Performance Q's!!!??????

[Mrbimmerdude]

Ok so I have a 73, and want to waken it up a bit.. So here are the questions:

With the street cams, 40/44carb, headers, dis-less, 95alt, liven these cars up a whole lot or not?
If so what is the power out put and possible emission readings(if anyone knows).
Would the 1800 thicker steel head gasket work with a 1600 motor?
Are there over sized valves availble?
Will the 8.5lbs flywheel for the 1800 fit a 1600? Or is that two light for the spinning mass?
Upgraded stage 2 clutch over kill?

How much power the stock trans and rear end can handle?

Has anyone done these mods to theirs, did you do them for fun or a track day car?

A lot of questions but I want to know more about these cars, and any more educational insight would definitely be helpful.
Thanks again!
Devin

[131]

With the street cams, 40/44carb, headers, dis-less, 95alt, liven these cars up a whole lot or not?
If so what is the power out put and possible emission readings(if anyone knows).
Would the 1800 thicker steel head gasket work with a 1600 motor?
Are there over sized valves availble?
Will the 8.5lbs flywheel for the 1800 fit a 1600? Or is that two light for the spinning mass?
Upgraded stage 2 clutch over kill?

Cams, carbs and headers will wake it up. A bigger alternator is not a horse power improvement. 1800 has different bore than 1600, and if anything you want a thinner gasket for a slight compression increase. Decent ignition is more a reliability and maintenance improvement. Larger valves can be sourced, but unless you properly prepare the head to suit, they're of little benefit. Lighter flywheels are great, but an 1800 flywheel and clutch are bigger than the 1600 and won't fit, unless you absolutely abuse it, a stock clutch will suffice.

[Mrbimmerdude]

Sweet, that answered a few of them about the heads, do you happen to know of anyone with the cams heads and carbs done that has a video or anything? I just would like to know what I'm getting into before I'm up to my waist in oil. Haha

[vandor]

The truth is that the biggest bang for the buck is to fit a larger engine, ie' a 1800 and 2000. Donors are readily available.
You can drive the car while you build up a better performing engine, and since the new engine will be rebuilt you can change to the higher compression pistons.

>With the street cams, 40/44carb, headers, dis-less, 95alt, liven these cars up a whole lot or not?

Yes, except for the alternator, as noted above. But none of these would address the low compression ratio.
Also if the engine is a bit tired now, increasing its output will wear it out quickly.

>If so what is the power out put and possible emission readings(if anyone knows).

I don't think many people measure emissions reading. Hot cams will increase the HC reading, while higher compression will increase the NOx readings.
The Euro single carb 1600 was rated a 108 hp, so that would be an easily attainable figure.

>Would the 1800 thicker steel head gasket work with a 1600 motor?

No, different bore size.

>Are there over sized valves availble?

Yes, both from Allisons Automotive and us.

>Will the 8.5lbs flywheel for the 1800 fit a 1600? Or is that two light for the spinning mass?

Those stock flywheels are interchangeable, so I assume that a lightened version would too.

>Upgraded stage 2 clutch over kill?

For a 1600, yes. I think you'd need a pretty hot 2000 to need it, even cars with 150+ HP run the stock clutch.

>How much power the stock trans and rear end can handle?

Depends on your driving style, but the general consensus is ~150 HP.

[Mrbimmerdude]

Right I guess I should have know the Alt wouldn't be a performance upgrade, but I was definitely was curious on the power handling of the drive train, my ultimate goal is to turbo charge it, I have turboed a carb car before not needing much boost only wanting 6-8psi. So hence the curiosity, but it appears to be better and grab the 1800/2000 Powertrain.. Or just build it to handle the extra power, which would become a task haha!

[So Cal Mark]

as a coincidence, I now have turbo manifolds

[toplessexpat]

Rabeast has a pair of carbs (not IDFs) and manifold for sale. Last I checked - $400

http://fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=28407

[johndemar]

Adding performance cams without addressing the bottom half of the engine is not worth the effort. When I was much younger and before the Internet age I added 40/80 80/40 cams. Although I gained experience doing it the results were disappointing to say the least.
Easy slap on stuff like a bigger carb and a freer exhaust will give the most bang for the buck. If you're looking for 150HP then a complete rebuild will be needed with a bigger block.

[Mrbimmerdude]

True which the bottom end is fully noted and acounted for in the build, I didn't need to mention the bottom end because that's a give in when boosting a car, although now I'm wondering if I should end up swapping everything out. I saw a lot of people put in chevy s10 rear ends, but forgot what transmissions. Although I have been toying with the poor man miata swap and others but have high hopes for the stock turbo block for it's distinct sound

[engineerted]

If you are looking to turbocharge it, you may want to check out Turbo124.com lots of good info there. Also some one on this forum just complete a turbo build, try looking in the custom section.

Found it. http://fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=23889

[So Cal Mark]

40/80 cams are not the best choice for a street motor imho, I'm not surprised you were disappointed with the results

[ORFORD2004]

And all I can say is yes turbo is the best improvement for the buck

[johndemar]

40/80 cams are not the best choice for a street motor imho, I'm not surprised you were disappointed with the results

I didn't keep them in very long before putting the stock cams back in. This was back in the early 80's when looking through a Bayless catalog was the only was to order parts. Just got carried away looking at all the stuff offered and not really knowing enough at the time.

[fiat218]

40/80 cams are not the best choice for a street motor imho, I'm not surprised you were disappointed with the results

What is good, what stage is the 40/80 on your site? Stage 1 or 2

[vandor]

> Adding performance cams without addressing the bottom half of the engine is not worth the effort.

I respectfully disagree. Just yesterday we fitted 42/82 cams to Andy's 1800 Spider which already had headers and a 38ADL carb. The smile on Andy's face was enormous
Sure, it would be better if the engine had more compression, but it's quite fun even now.