I never would have imagined that 55% of you prefer a Pierre Cardin '73 AMX to a "real" '70 AMX, but that turned out to be the case in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity Poll. Today we're returning to a theme we visited with Aircraft Engine Edition PCH and Mix-N-Match Madness PCH: Engine swaps! Not only that, we're going with the two engines folks around these parts most often suggest as swap candidates. See, whenever we look at a really small car, it won't be long before someone suggests dropping a Hayabusa (or two) in it... and a big car? Drop a Duramax in that sucka! So that's what we're looking at in today's sulfur-scented selections...
We had a trio of Honda 600s in an earlier Project Car Hell, and the subject of this insane Hayabusa-powered 600 came up in the comments. Since then, the idea of stuffing one of Suzuki's loony engines in a 600 has hovered around us, a miasma we can only dispel by showing how we might go about doing the same sort of thing on a smaller budget. So! The recipe could go as follows: Take one tube-framed 1971 Honda 600 (go here if the ad disappears) and subtract the Chevette engine that comes with it. Next, add one this 2001 Hayabusa engine (go here if the ad disappears), which is already set up for installation in a four-wheeled vehicle. Stir well, seasoning liberally with blood, sweat, and cubic dollars. The 600 is already set up for rear-wheel drive (which is fine) but that doesn't mean you can't convert it back to front-drive and end up with the scariest torque-steering beast to ever drive on a public road... or get a second Hayabusa engine and make it a twin-engined, all-wheel-drive, totally uncontrollable deathtrap!
Screaming small-displacement engines are fun, especially with the unearthly power-to-weight of a Hayabusa mill, but there's something to be said for an engine that delivers maximum tire-obliteratin' torque at a mere 1,450 RPM. Hell, the Hayabusa probably spins that fast before it's even assembled! And what goes with serious diesel grunt? That's right, a big ol' postwar Detroit chariot- like, say, this 1947 Ford (go here if the ad disappears). It comes with a Chevy 350, which you can sell off and recoup .005% of the project's costs! Not only that, you get a Ford 9" rear, which might even withstand the torque of this Duramax diesel V8
(go here if the ad disappears). Yes, naysayers, we know the engine needs rebuilding, but you get the engine ECU, an Allison transmission, and a transfer case- and the seller takes credit cards! Hmmm... Veggie-oil Duramax Monster '47 Ford, anyone? Thanks (and a half-credit towards a PCH Tipster T-shirt) to Mad_Science for the tip on the Duramax!
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