Swap_A_Holic's Garage

Swap_A_Holic's Quick Bio

My motto is "Making the world a better place one car at a time by swapping Chevy V8s into foreign cars".

I buy basket case (for the most part) foreign cars and put fuel injected late model Chevy V8 motors into them. I also use manual transmissions such as the Tremec T56 six-speed and improve the differential and brakes. As of February 2009, I have converted a 1984 Mazda RX-7 (no longer owned), a 1975 Datsun 280Z, a 1988 Toyota Supra, a 1988 Mazda RX-7, and a 1994 BMW 525 wagon (sold November 2009), for a total of five cars. All except the Datsun (still being assembled after painting) run and can be driven.

While some purists of the marques are upset by this, I look at it as saving a car that otherwise would have been scrapped.

99% of the work done is in my garage (I still suck at welding and found a good source for this work). I work alone and have always enjoyed working on cars as a hobby. I've taught myself how to do many things such as AC repair, bracket fabrication, hose/line fabrication and assembly, roller painting, wiring, and other tasks as needed.

You generally won't see my cars at shows, although if it is a charity event or there are other "beaters" there I don't mind entering.

I enjoy electrical gadgets and like to upgrade my vehicles when possible to late model devices such as navigation units, Homelink door openers, etc. Accordingly, I also enjoy designing circuits to adapt something to a older car that was not available when it was built. Electrical bugs are always annoying, but can eventually be overcome with enough research and work.

My cars are now color-coded by decade:
1960s: Blue
1970s: Yellow
1980s: Red
1990s: White
2000s: Orange