Antique & Classic Cars Blog

Many cars have been made over the decades that looked like the track team and moved like the chess club. Engine swapping is the time-honored way to make slow, fast. If the lines are good but the horsepower ain’t, somebody–maybe lots of people–have fixed that with V6 or V8 punch. Vegas, Pintos, MGs, Triumphs, Sunbeams, TVRs, Austin Healeys, Datsun Z cars, Fiats, Alfas, Scamps, Darts, Dusters…. (Try finding a solid Chevy Vega with the stock 4-cylinder lump.)

There are many decisions to make in performing such a swap, but this may be the first one:

Do you want old school or new tech?

The answer depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Do you want to build the car you wish the manufacturer had turned out in the first place? Or do you want to upgrade the car with the best performance goodies your money can buy? With the first approach, you’ll change only what you need to. A person not familiar with your make and model could see your car, hood up, and think the car was bone stock.

The second approach leaves no doubt that you’ve dumped some pennies into rodding your creation. New parts will glisten and gleam under the hood–could be fuel injection, turbo- or supercharger, electric fan(s), modern wiring. You’ll probably swap the wheels. There may be a hood scoop up front; different seats and gauges inside and possibly a rollbar.

Either’s good. Both make a good looking car move like it should.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 8th, 2007 at 3:56 pm and is filed under Car parts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.