The oddest car body, engine combination you've ever done,seen,been in?

Krylon King,

Just a couple of questions, before my brain explodes all over my computer screen....

Did you, or maybe a former owner, make the top for that Jeep?

Also, what is that brace for, that runs over top the water pump?



6narow

 

The brace you ask about is an early corvette front motor mount.

 

...which fits in nicely with the valve covers seen in the pic, but what's it doing?
Doesn't appear to be holding the motor in place (or is it? ).

...still trying to contain my brain inside my head until Krylon King reply's.



6narow

 

Not sure where the former owner got the top from. It was bought and not home made. The engine was indeed held in by the front engine mount. I had a 100 amp alternator on it to keep the 3 batteries charged that were mounted in the back. I used to pick up extra money during the winter jump starting people. Pulled quite a few people out of ditches too. It had plenty of power. Even pull started a school bus once. Had alot of fun in that Jeep, One of those I wish I had never sold it cars. LOL

 

Krylon King,

Thanks for your timely reply (and now I don't have clean off my computer! ).
When I first saw the top picture, I thought you had an early "Dispatcher", but I understand those came along a little later, so I wondered if you hadn't had happened upon some kind of "proof-of-concept" type vehicle.
Now I see that isn't the case, so thank you for clarifying that.
Indeed, who knows who made that top.
A number of guys have made some cash over the years building body parts for Jeeps.
About 10 years ago, I was a "rigger" for a sport boat company and the guy I worked with had been laying up fiberglass since the late 50's.
He told me, in the early 70's, he tried to market some 'glass body parts he would make for Jeeps but the business didn't fly so he only did it for a few years.
Things like the top seen in your picture and some front ends are what I remember him describing mostly.


6narow

 

I just looked that up in my old Chilton's manual....that's half a 389!


6narow

 

Heres one for you snowmobilers !

 

my buddy has a 63 2 door corvair with a 350 SBC in it its a pretty knarly ride compaerd to my 63 daily 2 door vair with a 140 in it

 

When I lived in Grandview Park, Il. in the early 60's some older guy put a 410 Edsel motor in a big old bullit-nosed stude coupe. Not fast, but he could lay rubber for blocks. Very strange, indeed.

 

Allison V12 airplane engine in a Chevelle.

 

the top is probably a kelly steel hard top if your looking for one there's a shop down the street from my house with one just rotting away on the side of the building (its a shame...)

cory

 

In 1959-60, while in the Army in Germany,(Our Army,not theirs) a guy on our base put a Pontiac V8 into an XK 120 Jag. This was a leftover from the following deal.

The Jag DOHC Six and 4-speed went in to a (Gulp) '57 Chevy HT. ! Needless to say, this was a WTF moment,but that's what the Chevy owner wanted. He thought that Jag motor was really Baaaad ASS, but he found out differently. This package was slower than in original form, and totally temperamental. So much for seat of the pants engineering.

Really, the Jag-Pontiac turned out to be more successful, and very fast to go with the good handling.

 

An American-LaFrance fire truck cut down and made into a wrecker / tow truck. Powered by a blown Caddy motor,home built in the late 50's. This thing would haul ass!!

 

Saw a 454 in a fiero, not sure how or why, but I'm sure there was beer involved.

 

A guy bought a 60 Plymouth wagon from me a few years ago. He had the coolest tow rig I have ever seen. This blacked out Vista-Cruiser with a Duramax Diesel and 3" Flowmaster duals.

 

In 1958, the guy that owned one of the auto wreckers in Vernon, swapped a Franklin air cooled engine into a Model A 2dr. It was strictly crap, but you said you wanted weird.
Bob

 

My dad bought a brand new 1972 Toyota Corona MKII 2dr hard top. 6cyl 4sp. Toyota only made a few of these and the engines are crap so they are very rare now. He wore the engine out in 1980 and allmost did a 327 chev till he realized a 215 Olds V8 fit easier and was lighter than the 6 he took out. Home bilt headers/flanges, muncie 4speed, lightened flywheel, and Chet Herbert "regrind" cam. Saw some drag strips and some playing around on the street. Stock radiator and rear end held up fine. He sold the car in '86 to a friend who's wife loved it and drove it for years then last I heard it went to Pic A Part, less engine.

 

Greasy,

That six in your Dad's Corona was a 2 litre, right?
I think that was the same engine that was used in the vaunted 2000 GT coupe of 1967.
That car was heralded for its performance and handling, at the time.
The engine eventually grew into a 2.8 litre and returned to American in the early Celica Supra's.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Don Lyon,

About 20 years ago, I worked as a mechanic in the carrier shop at a nearby lumber mill.
Our "back up generator" was a 1948 American-LeFrance fire truck, that had been converted to a battery truck.
Thanks for the memories!



6narow

 

Scott,

Did your buddy to that conversion himself?

I ask because I remember there was a company that used to do those conversions.
I had a Hot Rod from '74 and they were profiled in it.
Did some nice work.



6narow

 

That sounds like the Rod Hadfield '55 Chev- Packard built Rolls Royce Merlin 27 litre ( what's that in cubes ? ) two stage supercharged.
Guiness Book of Records- Worlds most powerful REGISTERED and driven street car.
Really good 30 page feature in Cruzin' magazine- issue 27.
www.cruzin.com.au
On a much smaller scale I saw a Y- block '72 F100 and a 273 mopar F.J. Holden ( bit like a Henry J just heaps better ) at a barbie around 1980 at Terowie- my hunch is the F100 was'nt a joke- out in the country you do what you must in order to get around. They were both well sorted dirt road cars.
And the kangaroo tasted superb.

 

1650 cubic inches.
5.4" x 6" x 12.
The Allison had almost the same cylinder dimensions, except the bore was 100/1000ths larger.

...and oddly enough, its the larger engine that is lighter in weight.

So tell me, what does Kangaroo taste like?




6narow

 

Yummy!! Ask the Kiwi Rugby League team!!

But seriously, sort of... In the late 70's Mazda took the Aussie HJ/HX/HZ Holden Kingswood and put a rotary in it and called it a "Mazda Roadpacer".
That rotary would have looked kinda lost in the Holden engine bay!

 

'25 Fiat Command Car. Present owner says it's the only one known to exist and he will be restoring to original. ???

 

Back in 62 me and a partner bought a 39 nash 4dr with a Desoto Hemi with 8 single barrel carbs,it had a 3 speed manual trans with the shifter on the floor,it had no back seat and a bench seat up front and you could see through into the trunk where it had a 15 gal.beer keg straped down.At that time we didn't know much about cars,if you started it before you put it in gear, I remember it was grind city,had to start it in gear and away you'd go.It was gray and white primer,red rims and wide whites,I can still see those 8 bonnets on that Desoto hemi now.Young,Dumb,and full of it

 

57Shaker,

Sounds like that Hemi had an old Edelbrock X-1 manifold on it (IIRC).
Pretty wild looking affair with all those carbs.
Haven't heard anyone mention one of those for a long time now.
Sounds like you kids had a fun ride.


6narow

 

was it red? there was one running around the Bay Area like that. it was also in Rod Action. this had to be like 1980 or thereabouts.

 

saw a 70 Datsun 510 with an olds/FWD in the backseat. had giant box flares that made the car a foot wider on each side.

my buddy traded a rusty duster for a 50 chevy truck with a 289 and a tunnel ram

there was a Corvair at Goodguys a couple years back with a Jag motor up front. a real nice car.

 

A neighbor in Sydney had a 40's Chev truck motorhome with the front half of a DC3 for a body.

 

Well, there used to be a black Chevy Monza running around here locally with a 440 Mopar stuffed into it!!

 

This is my new project , but is it a car? , "body" has been two mental hospital bathtub from German , dated in the ´30´s .... Engine 60hp flathead,axels from 28 A with mechanical brakes , still under construction , i just get started