The build ideas thread

BlueInGreen44 wrote:

Spinout007 wrote: In reply to BlueInGreen44: Miata is your answer. Flying Miata stroker kit, lightweight flywheel, Rear from AWD protege, escort, tracer. It would be highly amusing.

That's crossed my mind but I wonder how that rear end would hold up in a rwd situation. Would it be less substantial because it's designed to only send a fraction of the power to the rear wheels?

That is a thought, but once you have the cradle, a miata, rx7, etc rear end is just a welder away. I'm sure a company like Raxles can mate the outer end of a rear axle to something that pops in.

My list of projects that might never happen:

Austin Seven type 1930's special using the Coventry Climax motor I've got sitting on a shelf. Basically a simple chassis with solid front and rear axles, 16" skinny wire wheels, 1 and a half seats, and an ash framed hand formed aluminum body

Lotus 16 replica for the street using a 2.3L Duratec flopped over nearly on its side with a Porsche or VW transaxle (need to figure out a way to get the driveshaft down the left side of the chassis, then transmit power back to a centered transaxle), cycle fenders with vintage Dunlop treads molded into them, hand formed aluminum body.

A home brew Lola Mk6 type car with an aluminum monocoque, powered by a small block Ford and an Audi transaxle

An MGB GT with a Nissan RB in it but running carbs for a vintage look (or FI through old carb bodies), Sebring flares, redesigned front suspension using Miata uprights, redesigned rear suspension either IRS or ditch the leaf springs and go with coils, trailing links and a panhard rod, early metal dash etc.

Too many ideas and not enough time, money & space.

I've always wanted to convert a Lada Niva to rear wheel drive, swap in a zoomy engine (let's say a turbo rotary as the engine bay is small) and lower it. Would make a fun challenge car especially done up in some sort of Soviet paint theme. Might not make it to the challenge driving through the southern states that way however.

Furious_E wrote:

D2W wrote: A cafe racer/street tracker/holligan bike built from a old 2 stroke dirt bike. This is actually something I am currently working on but don't have the time right now to finish.

I would like to hear more about this, I have had an obsession with trying to do the same thing with an abandoned project bike of mine for about the last 5 years.

At this point there is not a lot to tell. The bike is a 78 yamaha IT400. It was my dad's bike, when he died no one wanted it so I took it and am doing this in his memory because he had a big impact on me for both cars and making cool stuff. Its a nasty/loud/vibrating monster that will probably suck as a street bike and try to kill me, but I don't care. I'll definately do a build thread when it happens.

First two are "easy"

Get my 67 mustang coupe back to driveable condition and/or restoration... Possibly changing from the standard blue with white Shelby stripes to an actual 67 trans am tribute type car...with my own twists of cource.

Get my 92 yamaha tdm850 back on the road with possible adventure touring upgrades.

Now on to the dreams... Build a locost that looks like a Bugatti type 35. With a modern straight 6... Or maybe a 4 cylinder in it.

This one was I always thought was crazy because it was so useless for anything but a toy... But I wanted to take my (former) Cummins 3/4ton truck and turn it into a HUGE locost that looked like a 30's Bentley or similar...

I still want to build a street tracker xs650 or sr500 too...

A modern ShoGun is high on my daydream list.

2.3 duratec in a first gen mr2.

3stge in a 510

2uz-ef in a first gen cressida

I think a turbo VW motor in a modern Subaru would be hilariously backwards and awesome.

I like motor swaps that make people mad.

Spinout007 wrote:

BlueInGreen44 wrote:

Spinout007 wrote: In reply to BlueInGreen44: Miata is your answer. Flying Miata stroker kit, lightweight flywheel, Rear from AWD protege, escort, tracer. It would be highly amusing.

That's crossed my mind but I wonder how that rear end would hold up in a rwd situation. Would it be less substantial because it's designed to only send a fraction of the power to the rear wheels?

That is a thought, but once you have the cradle, a miata, rx7, etc rear end is just a welder away. I'm sure a company like Raxles can mate the outer end of a rear axle to something that pops in.

Turbo rotary Escort wagon

I want one of 3 cars by 35, a C5(leave well enough alone, until thing need replaced), a 73-87 GM truck(mild drop cruiser), or a speedway '23 T(built right out of the catalog.

More likely I will be going down the motorcycle rabbit hole in the spring, much to my wife's dismay. Naked's and Indians...

BlueInGreen44 wrote:

Spinout007 wrote:

BlueInGreen44 wrote:

Spinout007 wrote: In reply to BlueInGreen44: Miata is your answer. Flying Miata stroker kit, lightweight flywheel, Rear from AWD protege, escort, tracer. It would be highly amusing.

That's crossed my mind but I wonder how that rear end would hold up in a rwd situation. Would it be less substantial because it's designed to only send a fraction of the power to the rear wheels?

That is a thought, but once you have the cradle, a miata, rx7, etc rear end is just a welder away. I'm sure a company like Raxles can mate the outer end of a rear axle to something that pops in.

Turbo rotary Escort wagon

Well... If you're throwing boost at the equation. All bets are off.

In reply to BlueInGreen44:

Turbo Mid Engine Rotary Escort Wagon....

Reliable Brit: Triumph Spit with something like a Nissan RB or Toyota 2JZ driveline in it.

Diesel cargo van/camper: Start with a $200 E250 van and drop in a UD diesel and 6 speed. They already have a remote, cable-op shifter, so I could mount the neat little short shifter on the doghouse. Convert the back to a camper.

HD classic car: Currently doing this with a 66 Bonneville. It will get a diesel and HD auto. I have it narrowed down to three drivelines in ascending order of how big the bank is I will rob to get it: 6.5TD/4L80E, Dmax/Allison, 6.7L stroke/6R140. It already has a 3/4 ton front spindles and brakes as well as a 10.5" full floating rear. The whole thing will theoretically be capable of towing 10k lbs if it weren't for the light-duty nature of the frame and overall weight of the car.

STI Maverick: I had a 74 Maverick that I always wanted to turn into an AWD rally car. I did some hardcore measuring and discovered that an STI drivetrain wouldn't be that bad. There would be some front shock tower surgery and a buttload of fabrication. But the Maverick V8 and an 04 STI are basically the same weight, so putting an STI drivetrain in the Mav would have made it lighter than the STI.

And I have dozens more

Spinout007 wrote:

BlueInGreen44 wrote:

Spinout007 wrote:

BlueInGreen44 wrote:

Spinout007 wrote: In reply to BlueInGreen44: Miata is your answer. Flying Miata stroker kit, lightweight flywheel, Rear from AWD protege, escort, tracer. It would be highly amusing.

That's crossed my mind but I wonder how that rear end would hold up in a rwd situation. Would it be less substantial because it's designed to only send a fraction of the power to the rear wheels?

That is a thought, but once you have the cradle, a miata, rx7, etc rear end is just a welder away. I'm sure a company like Raxles can mate the outer end of a rear axle to something that pops in.

Turbo rotary Escort wagon

Well... If you're throwing boost at the equation. All bets are off.

If you have a Ford engine in your wagon, grab a bellhousing (and transmission if you want a non OD 4 speed) from a early 70s 4 banger Pinto and a 5 speed from a Merkur XR4Ti. That way you can keep the engine and electronics and have it look like a stock engine compartment.

Curtis: I've considered something similar for a Maverick/Falcon/Mustang but my thought was a T-5 from a Jeep CJ and either the 2.3T/Zetec or 5.0 route, and some unknown to me AWD transfer case. Then the differentials from and independent suspension Explorer.

Teh E36 M3 wrote: Not that crazy, but LFX v6 (Camaro v6) in mg midget. Modified independent rear. Will probably do something similar in the next year or so. Unless I just go blacktop 4age. 325>160>65 though. Probably not a huge weight penalty.

While I expect to have had my fill of chassis swaps after the Molvo is done, I do own an MGB GT and have wanted the MOWOG abortion of an engine out of it for many years. Experience and measurements tell me that the MGB would be a good candidate for a Miata chassis swap plus the ensuing LFX swap kit form V8 roadsters.

But then I remember that I could build a complete V8 miata for less time and money and it will be a better CAR when done, so I leave this one alone.

curtis73 wrote: Reliable Brit: Triumph Spit with something like a Nissan RB or Toyota 2JZ driveline in it.

Just did a 4AGE head for a guy with a 69 Spitfire.... it does zero to 60 in 6 seconds.... an RB or JZ would be a whole different kettle 'O fish.......

oldeskewltoy wrote:

curtis73 wrote: Reliable Brit: Triumph Spit with something like a Nissan RB or Toyota 2JZ driveline in it.

Just did a 4AGE head for a guy with a 69 Spitfire.... it does zero to 60 in 6 seconds.... an RB or JZ would be a whole different kettle 'O fish.......

My next project (after the rebuilt challenge Turbo Spitfire) is a street version. I have a rust free (about as rust free as they can be!) Spitfire IV body and the complete kit to replace the rear end with a WRX axle and a hybrid GT6+ Rotoflex suspension with MGF axles. The plan is to turbo a Miata 1.8 and 5 speed transmission and make it into a sleeper......

I want to build a 2wd Cherokee like the XJR, but I want to build a turbo 4.7 stroker instead of keeping the 4.0 liter displacement.

Wow there are some incredible ideas and imaginations in this thread! Mine (mostly engine swaps) seem fairly simple and tame in comparison:

914 w/ 1800 Honda GoldWing Flat 6

912(early model) w/ 1800 Honda GoldWing Flat 6

924 or Opel GT w/ 2.0 Ecotec Turbo or VR6

964 w/ Subaru 3.6L

928 w/ Corvette C5 drive train

BMW 2002 or FB RX-7 w/ Honda F20C

Locost w/ SHO V8

RX-8 w/ Modern GM V6

MBG-GT w/ GM Atlas I6 (or mazda/ford 1.8l-2.5l V6, possibly that super light Isuzu V6)

GMC Jimmy w/Typhoon body kit and drive line conversion but LSx and a 6sp trans (instead of chopping up an original)

Motorcycle idea too: either Honda XR650, Buell Tuber or Ducati trellis frame, Aixro XR50 Rotary kart motor, modern sport bike wheels/suspension, adv-esque tires, custom sub-frame all made to look like my perfect mash-up of a tracker/bratster

It was almost therapeutic writing this and getting ideas out of my head also I've realized there might be a slight hang up in my head in wanting to swap so many different Porsches (realizing that maybe its a way to attempt compensating for having no desire to pay porsche maintenance prices)

I'll take an Opal GT with ecotec!

oldeskewltoy wrote:

curtis73 wrote: Reliable Brit: Triumph Spit with something like a Nissan RB or Toyota 2JZ driveline in it.

Just did a 4AGE head for a guy with a 69 Spitfire.... it does zero to 60 in 6 seconds.... an RB or JZ would be a whole different kettle 'O fish.......

Nice. I have to admit that my main motivation for doing something like this would be because I love Spits, but I actually want to drive it - not just look at it disassembled in the garage like every other Spitfire I see.

I also always wanted to do a full-on road racer that is just barely street legal, and then drive it daily. You know, pull up beside someone at a light in a caged, flared, 900-hp V8 idling at 1500 rpm and give a nod to the soccer mom next to me, take a sip of my coffee and turn up NPR's "all things considered" on the radio.

Kinda like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qanlirrRWs

Mixed with this (skip to 1:50): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBvWoT_s-R8

curtis73 wrote: I also always wanted to do a full-on road racer that is just barely street legal, and then drive it daily. You know, pull up beside someone at a light in a caged, flared, 900-hp V8 idling at 1500 rpm and give a nod to the soccer mom next to me, take a sip of my coffee and turn up NPR's "all things considered" on the radio.

Preach it brother! ....and the last shall be first!

Fiat 600

I still want to do this:

Turn the trailer into a tiny home/RV and put a car in the back.

Derick Freese wrote: I want to build a 2wd Cherokee like the XJR, but I want to build a turbo 4.7 stroker instead of keeping the 4.0 liter displacement.

I'm considering doing this, but add some tube frame Pre-Runner insanity with my wrecked 2dr 5spd Cherokee.

Like so.

2015-10-01_03-07-17 by concealer404, on Flickr

Also: I really want to swap an SR20 into a black Civic EG coupe.

Derick Freese wrote: I want to build a 2wd Cherokee like the XJR, but I want to build a turbo 4.7 stroker instead of keeping the 4.0 liter displacement.

I had a similar vision with my '91 2 door, 2wd 5 speed XJ. I wanted to grab a Chrysler 8.25 rear axle from a 4 cylinder XJ with the 4.10 gears and put a small turbo on the 4.0L. I think that it would be a hoot to drive!