kicking around ideas for a a new project...american muscle meets european refinement?

[Jon1647545566]

I am starting to slowly and gradually build up a small stockpile of parts. When I do this, I normally stick to my bread and butter type stuff because I end up using a lot of leftovers from past projects and if you stick with the same type of stuff it works out best. In my case, I tend to stick with general chevy stuff and apply it to about everything.

 

Anyway, I'm starting to get the itch for a new project and need some inspiration. So I thought I'd consider trying something new to me. Have been kicking around the idea of a European convertible/roadster w/ Chevy V8 power. I have been drooling over Austin-Healey 3000's lately with SBC conversions. But that sort of thing is outside of my financial wheelhouse. So that has me thinking about other makes and models.

 

To add another degree of difficulty to the whole thing... I am a big dude. I need to find or modify something small enough to make the SBC really fly, but something that also doesn't look like a "car-suit".

 

Further, I am into the whole vintage look. Early 1970's and later. This whole idea has been on my mind for awhile, but originally came to mind several years ago looking at a '54 studebaker commander Hardtop. I thought lopping off the top and making a roadster out of it would be pretty sexy. But since that original spark these studes have climbed to crazy prices and it's not like they are growing on trees.

 

So has anybody seen anything like this before (aside from the A-H 3000) or have suggestions to lend? If nothing else, maybe this could be an interesting topic to BS about. I've even knocked around the idea of a kit car body on some sort of other modified chassis.....?

[Littleguy]

For my next project I have been wanting to build a 1983-85 Mercedes SL convertible with an LS swap, sort of in the same spirit of what you are thinking.

[POS VETT]

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/4758094926.html

[Jon1647545566]

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/4758094926.html

 

You have no idea how much I've eye-balled this ad in the last month. I even have a chevy straight axle and steel skinnys that would be perfect for it. I also have been eye-balling a Hillman body that has been on CL awhile. I have a buddy with a Anglia gasser that tears ass. I myself have been down the gasser path as well and have compared it to a black hole where you toss buckets of cash into hoping to fill the hole up in vain. After building so many cars, it's the one that truely snow-balled out of control and now I'm just gun shy.

 

I'm thinking more long the lines of body styling of the 1950's and 1960's European roadsters...

[Green Bastard]

What about a MG or a Triumph? Either can be had pretty cheap.

[Jon1647545566]

What about a MG or a Triumph? Either can be had pretty cheap.

 

I've looked into them a bit. Those two seem to fall under the "car-suit" category for me. I can barely get my knees past the steering wheel of a spitfire. I'd be hoping for something with a little more room. I'm 6'3". My lack of knowledge regarding European cars and sizing is going to be the hurdle here.

[Lauren]

Is there a budget?

 

A Jaguar E type with a SBC would be amazing. The purist will hate you but that sexy body with reliable power is worth it.

 

http://image.hotrod.com/f/featuredvehicles/hrdp_1002_1971_jaguar_xke/26285603+pheader_460x1000/hrdp_1002_01+1971_jaguar_XKE+.jpg

[Jon1647545566]

Is there a budget?

 

A Jaguar E type with a SBC would be amazing. The purist will hate you but that sexy body with reliable power is worth it.

 

http://image.hotrod.com/f/featuredvehicles/hrdp_1002_1971_jaguar_xke/26285603+pheader_460x1000/hrdp_1002_01+1971_jaguar_XKE+.jpg

 

 

That is sexy. There is budget and an e-type is well outside if it. But still fun to talk about and get ideas from.

[Littleguy]

Damn, that E-type has me all conflicted inside.

[gillbot]

Unfortunately I think you have similar ideas that many (including myself) now have. The Ls and sbc are so popular that it's hard to find something it hasn't already been stuffed into. I'd love to find an old car, a real oddball and put a stupid boosted Ls mill into it. I thought about an old ltd, been done. Old mirage? Done.... There are so few that haven't been swapped that it's nearly pointless now to find one. Since everyone is out there looking to do this, it's just driving up the prices on many of these cars making them more unobtainable for the regular to do. I think I'm just going to find something that suits me and my budget, which as time goes on seems less and less likely.

[Mr. Jones]

Is there a budget?

 

A Jaguar E type with a SBC would be amazing. The purist will hate you but that sexy body with reliable power is worth it.

 

http://image.hotrod.com/f/featuredvehicles/hrdp_1002_1971_jaguar_xke/26285603+pheader_460x1000/hrdp_1002_01+1971_jaguar_XKE+.jpg

 

 

Blasphemy.

[Forrest Gump 9]

Is there a budget?

 

A Jaguar E type with a SBC would be amazing. The purist will hate you but that sexy body with reliable power is worth it.

 

http://image.hotrod.com/f/featuredvehicles/hrdp_1002_1971_jaguar_xke/26285603+pheader_460x1000/hrdp_1002_01+1971_jaguar_XKE+.jpg

 

That's so dirty it's actually cool. Definitely something different.

[Not Brian]

Bricklin

[zeitgeist57]

Get a cheap Porsche 944, Renegade Chevy V8 swap???

[tdyguy2k]

For my next project I have been wanting to build a 1983-85 Mercedes SL convertible with an LS swap, sort of in the same spirit of what you are thinking.

This was going to be my suggestion. I do like the Jag though. It would definitely piss off the purests, but that would be all the more reason to do it.

[Geeto67]

I think you meant to say early 70's and earlier, later means more modern and you keep citing the 3000GT which is a late 50's car.

 

I think the first thing you need to think about is whether you want a sports car or a GT car. A sports car is just that 2 seats, no frills, all balls. A GT car is a 2+2 touring car.

 

The height of the kit car/hybrid thing was the 50's to the 60's, with a lot of unique european-like designs like devlins, fiberfab jamacians, kurtus-krafts, etc... built specifically for racing. Back in NY as a kid one of my parent's neighbors restored formula 1 cars for a living and had a devlin he drove as a play car. One thing I can tell you about the past as a big guy - if you are over 6' or heavier than 170 lbs you won't fit in any of these real deal 1950's-60's cars - if you can even find one. However that shouldn't stop you from looking because old kit cars tend to be near worthless when you do find them and since most are fiberglass they are easy to modify for more room.

 

if you haven't dug around this site yet: http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/ it may give you some ideas to poke your head in.

 

Here is what limited knowledge of I have of kit cars: due to the bug popularity most 60's original designs have a bug platform and then a bespoke chassis platform. The Fiberfab jamacian is like this there is one body that fits on a bug, and then a completely different setup that uses an austin healey 3000GT chassis, C1 corvette chassis, or home made ladder frame chassis. So know what you are getting into: always ask is it a VW floor pan. The biggest problem with 60's kit cars also is headroom. Leg room is an issue too but usually solved by seats on the floor and smaller wheels, but headroom is something they usually sacrificed at the cost of good looks. You can add a gurney bubble to most of these cars and solve everything but the getting in and out issue.

 

Older 50's cars were really popular to replicate in the 80's-90's so there are actually a few kits out there that would make a good platform. There used to be a jaguar XK120 kit that used it's own chassis, jag rear-end, and ford small block v-8. I saw one for sale last year in ok shape and it sold for around $5K running. You see them on ebay from time to time as well as healy 3000GT kits and 1953 corvette kits. The jaguar and healy kits are the most common, and actually the AH kits have their own following. Most use 1970s-80's jaguar xj6 rear ends since it's the same from the 50-90's but if you want to fall down that rabbit hole get one with outboard brakes - makes service so much easier.

 

So I know someone already mentioned the XKE swap, but have you considered a Jaguar XJS V12? It's really common but for good reason: Jag v12s use Chevy transmissions (TH400s in 1977-1990s and then 4LE80s in the 90's) and a cast iron big block with alloy heads weighs significantly less than the boat anchor v-12. The car can easily accommodate bigger drivers since it is a GT car and not a true sports car, not something that can be said for the XKE - I'm 6'5 and although I can fit in a series 3 v-12 XKE (just barely) I have a really hard time with the earlier cars if the wheel hasn't been changed out.

 

Of the new kits out there - well there aren't a lot that aren't cobras. However, for some reason the Jaguar C-type seems to still be in production by a few places, mostly in england but shell valley here in the states makes one:

http://www.shellvalley.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=6/mode=cat/cat6.htm

they have already modded the foot wells to accommodate larger drivers, and the car is enough of an uncommon design that you really won't see yourself coming or going, and unfortunately most people won't know what it is when you bring it to a show. Still it is english, you can use a jag rear in it for the euro road feel, and the engine bay will def accommodate a SBC.

 

Of course there is also the bill thomas cheetah, not really a euro car but an american car built in the early 1960's to smack around the europeans in road racing (before the cobra). They are still in production but unfortunately space is a real premium in these cars and it might be better to build a roadster than a coupe:

http://www.billthomascheetah.com/in_production.php

 

Finally there is the cobra. Now everyone knows the big 427 and most of the kits cater to that. However the cobra's real reputation was made on the original small block slab sided cars and the 289 FIA cars. A 289 FIA car looks like a 427 - it's got the big flares and most people will just see that and the roll bar and assume it's a big block car despite the different nose and tail. However the slabsided street cars are really just tidy english roadsters. Superperformance and ERA both make Slabside kits, and I believe you can fit the ERA slabside body to a factory five chassis (there is a thread on the factory five forums about this) and FF may be coming out with their own slabside. the most overlooked thing about cobra kit cars is that the original cobras used independent rear ends, but most of the repops just use a ford or GM solid axle. Again a jaguar rear (which can be had for junkyard cheap) is your friend here. Here is the thread of the guy who built the FF slabside so you can see what is involved:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?5227-First-Factory-Five-Slabside

 

I can tell you I fit in a FF cobra but just barely. My knee hits the top of the dash on the left side with the clutch pedal all the way out, but if i take my shoes off it isn't an issue. I'm 6'5" with a 34" inseam.

 

So final oddballs I have seen over the years...

my painter in NY was a jaguar nutball but he had a triumph stag with a small block chevy in it that he drove daily. Stags aren't exactly common but they aren't expensive and they are 2+2 cars which means there is room for taller people if you need to make it. While not a pretty car, it is what I call british ugly, which means it is still kinda handsome and charming in a way only the british can be. Unfortunately it is a 70's triumph which means the build quality is on par with a 1980's eastern bloc toaster. It came with the most unreliable v8 the british ever made so most often you see clean bodies with blown engines - or at least you used to.

 

I am a big fan of the Jaguar XJ6 and XJ12 C coupes built in the late 70's. They are rare cars but the nicest one is usually still under $20K and half of them have chevy v-8s swapped in already. they make excellent grand touring cars. If you can stand 4 doors the regular 70's xj6 is a beautiful car in it's own right but something tells me you want 2 doors.

 

There was an opel mantra or kadet on ohio craigslist for a while (last time I saw it was last month), I don't think it sold but it already had a ford small block in it. not really great cars so there is no real great advantage to using them other than they look european.

 

Kind of rare but ford did sell the 70's capri here. Legendary rally racing cars in europe, they were just standard cheap compact cars here and rust ate most of them. Still there is an aftermarket for them overseas and I saw a couple of cheap ones on ebay in california this year. This is not to be confused with the fox based mercurt capri, or the two seat 90's roadster either.

 

Jensen interceptor projects are still cheap because rust is a huge issue with those cars. I saw one in a junkyard in 2013 with a lincoln contential sitting on top of it and my buddy had to talk me out of it because the car was so rotted it had no floors at all.

 

 

Final question though: are you married to the idea of a SBC? There are other way better powerplants out there that get almost no love and would be awesome for repowering something european. The for v-8s two that spring to mind are the buick nailhead, and the pontiac 389/400.

I personally have a pontiac OHC sprint inline 6 out of my old 1967 lemans that I have always wanted to put into a c3 corvette chassis and build a pontiac banshee replica, but I am weird in that I like inline six powered sports and GT cars.

[Geeto67]

I didn't realize this but the classic roadster sebring Healey kit is still in production, though it may be dodgy to deal with them:

 

http://www.classicroadsters.ca/html/sebring_mx.html

 

It's about $16K for the full boat kit but still cheaper than a real AH.

 

you can read about them here:

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/vacation-cc-classic-roadsters-sebring-mx/

[Lauren]

My other suggestion which I'm eventually going to do one day, would be a Merc Benz W111. Slammed with an LS swap.

 

 

http://stancewords.stanceworks.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/mercedes-benz-airride.jpg

[Jon1647545566]

Sorry for coming back to this late. Geeto- you are correct, I meant to say "early 70's and earlier". Thanks for all that info it's helpful, I actually like the look of that Triumph stag. Thanks also for thr forgotten fiberglass link. I have never seen that site before. Very cool.

 

I do intend to stay with the sbc, due mainly to size, inexpensive parts, and the fact that I have them on hand. The others are nice, but they are starting to show up everywhere now as well, which is nothing original anymore since everybody all of a sudden developed a distaste for "SBC belly button motors", and decided to jump on the other band wagon. I'm not considering doing anything earth shattering, when I build cars, I build them for myself and not so much for attention.

 

I did come across an Opel GT somewhere on CL a few days ago, and thought it would be cool to do, but once I saw the space under the hood, I started to have second thoughts. There is also a Triumph GT6 on CL now that I think would work pretty well, but it doesn't have a title and I am not sure about the interior room.

[STEVE-O]

The gt6 would be sweet

[El Karacho1647545492]

Porsche 914 V8

[Geeto67]

Sorry for coming back to this late. Geeto- you are correct, I meant to say "early 70's and earlier". Thanks for all that info it's helpful, I actually like the look of that Triumph stag. Thanks also for thr forgotten fiberglass link. I have never seen that site before. Very cool.

 

I do intend to stay with the sbc, due mainly to size, inexpensive parts, and the fact that I have them on hand. The others are nice, but they are starting to show up everywhere now as well, which is nothing original anymore since everybody all of a sudden developed a distaste for "SBC belly button motors", and decided to jump on the other band wagon. I'm not considering doing anything earth shattering, when I build cars, I build them for myself and not so much for attention.

 

I did come across an Opel GT somewhere on CL a few days ago, and thought it would be cool to do, but once I saw the space under the hood, I started to have second thoughts. There is also a Triumph GT6 on CL now that I think would work pretty well, but it doesn't have a title and I am not sure about the interior room.

 

I can respect sticking with the SBC. It certainly keeps the cost down. My father is a Chevy guy and I'm a Pontiac guy so I get it.

 

The Opel GT is a tiny car. I've seen plenty of them with 350 swaps over the years

But it was a car I felt cramped in when I drove it. If I wanted a car like that I would take a 350 swapped 240/260z any day over the Opel.

 

What year is the GT6? If it is pre 1972 I can help you with the title, since I still have my NY license. Or you can Vermont title it.

 

If you can look for an MG GTB. They will take a Chevy and I know a few people over 6' that own them. Plus hardtop, which is always preferable to leaky Brit roadsters.

[SHIEF]

What about an old volvo?

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=419499&page=12

Thats the build thread on a 162. Pretty badass. Pics are on same page posted.

[Patrick]

Bricklin

 

This. The swap's already done for you.

[carl1647545492]

How about a Datsun 510

 

http://thefabweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/QPatI.jpg?25d8db