re: HP on 76'spider engine

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The US Alfa Spiders with the 2000 SPICA engine in '72-'74 were rated at
right around 130 hp or so. I think it was '76 when the SPICA cam was
leaned out considerably, the exhaust manifold changed, an air pump added,
the compression dropped precipitously, and the cams installed made much
milder. California cars from that point on were required to have a
catalytic converter. I seem to recall that the hp figure for the Spider in
'76 was quoted as somewhere in the 105-112 range, and I think that was
optimistic, certainly in California.

Just returning the engine to its pre-'76 configuration with little other
work would net you about 20-25 hp then. That's ~9.5:1 pistons, earlier
cams, a good exhaust manifold, a hi-performance catcon, and an uprated
SPICA injection unit. If you can somehow meet emissions inspection with
that configuration (it seems difficult in California), you'll have a much
sprightlier machine even without fancy head work.

My mechanic has told me that he's had success meeting the CA emissions
requirements on '77-'79 cars with the compression increase and a good
catcon, but once you go to different cams and SPICA changes he hasn't been
able to certify the cars for emissions compliance. He claims to have had
far better luck improving the later Bosch EFI engines and can fit them
with uprated cams, high compression pistons and a good exhaust
manifold/catcon while still meeting the emissions requirements.

If you live in a state with less stringent emissions testing, you can do
better than this, but be aware that the emissions noose keeps tightening
in the other states too. Worst thing in the world is to have a nice Alfa
which cannot be registered for reasons of emissions hell.

I'd be perfectly happy to have my Spider get up to the 130-135 hp range. I
don't know that a full race head modification is really necessary to
achieve it. Since the '78 Spider was wrecked and I have both a perfect '79
chassis and a good '82 running gear cars to work with as well, I'm
building a custom '79 Spider with the full '82 EFI motor now. Eventually,
I'll be looking into performance improvements.

I'd love to hear any other comments on this topic. It would be nice to
have an Alfa Romeo Spider 2000 that could out-run my '85 MR2 again... :)

Godfrey

>Would like to know how much HP I have on a unmodified Spider 76'
>engine. Further, If I should modify the engine say: larger cams
>and a complete head restoration job at Sperry's, how much more
>HP and torque can I expect????
>
>Has anyone outthere had work done at Sperry's and if so what was
>there experience???

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