Engine replacement
Asked by Jon Aug 10, 2008 at 01:55 PM about the 1979 FIAT 124 Spider
Question type: Car Customization
I blew the head gasket on my spyder, love the engine noise, HATE the power and fuel economy.
was thinking about a honda s2000 engine, but dont like the drone of modern glasspack boy racer cars.
this is a trackday weapon and a summer daily driver.
I want to keep weight down, its not a drag car, its a autocross slalom type vehicle.
3 Answers
You and I think a like. I have the same idea for an engine swap; Fiat spider's light body with Honda s2000 engine/running gear.should result in good balance and high output with advantage of modern drive line. Big question would it fit and be a project for the average mechanic??
Hey bud! sorry for the long wait for a reply.... I found a guy in australia who did it! said the only body mods were a slight alteration to the transmission tunnel, that the engine fit beautifully but the tranny was just a lil taller. I think the stick is about an inch or two off its current location...not to bad at all! you will need, engine, wiring harness (complete), computer... the current wiring harness is aluminium, not able to handle that kinda power, old tired and probably already modified/molested... the other thing is that the fiat is wired backwards from most cars, with everything having power, and grounding to turn the item on! so anything electrical should go... tho I would hate to use s2000 guages.... I wanted to modify the two cams in the s2000 engine and have one for a daily driver and one for autocross, to kinda preserve some character in the unit... but the computer handles the changeover based on load, rpm etc, to crossing two wires on a dash switch wont work. pitty that. the ozzy said it was about 5 5.5 seconds to 60mph! hope that helps! keep in touch, mabey we can work this out together! jon