"I've got a '68 Valiant with a blowed engine, and a '54 Jimmy pickup with a busted rear but a real good motor. …" We shouldn't have to tell you this is the wrong reason to attempt an engine swap, but ...

This video shows the ambitious project of fitting a V10 engine into a Mazda MX-5. It covers the custom fabrication, mechanical challenges, and creative engineering needed to make the swap work.

At this point, mixing and matching the Big Three U.S. auto manufacturers' V-8 powerplants, both internally and across all brands of vehicles—engine-swapping, if you will—is a tried-and-true practice.

Generally speaking, enthusiasts love a well-executed engine swap. But at the same time, we can also acknowledge that getting a new engine to play nicely with a car it was never meant to be in isn't ...