as a sprite racer out west my input is that you might be better served to
build the first engine with an eye on some power gain but mostly on durability
and ease of maintainance (which is directly inverse to power output). It
should take you a season or two to sort out the car/driver relationship, and
to get the combination to feel really comfortable, it is very difficult to
learn a car when it is requiring a lot of service work........be sure to focus
on the safety items built into your car like a real strong custom rollbar
(for me with side intrusion bars on the drivers side) a fuel cell, onboard
fire system, split master brake cylinders, the best 3 layer fire suit, helmet,
collar, and accessories available...........if you concentrate on these items
in the build phase, when you get the car and driver combo all sorted out you
can then spring for the top drawer power plant and the car /driver will be
ready.............you will only have to learn to deal with the faster
accelleration, higher terminal speeds, and much much harder braking all that
extra power will induce.......a 100 hp sprite is a real handfull to drive,
very competetive, and a whole lot of fun....
dont try to be the fastest sprite out there right away unless you are ready to
budget $10-$20,000 per year to do it, year in year out...... (to start with
you will need two engines so you can race one while the other is being worked
on) a sprite may be considered a cheap car, but to go fastest in one is pure
$$$$$$......
do your suspension up first class, 'new' race quality front stub axels, taper
wheel bearings, 7/16" wheel studs, all new suspension bushings(poly are great
if allowed), new springs,shocks,sway bars etc, get nice alum wheel rims and
the best/fastest tires allowed..........
as a driver of a "full on" sprite I would suggest forgoing the alum head,
limit your engine design to put her around 100 -105 hp, (+30 over), balance
everything, light flywheel, ( fancy pistons, rods, lightened billet crank not
req, but nice if allowed and you got the extra $) etc so the motor will go
5-6 events at least between rebuilds.........as for the gearbox if you are
going to diverge from a stock tranny (with or without straight cut gears) then
go for the ultimate or dont bother...a RIC ribcase "webster conversion" box
with tilton clutch, it is a bulletproof unit that has a webster dog gears
(like in formula cars) that is the fastest setup going bar none......it wont
work on the street but is a true delight on the track............
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