Headlight covers and "hopped up" Spiders

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

Headlight covers - 

The profile of the nose around the headlight was changed with the
1983-on cars.  The covers would need to be trimmed to fit for a "series
3" or "Series 4" Spider.  One member of our club has mounted the covers
on his '87 Quad, so it can be done but it's not quite a "drop fit."  My
understanding is that the trim rings around the lights are different as
well (narrower) and are somewhat difficult to locate in the US.  I'm not
sure whether the actual headlight "bucket" is the same or not.  Also, I
have heard that the "proper" way to mount the headlight and trim for the
cars with the covers is from the *inside*, unlike the US-spec cars where
the headlight and trim mount from the outside.  Bottom line -- it's
certainly "doable" but you should expect to spend some time and $$
fiddling with it to get it "right."

Hopping up a Spider - 

My understanding is that the 2 liter engine puts out anywhere from 100
to 125 HP or so in stock form.  The low end (and that might be even
somewhat optimistic) is for the last years of the SPICA system (1980-81)
cars and the high end is for the 1972-74 cars and the 1991-on Motronic
Spiders.  The other years fall somewhat in between. The higher numbers
compare favorably to all but the most recent Miatas, for example.
Basically, the higher end numbers result from better "breathing" and the
lower end cars can relatively inexpensively be upgraded to a certain
degree using Alfa parts, like exhaust manifold/downpipe combos from the
"better" years. The stock mid-70's to late 1980's catalytic converter is
terribly restrictive and cat technology has come a long way.   For the
Bosch cars, I like the K&N air filter, but YMMV.   Acceleration-wise,
around the late '70s or very early '80s, Alfa changed the rear-end
gearing from 4.56 to 4.10 to give better mileage.  I believe that both
ratios were available in LSD, so if you want to "dust" Miatas at stop
lights and you have a 4.10 car, a rear-end swap is fairly easy to do,
but the trade-off will be top end speed and higher RPM and noise at
highway speeds.  

The nice part about the approach so far is that you haven't opened up
the engine or used any special components.  The Motronic cars were
higher compression than the L-Jet or SPICA cars but before upping the
compression I'd invest first in porting and polishing the heads and
*maybe* larger valves if you can get those past the smog Nazis.  No
point in having higher compression if you can't use it.

Getting over 130 or so HP in a 2 liter is not hard but the drivability
trade-off starts.  I'm not a fan of carbs, but if you can spend your
time at WOT, they do offer the best breathing, albeit at the expense of
mileage and emissions.  Ditto with cams.

Lastly, don't forget weight.  The 1972-74 Spiders are teh lightest, and
even though the 1991-on Spiders delivered roughly equivalent HP, they
were heavier so they might be a bit "slower" than the raw HP number
might indicate.  Of course, the 1991-on Spiders are a real joy as a
street driver, so YPYMATYC.

  

Bill Bain 
AROC Atlanta 
'83 Spider - drove to work today -- top up :-() 
'87 Milano - sick because the flippin' timing belt jumped  :-( 

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