84 spider mods, stuck head

["Luke Kowalski" <lkowalski@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chris Finks asks about his  84 Spider's performance mods.

There is really no bolt on magic. And I have come to regret some of the mods
I did do. I  would advise to keep it stock and enjoy the reliability of the
Bosch. I own a 74, which is easier to modify and it has 7L cams, high
compression pistons, a modified Spica (by Wes Ingram in Seattle), headers,
and an electric fan. According to a little G_tech accelerometer, it was good
for a 35hp gain from stock.  If I were you, I would limit my mods to the
electric fan (supposed 7 hp gain) and some cams designed for the fuel
injected Spider (from AR Ricambi in Glendale, CA). Heck, toss out the AC
unit.....The headers, and the intake Quadraflow mod make a lot of noise and
take away a lot of the low end, which you need for the street. I chucked
both. Exhausts have been tested and it seems like the Spider does not
benefit that much from the aftermarket, the stock setup is good. You might
want to swap the ignition and convert to an optical one, or at least install
a plex with a high voltage coil.
The rest of the stuff is illegal, particularly on the 84 which has lower
tolerances in the emission numbers. I did all of mine, because I needed to
rebuild the whole thing.
I would say enjoy it and buy an old Olds 442 to satiate the need to become
one with the upholstery at stoplight drags. Enjoy the Spider on the ocean
road twisties.


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For philip walton with the stuck head (on his spider, OK):

Have you tried to free the head using the engine's compression? Mine finally
got unstuck when I rolled the car (backwards, not upside down) in gear. it
also resulted in a geyser of oil (i did not plug the plug wholes). It is
probably dangerous and you do not want to roll it too far, with the chain
hanging out, but it did work when i was taking things apart.

thx
luke

74 Spider, 82 GTV6, 95 164LS, 98 Audi A6 Q, Caltrain today

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