Image via Westen Champlin/YouTube
If you’ve ever served in the military or have otherwise experienced the mighty Humvee for yourself, you already know the trucks aren’t particularly fast or handle incredibly well. Plus, the interior is about as Spartan as possible, adding to the uncomfortable, no-nonsense nature of the vehicle. Apparently, YouTube sensation Westen Champlin didn’t realize that’s what he was getting when he bought one a while ago.
Check out what the Mexican Army is using to replace its Humvees.
As a result, the Humvee just sat unused on his Kansas property for a long time. But he recently decided to spice things up through the old trick of an engine swap. Instead of keeping it a diesel machine, he decided to go with a gasoline mill pushing serious horsepower.
Purchasing a wrecked Cadillac CTS-V through an insurance auction, the man ripped out the supercharged LSA V8 and hoped the front-end collision the car was in didn’t do serious damage to it.
He was in luck when what emerged out of the wreckage after some work with a Sawzall and an impact wrench was an almost perfect engine. But that didn’t mean the engine swap would go off without a hitch.
Unless you’re working with a kit and a common swap, cramming the powertrain from one vehicle into something completely different can come with its challenges. Even with a kit on a common swap you might find yourself nipping and tucking things to make it all fit properly.
Then there’s the issue of tuning everything since you’re dealing with a different chassis. In this case, the transition is like jumping the Grand Canyon. But Westen and his team keep at it, getting the Humvee with the LSA swap running.
Even though it does well enough on the dyno, it keeps stumbling and shutting off during burnouts. So the thing is a work in progress, just like any real project car, but we’re sure we’ll see this Humvee later as they iron out the wrinkles and probably do a little more to it.
Images via Westen Champlin/YouTube
