Andres, who won't let me get away with
*anything* ;-) asked:
>Which car will you put the engine in, Erik?
Well, umm, OK, I won't try to Clinton out of this.
As you probably would have guessed anyway, it
would be going into an Elan.
The monster engine would be destined for the Elan
that I have been referring to, for several years
now as the "mondo" car, which, when fully evolved,
will use a 200+ horsepower engine with exact specs
TBD (the BD series Cosworth is only one of several
options) along with a close ratio 5 speed gearbox,
a Spyder frame, a Hewland LSD, Hoosier autocross
tires, and possibly even a Spyder rear suspension
arrangement. It would have VERY stiff springs and
would be set up for about 3 inches of ground
clearance. I would use split fenders, and try to
achieve a 26R-ish look, including a hard top if
I can get my hands on one.
For wheels, if I can't find another pair of A/R
libre mags to go with the pair I have (on the
other car, at the moment) then I will be looking
at 26R repros, speedlines, or maybe compomotives.
My weight bogey? 1300 lbs.
This would be a semi-street driveable autocross
weapon that would, because of the engine swap, be
irrevocably banished to C Mod or D Mod or some
such. I would be in *way* over my head in terms
of driving ability, in any of the Mod classes.
But what the heck... driving it would be almost as
fun as s*x, and maybe I could win once in a while,
if no one with any talent showed up.
(Side comment: the Spyder rear suspension setup is
really the only thing that I consider questionable
in terms of the original spirit and intent of the
people who designed the car. Radical opinion by
me? Maybe. Let's discuss it. It might be fun.)
Top gearbox and engine candidates (this month) are
Alfa Romeo 5 speed using the close ratios from the
lightweight GTA sedan, and (drum roll) a genuine,
no prisoners taken, Aluminum-block BD engine, but
probably utilizing a BDD head rather than a BDP or
BDG head. I'm thinking that it might make sense to
de-stroke the thing to about 1850cc, for reasons
alluded to in my previous post.
Anyone got an Aluminum block I could use?
Regards,
Erik Berg
Los Angeles
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