You all know where I stand on this. But first and foremost,
my opinion is let each person have fun doing what they're
doing.
john matthews wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> Sorry to throw gasoline on the fire, but anybody who seriously thinks
> an engine swap on a spit is a good idea is just plain out of thier
> mind!! There's a guy out here who has a small block chevy in his spit,
> I think it's called "the Beast" or something like that. I've seen it,
> and it's... Well, it's really not what you want to do. Do yourself a
> favor and chuck your money down a deep hole instead.
I think dave west is pretty happy he didn't chuck his money down
a hole instead. He probably could have bought a new 'vette for
what he's put in his spit, but why ? His car certainly looks
nicer than any of the new 'vettes. It's probably just as fast, too.
To say that he put a small block chevy in a spitfire is really not
accurate. Basically he built a new car, taking parts from
a varity of sources.
A friend of mind drives a 59 sprite with a 5.0 mustang
motor (as his only car and daily driver). Calling this car a sprite
is of course, streching things quite a bit, since very little
original sprite parts remain, but I would much rather have a car like
that than a new school mustang/camero etc which cost many thousands
more. (Dan Masters, I will try to get you pictures of this car
one of these days)
>
> Yes, it's true that the little pushrod 4 that came with your car
> doesn't have quite as much power as some would like. However, it does
> have about as much as every other component in the drivetrain will
> handle. Unless you're an independently wealthy mechanical engineer
> with a machine shop in your garage it's just not a good idea to
> attempt an engine swap in a spit.
Well, the drivetrain of the GT6 and sptifire (and hearald, I assume)
are almost all the same. Non US spec PI GT6 was rated around
150 horse. Now one might argue that the stock Gt6 drivetrain
didn't last very long... But to say that the 60 horse or so
of a stock 1500 is all it can take is pushing it a bit. Now suppose
you can the same 150 horse, with the same (or less) weight
as a spit motor ? You actually put less stress on the drivetrain,
becuase there's not so much resistance to taking off.
To do this, you could spend your time engineering the spitfire engine,
(and getting 150 horse out of a 1500, in a streetable and reliable
fashon is an expensive engineering project in it's self.),
or you could buy a motor with the power output you want,
and spend your time and money engineering the car. Both will
end up with a car thats very different from the original (it
will be able to pass on the freeway, for example ;-), and both
will have to spend a bunch of time and money. Thats what hobbies are
for. Building hot rods of any kind is a hobby in its own
right, seperate from driving them.
>
[...]
>I just want to warn you that
> it's not easy or advisable to try to put anything other than a
> Spitfire engine into a Spitfire. If you need more power try a mild
> cam, or better yet, buy a Camaro.
>
Putting a blown 400 into a 32 ford might not be easy or 'advisable'
either, but many people have done it and come out with a
truly marvelous result. Thats another thing I'd rather
have than a new Camero...
What ever you've got, drive it and enjoy it.
--
Reed Mideke rmideke@interbase.com
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