eBay Sleeper: 1979 Chevrolet Malibu with Pontiac GTO 5.7-liter LS1 V8

Now that Pontiac is officially gone, one way of keeping the heritage alive is to salvage whatever parts you can find. We don’t know if that’s what the owner of this 1979 Chevrolet Malibu thought, but, nevertheless, he did swap the original engine with a modern 5.7-liter LS1 V8, sourced from a wrecked GTO, while keeping the styling of the car pretty much stock.

Engine aside, the old-school Malibu has been fitted with a 9-inch Ford locking differential, a Tremec T-56 six-speed manual, various Corvette drive accessories and Edelbrock rear shock absorbers.

The seller claims it's in good condition without any rust, and that it is accompanied by the original engine and transmission, purchase order and receipts for every new part installed.

As far as we can tell from the photographs, the interior is also in good shape, fitted with hard-to-find factory original bucket seats and floor console (according to the owner).

The mileage is listed at 47,656, but it could be what the new engine has clocked up and not the car. In any case, the Malibu seems to have aged well and the bevy of new parts installed should put any reliability-related worries to rest. It should be pretty fast, too.

*The car was listed for sale on eBay for $11,000, but the reserve was not met.

Craigslist Find: 1991 BMW 340is E30 with 4.0-liter V8 Engine

It's not the craziest or most extreme E30 project out there (that title could go to the 350i with its 350HP 5.0-liter V12, perhaps even to the RX-7 rotary-powered 320i), but this BMW 340is that's up for grabs on Philly's Craigslist certainly caught our attention. As stated by the seller, the 318is' factory 136HP 1.8-liter four-pot gave its place to a 740i-derived 4.0-liter V8 engine (we're guessing it's the M60 V8 with 286HP) coupled to a 5 speed manual transmission.

The heavily modded E30 also features a limited slip differential, an upgraded suspension, M Roadster trailing arms, E36 M3 front brakes, M Roadster rear brakes, 17-inch M3 alloy wheels and a not so cool, larger double kidney grille.

The asking price for the 340is is $14,950 which may very well be justified by the work involved in the project, but don't forget that (in the States) with less than $15k you can get into the driver's seat of a M3 E36 Coupe.

Video: Dacia Logan with Volkswagen 2.8-liter VR6 Engine!

I don’t know if the word Dacia gives James May that fizzing sensation he often talks about, but the Top Gear host seems pretty fond of the Romanian brand. Same goes for low-budget European buyers who see the Renault-era Dacias as well priced models with affordable maintenance costs. One of the Romanian firm's latest cars, the Duster was even nominated for the 2011 COTY award.

However, the brand's models aren't exactly exciting, even more so when it comes to sheer performance with their mundane, small displacement petrol and diesel engines. But as always, for every problem there's a fix. This man's answer was to ditch the Logan sedan's four-cylinder and throw in a 2.8-liter VR6 Volkswagen engine.

Details surrounding the build are pretty scarce right now, as it’s an ongoing project. The owner says that the powerplant churns out 174 hp (most likely stock) and it’s coupled to a VW transmission. Other upgrades include the suspension and brake system.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com

Insane Citroen 2CV built atop Ferrari F355 Chassis Complete with 3.5-liter V8!

Outrageous? You bet. Controversial? Sure. Ferrari blasphemy? Quite possibly. But come on, it's not like you get the chance every day to see an insane project like this. Created by a bunch of crazy Italians at Nimik, the car you see pictured above combines the modified body of the iconic French Citroen 2CV Fourgonnette bread-van with the chassis and 375bhp 3.5-liter V8 engine of a Ferrari F355! The Prancing Horse-Double Chevron crossbreed took around 1,500 man hours to complete and cost approximately €180,000 or the U.S. equivalent of $250,000.

Understandably, the project was no easy task as the two cars share nothing in common other than the fact that they come equipped with four wheels... The crew over at Nimik modified the 2CV's body which is much wider than the stock Fourgonnette and now features a pair of giga-sizes vents on the sides that feed air to the mid-mounted Italian V8 powerhouse that drives the rear wheels. If you think that the end-result looks cool in the photos just wait until you see the Ferrari 2CV in action in the video below.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com