Not a mechanic/fabricator/welder...don't pretend to be one in real life either.

However, based on a current thread for building a car, I've thought about somehow dropping a V8 in my '98 Ranger. Keep everything on the outside looking as stock as possible and smoking the doors off the unsuspecting. Just a pipe dream...

Anyone build a sleeper?

For about three years I had a brown 1979 Chevy Monza hatchback with the round headlights (not the sporty square ones), with a factory 2-bbl 305 and TH350 transmission. Looked really plain. I put on a Holley Street Dominator intake and 600cfm carburetor, recurved the advance in the distributor, installed a shift kit in the transmission, and put a single turbo muffler underneath. I whipped a LOT of cars with that Monza.

My Pop had a 1974 Dark Green Ford Pinto, it was the trunk lid version, not the hatchback. It had a Ak Miller turbo kit installed on the four banger. When it wasn't lifting the head, and stretching head bolts, it was freaky fast. He surprised more than one Trans-Am and Camaro with that POS. It really was a sleeper.

I don't know that I've seen him as happy as the day he sold it. It required frequent attention.

As a teenager, I got a Ford Maverick from a junkyard that had been rolled, still drivable. I stuffed in an old 385 with c6 tranny. Never fixed the body other then the lights and running gear. Fun little car, won a few street races. Took it to a “run what ya brung” race at the Woodburn drag, blew the tranny up on my second run.

Best sleeper I had was a big window 55 Chevy 4x4 truck with a built small block. It would lay rubber, if you wanted to.

I'd probably buy one of Slum's Crown Vics.

Ah, the Woodburn drag strip. We lived a mile away in the 80s. Loved to hear the cars.

I had a 73 4door dodge dart, bench seat column shift, vinyl top, hub caps, looked like an old lady's car. Had a built 360 with a holly 1000 cfm carb, nitrous , subframe connectors, a sump on the gas tank big electric fuel pump with a cool can for dry ice for when I raced it. Drove it around Town on 6-inch slicks. Ran 11.90s-12.00 on just the motor and 11.10s on the bottle. Of course, it didn't sound like a normal car.

One other thing, I had to convert it to manual brakes, not enough vacuum with the big racer brown solid cam also it converted to manual steering just to get rid of the power steering drag on the motor.

Oh and I fabricated an air cleaner with double snorkels. I mounted them right behind the front bumper, used drier duct hose for that so cool air induction without a hood scoop.

Before we get deep into the discussion of sleeper cars, please explain how a Ranger is a car. Thanks.

Agreed. It has a 4 cylinder in it so it doesn't qualify as a truck either. Fun little truck, just wish it had more oooomph.

Old schidtbox fox body Mustang with a Coyote stuffed in it would be cool, until it killed you

Crown Vic on steelies with drag radials with a supercharged LSX.

Not a car but holy crap

1974 Dodge Monaco.

The thing is you can build a sleeper, but when it comes to tires you can't fool anyone. If I see drag radials or a track tire there's no way I'm assuming the engine is stock.

Agreed, but most people's attention to detail is nonexistent lately, so it'll probably work better now than it would've 50 years ago.

There is a guy around Fairview, Tn that had a primer gray 1964 ford truck with a 428 . The only give away was the 4inch pipes sticking out under the rear bumper .

My brother had a 53 Studabaker with a 409 with dual quads .

Had a 64 Ford F100 with a 472 Cadillac engine that was pretty stout. Not much of a sleeper with straight pipes.

Gremlin

Any old rust bucket fixed up mechanically.

I`d just buy a new V8 super charged black Camaro

Crown Vic (NOT CVPI) with a built Godzilla and turbos for quiet power ladder.

Buy a Subaru WRX STI.

Better yet, buy a used Sport bike for $3,000 and blow the doors off pretty much every car on the road.

I saw "sleeper car" and the first thought to come to mind was -
a hearse!

Tesla!!!! With a gremlin body.

Had a 76 Lesabre, ended up dropping a junkyard motor in it when the 350 went south. Junkyard guy told me to pull the motor out of that Skylark down the hill, I could have it for 200 bucks. The Skylark wasn’t a Skylark. It was an Olds 442. With a 455 in it. Took it and dropped it in that Lesabre, got the shock of my life. That car would smoke a Mustang GT down the road, and do it again stoplight to stoplight. Could do donuts on dry pavement from a moving start. Never knew what had been done to that motor, but it made a land yacht into the fastest car I ever had.

I have a Porsche 914 with an LS1 in it.

I have no idea where the limits are with car and am wise enough not to test them.

Let’s just say it hauls ass.

2400 lbs
400 hp

Had a buddy in college that had a ‘73 Capri with a built 289 stuffed into it. SOB was stupid fast.

I knew a guy that had an 80s era AMC wagon with nicely built V6 in it. It would out run most of what was on the road in the 90s.

Pennsylvania used to have a semi rig with radar, the truckers dubbed it, Mother Goose.

Very cool! Would love to see pics

I guess amongst its peers mine is kind of a sleeper. ‘71 LeMans w/o the endura front end so it doesn’t look at all like a GTO. Has a pretty stout 455 in it though. The 455 was an option but the 350 poncho was far and away the most common engine in the lemans. There’s a small rocker panel emblem that gives it away if someone looks close.

By anything and put a Chevy LS motor in it. There's all kinds of installation kits available for these engines. All you need is money. If you want a real fast sleeper put a turbo on it.

Sweet car !

🦫

Nova ii

Badass chevy there. The toolbox is a nice touch

Maybe not:

IIRC Paul Newman had a Volvo station wagon equipped with a V-8 that harbored something like 400 ponies … back in the day when the Volvo was de rigueur for soccer moms.
Pretty good sleeper.

Volvo 240 sedan with a LS running lots of squish.

Love it. Pontiac made the best looking A bodies. I had a 70 GTO that I sold 12 years ago to raise funds for my business, and every time I see a Goat these days it brings a tear to my eye. 70 and 71 455 were great street engines with tons of torque, especially the 71 HO's.

I knew a guy back a few years ago in Reading Pa that had a raggedy azz chevy cavalier with a twin turboed 1600 hp sbc.

Tubbed with a full cage but appeared to be bone stock unless you looked hard.

Mid 8 second car with tags and inspection sticker.

A tubbed and caged, street legal, Cavalier?

And it couldn’t be spotted?

LOL

He runs race chassis shop he knows what he;s doing Didn't say it could not be spotted just very slick work

An Olds Toronado drivetrain in the back of a 60s stepside pickup. Put a canopy on to cover up the 455.

And 1600hp.

LOL

High school buddy's mom had a Gremlin with a built to the hilt 327. Hang the fuukkkk on and smile ear to ear.

Had 4.88s in the 8 3/4 in that 73 dart.

I worked at a custom shop for a while and put a 347 stroker with super charger in ranger. Was cool but even with ladder bars four point suspension... thing was squirrelly as hell.

I knew a kid in high school whose father was a motorhead. He actually got a small V8 in the back of an early VW Beetle. I never saw it closeup but he built a wood wall behind the front seats to section it off. I don't know what kind of adapter kit he used to match it to the transmission.

my buddy is finishing up a 68 vw beetle with a 350 motor pushing 560hp.

A 75-79 four door Nova on an amped up Tesla S chassis....

A local guy had a thing about dropping big block Chevrolet’s into 63 ford falcons. He had three at one time. Tubbed out the rear ends and ran automatic trannys.

Wife had a '99 Astro Van with that stout 4.3 V6 that would flat scoot. It was really surprising. GM made those motors really run when they put them in the Chevy Syclones and GMC Typhoons.

Find a junkyard or Marketplace Explorer with a 5.0 of the same generation as your Ranger. Then you’ll have all the parts to swap over.

It won’t be stupid fast but it’ll be a lot faster than it is now, probably won’t cost 17X what an old Ranger is worth, and would be a little more feasible than some of the suggestions above.

Our own Badger helps keep it on the road with his awesome shop. He calls it “The Beast”

I'd like to see some pics of that Porsche.

I had a dead in the water 66 Falcon that had a small six cyl and an automatic. With all that torque a for speed shoehorned in it would have made a great town racer street light to street light. Tons of torque but unreachable with that auto trans. Dad knew what he was doing giving me that car. Thanks Dad and I still miss you. That move probably saved my license and maybe my life. Be Well, RZ.

I've never done it - but your post reminds me of a vehicle I happened upon several years ago.. A mid-90s Ford Ranger.. I don't know what he had in that thing - and it appeared to be just a normal small pickup.. But when the light changed he took off like a ROCKET.. I swear he was at 100 mph before he went two blocks... I wish I could have seen what he did with that truck, but it was pretty cool to watch..

My best man's father was a rising exec at FoMoCo in the 60's. He took home a Falcon with a 428CJ stuffed under the hood. Still smile recalling his stories of a 3-piece suit guy besting racer boys on Woodward.

Have seen some in the past , early 60’s fury my dad bought at
A local junkyard , was an unmarked ex police car , 383 with dual point distributor, don’t recall carb manufacture, but a four barrel , three on the tree .
Had a hell of a top end , well past 120mph .
I had a 55 Ford short bed step side , , cow shiit brown with white painted rims and mud grips in the back , 289 high performance with a 500 cfm Holley two barrel , don’t know why but from stop light to stop light MFer was quick , left a lot of people scratching their heads , bought it like that .
Cousins boyfriend bought a 61 , I think it was , one owner Chevy impala off an old woman , turns out it was a 327-300 , three on the column , he was the neighborhood nerd till he got that car and started shutting down the joe cools in the neighborhood .
The guy I bought the 55 from had a plain Jane looking 66 Ford with a 460 Lincoln motor built with some crazy horse power and later added nitro, nothing was ever enough for him .
Why he chose a pickup for this power plant was beyond me .
Did nothing to the suspension , it was a scary ride , running 90 mph , drop that autotrans into 2nd , hit the nitro and light the tires up , shift to drive, speed ometor buried so far you couldn’t see the needle at the pivot , truck floating all over the road .
One ride was enough , stock truck wasn’t made for that kind of speed .
Kenneth

This one looks real comfortable.

The easy button for a sleeper would be rebadging a 2004-2006 GTO as a Holden Monaro. One of these days maybe I'll get around to it.

If I remember correctly back in the late 1960's Baldwin Chevolet in Detroit MI put modified 427 chevy motors in new plain, no chrome, taxi cab looking Biscayne sedans and sold them from their auto dealership as the ultimate sleeper street machine.

He also had his Corvette Killer
VW Bug convertible with a built 351 I think. Full works suspension
In a tech school somewhere now.

I remember Dad had a Baby Blue, '62 Ford Ranchero with a 289, 3 speed that would scoot pretty well.
He also had an early 60s Rambler American, 4 door sedan , factory V8 that surprised a couple of drivers.
A Ford LTD wagon with fake wood on the sides, factory high compression 429 with quiet dual exhaust..

Sleepers is what he drove every day, Miss you Dad!

There are more than a few fox body Ford cars that aren’t mustangs. Fairmont comes to mind. Anything done one one can be done on the other.

An old man 4 door bel air or biscayne b-body with the autogear m23 4-speed and a stout big block with rearend gears that can be driven not raced... that’s something I could get my mind around.

Back in 1974/75(?) was traveling to outside DC area a lot. I would rent AMC Gremlin X cars because they had huge gas tanks and I could avoid the long lines at gas stations for fillups.

The Gremlin X had a V8 prolly 305ci. And it was fast (albeit ugly as hell). Restore one and put a turbo on it!

Way back in 73 I took a 72 Vega Kammback and blew the engine in it driving back and forth from Fort Lewis to my home in Oregon every weekend. So, I did the only logical thing I could- I put a V8 in it. Built a 327 with a 302 crank and cam of unknown quantity. But it put out about 450-500 hp and was a kick in the ass to drive with the built Turbo 400 . It would kill 69 Camaro Z28's and SS's all day long.... had to sell it for a big loss when I went overseas and my dad didn't want it stored at his house....

I had a bone stock 1992 Ranger STX that was very quick for a stock truck of the era. It had an early 4.0 V6.(the first 2 years of the 4.0 had slightly higher compression and made peak torque at pretty low RPMs.) It was a 2WD, 5 speed manual with a short bed. It had highway gears (3.08), but would still roll out damn quick. 0-60 in the high 7 second range, which doesn't sound like much, but this was when the Ford Lighting and Chevy 454 SS were running 0-60 at around 7.4-7.5 seconds.

That Ranger would smolder the tires in 1st, get good rubber hitting 2nd at 35 and still get a chirp when I hit 3rd quickly enough at 60. Entering the highway with some aggression would bury the 85 MPH speedo in 3rd, but the truck didn't have much more than that, because it was limited to a max of about 109 MPH.

It easily ate every stock 4.3 S-10 and 4.0 Jeep it ever encountered and ran light to light to light one night with a Monte Carlo SS.

It was a fun truck and I'm glad to have survived owning it.

Now that you can get 427 cammer parts aftermarket, I've been tempted to put one in something - maybe an old Galaxie? 800hp and 3400 lbs is faster than a LOT of cars. Of course the "6-pack in a dryer" idle would warn anyone with half a brain what was about to happen...

Hearse.

Hope you have very deep pockets- those cammer parts are extremely expensive. Last guy I talked to who had one built was telling me they start at $35K to have one done and up from there...

A buddy had a 64 Chevy II with the 6 cylinder symbol on the side and 4 lug wheels in front. Inside was a built 327 and 4 speed. He was good with the 4 speed, he ran brackets every week. Tore several rear ends out of it before putting in a Chrysler 8 3/4". He cleaned up down on Colfax on Saturday nights.

Ya can have a million HP, but unless ya can get it to the ground, it don't mean shat.

For street racin, the newer technology is what ya need.

AWD, like an older audi or subaru, with a dose a horsepower's the ticket.

Can run street tires, mellow the exhaust, and be runnin low numbers just by punchin it.

Love the toolbox!

That’s cool Roger!

I would simply remove the ZL1 emblems from my Camaro. If I added different rear tires, changed a pulley, and had a tune it would easily be a 10 second car.
Other option would be to add a supercharger to a SS sedan. These were made in Australia by Holden and badged as Chevys. Still miss my 2017.

Friend with a SOHC says the dang thing is a bitch to set the timing then it munches and spits out chains. I told him just get a normal side oiler...but he says he thinks the valve covers make his car super sexy. Hope the resurrected version includes a gear drive!

My vote for a sleeper would be a Volvo Wagon with a warmed over 2JZ motor transplanted. There's a few on youtube...entertaining when they bait muscle cars.