Engine Swaps - Improvement or Blasphemy

[NoOne]

I've done a few engine swaps myself, but always sticking to the original manufacturer ... IE: big block chev in place of a small block chev.

I know engine swaps using engines from a different manufacturer have been popular for a while. I've seen VW Bugs with 350 chevys in them, same with Austin-Healeys.

I'm not sure if I approve of this, then again, who can argue with transplanting a 60 hp VW Bug engine for a 300+ hp small block.

Comments or opinions?

[NoOne]

This is where I can't decide whether I approve or not ....
http://web2.airmail.net/atl/Rotary.html

I have nothing against Wankel rotary engines .... but in place of Porsche's own????

[Batmobile_Turbo]

any beetle from the 60's or earlier with a chevy 350 in it is
blasphemus. actually there's a lot you can do to beetle engines, rather than turning them into hot rods.

[Egg Nog]

Originally posted by NoOne
I have nothing against Wankel rotary engines .... but in place of Porsche's own????

Whatever, I think it's awesome! And besides, only the cams, pistons, and cylinder heads are Porsche... the rest is a VW engine

I'm all in favour of engine swaps, especially original ones. As long as they don't take it too far and ruin the character of the car like a Ferarri 355 with an implanted Mopar Hemi

[megotmea7]

i have mixed feelings on this subject, for example its popular to transplant chevys lt1's into 1st and 2nd gen RX-7's it makes an awsome car but its not an RX-7 anymore, the best/worst example i have of this was on RX-7 forums a BIG rotary buff bought a nice ported 13b, ceramic apex seals the whole shot and sold it right when he got it to put a very extreme lt1 in there (titanium bottom end, custome EXTREMLY high flowing intake manifold, a throttle body you could put your fist thru, top of the line ported racing heads, mean cams and a t56 tranny) he weighed it and it weigh'd less that the original 13b with turbo, intecooler, tranny and accesories. made a little over 760hp n/a (he had planned on using nitrouse by integrating it into the manifold but after seeing the engine dyno results he decided he didnt need it, at the time it was the most powerful n/a second generation lt1 used in any car anywhere and as far as i know it still is. he then completely striped the chassis down to paint it and added back only what he wanted(he retained the intirior) and made it look almost completly stock it weigh'd less than 2800lbs and a perfect 50/590 weight balance, had more torque than he could have ever hope to use on such a light car, made more power than he expected and he uses it as his "weekend car" never takes it to the track or drag strip and it cant be touched by anything on the road. it is an awsome car with an awsome engine but the RX-7 as named because it is the "*R*otary e*X*periment 7" not the mazda chassied 350 powered ex-rotary RX-7 he killed the character of the car but replaced it with something awsome, like i said im torn

[megotmea7]

lol i ment "50/50" not "50/590" damn fat middle finger...

[Ghost]

It's usually best to keep it in the manufacturer unless you want to do a lot of custom work. I'm gonna try and drop a sc carrera 3.2 into my 72 911 in the next year or two depending on a few things first.

[Cappy]

Let me get this straight.

The LT1 is a decent sized iron block and it's lighter than a rotory? I don't care if the rotart has a turbo, intercooler and plumbing. What's going on here?

[megotmea7]

besides the block the whole engine was made up of either titanium or aluminum, you dont think turbos, intercoolers, wastegates, and supporting systems weigh nothing do you? the engine itself weighs very little but when you add all that stuff it starts to add up

[-datsun 1600-]

ummmmm even with the turbo etc it wouldnt weigh more its a 1300cc

[Egg Nog]

Originally posted by -datsun 1600-
ummmmm even with the turbo etc it wouldnt weigh more its a 1300cc

What? Do you think engine wieght is proportional to displacement? A Ford 302 Windsor (5.0) is more compact and lighter than a Nissan DOHC 3.5, or a Rotary, or whatever you might say...

Please explain yourself...

[megotmea7]

lmao...

[Falcon500]

This is a strange subject for me whilei love the idea of a triumph TR8 with a holden 5 liter or a windsor instead of the all alloy 3.5 job i dont like the idea of mixing DNA with american companys like putting a chev in a capri or a chev engine in a ford hotrod. Also datsun Z series go likestink with a small block chev in them we used tohave a local with a 280Z and he put a blown chev in the car it absoulty hammerd but as megotomea said this can ruin the charictor of the cars also

[fpv_gtho]

what about all the datsun 1200's with 1.8L nissan motors in them, a friend of my mums bought one not too long ago and part of the front end had to be cut out to squeeze the engine in, now the guy wants to stick a turbo motor in

[-datsun 1600-]

Well what i thought was that since the 350 is a v8 it would have more pistons and conrods=more weight while a 13B engine is only made up of only two rotor nuts rotoray housings and an eccentric shaft thats less then cams,valves,pistons,cylinders,crankshaft etc but i can see it being lighter if its made of titanium or some other light weight metal

i dont know im problay wrong just putting my knowledge to the test