[dcalfa]

I am hardly a purist when it comes to vintage cars, including tasteful engine swaps and such, but for God's sake will you look at what they did to this Duetto:

eBay Motors: Alfa Romeo : Spider (item 230188946512 end time Nov-12-07 06:44:00 PST)

Why oh why would you do such a thing?

 

[Tifosi]

Dunno, but I bet it goes like hell.

Mabe something for brockbr to take a peek at

 

[lgbalfa]

ive seen a thread on this before.

no idea on why they changed it.

 

[bianchi2]

...why do 'some people' thing to fix anything..stick a small block in it? all that iron....wonder if they know that the alfa 2.0'stock' has more horsepower to weight ratio than that iron peice of '****'?

 

[bianchi2]

..you may be a '*******' if ........

 

[Geezer]

From a distance it looks like he did an acceptable job. This comming from a guy who put a Ford 289 in an XKE (lighter weight,more power, better reliability) and a Nail Head Buick in an Austin Healy 100. There is no substitute for good ole American power. I'll bet it cost him less to rebuild the iron ingot and modify the chassis to fit than it would cost for a rebuild of the original engine.

 

[john.harrill]

A monumental step backward......

 

[lowmileage]

Dunno, but I bet it handles like ***t.

 

[maxwedge]

I kinda like it. I'm sure it probably handles like crap, but I bet it's pretty fun to drive in a straight line anyway. Seems like we had a sticky for a year or two about something like this, didn't we? Nobody seemed to think that was such a terrible idea. Must be the Ford VS Chevy thing again. This car actually looks to be way less hacked up than that one. I'd change the wheels, and some cosmetics, and yes the SB chevy swap is way overdone, but otherwise, it looks pretty well built to me.

 

[lowmileage]

I kinda like it. I'm sure it probably handles like crap, but I bet it's pretty fun to drive in a straight line anyway. Seems like we had a sticky for a year or two about something like this, didn't we? Nobody seemed to think that was such a terrible idea. Must be the Ford VS Chevy thing again. This car actually looks to be way less hacked up than that one. I'd change the wheels, and some cosmetics, and yes the SB chevy swap is way overdone, but otherwise, it looks pretty well built to me.

Agreed with the wheels and overall mechanical swap. I think I'd get pretty tired of the "straight line" appeal rather quickly though. Wayy wayy too much weight on the front end with the iron block SB - I would hope it at least has aluminum heads. The automatic is a waste - what it needs is an 4 speed M22 IMO. I'd like to know what front springs it has and the front suspension. Could the stock alfa front suspension (other than beefier springs) handle that lump of weight. I'd hate to have one of those tie rod ends pop at say, 135 mph.

 

[Bill S]

There was an article in the Alfa Owner a few years back about someone checking out his buddy's V8 Spider swap. The handling on that one was so squirrely that it felt really unstable at speed even in a straight line. 0-60 was fun, everything else was a thoroughly miserable driving experience. Of course if you've never driven a real Alfa you might not know the difference . I'm sure some implementations are better than others.

 

[Geezer]

I'd hate to have one of those tie rod ends pop at say, 135 mph.

HMMMM I thought we all had decided that a Spider couldn't go 135mph.

 

[Nicola]

The V-8 GTV at the New Hampshire Convention in 2004 shore did go like stink.
It was a very nice conversion. It CAN be done.
I didn't see its top end speed, maybe it was 135.
Here's a photo of a friend's Alfa-engined Spider's speedometer taken on a road trip a couple of years ago. Shows 124 mph.

 

[brewtech]

I agree with there being no substitute for American power, and I haven't owned anything American in 10 years, but that Small Block is way too heavy, and the air filter looks ridiculous. Another thing i don't like is the ride height, looks too tall, and I bet it's to clear the oil pan. I bet you can swap in an LT1 an lower the weight, and add better looks. The air filter really kills it for me.

 

[ddouglas77]

HMMMM I thought we all had decided that a Spider couldn't go 135mph.

No, they decided my spider couldn't go 135mph because I've not spent tens of thousands of dollars into my engine, but they did say, they would've believed it had Msiert said he gone 135mph. Now I got a 350/350 in my camaro, maybe this is the way to go, as far as weight to HP ratio, they again have it wrong, Alfa has to have one of the most lowest weight to HP engines out there, plenty of companies make a 2.0 with the same weight and more than double the power.

 

[dcalfa]

The main things that got me were the automatic and the ridiculously heavy engine. With Alfas, the engines are such a central part of the make, it just seems wrong to shove Detroit iron in there. Some other vintage cars, like an MG, which is basically powered by a tractor engine, can benefit a lot from the right transplant (and the common replacement engines are often lighter than the original cast iron lump).

I'm not directly comparing Alfa to, say, Ferrari or Porsche, but it seems like the same kind of thing to me--the engine is half the point, married with the design and handling.

And let's face it--this is a Duetto. It's not like my 78. Duettos are already rare and getting rarer, so it just seems a shame. I agree the quality of the job looks pretty decent though. If he hasn't hacked things up too much and someone has a proper Duetto engine/tranny...

 

[twoliterlover]

V8's in Spiders

Frankly, one of the best swaps I ever saw was a 1962 Pontiac aluminum v8 in a two liter spider with fourspeed borg warner. Also had a ford rearend with shortened axles. It fit the two liter wheels because the pattern was the same. The only problem was the Alfa steering box. And I swapped him one of those for his hard top (even I sometimes make good deals). Last I heard the car was in Rochester New York. Balance was not all that bad and handled well.
However I did see a Chevrolet in a two liter too. Fellow from Canada (Surrey, I believe) had it. It had so much power that the "cookie cutter" tires (165x400) couldn't do anything but spin when he stepped down on the gas. Even at seventy MPH he could spin the tires if he even pressed just a bit harder. Needed more rubber to hold it. He finally stuffed the car into the back of another stopped at an intersection (brakes don't do much when the tires are so skinny) and I picked up the pieces. Had a regular two liter gearbox and rear end. Just too much motor for the car.
At the nationals in Portland a few years back one fellow showed up with a 164 stuffed into a spider. But it had no firewall and the safety committee would not let him run.
Moral of the above stories. Not all (perhaps few) modifications make sense, but you can't blame a man for trying something new. Would you like to talk about Alfa pickups now?

 

[dabigboy]

Oh no, that's just....wrong....ugggghhhh!!!!!! I'm kinda surprised no one has mentioned the dash. I can't believe what they did with it.......trying to make it look like a muscle car or something?????

I'm all for live and let live when it comes to car projects, I just wish they wouldn't sacrifice the really nice (and somewhat rare) cars.

 

[Alfacliff]

kinda like a tv show a while back, every car they put together had the same msd ignition, which somehow got hooked up backwards and didnt work, and a 4 barrel put in. on some engines the 4 barrel might be ok, but the 260z datsuns didnt work too good. took out 2 side draft dual throats and put in a 4 barrel down draft with a strange intake manafold. didnt turn as good times as the origional setup.
cliff

 

[dabigboy]

Yeah, Z cars are another popular choice with the Bubba's of the automotive world.

The stock carb'd setup of early Z's can be improved upon for sure, but I don't think slapping a four-barrel Holley on the thing is exactly the way to do it. LOL