Have seen mid-60's Chev pickups with twin-cam V8's here.

Saw a beautiful 1949 Peugeot, done up as a mild custom.

Got me thinking ... Can a car with a current Blue book have an engine swap recorded without too much trouble? Give as a reason that the old one blew up.

My thought - build a Thai Hot Rod.

To answer your question: Yes. It is actually quite common to change the engine. Just record it with the Land Transportation Bureau (or whatever it is) and you should have no problem changing the book. I think that the main purpose of changing the book is to make sure you paid the taxes on importing the engine.

To answer your question: Yes. It is actually quite common to change the engine. Just record it with the Land Transportation Bureau (or whatever it is) and you should have no problem changing the book. I think that the main purpose of changing the book is to make sure you paid the taxes on importing the engine.

...or it's not from a stolen car...

My thought is to grab a twin cam V8 from the wreckers - with trans - and stuff it into something.

The Bill of Sale should satisfy the 'Powers that Be' I imagine.

To answer your question: Yes. It is actually quite common to change the engine. Just record it with the Land Transportation Bureau (or whatever it is) and you should have no problem changing the book. I think that the main purpose of changing the book is to make sure you paid the taxes on importing the engine.

...or it's not from a stolen car...

make sure you get a receipt from seller and a copy of the old blue book with the numbers, book should be marked as car wrecked ,destroyed etc and keep the original engine/gearbox somewhere as they have been known to ask for it.

They don't seem to be as trusting as the US or UK when it comes to engine changes etc. It really only becomes a problem if you ever sell the car, any changes to numbers are treated as being highly suspicious.