Chevy 5.7 litre into a 308? Get a rope....

I will not rip you a new one. I think about this all the time with my 911 SC (172 hp); today's minivans have more hp than most mid-80s sportcars. A six cylinder Accord is faster than my SC.

If you want serious performance in a 308 body with a modest budget then you have few alternatives....

Want gorgeous Italian styling with mid-engine American muscle? Pantera!

 

Check this tread out that I started. It ain't a V8, but.....it's a start. Personally, I think an NSX 3.2 V6 might make for some fun....but with Japanese reliability.

 

Tho I bought a Ferrari 308 for the engine & the sound I too miss the power. I saw a 308 on ebay the other day that had a GM v6 & transaxle installed. I think a SHO Yamaha 4 cammer from the Taurus would be a much better swap. I would never do it of course so I see a v12 or newer Ferrari in my future.
Bill

 

Oh there's no need to remove the stock engine for hp. A turbo or blower will work wonders for it. Mine's 420 rwhp, so 500ish at the crank...I'm planning to bump it to 500+ rwhp this year.
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I remember Norwood doing some freaky **** to a Ferrari using a different engine, I remember reading an article in a car magazine way back. It had a huge blower scoop from the rear engine cover going onto the roof about 6-8 inches high it looked really retarded but had power like a bat out of hell

Found something on the Net

http://www.bobnorwood.com/Terminal%20Velocity%C2%A0%20Norwood%208_2-Liter%20Power%20on%20the%20Salt.htm


~

“I dont sell cars, I sell engines. The cars I throw in for free since something has to hold the engine” - Enzo Ferrari

 

Why stop at a 350, do a 7 liter with the new LS7. It's based on the SBC (wider bore spacing and higher decks IIRC). Ti rods, forged internals, all aluminum block, etc. 500hp, 475ft.lbs. and it'll rev to 7000. $14G shipped to your door.

If you had a 308 with the original engine fubar-ed, it'd be hard to argue against going with one of the newer aluminum SBCs if performance was your only goal.

 

It's interesting how when this topic shows up in different sections of F-chat, it gets such varried response... good here, bad there. =)

I persoanlly don't have problem with it. There are a lot of different options/combos you can look into. Start in the kit car engine world. Places that deal with engine conversions, porsche gearbox adapters, etc

Transverse set-ups could be....Northstar eng/trans 300 ish HP, Getrag (Fiero) trans w/ SBC conversion up to "X" HP, SHO 225 HP?

Longitudinal could be... Porsche gearbox with SBC ( As some 288 copies use 930 boxes with a 308 engine)

If you are serious about doing it, engineer it a little and don't scrimp. If the job is truly professional looking and operating, I think you'd get a lot less hassel from the purists. A hack job doesn't get much respect around here.

As far as your orginal question, I once met a guy named Joseph Alphabet who claimed he had done a 327 conversion "back in the day". He used to deal in repairable cars out of So Cal. Check out www.ferrariservice.ws Some of the pics of their shop remind me of where I met this guy and they might have a line on how to find him.

 

Some info and pics here

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95482&highlight=worse+kit+car

 

how about stuffing a 348 or 355 engine in there? plenty of power there, and it's still all-ferrari.

john

 

Certainly an option too, as I think a fellow F-chatter has done that. There's a thread somewhere...

 

I know of a "certain" 308QVC owner going through the engine and trans right now on his track car that should "N O T" meet you. It would be just too tempting.

Once the engine has been properly beefed up what are you doing for the drive train? I'll guess almost 450 ftlbs of torque? Then theres' the wheels tires and modied fenders.

Bob S.

 

Paul perhaps?...he actually came out for a ride last year.

The engine requires next to no beefing, I added totalseal rings and stiffer valve springs (norwood says OEM are good to about 18 psi). The driveline requires a good clutch, a heavy pressure plate with a kevlar disc, or a light presure plate on a multi-disc set up (I'm using a tilton 7.25" triple disc carbon-carbon). 285/35-18s fit under the stock fenders...maybe 295, but I haven;t tried. The current rw torque is 356 ft-lb, that should be about 420 crank I thing.

 

Hey, is my name being taken in vain....

 

Cut the chaff and get right to the wheat: turbine power!!!

 

My dream car is an injected Daytona V12 in a 308 GTB re-skinned with AL. Engine is almost a drop in. I even have the plans & eng. drawings for it.

Hmm,
i've had this 3-rotor 20B twin turbo engine, just waiting for the right car to drop it into. Would love to find a 308 GTB with a blown engine...

Not sure what I'd use for a transaxle tho, as it looks like the 20B exhaust would come out about in line with the 3x8 differential...

 

I own a '78 Esprit S1 that "Lotus Prepared by Claudius" dumped a Buick/Rover V8 into back when it was nearly new. Even with the added cooling system, etc, it added less than 100lbs of weight, about 20% more hp, over 50% more torque... and arguably the driving experience/sound is even improved.

I don't think the driving experience/sound would be improved (at all) in doing something similar to my 308GTB... if I had wanted a Pantera, I would have bought one....though if I did have a catastrophic failure, I'd have to do some serious consideration of an alternative power plant... most likely because it would be the economic thing to do.

I could then sell the car to someone who didn't care and buy another one with the proper engine in it... for less price differential than buying and installing a replacement Ferrari engine.

Bill

 

Interesting thread since I am presently building a 308 with small block chevy power as we speak. I am mounting the engine north south with a ZF transaxle from a pantera. The drive train is in the car and everything is connected. The car is in primer but my goal is to be riding by summers end. Thanks for all the tips and help that I have gotten from this web sight.

 

Got pic's?????

 

Anyone that needs more power in a 308 just doesn't know how to drive.

It's not about the flat out speed, its how you carry it in a turn...

 

Around here, there ain't many turns.

Skip, pics are now required

 

Sorry, I've been running around the suburbs of Rome for the last three days, now I know why the car was made the way it was.

Hills are called overpasses there too, no?

 

And curves are "offramps"

 

Here's an option:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FERRARI-308-V-12-CONVERSION-MANUAL_W0QQitemZ8049145875QQcategoryZ119133QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I don't think that it'd be cheap though.

I too would love more HP. I'm not looking for 400 or 500 HP, but something reasonable like 300-320 at the crank. I think a 308 with a 10 lb/hp ratio would be fun. Unfortunately, to even get 300-320 would probably require forced induction and/or a lot of $. While my '78 GTS is still running fine (w/100k miles) I'll keep it as is, but if I ever "blow" the motor, then all is up for grabs.

 

I cant say that I would WANT to swap a GM engine into a FERRARI... But I can say that the GM LS1 all aluminum 346 CI is a wonderful technical masterpiece to use if you did, and would actually work quite well.

The LS1 is light (a plus), small (double plus), cheap (unlike the LS7), and powerful (400HP is easy). It is also simple to adapt (mostly plug & play sans engine mounts & bellhousing adapter plate).

If your going to do a SBC swap, think about the LS1. I used one in a project of mine:
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