Drivetrain plans:

Engine:
           
I want to try something out; I have an '82 305cid/5.0L V8 from a G-van with dished pistons, 76cc chambered '882 heads from a '76 350cid, a Holley 650cfm 4150 double pumper along with everything needed for blowthrough conversion, a 50mm external wastegate, and a fairly large turbo (along with it's twin) off a large aircooled Deutz V12 diesel engine. The online compression ratio calculators I used suggested a static CR of either 7.2:1 or 7.6:1 depending if the stock 8.5:1 ratio was with 58cc or 64cc heads. I'll just do a quickie pocket porting/gasketmatching/cleanup, slap it together (after checking piston ring end gap), get the clunker running, and then do a turbo conversion, and just turn up the boost until something breaks. For motor mounts I have bought the solid Moroso ones pictured above. A plastic/aluminum radiator from an 80's Trans Am combined with an electric cooling fan from a 5-series BMW will hopefully cool the engine enough without weighing too much, the fan controlled by the controller pictured above. I also want to blow up a 250cid/4.1L inline six with some boost in this car, the time will probably come...

Transmission:

The transmission has to be a manual one. I was thinking about using a B&W T5 from an 80's F-body due to the low weight, low friction losses and precise internal shift linkage. Too bad they aren't known for holding up to much power, especially in a heavy vehicle! When it blows up, I'd overhaul it and replace the internals with a kit from G-force transmissions at the same time... Then again, if a cheap 4-speed should appear, I'd go that route. A poly mount waits on the shelf, I didn't go solid on this one fearing the transmission case might crack/fail from the stress.

Driveshaft:
I need to alter the driveshaft length anyway, so I'll try and position the engine as far back as possible, and modify the firewall some for clearance. 4" looks easy, maybe 5" with some frame work as the problem then is where to bolt the engine mounts. I hope to get a big diameter aluminum driveshaft from a truck that can be had for little cash, and normally uses the big universal joints.

Rear axle:

The '76 8.5" 10 bolt rear end needs a ratio swap to somewhere between 3.42:1 and 4.10:1. The car might never see 120mph/200km/h on the tracks close to me, or at the strip, so I'll probably sacrifice some of the top end for acceleration and being able to use the gears. It really depends on what kind of transmission I get, and what ratios it has. Due to an odd driveflange at the rear end, special to the '76 Impala it came from, I need to switch this to a normal yoke. I bought a spacer and shim kit to eliminate the crush sleeve on the pinion. The posi unit more than likely needs an overhaul/tightening up, and the differential carrier may have to be changed completely due to the steep ratios not being supported by the stock one (probably a 2-series unit with a 2.56:1 or 2.73:1 ratio).

In progress...