Totally bench-dreaming a car build

I can't finish the cars I have, so this is just a bench build

I'm looking for a cheap, small, light ragtop with potential. I want a cheap, blank slate that I can drop in a small block, toss in some free CL seats and drive like stank. I want it to be a study in how much stuff I can get for free and weld or bolt it in to make a complete car.

I know that a stripped down Miata is the real answer, but I want something a bit more unique.

Here is what came to mind first:
Spitfire
Fiat or Alfa Spyder
Chevette with the top hacked off and a cage welded in

I'm thinking of something with a longer nose, so Spitfire > E30. Opel GT > K-car.

.... well, anything > K-car, but that's a different thread.

You take that back. ScAries is awesome!!!

Nevertheless, I like the Opel. I've always had a soft spot for them. Now, for the enabling portion of this post (Sorry, it is mandatory.)

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/opel-gt-500-in/59243/page1/
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/72-opel-gt-no-engine-500-wv/59614/page1/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VhfvHB_lqM

well, anything > K-car, but that's a different thread.

Considering our relative rates of probably not getting anything done with these convertible projects, id be happy to compare by bench-built turbo upgrade of my $800 lebaron convertible to whatever your bench build ends up as!

You got it, Vigo. One of my current projects is taking a 93 Chevy half-ton ($1000) 4x4 and a 65 Scout 800 (free) and combining them into one vehicle. Sell the rest of the good parts so I can buy a diesel and manual tranny for it, and hopefully get an offroader for almost free.

TR-6

TR6's are expensive now- I'm going with the standby MGB. I'd like to see it in a Midget, but my measurements show that I need a few more inches. And the 4age is nearly frantic as-is, so that kind of torque would likely leave me in the hospital.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ctd/3724629824.html

'69 TR-6 $1500 NMNA

"Ragtop" takes the Opel out of the running, of course. MGB is the obvious non-Miata answer, but maybe too obvious if the whole point is to do something different. So in that spirit, I say Geo Metro convertible.

fasted58 wrote: http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ctd/3724629824.html '69 TR-6 $1500 NMNA

Just when I was about to say that TR-6s have never gotten cheap...

That car looks like a steal at $1500.

In reply to Woody:

I'd usually be leery of a car that old in Pa. but it looks like it hasn't been sitting out in the weather, being it's a project car it prolly sat in the corner of someone's garage. I'd still thoroughly check the frame and floor pans tho.

TR-6 has been on my build list but for a while I'm not dragging any new E36 M3 home yet. For starters, I thought a SBF w/ T5 oughta be cheap and fun.

I'm thinking alfa is the right answer:

http://bringatrailer.com/2013/01/09/1991-alfa-romeo-spider-v8/

The mundane answer here would be Mustang....

(Sorry...)

Any room for swaps in an X1-9?

Corvair motor into an Fiat 850 Spyder.

Someone did a supercharged honda k20 swap into an X1-9 I think. It was in the magazine years ago.

Found these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1981-Fiat-Spider-2000-Turbo-Pinin-Farina-/281091832480?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item417260faa0

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971-Fiat-Spider-/161007807141?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item257cd02aa5

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1990-BMW-325-A-Convertible-Work-Process-/271188408683?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f2416b96b

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1965-1973-MGB-Roadsters-Both-project-cars-sold-together-/251258393913?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3a802ad539

curtis73 wrote: Any room for swaps in an X1-9?

THIS!!!

I should have said "transplant a Corvair drivetrain into a Fiat 850 Spyder". I had one of these back in the 80's. It was a very scary drive!

Would I fit in a Midget? I'm 6'1" and 240 lbs.

jmc14 wrote: I should have said "transplant a Corvair drivetrain into a Fiat 850 Spyder". I had one of these back in the 80's. It was a very scary drive!

This is troubling me. Tell me what the issues were.

Skinny tires, narrowed suspension, to much rear weight and a poor transplant job were the problems. I was dead poor and didn't know much about mechanics or fabrication then. I didn't have the money or ability to sort it out.

I hadn't done the transplant. I found it in a neighbors yard rusting away. I thought that I was going to have fun working on it. But, I ended up having to sell it before I got into it.

curtis73 wrote: Would I fit in a Midget? I'm 6'1" and 240 lbs.

I know a guy bigger than you (~6' 4")who drove a Midget around. It was quite a sight watching him fold himself in and out of the car. Obviously, he couldn't drive it with the top up. He was also into classic Minis...

MGB is the easy button. SBC/F V8 swaps are pretty common and relatively easy - there are even kits that make it an almost bolt-in project.

A Spitfire can be done, but it'll be more of a hack-job. While a V8 B can be built and used as a normal car (heat? A/C? No problem), in a Spit the back of the engine ends up occupying a good bit of interior space and the already tight Spitfire pedal area gets even tighter. Plus, the B's SRA is easier to adapt to increased power than the Spit's IRS (which is taxed under normal circumstances).

You can do a 'murcan rag top for damn near free. Someone might pay you to get that E36 M3 off their property.

Looks like plenty of room up front for a small block and I'm sure there is a live axle in that track width in the junkyard somewhere.

Bwahahah whether this is reading comprehension fail or trolling, i still think it's hilarious!

sevenracer wrote: I'm thinking alfa is the right answer: http://bringatrailer.com/2013/01/09/1991-alfa-romeo-spider-v8/

I'd like to see up close how they did that. Even the Alfa V8 didn't fit very well in that engine compartment.

The one V8 conversion I've seen up close was into a GTV (identical package ourside of the hood). Excellent craftsmanship, but HUGE work (firewall, floor pans, trans tunnel, etc). If this was the path you wanted to take, I would find the rustiest car I could find to start with- since most of the common rust areas would have to be redone to fit the engine anyway.

FWIW, it's a tight fit for the I4 in places, too.

If you like the car, go for it- it would be hugely unique. But, unlike the Miata swap, any V8 in an Alfa will be a huge increase of weight- the Alfa engine + trans are considerably lighter than a Miata.

Good luck with the thinking.