2.0 L block with 1800 head or 2000 FI head

[BammBamm]

I'm reading tons of info about how to increase performance. I have a chance to outfit a 79 2000 block with either 1800 head or a 2000 FI head. On said setup, would the FI intake produce more power or a dual carb? I have a bunch of good parts to choose from.

[bradartigue]

You mean head, right? You wrote intake, I assume you mean head, as in, you want to know if you should install a FI head or 1800 head.

They are essentially identical but the 1800 head has slightly smaller combustion chambers, you get a little compression increase. A little free HP. Get rid of the old Spider 2000 carburetor, manifold, and all of the hoses and crap attached to it. Use an 1800 intake manifold and get a good plain Weber, a DFEV or (better, but more expensive) 34ADF.

[BammBamm]

Now that i read that I see where I didnt fully explain. I can install a FI head or a 1800 head. (but you have answered that) I also want to know if FI will give me more hp or a good carb . Whats the deal with dual carbs? I see some people have them but I dont see intakes for it. I have a 1800 head and intake lined up for $100.. I figured I would have some fun.

[TimpanogosSlim]

so you have a '79 2L block, and you are picking what to put on top of it, right?

If you want to go EFI that means getting the whole EFI system. Air meter, fuel pump, injectors, etc.

I think some people do use the 1.8 head with the EFI system.

EFI does improve the mpg, reliability, etc. Doesn't have to be re-tuned for every 500 feet of elevation for example.

Carburetors are carburetors. bigger ones move more air and fuel. dual weber kits are near as big as they get for our engines. Also near the most expensive.

[narfire]

Like Brad said, put the 1800 head and intake on your 79 block.
Is the engine out of the car? If so perhaps consider taking the flywheel in and have a qualified machine shop shave a few pounds off of it.
Several vendors here sell the 32/36 carb which will improve performance or see if a 34 ADF is affordable/in the cards (around $470-$550 I believe).
Several years ago I helped a fellow in the area take all the 79's hose, pipes and other assorted crap off the engine and installed a single plane intake and a 34 DMSA carb. He said it was like a different car, more performance and more gooder to drive.

[bradartigue]

so you have a '79 2L block, and you are picking what to put on top of it, right?

If you want to go EFI that means getting the whole EFI system. Air meter, fuel pump, injectors, etc.

I think some people do use the 1.8 head with the EFI system.

EFI does improve the mpg, reliability, etc. Doesn't have to be re-tuned for every 500 feet of elevation for example.

Carburetors are carburetors. bigger ones move more air and fuel. dual weber kits are near as big as they get for our engines. Also near the most expensive.

I've used the 1800 head with the Bosch system several times; it works great. But you have a carbureted Spider, so use a carburetor... If you want to drive the car use the 1800 head, the 1800 manifold (from a 1974-1978), and a Weber 34ADF or DFEV.

Don't fall into the money pit of dual carbs or home-made EFI unless you want to tinker. Don't graft an L-Jetronic system onto a 79 - it's also for the tinkerer and not the driver. Don't believe what you read above, you don't have to re-tune a carburetor every 500 feet and they certainly aren't all the same.

[BammBamm]

Thanks guy. I have a 1982 spider with FI. I thought it had bad valves so I bought the 79 motor and a FI head. But it turn out the PO had mixed up all the valve shims. I now have compression on the 82 motor. So I have an extra 2000 motor and a local guy has an 1800 head,intake and exhaust for $100. I think I will build up the 2nd engine as a spare or look for another spider with a bad engine.

[TimpanogosSlim]

so you have a '79 2L block, and you are picking what to put on top of it, right?

If you want to go EFI that means getting the whole EFI system. Air meter, fuel pump, injectors, etc.

I think some people do use the 1.8 head with the EFI system.

EFI does improve the mpg, reliability, etc. Doesn't have to be re-tuned for every 500 feet of elevation for example.

Carburetors are carburetors. bigger ones move more air and fuel. dual weber kits are near as big as they get for our engines. Also near the most expensive.

I've used the 1800 head with the Bosch system several times; it works great. But you have a carbureted Spider, so use a carburetor... If you want to drive the car use the 1800 head, the 1800 manifold (from a 1974-1978), and a Weber 34ADF or DFEV.

Don't fall into the money pit of dual carbs or home-made EFI unless you want to tinker. Don't graft an L-Jetronic system onto a 79 - it's also for the tinkerer and not the driver. Don't believe what you read above, you don't have to re-tune a carburetor every 500 feet and they certainly aren't all the same.

There are EFI 79's.

I just generally wouldn't recommend converting from EFI to carbs, unless the EFI system is beyond salvation.

I didn't mean to imply that all carbs are the same, just that they come with the same set of headaches, more or less. Marvels of hydraulic engineering, surely. but that doesn't make them desirable, except if you're more comfortable with older technology.

[BammBamm]

Will installing an 1800 head on a 2000 block made it an interference motor?

[TimpanogosSlim]

Will installing an 1800 head on a 2000 block made it an interference motor?

I don't believe so, no. You weren't planning on ignoring your timing belt, were you?

[bradartigue]

so you have a '79 2L block, and you are picking what to put on top of it, right?

If you want to go EFI that means getting the whole EFI system. Air meter, fuel pump, injectors, etc.

I think some people do use the 1.8 head with the EFI system.

EFI does improve the mpg, reliability, etc. Doesn't have to be re-tuned for every 500 feet of elevation for example.

Carburetors are carburetors. bigger ones move more air and fuel. dual weber kits are near as big as they get for our engines. Also near the most expensive.

I've used the 1800 head with the Bosch system several times; it works great. But you have a carbureted Spider, so use a carburetor... If you want to drive the car use the 1800 head, the 1800 manifold (from a 1974-1978), and a Weber 34ADF or DFEV.

Don't fall into the money pit of dual carbs or home-made EFI unless you want to tinker. Don't graft an L-Jetronic system onto a 79 - it's also for the tinkerer and not the driver. Don't believe what you read above, you don't have to re-tune a carburetor every 500 feet and they certainly aren't all the same.

There are EFI 79's.

I just generally wouldn't recommend converting from EFI to carbs, unless the EFI system is beyond salvation.

I didn't mean to imply that all carbs are the same, just that they come with the same set of headaches, more or less. Marvels of hydraulic engineering, surely. but that doesn't make them desirable, except if you're more comfortable with older technology.

I guess I'm lost - is the car you are building this motor for FI or Carbureted? I assumed from your post that you were building a 1979 engine and wanted to know if you should use an 1800 or 2000FI head. If you already have fuel injection then use the 1800 head (which bumps the compression up slightly) or the 2000FI head. But never use the 1979 carbureted head.

PS FIAT never produced a FI car in 1979, at least not a Spider, 7/1980 is the changeover to FI and 10/1979 was the last 1979 made.

[BammBamm]

i actually have two projects going on. I got an 82FI with what i thought was bent valve. I bought another motor, tranny, and most an interior plus a bunch of spare parts. Then I bought a 82 FI head and a 1976 1800 intake and head. The motor in the 82 ended up being mixed up valve shim and miss timed cams. now im going to build a kick ass motor for the right broken spider that i havnt bought yet. I got the bug

[TimpanogosSlim]

PS FIAT never produced a FI car in 1979, at least not a Spider, 7/1980 is the changeover to FI and 10/1979 was the last 1979 made.

Well, the car i pulled my 2.0 EFI longblock from was titled as a '79. I was too busy pulling the engine to record the vin. And I've seen references to other cars of similar configuration.

*shrug*

[bradartigue]

PS FIAT never produced a FI car in 1979, at least not a Spider, 7/1980 is the changeover to FI and 10/1979 was the last 1979 made.

Well, the car i pulled my 2.0 EFI longblock from was titled as a '79. I was too busy pulling the engine to record the vin. And I've seen references to other cars of similar configuration.

*shrug*

What is the serial number of your block and head? That will tell us if it was a 79 or 80(FI) block and head.

I have no doubt there were two or three brought around in 79 to show dealers the configuration. I'm pretty sure to have seen a brown one (why was brown the car of choice in 1980?) south of Atlanta about 15 years ago. We went through it very well, it was a CS2 but had fuel injection. What made it unique was a CS2 body with the FI air box plate in the engine bay. Somewhere we took pictures; the car was otherwise a wreck, trunk left open under a tree for years kind of junky.

The swap though isn't horrible to perform, and it isn't some new phenomenon to work on cars, swap parts around, etc. If you owned a 79 and then drove an FI car it was like night and day...