Seeing a small, economy car-turned-hot rod is always going to get someone’s attention. There was a time when it was commonplace, and that time was back in the 70’s when Chevrolet Vegas were a popular choice for small block transplants. It’s rare to see something like that anymore, what with all the front wheel drive cars and their turbo motors and blow-off valves pshing here and there.
They might be fast, but they can never replace the look and sound of a car like a Pinto with a 302 in the engine bay, and the ass end up in the air like a stink bug to make room for the fat tires and 9 bolt rearend. With the Vega and a 400 small block or a 327, just knowing that one good romp of the throttle can crack the windshield if they didn’t sub-frame it was intense.
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Then you come across a video, like this one that we found on YouTube. This guy takes a late model Acura Integra and yanks out the wimpy little four cylinder engine, and with a King Kong sized shoehorn he somehow manages to stuff a blown 454 Chevrolet big block between the strut towers. The engine is massive in this car, and it makes you wonder if he has to put a couple hundred pounds in the rear to keep the car from flipping over during braking.
It’s a pretty clean installation, but it still leaves you wondering why he chose an Acura to do this with instead of something else, like an American car. How many of you would love to see this engine in a Pontiac Solstice or a Cobalt instead?