Strong 225 Buick V6, what to put it in?

[RichardSIA]

Why not get a T-type or Regal and put back where it came from? I'm not a purist by any means, but I happen to like the G-bodies and why not?

Though a track bucket with no hood and a big turbo on a 229 does sound pretty bitchin.

This is a 60's odd-fire 225, probably originally from a Jeep CJ or a Buick Special.
T-type or regal is too new, heavy, and um, well, lacks style to my eye.

I'm putting a newer 3.8 even-fire into my sand rail, may have to ballast the front end to stand a chance at steering.

[ArtosDracon]

Ah, my bad, haven't actually slept yet. You're pretty particular on your design, but have you thought of a 50's SL roadster? SL did after all originally stand for Sehr Leicht, or very light, though by production they fudged that to Sport Leicht cause they packed on about 200lbs when making production practical, lol!

[cobragt]

my brother in law has an 85 TVR body. Not sure what he'd let it go for.

[RichardSIA]

280, 350, 390?
Naturally you are on the opposite end of the country!

350 and 390 were Rover V8, easy to replace.

TVR is a fairly light car at 2500 LB, I'm leaning more toward a custom build using older Sprint car parts, like to keep it under 1500 LB.

[cobragt]

280, 350, 390?
Naturally you are on the opposite end of the country!

350 and 390 were Rover V8, easy to replace.

TVR is a fairly light car at 2500 LB, I'm leaning more toward a custom build using older Sprint car parts, like to keep it under 1500 LB.

It's a 280, They came with Ford V6's. The car is in Tampa Florida.

[RichardSIA]

Every host car that comes up is either ugly, heavy, overpriced, or impractical to modify.

So it looks like I will be assembling a Bits'a Special, bits of this and bits of that!

I have Lotus 7 front fenders, Singer 9 rears, an MG TD fuel tank, and a Singer Gazelle grill.
I may even have an old set of Brooklands windscreens around here some where.

So I will have to make a space-frame, bolt in some suspension, and create the body.
The main body may be fabric like an old airplane of early Brooklands type racer.

Key here is going to be light weight, the engine is already built.

Still have to decide on the donor suspension, want independent in front, and disc brakes at all corners.

End product is a sort of a Super-7 with it's own unique look.
I intend to keep it all under 1500 Lb., so it should have reasonably good performance.

[nekkidhillbilly]

61-62 skylark they are light as can be and cheap

[nekkidhillbilly]

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1961-1...al-skylark.htm

2600 to 2800 lbs in stock form

[Lowend]

Fiero...
If a Northstar V8 fits, than the V6 should be cake

[ratman67]

amc pacer

[RichardSIA]

Owned an Olds Jetfire for a few days several years ago.

Got the body cheap, but the owner would not part with the engine and turbo.
He had some sort of big plan, I doubt he ever did anything with it.

I've looked for these, but none have been available in decent shape.

I think I'm going to build a quasi-Super 7 type special.

[RichardSIA]

Well I actually made a move on this!
Bought an old Spitfire really cheap, with an ugly body and TITLE!
So now I can escape most inspections due to age of the host car.
The Spit is beyond practical restoration, so ANYTHING goes that will work on a cheapskate budget. (I have other cars to spend the big dollars on)

Looking around Pick-N-Pull I noticed some possible parts sources for rear end upgrades that might last more than five minutes.

1. BMW rear ends, IRS like the Spitfire, but pretty self contained in a cradle for an "easy?" swap.
No doubt much stronger, and some have disk brakes.
Anyone know how much power they will take?
Best model donor without getting too wide? The Spitfire is pretty narrow but I'm OK with some fat fender flares.

2. Porsche 924/944 rear trans-axle.
'Vette ZO6 parts are way too expensive and wide, but a Porsche rear might work with my V6?
Probably not as easy as the Bimmer bits, but the weight balance should be great.

I think I found an ex-Vette Muncie too.

[RichardSIA]

Well I now have my body and chassis!

Bought a 1970 Triumph GT6 that had already been butchered in a prior Buick V6 Turbo build.
But it has a title and is stronger in many ways than the Spitfire would have been.

Biggest issue will be replacing the rear suspension and brakes.
Want to keep it simple, would you believe the budget is only $2,500.00 up and running?
I have too many other much more valuable cars to build for this one to go high-dollar.

Looking at modified Fiero rear suspension and Supra or T-Bird diff.
Hoping to get some parts from P&P for measurement and mock-up soon.

Any links or threads on converting Fiero rear to upper control arm and coil over shock in place of the strut would be helpful.
I will try to document what I do, so far still working on removing the body.

[RichardSIA]

Got a WC Camaro T5 fairly cheap.
Bolted to my Buick bell housing without any mods at all.

Hoping to begin mocking it up this weekend.
Strongly suspect I will be redoing the old engine mounts.
Still have to sort out the rear suspension too.

[Twentyover]

Pixxors? Also,see BritishV8.com for other Brit cars with big (for them) motors

[RichardSIA]

Suppose I might want to update this thread.

My rebuilt hot-rod 231 and T5 are going into a Triumph GT6.
TRIumph - buICK = TRICK 6.
Not a simple job at all, but I got a decent titled rolling body cheap after someone else nearly ruined it with the worst Turbo V6 conversion ever.
I'm talking scare you silly to realize that people who do such incredibly bad work share the roads with us bad!
Long thread on another forum about that build.

Seems the 225 is going into my newly purchased Dio Tipo on a TR4 chassis.
Now I need another light flywheel, Muncie, and Buick bell housing.

[BMR Sales]

Porsche 914 - I know it fits

[RichardSIA]

No I did not die, just been busy with "Life".
Went a little nuts on feeBay after I found that the 225 odd-fire crank had issues.
A replacement was not being as easy to find as expected.
Now I've spent truly silly money on an odd-fire Moldex 3.6 stroker crank and Carrillo rods.
Of course this sort of mission creep will not speed up the project, but 245 Cu. In. will speed up the car.
Will now have to figure out piston spec, cam, etc.
May even have to look for a different block, once I know which blocks the crank will fit into.
Knew better than to buy it even as I placed the order, but could not resist the price.

[68Formula]

Good luck. Post some pics when you can.