I was playing Forza 3 and had the 900hp IROC going. Can't hook the thing up to save my life. Got me thinking what it would take to do a real life rear engine F body. Anyone have any ideas as to what it would take and what would be the most cost effective way of doing it. I am thinking that it might involve a couple inch stretch of the area right behind the doors/roof but maybe not. There is allot of room width wise but not so much length wise, so maybe transverse? Maybe porche motor trans? I don't know of a transverse GM trans that would handle the power. 800 or so I would want. I would want it slammed to the ground too. Am I or what? I tried a search but got nothing. Has anyone done this? Thoughts. Ok found one but it starts going off on the Fieros not the F bodys that I want to mod. http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/fa...e-iroc-gt.html (Mid-engine IROC-GT concept)

sorry, but thats the funniest thing i've read recently and laughed hard.

Cool idea, i dont think any stretching would be needed, but the interior would have to stop behind the front seats. Transverse would be a squeeve but doable, seen it done in a fiero with a v8 swap.

The issue now would be that all of the weight would be on the rear of the car, now the front end is really light.

Im sure it can be done, but the amount of work involved is absurd.

Not too many OEM transaxles can handle that kind of power. A mid engine conversion is like any other mid engine conversion. It just takes lots of time and planning. Rear engine puts the engine and weight back to far. It would need to be a mid engine conversion with the engine still in front of the axle centerline.

The old Corvair cars were always good candidates for a V8 swap. The original kits put a SBC in the back seat. This required some sort of divider between the driver and the engine if nothing more than to reduce the noise and heat. I've seen a couple of SBC conversions but the best one I saw was actually a local car.

Late 60's Corvair had a 455 Olds Toronado engine and transaxle all behind the rear seat. Looking into the car, you would never guess what the powerplant was other than the exhaust headers poking out the rear.

Another local has a Fiero. The common swap was to put a V6 into the 4 cylinder versions. I don't know how many V8 swaps were done but I'm sure there are a few. The local Fiero is an ultimate swap. He has a SBC with a 671 blower sitting in the rear. It's not transverse mounted and a scoop pokes above the roofline. He originally tried a Toronado and an Eldorado transaxle but both were not strong enough. Eventually modified the Eldorado transaxle to a custom made gear drive system. His custom made gears for the transaxle are worth $10,000 but he'll never break them. His Fiero has the capabilities or running low 9's but he detunes it to run mid 10's and it's still street legal.

Back in the late 70's or early 80's, I think it was in Hot Rod magazine, there was a daily driver Olds 442 with an engine in the back seat.

The mid engine conversion with any kind of powertrain system isn't impossible but it's never a cost effective conversion. It's something you would do to show it can be done with no regard to the cost.

This has been on my short list for a few years, right after winning powerball.

It would be awesome to have a chromed up BBC with velocity stacks sitting under the rear hatch. You wouldn't have to pop the hood at car shows! haha.
My thoughts also include twin turbos and all wheel drive, a carbon fiber chassis, ZR1 brakes and a street weight under 3000 lbs.

As said, firewall behind the seats, then a scoop on the roof or sail panels for engine air. Radiator routing would be interesting. The suspension would need to handle all the weight back there. Rig a tank up front under the hood. Wiring....
Yeah, you would be fabricating a nearly 100% custom car to hang some Camaro parts on. It would be badass, but I really think the labor alone would cost $20,000 or more.

hey, if anyone ever does this let me know, i wana see. haha

Yea there is no doubt that allot of labor and fabricating would be needed. I guess I would have to beef up on my welding techniques. All it is now is me dreaming of what it could be like and what it would take. I agree that there are no factory setups that could handle the power. The only thing that I think might work would be a Porsche aftermarket trans and engine but I would want to put some sort of BBC in it. Or a 400 sbc twin turbo combo.

It would obviously be a independent rear and would require back halving the car. Basically removing everything from the rear seat pan back except for the rear fenders and glass etc. All custom tube framing etc.

Under the hood you could seal it up and make it half gas tank area and half trunk.

I have a feeling some type of farm equipment might be involved to beef up that rear up.

Heres a good place to start reading

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 9, Part 10, Part 12

Well, thats bad ***. Thanks. I wonder what one of those trans go for?

i was reading some of that, pretty amazing ****

I always wanted to do an AWD firebird.... maybe I wouldn't get stuck in an inch of snow? Trouble is, on the V8 cars, there is just no room for the front driveline... maybe a turbo v6 car?

should be able to use a northstar v8. a guy on another forum i kno put one in a cavalier. it is still fwd and it drives and runs, traction sucks, but its a v8 in a cavy. ill post some pics if i can still digg them up

found them.....

guys, just had an idea, on the cover of the january issue of hotrod mag, theres a 4 cylinder car that makes 1000 horsepower, put and engine like that in the back seat of a third gen, it will have loads of power, pretty light, and have good weight distribution

I would think a four banger with that kind of power would not be very tame. Heck its hard to make any small block get over 650 and still be nice to you on the street. Good Idea though.

I think a big block would be the way to go. Gobs of torque and still have good manners on the street. One could could easily make 800 hp with it with a SC or turbo and still purr like a kitten.

At this point I believe the transmission would be the most expensive part of the whole deal. But it looks more doable than than what it took to get that corvette above done since you have more room behind the driver.