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137 Posts
Hello, I’m writing to the BB in the hopes of seeing if anyone is interested in my plans on turbo-charging my Spider. I have a 1984 Spider that I acquired last summer and had the pleasure of driving all summer and into the fall. Unfortunately, I have never had the sense to leave well enough alone and I noticed a couple of “flaws” with the car as I drove it. Primarily the car is tired. It has 116,000 miles on it and it is probably original. So I got used to the rear end dancing around in the corners and the fact that it really needs more oomph. Needless to say, I’m sure the stock engine is just as tired as the suspension and a simple rebuild would probably be sufficient to restore some of the lost power. Unfortunately, that would be too easy. So instead I have decided to make some minor changes and see if I can make my ideas work.
First off let me say that it is my intention to drive the car this summer again so I have acquired most of the necessary components to refresh the suspension from Centerline and will do that regardless of the progress on the turbo-charging effort. I also acquired a spare motor and transmission out of a defunct 86 that had 64,000 miles on it. My plan is to make the parts I need for the conversion while the 86 motor is on the engine stand and wait as long as possible before pulling any parts off of the 84 before test fitting and plumbing. If I can’t finish the turbo adaptation by late spring, I’ll transplant the 86 engine and transmission and run it that way for the summer before going at it again. Once the car is running on an essentially stock engine I will then have a winter’s worth of fun rebuilding the other engine and doing some of the trick things that are out there to do.
In other words I’m not planning on doing any immediate modifications to the internals of the engine just yet. I realize that the 9.5:1 (9.1:1?) (can’t remember right now) compression ratio is not ideal but I am more interested in seeing if I can manufacture the necessary components to create a functional system rather than immediately assembling the perfect or ideal system. I am also intending to use some interesting part combinations just because that is the way it appealed to me. So… for those of you that are still reading, what is the lunacy I am attempting?
To me, the most significant steps were: 1) finding a way to reliably regulate air and fuel flow to the car; 2) design and manufacture an exhaust manifold; and find a way to incorporate an intake manifold. This is what I have decided to do.
(Although, had I not already started to collect many of the necessary components I would now do it differently thanks to a posting on the BB that allowed me to discover the existence of the MegaSquirt system. This site has been a wonderful resource since I got my car, and yes this Bastiche did contribute and will do so again. Truth be told I will probably do it again differently in the future, build another system not contribute differently, unless this works so well that I really see no need to.) Sorry got off track.
Anyhow… My first decision was whether or not to use the L-Jet fuel injection system. My conclusion, erroneous as it may have been, was no. I did not want to try to adapt a system that was not intended to produce the fuel and air flow that would be required for the turbo, neither was I interested in having to “chip” the CPU with out a proper frame of reference as that was too out of my control and level of experience. (Now with the Megasquirt that would be different.) So what I chose to do was to substitute the entire L-Jet system with a Bosch K-Jet system out of an already turbo-charged 2.1 liter engine. To that effect I cannibalized my Volvo GLT for a whole lot of interesting pieces-parts that will eventually wind up on the Spider. (The GLT served me well and will hopefully live on in spirit melded to the Alfa. Hey Bosch is Bosch.)
Enough for today. If anyone out there is interested I’ll continue my story as time permits. I will mention though that I am well under way with a considerable amount of design work completed and have started the fabrication and modification of the exhaust manifold and the intake set up. (45mm Spica ITB’s?) I have some pictures I can post of the progress thus far, once I learn how to post pictures, if there is interest. What is fundamental here is that most of the things I am attempting are designed to expand my abilities as a hobbyist machinist and general tinkerer. Not to mention build a fun seat of the pants Spider using the original engine with a little kick in the boot. Needless to say, I expect some failures and do-overs. None-the-less any suggestions, rants and raves or simple words of encouragement along the way will be highly appreciated and perhaps even enjoyed (Especially the ranting and raving.) Till next time..... David
First off let me say that it is my intention to drive the car this summer again so I have acquired most of the necessary components to refresh the suspension from Centerline and will do that regardless of the progress on the turbo-charging effort. I also acquired a spare motor and transmission out of a defunct 86 that had 64,000 miles on it. My plan is to make the parts I need for the conversion while the 86 motor is on the engine stand and wait as long as possible before pulling any parts off of the 84 before test fitting and plumbing. If I can’t finish the turbo adaptation by late spring, I’ll transplant the 86 engine and transmission and run it that way for the summer before going at it again. Once the car is running on an essentially stock engine I will then have a winter’s worth of fun rebuilding the other engine and doing some of the trick things that are out there to do.
In other words I’m not planning on doing any immediate modifications to the internals of the engine just yet. I realize that the 9.5:1 (9.1:1?) (can’t remember right now) compression ratio is not ideal but I am more interested in seeing if I can manufacture the necessary components to create a functional system rather than immediately assembling the perfect or ideal system. I am also intending to use some interesting part combinations just because that is the way it appealed to me. So… for those of you that are still reading, what is the lunacy I am attempting?
To me, the most significant steps were: 1) finding a way to reliably regulate air and fuel flow to the car; 2) design and manufacture an exhaust manifold; and find a way to incorporate an intake manifold. This is what I have decided to do.
(Although, had I not already started to collect many of the necessary components I would now do it differently thanks to a posting on the BB that allowed me to discover the existence of the MegaSquirt system. This site has been a wonderful resource since I got my car, and yes this Bastiche did contribute and will do so again. Truth be told I will probably do it again differently in the future, build another system not contribute differently, unless this works so well that I really see no need to.) Sorry got off track.
Anyhow… My first decision was whether or not to use the L-Jet fuel injection system. My conclusion, erroneous as it may have been, was no. I did not want to try to adapt a system that was not intended to produce the fuel and air flow that would be required for the turbo, neither was I interested in having to “chip” the CPU with out a proper frame of reference as that was too out of my control and level of experience. (Now with the Megasquirt that would be different.) So what I chose to do was to substitute the entire L-Jet system with a Bosch K-Jet system out of an already turbo-charged 2.1 liter engine. To that effect I cannibalized my Volvo GLT for a whole lot of interesting pieces-parts that will eventually wind up on the Spider. (The GLT served me well and will hopefully live on in spirit melded to the Alfa. Hey Bosch is Bosch.)
Enough for today. If anyone out there is interested I’ll continue my story as time permits. I will mention though that I am well under way with a considerable amount of design work completed and have started the fabrication and modification of the exhaust manifold and the intake set up. (45mm Spica ITB’s?) I have some pictures I can post of the progress thus far, once I learn how to post pictures, if there is interest. What is fundamental here is that most of the things I am attempting are designed to expand my abilities as a hobbyist machinist and general tinkerer. Not to mention build a fun seat of the pants Spider using the original engine with a little kick in the boot. Needless to say, I expect some failures and do-overs. None-the-less any suggestions, rants and raves or simple words of encouragement along the way will be highly appreciated and perhaps even enjoyed (Especially the ranting and raving.) Till next time..... David