RE: Headlight covers and "hopped up" Spiders

["Bain, Bill" <Bill.Bain@domain.elided>]

Scott replied to what Bill wrote as follows: 

--- "Bain, Bill" <Bill.Bain@domain.elided> wrote:> 
> Hopping up a Spider - 

>Don't they have those in Australia?  Jump right out of 
>the dunnie and bite you on the bum.  (Crikey, that 
>Vegemite I ate yesterday is having a reaction...) 

Not sure what to say to this -- we do have biting spiders in Georgia --
can't speak for Australia 

>Ask the Europeans -- the Euro spec for the 2L Alfa is 
>150 bhp.  

Yes, but up until recently, there were no European smog nazis to
consider, thus no cats, no retarded timing for emissions control, among
other things.  I think there is also an issue about SAE vs. DIN and
gross HP vs. net in those numbers.  At the dyno day at the Nashville
convention, Dave Martin's fully tricked-out SPICA Alfetta was right
around 120 HP or so on the dyno (Dave, you out there?).

>1.  Cams -- the Euro cams ("10548" cams) have higher 
>lift than the US ("10520" cams) spec. 

True, but I don't think that the Euro-spec cam is compatible with the
VVT that's been on Alfas since 1980.  Both IAP and Centerline sell VVT
cams for the intake side.  As I said, I wouldn't fool with cams until
after I had done at least the exhaust and head work.  Cams, as you know,
move the power band UP the RPM range and give higher HP at higher RPM
(gross simplification here!), and you can lose some of the low-end
torque.  

>2.  Carburetion -- the European Spiders had either 
>Weber or Dellorto carbs. 

Having had a Weber carbed Spider, then the same car with SPICA, and then
a L-Jet car, the fuel injected cars are much more streetable.  The Bosch
system, in particular is doggone near bullet-proof.  As I said, carbs
are wonderful IF you can get to WOT.  At low RPMs, they can be pretty
wasteful.  I suspect that most SPICA cars probably could benefit from a
proper SPICA setup as much as any modifications --  I know that the
Weber car that Hans and I converted back to SPICA was a noticably better
performer with SPICA, but Hans spent a fair amount of time setting up
the SPICA and threatened to break my arms if I fooled with it.

>3.  Timing -- the U.S. cars have different timing for 
>different markets and years, at least for ignition 
>timing (I don't know about cam timing).  

See comment about emissions and timing above.  Note that changing the
ignition timing on the Bosch cars is not for the fainthearted due to the
fact that it's crank-triggered.  Dave Miller, who worked on Steve
Piantieri's 1983 ITB car or Russ Neely, who has a 1984 ITB car can
probably speak more to what do-able on a Bosch car.

>Again, these are the only differences I've been able 
>to verify.  

The exhaust systems were different -- that's a big difference.  Cats
were really restrictive until about 1990 or so. 


>The European route (or some 
>variation on it) certainly seems like a reasonable, 
>low-effort, and well-documented approach to bump power 
>on an early Spider. 

For an early Spider (pre-1975) I would agree since emissions are not
really an issue. As an example, the pre-1975 exhaust system is about as
good as it gets.  Later Spiders need a slightly different approach due
to the emissions issue.  To be frank, the bulk of Spiders still out
there are post-1974 so I was really addressing that segment (I think the
original poser of the question had an 1986, but I could be wrong on
that).

All these "modifications are inter-related, which is really the salient
point that the CRH makes.  As an anecdotal point of reference, my 1983
Spider has had mild head work (stock valves, porting/polishing of the
stock head), headers, free-flow cat and exhaust, K&N filter in stock
airbox, and stock cams.  Most people who drive it have remarked on how
much more "powerful" it seems than their stock Spiders, but again, most
of those have had Series 3 cars.  The exhaust was the most noticable
improvement to me, IMHO, but Hans did the port/polishing before I got
the car.  I suspect that the exhaust allowed the engine to take
advantage of the head work.

Bill Bain 
AROC Atlanta 
'83 Spider 
'87 Milano 

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