In perhaps the truest definition of hot rodding, where speed addicts take what they have to piece together one of a kind rides, Arizona builder Mykk Hannan has taken a 4.4 liter BMW V8 and built a custom T-bucket around it. The original destination for the V8 was as an upgrade for Hannan's 1995 540i, but once the engine was together he started to feel it was wasted on the slowly deteriorating sedan. The next obvious step, or course, is to build a T-bucket.
The Ford T-Bucket
The T-bucket in many ways is the ultimate expression of the hot rod. In the early 50s Model Ts were numerous and cheap. Early rodders would strip them down of any extra weight until they were little more than a bucket for the driver and then find the biggest engine they could fit in the rails. Hannan was concerned that the engine wouldn't scale to T-bucket proportions, but it turned out to work quite well.
Related: The Secret Origin Of Hot Rods In America
Adjusting To Hot Rods
Answering questions via e-mail, Hannak says the biggest challenge to adapting the BMW powerplant to hot rod duties was the headers. Nothing from BMW worked in the hot rod setting so he went looking elsewhere before finding headers from a Ford Coyote engine. They're attached upside down with new flanges drilled. The collector is cut off and the Auger pipes welded straight to the headers for the high pipe look.
Eaton Supercharger
As if the congruence of modern German power in a T-bucket wasn't enough, Hannan saw a picture of a Jaguar Eaton supercharger fitted to a BMW V8 and thought "that was probably the coolest thing anyone could do to these V8's." Getting the charger attached took some research."
It turns out the guy who's picture I stumbled upon is a machinist who makes and sells adapters as a kit. I reached out to him via the BMW forums, he responded and the plan was in motion." The plan is for 450 hp without nitrous while weighing in at 1800 pounds.
Road Tripper
Hannan is a heavy metal bass player who works the front of house at an Arizona engine machine shop where the T-bucket got him his job. "I was looking for work and I took a picture of my resumes fanned out on the front end of my T-bucket and then put that picture up on my Facebook captioned with "Will work for car parts. I got a message from the owner of the local Engine Rebuilding Machine Shop saying he may have a position for me.[...]I think the Machine Shop owner hasn't yet looked at my resume." When the car is finished Hannan plans a trip to Santa Monica where he'll pick up Highway 1 north to his hometown of Santa Rosa in the Northern Bay Area.
Source: YouTube