Insanely Bad Ideas.

[Soup DeVille]

The mind of an automotive hobbyist is perhaps the most perverse kind in existence. Most serious car guys I've ever known have been at one time or another inflicted with some unimaginably bad ideas that they just had to spend a great deal of time and money on. I'm no exception, having in my garage a project that intends to make a late '70s Cadillac into a competent driving machine, but there have been worse ideas out there. I've even had worse ideas.

One of the stupidest of mine has been the idea of rebuilding a Lancia Beta on Nissan Z-car running gear, but that pales in comparison to the guy that built a Stratos replica using Maxima running gear turned around backwards. Thankfully, I've yet to get my idea to stop at the foggy ether stage of development.

You see the results of these bad ideas at car shows thorughout the summer months. They win no trophies, and usually huddle in the back rows. More often than not, ther'll be a "for sale" sign on them. Wooden bodied T-birds, motorized bathtubs, off road equipped Deloreans: you name it, eventually, you'll find it.

So, what are some of your worst ideas?

[dazzleman]

When I was a kid, I thought a car that ran on water would be a great idea.  I didn't realize then that water, like gasoline, is a finite resource.

[CALL_911]

Having an ass-engined car. What kind of an idiot would put an engine all the way in the back?

Ferdinand Porsche.

[2o6]

SWD - A side-wheel-drive. I later "tried" to expand on it by eliminating the need for the wheels to turn, braking and acceleration would facilitate that instead.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I don't know what's worse: rebuilding a stock Swift engine, wanting to put a light pressure turbo on it, or wanting to take it completely out to put in a 3.0L Vulcan V6 from a Taurus.

A bad idea may have been the 1979 Pontiac LeMans, which caught on fire when the PO was starting the engine to show me how it ran... I bought it anyway.

I do want to get a turbo diesel (Duramax?) out of some wrecked late-model HD pickup, soup it up reeeel nice so it makes about 1000 hp, then drop it in some old boat like a 70's T-bird, Cordoba, Polara, Monte Carlo, etc... whatever works. There is no point to this at all except to beat up on ricers in Supras who think they got the hottest shit around. I do not think this is a bad idea, actually.

[J86]

Most of mine are boat related, and there have been countless ones.  One of the most recent involved taking an Olympic-class catamaran and assuming I could make this into an easy-going cocktail cruiser...

[AutobahnSHO]

In second grade (1982) I drew a car which had electric motors and generators instead of brakes- to get back the momentum as energy. You'd never use any energy, since you'd reclaim everything you used.

My Dad said how do you get going to start with?
-My answer, a small gas engine.

Unfortunately, Dad dashed my dreams with the reply that electric motors and generators weren't efficient enough to make that happen.  Stupid idea. 

[sportyaccordy]

Sportyaccordy + a 1992-1993 Accord

Not sure if it was a bad idea as much as a waste of time, but as a kid I used to build my own cockpits, w/radios, gauges & the all important stickshift

A definite bad idea was deciding to take my dad's car for a spin down a mountainside road when we lived in Kentucky. Unfortunately for you guys he managed to pull me, stop the car + beat my ass before I could get to cruising

[CALL_911]

Sportyaccordy + a 1992-1993 Accord

Not sure if it was a bad idea as much as a waste of time, but as a kid I used to build my own cockpits, w/radios, gauges & the all important stickshift

A definite bad idea was deciding to take my dad's car for a spin down a mountainside road when we lived in Kentucky. Unfortunately for you guys he managed to pull me, stop the car + beat my ass before I could get to cruising

What car would this be?

[2o6]

A definite bad idea was deciding to take my dad's car for a spin down a mountainside road when we lived in Kentucky. Unfortunately for you guys he managed to pull me, stop the car + beat my ass before I could get to cruising

How old were you?

[Rupert]

I guess my worst idea was a crappy, high mileage, old, leaking, rattling, jiggling, wiggling, hardly starting, stalling, and falling apart Jeep.

[BimmerM3]

My worst idea was buying an E21, although I'm not quite ready to say that it was a bad idea.

[sportyaccordy]

What car would this be?

A rare jewel.... possibly a one of a kind car

It was a manual 1989 Toyota Camry All-Trac. In other words, a turbo away from being a 4 door Celica All-Trac. It had a freaking low speed diff button on the center console. Dirt slow though but a very cool car.

How old were you?

Well I am 25 now, and we lived in Kentucky in 1991 so....

[sandertheshark]

When I was in college and big on getting my ME degree I drew up elaborate plans for rebuilding a '95 GMC Yukon GT with suspension bits salvaged from a military HMMWV and powered by a supercharged 454.

I haven't completely abandoned the idea in my head, but my CAD drawings are long gone.

[the Teuton]

I have a garage full of bad ideas.

[Eye of the Tiger]

My worst idea was buying an E21, although I'm not quite ready to say that it was a bad idea.

You do not speak of the E21 very often. How is it doing?

[BimmerM3]

You do not speak of the E21 very often. How is it doing?

Well it's not doing anything because I'm in France at the moment. However, it didn't do much before then. My step-mom wanted it out of the driveway while I'm in Europe, so we had to pull it to the side of the house using my friend's truck.

To make a long story short, I never got around to diagnosing why it wouldn't start. I plan on living at the house where it's kept this summer, so hopefully I'll get that sucker on the road at some point.

[Byteme]

Back in the late 60's factory Ram Air was all the rage.  So, every budding car nut with insufficient knowledge and non-existent budget was working on a home built system.  The concept seemed easy.  Ram air from in front of the car feeding the carb via a pipe or tube.  But where to get a suitable tube?  Well, it wasn't long before every vacuum at the self service car washes in town were missing their hoses.  Run the hose from under the bumper or behind the grill to the air cleaner snorkel and you were good to go.

I never really knew if that home built system was the cause of the cracked head on my 63 Chevy Belaire.

[Raza]

Turbocharged V6 Mustang.  LS1 powered FFR Cobra.

[SVT666]

Turbocharged V6 Mustang.

Since this will eventually be happening, why is it a bad idea?  Well, I guess it was the first time around. 

LS1 powered FFR Cobra.

The majority of Cobra kit cars are powered by Chevy engines.  FFR kits are designed to accept Ford engines.  The motor mounts are already in place, but that can be changed after the fact.

[Raza]

Since this will eventually be happening, why is it a bad idea?  Well, I guess it was the first time around. 
The majority of Cobra kit cars are powered by Chevy engines.  FFR kits are designed to accept Ford engines.  The motor mounts are already in place, but that can be changed after the fact.

Well, the idea of someone with no money and no technical know-how fabricating a turbo and/or funding its creation and installation, nevermind the idea of putting the rest of the car up to and better than GT standards (ie, vastly improving the handling of the car so it surpasses even modified versions of the trim levels above it) is just a little bit more than ridiculous. 

I spoke to the FFR people, and they said that using an LSx engine with one of their kits would be incredibly difficult, and require heavy modification.  I took them at their word, and was not aware of the other Chevy powered kits.

[SVT666]

Well, the idea of someone with no money and no technical know-how fabricating a turbo and/or funding its creation and installation, nevermind the idea of putting the rest of the car up to and better than GT standards (ie, vastly improving the handling of the car so it surpasses even modified versions of the trim levels above it) is just a little bit more than ridiculous. 

There's an article in MM&FF from a couple years back where a guy took the turbo off a John Deere tractor and installed it on a 5.0L Mustang.  It posted over 700 WHP.

I spoke to the FFR people, and they said that using an LSx engine with one of their kits would be incredibly difficult, and require heavy modification.  I took them at their word, and was not aware of the other Chevy powered kits.

The kits that are powered by Chevy small blocks are typically by other manufacturers.  Now that people like going for relative accuracy in their kits, most kits are built to handle Ford V8 engines of any size.  Most of the replicas running around are powered by Chevy engines, but lately most are being built for Fords.

[FoMoJo]

I'm still working on my perpetual motion engine .

[FoMoJo]

Well, the idea of someone with no money and no technical know-how fabricating a turbo and/or funding its creation and installation, nevermind the idea of putting the rest of the car up to and better than GT standards (ie, vastly improving the handling of the car so it surpasses even modified versions of the trim levels above it) is just a little bit more than ridiculous. 

I spoke to the FFR people, and they said that using an LSx engine with one of their kits would be incredibly difficult, and require heavy modification.  I took them at their word, and was not aware of the other Chevy powered kits.

Not the least that it's a sacrilege to put anything other than a Ford big or small block push-rod V8 into a Cobra kit!

[Byteme]

There's an article in MM&FF from a couple years back where a guy took the turbo off a John Deere tractor and installed it on a 5.0L Mustang.  It posted over 700 WHP.

For how long?   

[SVT666]

For how long?   

He drives it every day.  He did beef up the engine.

[SVT666]

Not the least that it's a sacrilege to put anything other than a Ford big or small block push-rod V8 into a Cobra kit!

Absolutely.  I had a friend who once told me he had an original Cobra.  I went and looked at it.  I could tell as soon as I saw it that the proportions were wrong.  Turns out, the body was fibreglass, it had a Pioneer stereo system in it, and we popped the hood and there was a Chevy 5.7L in it.  I said to him, "It's original alright."

[Byteme]

He drives it every day.  He did beef up the engine.

OK, I guess he would have had to if he uses it regularly.

[Payman]

I was looking for the pic of the car that was ingeniously lowered by cutting out the strut mounts, and then badly welding in metal blocks... but I did find this gem:

[SVT666]

That's awesome!!!