"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
04/09/2014 at 07:45 • Filed to: None
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"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
04/09/2014 at 07:45 • Filed to: None | 6
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Just hold on a second...
That doesn't look like a 62bhp 1.3l...
That's the 2.0l 16v from a Dolomite Sprint :) one of the cleanest installs I've seen so far.
That engine was good for 127bhp when bolted together by shirking union workers in the '70s*, or 135bhp if rebuilt stock by someone who cares in the present day.
Not only that, but you can reach 160bhp very easily, 180bhp approaching the top end of streetability on a carbed engine, and I've seen race engines produce anything from 250bhp to 270bhp.
Do want.
*disclaimer: not all of them were shirking I'm sure, and that does a great disservice to those who worked hard during those times
TexMex
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
04/09/2014 at 09:10 |
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Interesting that more people don't do this. I like that it allows you to still the stock hood as opposed to the bulged one from the GT6
twochevrons
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
04/09/2014 at 09:22 |
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I've never had the opportunity to drive a Sprint (or a regular Dolomite), but the engine fascinates me. There was an article in a recent Practical Classics that mentioned that there was originally a plan to fit it to the TR7, but, in the usual British Leyland style, they ran out of money before it came to fruition. I suspect that it would have really redeemed that car...
I've always wondered that, given that the Saab B engine was derived from the same beginnings, whether a Saab turbo swap would be do-able...
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> twochevrons
04/09/2014 at 10:19 |
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Yeah they had a whole product plan with the TR7. First off was the weaksauce 105bhp Slant 4, then the V8 followed for a short period before it was killed off. After that, they planned on releasing the Sprint engine, and a fastback 2+2 coupe to replace the Stag, along with EFi.
I've read an article about someone who's taken the TR8 to the place where, conceivably, BL would have got it to had it survived its full term. Rebuilt 3.9l Rover V8 with tuned factory EFi grafted on top and a TVR ECU. 280bhp+, and a completely factory-looking install. Very impressive :)
I've also thought about the B-turbo engine. I've heard of people putting them in Dolly Sprints and TR7s, but I don't actually have a link providing some evidence. I think the bellhousing pattern is the same so the gearbox should bolt straight up, and the LT77 'box in the Dolly is used unchanged in all the V8 SD1s so it can definitely take the torque.
What I was wondering is if you could adapt the Dolly Sprint head to fit the Saab block. Saab did some great work fixing the flaws of the Triumph slant-4. Things like bracing the bottom of the block and replacing the bank of slanted head studs with proper vertical ones.
It'd involve modifying the Sprint head quite significantly, but it'd be damn cool :)
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> TexMex
04/09/2014 at 10:31 |
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I've certainly seen a couple, but it's not nearly as common as the GT6 2.0l.
I think this guy's gone to some pains to keep the stock bonnet. Most of the other ones I've seen have had a little bulge grafted on near the scuttle to clear something or other. You can see it in this listing I've been looking at.
It's actually a '63 Mk1 Spitfire with a GT6 engine, rotoflex rear suspension and a Sprint engine. Very cool :)
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TexMex
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
04/09/2014 at 13:03 |
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Wow, that's a mutt in the best way haha. This has got me back into thinking about crazy Spitfire engine swaps, have you ever heard of anybody dropping a lotus 907 into a Spit?
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> TexMex
04/09/2014 at 13:12 |
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It is isn't it? Somehow it's just...right :)
I've heard of tons of Spitfire engine swaps, but not a Lotus 907. That would make a pretty bonkers little car though. 2.0l and even more tunable than the Sprint :)