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stuart in mn
stuart in mn SuperDork
10/19/10 12:19 p.m.

The M5/M6 engine was very cool, but as you mentioned also very expensive...not a grassroots choice. An M30 single cam engine probably has a better torque curve for carrying around a heavy car in daily driver mode, and if you want more they can be turbocharged with good results.

(Having said that I recently had a chance to drive a euro e28 M5, and it was pretty sweet - it made me think evil thoughts about swapping one into my M535i.)

valiant171
valiant171 New Reader
10/19/10 1:27 p.m.

Well, well...

A lot of questions to answer to:

I was just trying to get a feel for it...sheesh

To the purists: I have had this car for 15 years and have no intention of selling it ever I would rather ball it up on turn 1 at BIR! My other car is a 1 of 8.

To the A body pundits: The 70's A-body platform was the best handling, rigid, and most innovative small car. (ie electronic dizzy).

I have done some research on the Supra tranny even called one I guess thats the way to go.

Rob_Mopar
Rob_Mopar Reader
10/19/10 3:22 p.m.
valiant171 wrote: Well, well... A lot of questions to answer to: I was just trying to get a feel for it...sheesh To the purists: I have had this car for 15 years and have no intention of selling it ever I would rather ball it up on turn 1 at BIR! My other car is a 1 of 8. To the A body pundits: The 70's A-body platform was the best handling, rigid, and most innovative small car. (ie electronic dizzy). I have done some research on the Supra tranny even called one I guess thats the way to go.

I don't have a problem with you or anybody modifying their car. It's yours, do what you want. I just don't want to see another car get cut up with more enthusiasm than follow-through. I've parted out a couple of those that once were somebody else's dream and aspiration.

Somewhere out there is a 2nd gen Barracuda that had the front inner structure replaced with (I think) FWD '80's Mazda. Outside was all Barracuda, but under the hood was a transverse Mazda drivetrain, firewall, inner fenders, frame rails, suspension, etc. It was on eBay a couple years ago. It didn't find a new home.

For your 5-speed desire, bang for the buck the Supra trans is probably the best way to go. Don't know what you have between the front fenders now, but a used Magnum 318 or 360 is a very junkyard friendly low-buck swap that will really wake up an A-body.

How light do you want to make the Demon? My Barracuda when it still had iron heads and a copper/brass radiator weighed in at 3400 lbs. Since then it's gotten a fresh motor with aluminum heads and an aluminum radiator. Haven't reweighed it yet, but there was a noticeable rise in the front end with all the aluminum. I'll weigh it again after the 5-speed is in.

The Duster/Demon is lighter than a '68 Barracuda fastback right out of the box so you have that going for you.

So what's the 1 of 8 sitting at home?

GTwannaB
GTwannaB GRM+ Memberand Reader
10/19/10 3:41 p.m.

Sacrilege be damned. Just mount the motor on a 30 degree angle and shave off the BMW lettering. Maybe no one will notice.

EvanB
EvanB GRM+ Memberand Dork
10/19/10 3:57 p.m.

Why not a BMW V8 from the 540? Or V12 for that matter, did they come with manuals?

Mazdax605
Mazdax605 HalfDork
10/19/10 3:58 p.m.

There is a guy on RX-7club.com that put a 13BREW in his '70 or so Chevy Nova. It is super cool,and will piss plenty of old guys off. I love it myself. The fab work he has done with welding,and such is top notch,and he has spent a ton of money on it,but I love the results. You may have to be a member,but check it out if you can. It is in the Old-school section if I remember right.

WilberM3
WilberM3 Reader
10/19/10 5:23 p.m.

In reply to EvanB:

the v12 in the 850i/ci came with manual. though smooth running (when running right) and cool to have a v12 i'd rather a v8 for weight, power, etc. or an i6/turbo-i6. although thinking about it, some people just give away their v12 cars when all the stupid crap they threw in them starts failing.

stuart in mn
stuart in mn SuperDork
10/19/10 5:59 p.m.

The 540 V8 was a nice engine, but it only made about 286hp and there's not a lot of upgrades available.

JtspellS
JtspellS Reader
10/19/10 6:16 p.m.
JtspellS wrote:
RoosterSauce wrote: Get two 13B's and put them together. Or how about a Jag V12? BMW has a V12, too, but... not sure if you can do a manual trans with one of those Subaru H6. Pretty sure you can hook a 5-speed up to one of those. Might as well go for AWD while you're at it.
They say a Rotary can go in anything........

So good i have to quite myself again

MrBenjamonkey
MrBenjamonkey Reader
10/19/10 6:46 p.m.

Something that would be cheaper and certainly more powerful is a VG30DETT. You can get the whole thing with tranny, ecu etc for about 1500 bucks and that's an easy 400 hp.

It would be lighter, very different, and a bunch more studly than an old BMW engine, not to mention more tuner friendly. At least this way you wouldn't be giving up the straight line prowess your car has already.

RoosterSauce
RoosterSauce New Reader
10/19/10 7:47 p.m.
JtspellS wrote:
JtspellS wrote:
RoosterSauce wrote: Get two 13B's and put them together. Or how about a Jag V12? BMW has a V12, too, but... not sure if you can do a manual trans with one of those Subaru H6. Pretty sure you can hook a 5-speed up to one of those. Might as well go for AWD while you're at it.
They say a Rotary can go in anything........
So good i have to quite myself again

What happens if I quote your quote of your quote of my quote? We are one step closer to an RX-Demon.

PS122
PS122 GRM+ Memberand Reader
10/19/10 7:58 p.m.
MrBenjamonkey wrote: Something that would be cheaper and certainly more powerful is a VG30DETT. You can get the whole thing with tranny, ecu etc for about 1500 bucks and that's an easy 400 hp. It would be lighter, very different, and a bunch more studly than an old BMW engine, not to mention more tuner friendly. At least this way you wouldn't be giving up the straight line prowess your car has already.

I kinda thought of that too. One helluva powertrain for $1500.

Rob_Mopar
Rob_Mopar Reader
10/19/10 9:25 p.m.
valiant171 wrote: Major fabbing I can do but precision machining not so much. and the car in question

I just got a chance to see the pic. Nice! My dad still remembers the VIN from his. One of these days I'm going to start a search for it.

internetautomart
internetautomart SuperDork
10/19/10 9:42 p.m.

Keven
Keven New Reader
10/19/10 9:49 p.m.
RoosterSauce wrote: Or how about a Jag V12? BMW has a V12, too, but... not sure if you can do a manual trans with one of those

Has anyone done this? I used to have a V12 Jag and it was a pig but I keep day dreaming of putting a V12 in my Mustang.

forzav12
forzav12 Reader
10/19/10 11:00 p.m.

In reply to valiant171:

I wouldn't do it. A small block Mopar will be much more satisfying on the street, more durable, much cheaper to run and isn't a heavy engine. Why spend untold hours of misery fabbing, additional expense chasing materials and end up with an unreliable slug? Besides, A bodies can be made to handle quite well. Our 71 Dart didn't have much trouble staying with e46 M3s at Buttonwillow Raceway.

grimmelshanks
grimmelshanks HalfDork
10/19/10 11:09 p.m.

since were talking about heretical motorswaps anyway, ya know theres people running 13 second quarter miles with cummins turbo diesels, id love to see that power in something that doesnt have a bed

MadScientistMatt
MadScientistMatt Dork
10/20/10 7:50 a.m.

Now this thread has me contemplating swapping a Mopar 354 Hemi into my BMW. Here's a few "keep it in the family" options that would have a very different personality for the Demon.

  • 170 slant six with three Weber DCOEs and a wild cam
  • One of the V6s from the 300C / Magnum / Charger, not sure what stick shifts will bolt up though
  • 2.4 Turbo out of a PT Cruiser or SRT-4, backed by a Jeep Liberty trans
  • 2.4 GEMA motor, about 200 hp naturally aspirated
  • A4 midget racing motor - basically half a NASCAR Dodge engine, in aluminum
RoosterSauce
RoosterSauce New Reader
10/20/10 4:38 p.m.
grimmelshanks wrote: since were talking about heretical motorswaps anyway, ya know theres people running 13 second quarter miles with cummins turbo diesels, id love to see that power in something that doesnt have a bed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO_kjaxIDzc

likeadis?

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