Thanks for the bevy of feedback - out of curiosity I emailed my dad about the GN Nova last night since it's been a few years - the original chevy was fire damaged without a VIN and most of the frame destroyed so we were going to wind up swapping the body onto a cut/welded olds frame from an 80's t-type meaning the whole thing would've had to be registered as an olds and get smogged which wasn't worth the effort vs. just buying another T-Type. My apologies, I was remembering it as a pure smog issue because of the engine, not the VIN stuff. If we were doing it now we would probably just try to snag an elusive SB100 registration, but those can be pretty hard to get (I think its 500 a year)
I still *really* recommend that anyone looking to undertake a swap *especially* post 1975 do thorough research, because CA smog regs do change occasionally and the price of being wrong or out of compliance can be high. I imagine in the next few years it's going to get harder and harder to keep pre-smog cars on the road - thats just the "vibe" in CA these last 10 or so years (at least in OC - it's "hybrid or GTFO").
IF pre-smog cars with obd2 engines are really that much easier to register (despite the PITA migration of all the ECU stuff) an ecoboost 1.6 in the back of a Porsche 914 would be pretty awesome. Maybe an ecoboost 3.5TT from an F150 into a 65 lincoln? I *do* miss how easy engine swaps are with pre-emissions drivetrains though. Connect fuel and basic electrics and its ready to rock.
For a sec I thought you said 240Z and got excited - I just dropped an offer on one as a project car but with an extreme build of the original straight 6
- I'm a huge fan of the VQ's (though mine were vq30's (supercharged 4g maximas), one with a swapped middle east variable intake) but wouldn't a high strung turbo 4 better suit the character of a 240SX? I looked for an SX for a while after driving a BRZ and being disappointed but it proved really difficult to find one that was a) stock/unmolested and b) not automatic.
Posting about the Exocet has me creepin' on craigslist looking for a miata donor car again. I was thinking an Exocet kit car with the Flyin' Miata offroad kit lol
THIS
PLUS THIS