The easiest way to anger any brand purest in the racing world is to swap a different engine into a given car; if you want to really make them furious you slap an engine from an import between the fenders. Corey and the guys from the Fuel Injection Sucks YouTube channel decided they wanted to take a 1966 Pontiac Tempest and give it an infusion of Toyota power by adding a 2JZ engine from a Lexus, much to the dismay of every Pontiac fan in the known universe.

Doing something that’s different and quirky isn’t new territory for the team behind the Fuel Injection Sucks channel: they took a rather ratty looking 1976 Winnebago Chieftain and swapped in a boosted LSX combination into it…because why not? Corey’s four-door Tempest falls into that same line of thinking, but instead of LS power, another popular engine swap powerplant was used in the form of a 2JZ. The Toyota engine is known for its reliability and ability to produce big horsepower with very little work, so it made for the perfect oddball swap.

Since building one-off items on a budget is something Corey excels at from his experience on the Winnebago build, getting a 2JZ to fit into a classic Pontiac was a relatively easy task. The donor engine came out of a Lexus, while parts like the turbo, exhaust manifold, and radiator were all sourced from eBay for a nice discounted price. A Powerglide transmission was added to the project via a Chevrolet adaptor, while Ford Explorer rearend with a welded differential is used to spin the rear tires.

On a rather chilly day, Corey took the Tempest to Island Dragway in New Jersey to get some passes in and see what his creation was capable of. The cold weather and low track temperature proved to be challenging when it came to traction and the Tempest spun hard on its first pass. On the next lick, Corey got ahold of the track just enough to lay down a 10.78 at 127 mph — not bad for a car that is a mixture of both old and new parts from several different car companies!