V8 conversions.

Just browsing the web, I come across more and more sites of people who've performed V8 conversions. Must say there are a lot of interesting cars out there!

So now I'm looking into the possibilities of buying a junkyard car and stuff a V8 in for a reasonably low-budget fast car. Problem now being that I live in Holland, Europe. And V8 engines never were popular here.

So what I wanted to know is what engines are cheap to find in the US? I have friends there who can do some salvaging for me, but I first need a guideline as to how much the engine would cost approximately.

Was thinking about either a Ford 5.0 or a Chevy 350. Those are produced in large numbers, so they should be relatively cheap to find.

Also, which would be better, a manual or automatic transmission? Just planning to use the car on the street, no real racing involved, except at the stop lights of course. So how much would a Chevy or Ford V8 be including the transmission?

And does anyone have an idea how much it would be to ship it to Europe? My friends live in the Seattle, WA, region, so that sucks, because it would need to be shipped to the east coast first.

And finally, what are the dimensions of the engine, and gearbox? The idea was to stuff it in a small a car as possible as to go for the optimum sleeper effect, but I need to know how small I can go.

Ideally it would all fit in a car similar to the one I drive now, a Fiat Panda. ((For you Americans, think of a Geo Metro, but only WAY smaller, all rectangular and with a one liter engine)) Now that would be funny, swapping the 1 liter engine for a 5 liter one!

Too expensive.. gotta keep a close eye on my budget, only have 3k for the conversion. Thanks for the link anyways.

I was more thinking about something like this:

V8 Powered Mini (http://www.spagweb.com/v8mini/)

Low budget and fun, doesn't need to look great, as long as it works.

Nobody can help me out? Come on.. I know someone must be able to give me some answers.. :biggrin:

I've got a Chevy 350 with a 3 speed auto with 170,00 Miles on it, How much u wanna pay for it?

i just went on yahoo and ebay and looked up some stuff

http://www.crate-motors.com/?source=overture

http://www.remanufactured.com/


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2422827865&category=33615

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2422689723&category=33615
i think this might be what youre looking for

It's easy to find low cost engines and transmissions. Grab a local Want Ad Weekly, or Buy & Sell (found at convenience stores on the rack with Auto Trader magazine). In the auto parts section there will always be a few people parting out wrecked cars with good drivetrains.

Chevy engines have more kits to swap them into other cars, but Ford engines are smaller and lighter. You can buy a late model 5.0 and transmission combo usually for about $750-1000 pretty easily, and that will include all accessories. Sometimes you will find someone selling off their old racing parts so you can build a performance engine for cheap.

Depending on the application it can be much easier to swap in an automatic transmission with the engine rather than a manual, as you don't need to worry about hooking up shift linkage and clutch linkage. A B&M shift kit in a Ford or GM automatic trans (like an AOD or a 200R4) can make that transmission stronger, and shift faster and better than you can in a manual.

Some cars out ther ehave kits to do the swap, while others require fabricating mounts on your own. Ifyou decide the latter route, you can start by buying universal mounts for your engine from street rod vendors (usually about $50 for a set) and modify them to mount in whatever car you've bought. SOmetimes it easier to buy the factory mounts for that engine in a specific car, and then fabricate a way to mount them in teh chassis you are using.

That latter is what I did when swapping a Ford 5.0 into my RX7. Click Here (http://v8rx7.com/page0.htm) to go to a page with my conversion process, including a free downloadable template for the mounts I made for the Mazda that can be modified to use in many other chassis.

http://v8rx7.com/page4.5.jpg

I'm getting ready to do a swap of a domestic V8 into a BMW 630 CSi I just bought for $200. Should be a fun project!

Originally posted by akumabito
Just browsing the web, I come across more and more sites of people who've performed V8 conversions. Must say there are a lot of interesting cars out there!

So now I'm looking into the possibilities of buying a junkyard car and stuff a V8 in for a reasonably low-budget fast car. Problem now being that I live in Holland, Europe. And V8 engines never were popular here.

So what I wanted to know is what engines are cheap to find in the US? I have friends there who can do some salvaging for me, but I first need a guideline as to how much the engine would cost approximately.

Was thinking about either a Ford 5.0 or a Chevy 350. Those are produced in large numbers, so they should be relatively cheap to find.

Also, which would be better, a manual or automatic transmission? Just planning to use the car on the street, no real racing involved, except at the stop lights of course. So how much would a Chevy or Ford V8 be including the transmission?

And does anyone have an idea how much it would be to ship it to Europe? My friends live in the Seattle, WA, region, so that sucks, because it would need to be shipped to the east coast first.

And finally, what are the dimensions of the engine, and gearbox? The idea was to stuff it in a small a car as possible as to go for the optimum sleeper effect, but I need to know how small I can go.

Ideally it would all fit in a car similar to the one I drive now, a Fiat Panda. ((For you Americans, think of a Geo Metro, but only WAY smaller, all rectangular and with a one liter engine)) Now that would be funny, swapping the 1 liter engine for a 5 liter one!


I think u'd need considerable work(and therefore $$) on the engine bay to fit that monster in there..

What year is your Pianda? Does it use modern emission controls?

I've got a '92 now with cat and the like.. but an older model is easily found, and they're cheap too. Can get a 89 for less than 200 bucks..

Think I'll shop around in England though for a Rover 3.5 liter. They're a lot smaller, and lighter. Plus they're easier to find here in Europe.