As I am on the home straight for getting my Spider back on the road, hopefully this spring, I have had it in my mind to rebuild an engine for it as the one it has currently is the original one it came with to me over 10 years ago (probably been in there for over 30 years at least) and I am assuming it is a standard 1585cc unit etc.
My thought process started on a replacement engine way back when I read the Darren Cooksey thread on modernising a FI engine and recently after a number of exchanged emails with Eric and discussion with Darren re what known options are sensible for my use, I think the following is my likely target. Note that I have no interest in track day use, just an interesting updated engine to use on the road which will be reliable and usable. I was also inspired after watching numerous US based tuners with modern ECUs and how controllable the tune of an engine can be, as opposed to the one size fits all of standard carbs.
Given I have never rebuilt an engine I initially thought to go in two stages, first with a dual carb setup and then move to FI, however looking at the costs of new carbs and the above mentioned lack of flexibility, I have for now decided to move straight to FI from day one. This means a bunch more work and mods to the car, but given I want to end up there, I might as well do it in one move, rather than two. As to costs it will be more expensive the FI route, but would be a lot more expensive to go the two stage route ultimately.
So onto spec.
I have a couple of both 1600 and 2l engines of unknown state, so any could be used as donors. One concern I did have was that my car has the original 2 vent bonnet, not the later one vent used on 2l, but given that this was an issue for the standard air filter and I will be using a custom arrangement, this should not be an issue. It appears I have little to lose and lots to gain by going with 2l. One issue a number of folk have is using a side draught carb/throttle body as the air intake is next to the radiator, so some games have to be played to get cold air in. Eric solved this using a relocated custom rad, however by going with a down draught dcnf style throttle bodies removes that issue and I can keep my standard rad position. Dual Dcnf manifolds are still available for this config to give the one port per cylinder config which is the ideal scenario.
I am also making use of a couple of GC's books, GC's forum and a Haynes Engine Management book by Dave Walker. The engine management book I have started reading and looks to have some interesting advice even for looking at tuning a standard engine, or at the very least understanding what is going on.
So onto the list of items I am looking to include (not complete, but gives you an idea)
2L block and crank
Modified head ideally with VX size valves
Cometic head gasket
Cast pistons
Uprated con rods
GC 3/A inlet cam
Standard 2L exhaust cam
Vernier Cam wheels
Baffled Sump
Updated water pump
Lightened flywheel
Integrale clutch
Dual DCNF inlet manifold
Dual dcnf throttle bodies
Webcon swirl pot/pump connected to original tank
Upgrade return fuel pipe to 8mm
4-2-1 exhaust manifold
Oil cooler
Gearbox - probably change diff ratio to improve cruising
I do not expect too many updates on this as very much background project for now, but will be looking to buy parts where I find them at a decent price.
I suspect my starting budget for the build is £4k, but never having done this before, I could be miles out...... hopefully the wife will understand!!
Peter
