[aerohead]

I can't tell you how much in favor I am to your project.I'd considered putting a 16-HP, V-twin riding mower engine, into a Corvette for a Sierra Club TV show back in the 90s.It wasn't to be a road car,just to point out to viewers,how little horsepower the car actually needed for daily driving.The Z-cars (all of them) are still quite advanced,and would make great platforms for ecomodding.I'm useless to you with respect to engine candidates.Sorry! I'd be tempted to pull the guts out of a '93 toyota pickup and shoehorn it in.It's not OBD-2 and its not all-aluminum,but it is EFI,they can get in the 30s as a truck,and have a pretty flat torque curve and plenty of grunt.A neighbor did the Chevy 350 swap into a Z-car.He no longer owns the car.That may say something about how rewarding that project was for him.Also,Bo Jones,a local hot-rodder,in Woodland Hills,Ca.,where I grew up,had a favorite car,a T-bucket roadster with a little Iron-Duke I-4 power.The thing was so light.he could embarrass the hell out of a lot of muscle-car owners.He new power-to-weight and used it to his advantage.And in spite of the terrible aerodynamics,the little hot rod put other cars to shame at the gas pump.I think,with modest power,you could still have a ball slinging her through the S-curves,and have no guilt at the pump.It's your call.I'd love to see you do it.