretty much how I felt at the time, but knowing how engines respond to displacement, if it was a 600 cubic inch block, possibly expanded, could have been over 1000 hp, and streetable, if that could be applied.
They were demonstrating the power by turning the wide rear tires about a turn at a time. I have not seen anyone do that since then. Of course it was a very light car.
I’ve been thinking that a Volvo 5 cylinder engine would be fun in an MG TF, the one that replaced the TD, not the modern one. I remember someone putting a Jag XKE engine in a TF in the 60s, and the Jag engine is enormous compared to the Volvo. The Volvo is barely any bigger than the original MG engine.
Other than that, a Mr Fusion in a Delorian.
No no, Doc Brown was very clear. The Mr Fusion only runs the time circuits. The DeLorean itself still on gasoline. That’s why Marty had such a hard time leaving 1885.
My favorite thing is that we’re meant to believe that a PRV V6 is putting out enough power for the car to not only fly, but hover as well.
A tri fuel Camry hybrid drive train into a 2nd gen Mirai.
I enjoy the reefer industrial diesel swaps in to small pickups.
Just about any leaf swap. I was just talking to someone about leaf swapping an MG the other day. But would love to see a karmann ghia or thing leaf swapped as well. A first gen xb or soul with leaf or niro drivetrain would be nice to see as well.
Some of the Prius swap yacht are fun too. I don’t think it’s super practical but interesting to see. Vortex 4200’s deserve to be freed from their trailblazer prisons into light weight cars. Something like a sc1 or sc1 or a probe could be interesting if it would fit. I would love to see a factory 5 818 with a Tesla or lucid drivetrain.
I know someone that did the industrial diesel into a 90s ranger.
Very successful, but huge pain.
He said the easy way would be a complete drivetrain from Japan now.
I knew a few guys that have done it. They said getting a bell housing was their biggest issue. Some flywheel mods or change too. Then some of the harness stuff. Seems like someone could make some kits up fairly easily now. Especially for kubota and yanmar mated to Ford transmissions. They pickup the engines for less then $500 so I suppose it was worth while.
The 4bt delivery vans are setup for specific brands of full size trucks, so matching sets bolt in and plug up typically.
The guy that did the diesel in a ranger, I don’t know how he did the transmission, but I gather the ancillaries were the primary nightmare. He was sharing information with a group involved in those conversions. He was thrilled with the results, but the Japanese engines were available up to a complete drivetrain with wiring and electronics. Basically drop in.
Oh yeah 4bt conversions used to be pretty popular but AFIK prices went up maybe because of food trucks? So the reefer or other industrial diesels powering pumps or generator or compressors became more of thing. There might be some Japanese cars that use the small diesels but I think brining those in those would be significantly more costly most of the time. Thermoking has used various engines. I’ve heard they used to use 4bt 30+ years ago then kabota now most people seem to think they sre Mitsubishi or Isuzu I’ve heard someone say perkins too. The guys I know that did it had less then $1k in to it. And they did it in a few weeks of after work and weekends. But they built their own bell housings. I can’t remember the flywheel situation. They might have machined it and had it balanced.
I was thinking more of small truck diesels myself. The Japanese engines were more expensive, but known mileage and come with external accessories.
With a transmission and computer included, save a lot of time.
I think Cummins makes more variety of engine adapters than anyone else, so good chance of a fit if you find a small cummins
I suppose of you found a deal on a step side or bus that had one. Getting a custom drive shaft or modifying a rear end could be a another way. I know they make 4bt adapter plates for ford transmissions. Alot of the focus has been on vw tdi for the swap kits. And then focusing on full size trucks.
You know what – screw it. A tiny 2-rotor wankel in the back of my BMW i3. And Not as a range extender either… catch my drift?
Reverse Fiero. I’m talking pulling an Iron Duke 4 cyl from a Fiero and putting it in a Ferrari. Any Ferrari.
Baja beetle with a cosworth flat 6 ala singer
MB M120 in a W463 SWB G-Wagen
I’d Tesla swap a Buick Roadmaster. Well, more like plop a Roadmaster wagon body onto a Model S Plaid skateboard. The MS’s wheelbase is 0.6″ longer. Which is fine. The rear wheels are partially obscured so that’s where the wheelbase would be hidden. The third row seat would likely have to be ditched, sadly. But having 1000 hp, or roughly 4x the original, should make up for that.
I have thought about this myself. The 90s roadmaster wagon, with nearly all of the front grill blocked off to improve aero and bc it largely isn’t needed. Keep the exterior as clean as possible to improve range.
Since the Model S has a the rear trunk and sub-trunk, I expect the rear 3rd row can still be used, so a legit 7-8 seater (3 in front, 3 in middle and 1-2 in the far back)
To borrow an idea from @4jim, a V-Max motor in a Fiat Spyder (keeping 6 speed up/down manual) wouldn’t suck.
If electric counts I want an electric powertrain in 90’s and 00’s vehicles.
An electric 400/800 Tahoe, maybe a comfy Buick sedan. Let’s even go further and have REX capabilities with a bumper mounted generator for funzies.
I’d like to see someone swap a Beetle engine into a Lamborghini. While the owner isn’t looking.
When I used to do dishes in a restaurant, I once casually complimented a guy on his Lambo he parked up front.
He just looked away and said something like ‘it’s not a lambo’.
When I saw he was about to leave, I snuck out to catch the theatre.
Up close, it did not look well finished. And the proportions were a bit off.
…And then he started the engine…
IT WAS A FRIGGIN BEETLE WITH A KIT ON TOP!
A custom turbo 4 rotor wankel in Corvette C8, hybrid front drive, with limited sound suppression for reasons. And also in my backyard a GE90 jet engine to play around with, high power setting runs for “reasons”. Yes, I’m weird…
I came here to suggest a 4 rotor into anything. In general, I am not a rotary fan, but I can’t help but respect the level of crazy that goes into a three or four rotor swap into anything.
A friend of mine has one of the more powerful jet engines, but it’s not for a vehicle.
Just for fun.
Oh yea,
I definitely need me an emotional support jet engine in the shed.
Not an engine swap per se, but I’d love to see the small thruster systems spacecraft use to move around mounted to a car to push the limits of g-force.
Tesla suggested this for the new Roadster (which seems long-forgotten at this point) to make it fly. That’s ridiculous, but it would be interesting to see the same tech used in a demonstration vehicle for shorter stopping distances, better cornering, etc.
Thanks to Newton’s 3rd law, I don’t see any such system ever being practical for road use (don’t want to stop at crosswalk and blow all the pedestrians across the intersection), and the hypergolic propellants those RCS thrusters use happen to be incredibly toxic and carcinogenic, but it would be interesting to see what’s possible.
Have you read “Ignition: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Fuels” by John Drury Clark? If not, you absolutely need to. Although something says you may have already.
I kept laughing out loud while reading that book. Trying to explain what I was laughing about to my daughter was so complicated the first time that I just waved the book in the air after that.
Nope, but it sounds exactly like my kind of book. Thanks for the tip!
There’s a new PC game out called Exo Rally Championship that does this. Cross-country racing on alien worlds with RCS thrusters for air control. It’s a lot of fun.
So I’ve had this idea of swapping a Continental or Lycoming aircraft engine into a Porsche 914. You can get them in a Flat 6 and they are air cooled.
Those are huge, and they aren’t made to rev over 3500 or so. A Cessna 172’s 4-cylinder is 360ci. I think the more common of the Lycoming sixes is a 540 ci mill. it doesn’t make sense to spin a prop too fast (tips break the speed of sound, inefficient, loud) and the engines are made for long endurance rather than acceleration and speed.
That said, I think there is/was a historic formula car out there running an aircraft continental or something, so there is precedent. It _would_ be a cool conversation piece.
Corvair is a better swap in every way.
Or a McCulloch 6 cylinder Model 6318 (O-150-2) made from 1955 to 1972
It’s a two-stroke made for target drones. It sounds like god’s chainsaw x six
That may be what you saw, someone was running a setup like that in the 70s. There was also an engineer at Kohler who was running a Kohler flat-four 2-stroke drone engine in sports D, I think, at the same time.
No, this was like a ’50s…Lotus? With a Lycoming. There’s an Assetto Corsa mod out there for it.
The very first Lotus 12 , also the very first Lotus single seater was exported to Australia, and when the Coventry climax engine blew up the owner installed a flat-six Lycoming. It burned to the ground in its first race in 1960, but given its historical significance, it has been “rebuilt.” And of course sold for quite a lot of money.
https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Details/131753/lotus-12-chassis-351-sabakat
There was also a single seat race car in New Zealand around the same time with a Lycoming airplane engine that Bruce McLaren borrowed for a race when he broke his own car.
https://www.supercars.net/blog/kiwi-boxer/
Is started showing up at Laguna Seca for the historics in the 1990s and I probably have some photos of it in storage
Other than those antipodeian Aero engines autos, I can’t find any other examples.
Of course Lycoming built the engines for Dusenberg, so who knows where this ended up.
I wish someone would do a good history of Lycoming‘s auto engines. Enormous Fageol tractor engines too.
That’s the car I was thinking of, but didn’t know the history behind it! Thanks!
A rotex could be interesting especially a 914. 914 rotex or zongshen in a Porsche 914.
Rotary 914s aren’t unheard of.
There is an sho 914 out there.
I was thinking using a Corvair
based airplane engine back in a Corvair
Ive written on a different post there’s a young guy you can find on YouTube put a goldwing flat 6 in the back of a beatle and 914, which seems like fun
A four cylinder gold ring in a Fiat 850 spyder seems life a nice idea. Maybe with a bug transmission.
Arg
Gold Wing
From Honda.
A gold ring might be effective, but if you’re transmitting a bug it will come to naught.
And a Fiat 850 is a little cramped for that,
Hybrid swaps on big BOF sedans and wagons. Having the comfort of a land yacht and not being saddled with 14 mpg on a good day sure sounds neat.
Based on the horror stories of high-mileage 3rd-gen Prius engines, I wonder if there’s any feasible engine swaps that would more or less eliminate long-term engine problems, but also not make the car freak out, electronically speaking, nor lose too much fuel economy.
And make it cheap, while you’re at it.
Euh, yes there already is.
You can quite easily plop in a 4rd gen prius block. Electronically speaking, the car wouldn’t be any wiser. And they are supposed to be even more efficient.
I chose not to, when my 2009 shit the bed since retail with a bad engine was absurdly high and the car had a miriad of other issues aswell.
I thought I might’ve heard of oil consumption issues or some similar thing with the gen 4s…but yeah, certainly better than another 3rd gen to replace it.
In the meantime I’m just being somewhat obsessive. EGR cleaned out 35k miles ago, engine water pump preemptively replaced…oil changes every 5k…that kind of thing.
A lot of issues were resolved in 2010, but I had a 2009. Probably among the first batch of gen.3 in Europe. I was in a forum with other people with this batch. For me, at 200 000 km.
Damn, this is starting to look like a landrover post.
I’ve always wanted to do or see a hybrid (any type) using a turbine! I know it’s probably impractical and unnecessary but the uniqueness and cool-ness factor would be off the charts!
There are small turbines too.
There is a scooter on youtoob converted to turbine power.
After owning three Scout 80s with the 152 “half-a-304” 4 cylinder I became fixated on putting a Vortec 4300 V6 Marine spec engine in one.
I’d love to swap the Detroit 8V92T form my Wanderlodge with a modern Cat engine; then go looking for something to put the Detroit in…
There are Ford racing V6s derived from V8s too.
And the Vortec 4300 V6 is “three-quarters-of-a-5.7”, so that would be cool.
I once knew a guy who built a Jeep CJ with a new fiberglass tub and a 4.3 V6.