So i picked up a complete drivetrain & electronics from an awd TBSS recently. Plan was to squeeze the LS2 into my 986S that dropped to 5 cylinders & sell the rest to help fund it. Happily, opening up the Porsche shows it just needs a cylinder head so with only 40k miles it will be going back into action stock ish.

I've been marveling at the compact engineering of the TBSS package & imagining what to do with it. I'd love to find a way to create an awd V8 toy but don't see how outside of the TB chassis which just doesn't excite me. Does anyone know of a viable way to create a fun one?

Letting go of awd, my favorite 3 options so far are 71-76 Jensen Interceptor, 71-73 boat tail Riviera & 88-91 K5 Blazer/Jimmy. These all have great style that i lusted after in my youth & some room for appreciation. The plan is not to sell to make money but it's nice to not be totally upside down on project cars.

It would be great to have something the wife could drive & family (12 yo & newborn) can fit in & use. The K5 could handle Winter duty & still be Summer fun with top removed but will handle like the truck it is. The Jensen is worthless for rear seat room but has nice trunk/hatch space & is fun to drive (plus when was the last time you saw one on the road)? The Riv offers timeless style & decent passenger & trunk room & handling.

What would you do? I can certainly sell the whole package & simply move on but i love hot rodding, modifying & engine swaps.

Current family fleet is the 986S, '14 Passat TDi & '15 GMC diesel crewcab. The perfect vehicle for us isn't available in North America (diesel awd wagon) so I've been looking at E55 & E63 wagons as well as A6/S6 wagons & Q7 TDi too.

Thanks for your input!

 

volvo 740 wagon, lifted a little like the later crosscontry model. that would be practical and fun...

i'm doing a 960 wagon with a ford 302 and 62mm turbo as a daily driver/shop car, those things are confortable, roomy and great handling, real fun to drift too.

 

Here ya go,4 door Jeep Unlimited...

https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=...AJEQMwg1KAUwBQ

 

The Jensen is an awesome car, but for some reason I think a V-10 needs to be swapped instead of an LS - just the Dodge roots for it, I guess. Good luck, they are all good choices, though.

 

briefly considered the Volvo wagons but assumed the drivetrain couldn't take the power of an LS. I see the wagon with the Vette chassis (so cool!) but will need to check out the more stock ish setups. I do like the safety, style, solidity, practicality & decent handling starting point. Thanks for the tip.

Friends just bought a 4-door Rubicon. I will need to drive one to see if it may work. I've heard that Jeeps are noisy, ill-handling, rough-riding crap from many that have had them but have no fist hand experience. They definitely look cool.

I considered Hummer H2 (too big & heavy) & H3 (haven't been in one but hear they have poor visibility & handling.

I made a deal for a beautiful '71 Interceptor from retired auto repair biz owner in LA that had been completely gone through with body, interior, suspension, brakes, wiring, etc all sorted out over a few years in the way that only somebody with major skills & resources could pull off (without spending a fortune). It still had the stock 383 & would have been perfect for the LS2 but he reneged & sold it to somebody else for more. Oh well, it didn't have rear seat belts or front shoulder belts anyway.

Checking out an original paint, rust free '91 K5 today....

 

Having the whole TBSS drivetrain and not making something AWD would kind of be a travesty IMO.
A 4x4 chevy s10 blazer or dodge durango would be sweet candidates. Think the durango and K5 would be on the same level of modification for the swap while the s10 blazer would be a bit of a challenge. Casias is in the midst of a 4x4 durango swap which seems to be going well and it appears to be a very straight forward swap.
If you really don't want to mess with AWD, i think the interceptor would be f*cking awesome. How about a crown vic, caprice, nomad... not exactly corner carvers but they would be really fun family cruisers.
Keep us in the loop with what you decide to do, AWD stuff always interests me.

 

I like the idea of the 91ish K5 as well,it would likely be the simplest mechanically and electrically(no canbus,serial data,multiplexing issues) to complete and because of that, probably get wrapped up the quickest.I prefer the 68-72 body style, not sure what condition and price they are in your area,likely double that of the 91 you are considering.

 

I completely agree!
In the early 80's when i was getting ready to start driving we didn't have anything to choose from outside of lusting after the original Audi Quattro rally coupe or the Porsche 959.
My imagination led me to daydream about stuffing a 3.5L Buick aluminum V8 into a Subaru or some such other completely ridiculous crap.
My first car (after a homebuilt 3.5L swapped Vega Gt that ripped its rear axle out of the unibody on a fairly aggressive 2nd to 3rd shift) was an '88 Mazda GTX awd turbo that i loved.
First new vehicle I purchased was a '92 Typhoon i literally drove off the showroom floor & enjoyed for a decade of so.
I've considered doing the SS treatment to a Caprice wagon....seen a couple of those turn out wonderfully too.

 

duuddee a 90-95 caprice wagon trimmed out as an SS would be killer!!

 

like this one....?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-Ca...m=181978517250

 

dude, you already have the complete awd tbss mecanic, make the volvo awd!!!

that's what i would have done, no redneck 4x4, just a slight lift like a crosscountry

 

Yea like that one lol.
The awd volvo goon is a cool idea as well.

 

we took a vaca from NYE until today & saw a sweet late-ish model A6 Avant (wagon) down in FL. I pointed it out as a possible new ride for family & was met by grimaces & then laughter!

"It looks like a funeral car! All long in front & short in back! I will never ride in one of those until i am dead."

apparently in Brasil they use station-wagons as hearses, so i guess my genius idea of a wagon is a bust. who knew?