Maybe you should stop drinking, get a project vehicle, and accomplish something you can be proud of....rather than extolling about the easily gained abilities of others in a thread.

Because the world is filled with people, with unfinished project vehicles in their shop or garage, that you could go and buy.....then finish yourself.




.

This^

Back in the eighties I worked at a speed shop and played with cars and trucks all the time. Lots of swaps.

Memorably got bit on the ass, talked a buddy into swapping a recently rebuilt 351windsor into his tired 302 Bronco.

I was a Chevy guy, small block is small block, eh!?

Not mutherfucking ford!

Oil pan didn’t fit. none of the brackets for ac, alternator fit because of different deck heights. motor mounts didn’t work. weekend job turned into a week long nightmare.

Does engine changes on passenger jets count?

A few of my own and helped with a few more.

Mine were a Pontiac T/A 6.6 engine/trans into my 64 GMC truck, Buick 455 into my 74 Pontiac Ventura (think Nova).  Did some Olds 350 and 455 swaps in friends' late 60's Cutlasses. I have an 05 Suburban with a 6.0 LS that will eventually get swapped into something fun to play around with.

back in the day.

I put a 327 in my first 57 Bel Air. After I stupidly wrecked it, I put a 396 in my 2nd 57. That was about the time they took lead out of gas and the valves cracked after several thousand miles. I learned as I went but they ran.

20 something years later me and my son put a new crate 350 Vortec in his junky sleeper 91 Chevy truck. I did the parts research that included Edelbrock fuel injection and headers.

I bought it back from my son just to get the engine and then let it sit for 10 years. Grandson wanted to get it running so we did and its now his truck. He gets in trouble with the Po Po with it.

Did one with my dad in high school.  Pulled an engine on my own a few years later, but ended up selling the car for something else.

It's really not a big deal.  Just label stuff that will be tricky to reassemble with out labels (as in you'll forget how it goes back together).  Taking pictures as you go helps too.  Any bolts removed get put in a labeled zip lock bag.  There isn't much to it.  When it comes down to it.... 90% of "working on a car" is just bolts and other fasteners.

I can't say I enjoy working on cars.  The results can be fun.  I have little interest in doing this again.

Don't even need a garage. I did a heads, cam, header swap in an apartment parking lot, in Dallas, in July.

Key is to have about 5 cars. A daily that is reliable, one that is broken, one that is about to break, one that just got fixed and the backup daily.

Not always true on the GM front.  In H.S. I had a friend who had an early 70's Firebird '72 or '73 iirc & had a tired 350 in it, he found a good running 400 from a Pontiac one year different (A Ventura maybe?) we checked every book & talked to some guys who did a lot of swaps like that, said it would be no problem.  So we get the 350 out & have the 400 in the compartment in a few hours, but lining up the engine mounts was another story.  They were damn close, we'd get one started then try the other but it was at least a 1/2 bolt width off.  So we spent the rest of the night trying to figure it out & several nights & weekends after that.  This was in my dad's shop who was working out of state.  Eventually doing more research we found GM had moved the mounting spot starting with the year engine we had & it wouldn't work.  When my dad got home, he wasn't crazy about seeing a Firebird in his shop, but as it was not completely in pieces he wasn't too pissed.  He assessed the situation, took a torch to both engine mounts & welded them back together & then the engine bolted up great.  So we went to finis & when we got to the drive shaft, it wouldn't fit.  Cause of the moving of the mounts it had changed the length needed for the drive shaft.  So then my friend found out what drives shafts would fit & spent the next couple weeks scouring junk yards.  Finally found one, so about 3-4 months after we started we finally got it finished.  Fired right up & those solid motor mounts my dad welded didn't allow for flexing so all that torque really made it want to fishtail when you put the pedal down, pretty much at any speed.  Went like a bat out of hell though.

I remember how common 5.0 swaps were into 1st and 2nd gen Rangers. Especially once they became a factory option in the Explorer and you could use many of the Explorer parts to do the swap. At the time those blocks were a dime a dozen. Back in the day I wanted to swap one into my Bronco II but just didn't have the resources.

I've done a 5.7 Hemi into a 2008 Wrangler Unlimited.

Probably a dozen SBCs into various trucks/cars. Those you could probably do blind.

SR20DET swap was a bit more research.

Dropped a 440 in a 68 Fastback once, just to do it. Worked. Very tight fit. Attached File

I was the first person to drop a R2.8 Cummins into an Early Bronco.  Designed and machined my own transmission adapters along with all the brackets and custom plumbing.

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Yeah a few, not too hard these days as nothing is usually original so you can learn from others mistakes

i swapped a K24 into my VW powered sand rail, not that hard core of a swap, but still have to fabricate intake exhaust and do all the wiring and ECU stuff plus tuning. but I had lots of help.

Thank you OP
Several V-8 Vegas back in the day, and other stuff. Weirdest I've seen was a guy brought in a 454 Ferrari.

I had the joy of extracting a broken off harmonic balancer bolt for him. Worst part was I wasn't allowed to test drive that one after all that cussing.

That's fucked up.

I wouldn't install anything without first pulling the valve covers and pan and checking it out as best I could. There was one I rejected, the bottom end was dry and rusty and looked like it had been sitting full of water.

Boss said put it in anyway, as it was the only engine available.

I voiced my opposition and did the best I could with it. I was shocked when I started it up after install and it ran quiet. Got a "see, I told you it'd be fine" from the boss.

Two days later the vehicle came back on a flatbed with the engine knocking.

No means no.

He got burned a few times like that before he started listening to me when I'd say send it back. I don't miss that job one bit.

I did a 4.0 swap into my Bronco II when I was 19. I just sold it a couple days ago

I swapped a new LS1 motor into my 1999 z28. This was back in like 02 or 03.  It was a direct swap. The motor was a 408 stroker motor but the exact same block as stock. The most frustrating part for me was getting the motor lined up on the motor mounts to bolt it in. That was the first, and last, engine swap I ever want to do.

My good buddy swapped an LS1 motor into his 1993 v6 firebird.  This was probably in 01 or 02. He is the guy who kind of helped me along when I did my motor swap.

I helped a buddy do a BMW V8 swap into his E30 318 in my shop,  even got it BAR'ed, this was after we had already swapped a big 6 in it ( it wasn't enough ).   Had to stay OEM manufacture for the class he runs in autocross.




I preferred just turboing the little M10 that was in my 2002.



I have another 2002 sitting on the side of the shop and a spare BMW V8 left over from his project.  I may have to combine the two.

I did a 4.6 4V swap into a Foxbody for an old buddy about 15 years ago.  Too bad the Coyote motors weren't a thing when I did it because it would be making way more power than it does.



LS3 in a 69 Camaro which is about as common a swap as there is.



Or a first gen Hemi into a 32 Plymouth.

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Twin turbo LS.  My sons “rat rod” Mustang.



I’ve swapped out an old tired Pontiac 326 in my ‘66 Tempest convertible for an Oldsmobile 455. It was a direct swap though. Had to rework the exhaust hookups was all.  

1988 Suzuki Samurai.  Pulled out the anemic 1200 cc and swapped in a 1600 cc Geo Tracker engine. Had to use an adapter ring to bolt the motor to the trans, new mounts and exhaust work.

I've done several. Owned my own hoist back in the day. Pretty straight forward.

312 Tbird engine into a 1957 Jaguar MK1. Did it outside in our yard when I was 18. MGB engine into an MGA ( easy peasy) 400SBC into a 1974 Toyota FJ40.
Was thinking of putting a 12V71 in a GMC Brigadier, but I think I'm getting too old for that big stuff.

Multiple cars and an airplane.

My youngest son wanted a V8 manual transmission car.

I bought him a slightly wrecked (the owner rear ended someone and said it wasn't really his fault) 91 Camaro RS.

We rebuilt the 5 speed transmission.

Then we took a Mr. Goodwrench 350 block from my old Laguna (4 bolt main bearing block with nothing remarkable in it or bolted to it) and had it bored 30 thousandths and inspected/checked.

Then we started buying parts and putting it together.

Large journal 327 crankshaft, 6" rods, correct pistons for the long rods with 11.0 to 1 compression ratio (did some reading on piston/heads and a term called squish).

Had the rods installed in the pistons got the rotating assembly balanced.

A high volume oil pump (mistake 1).

Solid roller camshaft and lifters.  Don't remember the cam info after all these years.

Bought some big valve RHS Pro Topline heads for it the sales guy at the vendor said would handle the solid roller cam/lifters/lift and duration.

Bought a bigger clutch/pressure plate that the 305 used.  

Bought smog legal headers for the 305.

Bought a 3" catalytic converter.

Bought a 4 barrel manifold (again, don't remember the brand/model).

Bought a new 4 barrel carb.

Bought a new (non-computer controlled distributor.

Put it all together and installed it in the car.

First thing he did was but the yoke on the rear end and destroyed the aluminum driveshaft.

We put another yoke on the rear end and put a steel drive shaft in it and then he tore up the rear end.

He pretty much rebuilt the rear end by himself.  I bought the tools/rebuild kit and he put the rear end together and in the car one afternoon with one buddy helping him and the other surfing the internet on his phone.

He drove the car a few more months but eventually stopped.  I think he got scared up it.  He told me it was tough to pull off a stoplight/stop sign without spinnng the tires (3.23 Pontiac Sure Grip out of an 88 Formula Firebird) on drive pavement.  On wet pavement it was impossible to keep from spinning tires and going a little sideways.

Then he told me in 4th gear, at 45 mph, if he stepped down hard on the gas peddle it would break the back end loose and go sidesways in the road with him I figured he was just scared of it.  It's sitting in the carport where it's been for about 10 years.  All that money for the suspension and engine just sitting.

I've never had a car that would break the tires loose in 4th gear.  

Oh, on the highway/interstate he said he could get 23 mpg.  Never got around to making it pretty (repainting it) but it sure did run good with that healthy 327 in it.

Some day I'm gonna pull that 327 out of that 91 RS and put it in my 81 Z28 and let that tired old 350 take a nap.

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Small block Ford and a T-5 into a Ranger. With a 3.73 limited slip underneath. It was great fun

Changed several engines in cars, trucks, a couple inboard-engine boats and airplanes.

Airplanes are way simpler to do and inboard swaps suck monkey balls.

Back in school I worked on putting the engine and transmission from a Miata in an mg. I got them sitting in the car and then shift linkage shortened to come out in the right spot, but I never got to see it run.

My most recent project was converting my 2wd, automatic d200 to a 4wd manual trans.

Maybe a subframe at most lol.  For did not swap frame for v8/v6 cars.

I saw that thing at goodguys.  The work is top notch, that shop puts out quality.

302 Ford into a 54 Dodge pickup when I was 15.
Another 302 into a Jeep CJ
Buick 350 into an International scout
Pontiac 400 into the same Scout
And finally the same Pontiac 400 (Now over 460") into a 48 International that I scratch built the chassis for.
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Not to mention the many  normal "in the family" engine swaps I've done at work in the past 30 years.  Starting on a Cummins 4BT in to an old telehandler soon.

Once, Chevy 350 in a 70s model truck. Wasn't bad. Day and a half. Haven't done one on anything newer.

Who wants to take the LSX challenge to my 22 MX-5 ?

Arf help me do 180mph+ top down!!!

Smooth scalp, pure skin and ready!

I have the MX-5/ miata, who has the LSX and tremec  6 spd?

I’ve swapped in a 1.6 sohc vtec into an older non vtec Honda. Also converted it from obd0 to obd1 to run the proper factory ecu. Bolt in swap but made about 50hp more all said and done with a few mods, was a great car to drive and still was reliable and even better gas mileage than stock.

I’ve build a few engines up from long blocks and did remove and replacements in vans, trucks, and cars as a mechanic.

Forgot to mention that all that crap about SBC interchanging parts is only partly true.

The new oil pan didn't mate up with the timing chain cover along the bottom.  Big gap you could stick a screw driver through.

Original bell housing wouldn't clear the new clutch/pressure plate (chevy parts, too).  Why we had to buy the racing/blowproof bellhousing.

The original starter didn't fit with the racing bellhousing (not surprised, but a little disappointed) so we had to buy a gear reduction starter.

New intake/carb were advertised as fitting under the hood of the 91 Camaro.  Sure did, after we cut a hole in the hood for the air cleaner (which we covered with a scoop).

Seems like there was an issue with the valve covers, but maybe not.  Lots of things to contend with along the way.  But it ran great when he wasn't tearing shit up.  I though building a 327 would be easier on the rest of the power train vs. a 350.

Neat - I wish i had machine skills. I’d love to adapt the new 7spd manual in the bronco to my Jeep 2.4 engine in my wrangler. Moar low gearing options would be epic for off road.

i did my first swap (an install into an empty engine bay actually) at 15. i've been swapping, and rebuilding to reinstall, ever since.

my last swap was 318 roller motor to 1970 340 magnum. easy-peasy.

Back in '72 we found a Sunbeam Tiger with a blown up Ford 260 in a junkyard.  Body was primo with a removable hard top.  Swapped in a Boss 302/C4.  Pretty much bolted right in except we had to run a remote oil filter and fab a new driveshaft and exhaust.

It would smoke the tires in any gear.  Buddies GF totaled it when it got away from her in a curve.

K member is all that is needed.  Around $800 for a good one and they make them for all popular motors.  Coyote, LS, 5.0 Windsors, etc.

It looked amazingly easy on my wife's old Subaru when I contemplated doing it to change the timing belt and replace the head gasket. Car had 200K miles on it at the time.

Then COVID happened and I was able to get what I wanted out of it without doing the work.

Subaru has the exact same engine bay arrangement today that they had in 2005.

+1

Done a bunch of swaps but they were mostly like-engines. I.e., swapping a 350 for a 383 and whatnot.

Did stick a 383 into a Honda CRX once though. Made it RWD. That was pretty cool

Pulled the anemic 2.8l v6 out of my 1985 S10 Blazer and dropped in a SBC bolted to Turbo 350 trans.  Built my own motor mounts.  This was probably around 1994 or 5, maybe a bit earlier.

2 FJ40 SBC swaps, wasn't easy but wasn't too hard either. Most parts were available from Downey Toyota. Very little fab work involved. They were easier than putting the 'springs on top' of the F&R differentials and getting the angles and steering right.
They were pretty cool, but in retrospect they still couldn't hold a candle to the idle torque the 2F had in low range.

Didn't see this linked yet.

That's what I was thinking when I read it, subframe and probably want to swap to a proper 8.8 or 9" rear depending on how wild of a V8 is going in...also need a hydro boost assembly, no way to fit an oe vac booster on the firewall with a V8... Other than that should be pretty bolt in, assuming s member of the modular family ..