There's nothing wrong with a 1977 AMC Pacer that a 351 Windsor can't fix.
These things came from their Kenosha, Wisconsin manufacturing facility with one of two inline-6s: a 238 or a 258. The latter, more potent mill produced an unflattering 114 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque. At around 3,000 pounds, the car was not what you'd call spry. Period estimates put the 0-60 sprint in the 12.0-second range.
In 1978, the Pacer would receive a barely adequate 304 V-8. But why shackle yourself to the period?
As Hemmings recently discovered, one intrepid owner yanked out the standard engine and plopped a honkin' Ford small block under the hood, laden with goodies from the FoMoCo book of going faster. The block's been bored .30 over, and now houses a set of KB Performance forged pistons, forged connecting rods, and a Crane cam. There's also a high-volume oil pump down below to keep the spinning bits lubricated.
Up top, there's a set of GT40 big valve heads and headers yanked from a 1995 Lightning, crowned by a Ford Racing aluminum intake and an Edelbrock AFB 820 CFM carb. Sparks are handled by, you guessed it, an MSD ignition system. The whole thing belches out of a set of rude side pipes in an obvious and necessary bid to please the gods of internal combustion.
In a quest to finish off our Jegs Bingo card, the transmission is a stout "Hughes-built" C6 automatic, complete with steel shafts, a "shift kit" and B&M ratchet shifter. If that doesn't make your hair grow, the limited-slip Ford 9.0-inch rear differential with 3.90 gears should. Oh, did we forget the Weld wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson street slicks? Our apologies.
The seller calls it the Pacer X Treme. Or perfect. Perfect works for us. It can be yours for a cool $19,900, which is about what the builder paid in shipping from Summit, we'd wager.
If you're interested, the car is currently listed for sale at KC Classic Auto.