76 Spider, vette LT-1, ethanol fueled nitrous injected 500hp

[fasterfiat]

Beat this! http://www.italiancarclub.com click galleries, go to 2nd set of subgalleries to Robert Hall's LT-1 spider. Putting new manifold and 58mm throttle body on also new lumpier cam. Will be painting both the LT-1 spider and the blue one, House of Kolor Pearl Blue. Goes like a bat out of hell and sounds like an indy car. Please post comments.

[mdrburchette]

Very nice work, Robert. Are you going to have to lift the body off the drivetrain to replace plugs? Sure is a tight fit!

[fasterfiat]

No, they're accessible. I'll try to get more pics and post them. It's stuffed in there but it's also lower and further back than the original 4cyl. There's a little bit of room on both sides. The only reoccurring problem I have is heat, too much of it. The ambient air temp in the engine compartment, back from the original firewall, (where an extra 2 cylinders are), is higher than the rest of the engine bay. We opened up the hood, (louvered it), but the cross bar in the fiat body there stores the heat behind it. That area is open to the outside but it isn't getting pushed out. We thought of opening up the wheel wells a bit. Also, my left foot get's awfully hot, especially in the summer and so I'll be putting heat shielding inside the passenger compartment along the floor but it will also have a vent to the transmission tunnel since we had to take the heater out due to no room.

[fasterfiat]

Bought another old spider today for $100. No engine but has a good fender, windshield frame, bumpers, rear hood, wheels and muffler. Found another 81 spider fuel injected with 44000miles for $1000. Good shape and so that one will be spider #5... glad my wife doesn't know.......
I guess that would be Fiat #6 since I have an old suicide door 600d

[Gerard Del Monte]

What's the weight penalty betwen the LT-1 and the Fiat TC, and how did you compensate vis a vis the suspension and brakes?

[fasterfiat]

I haven't weighed the car. Since the engine is lower and further back than the original 4 cyl., it's a very stable platform. Stock fiat brakes on the front that will soon go to Whoabrakes, when I can afford it, and chevy drums on the rear drilled for the 4 bolt pattern. We've been through 3 master cylinders, 2 fiat, one chevy drilled to fit and just didn't have enough to compensate, we kept losing braking and then we'd have it without fluid loss, so now the pedal directly affects the fluid without a booster, (takes some muscle), but it works great. It's the same setup as those you see on 6 second quarter mile cars. The suspension is stock but am going to International Auto springs, larger front sway bar and Koni shocks. the original sway bar doesn't help in tight cornering as in scca.

[fasterfiat]

Just had whoa brakes put on the front. Since I have 17" wheels, there's plenty of clearance. Acts like a charm. The brakes are manual, meaning strong muscles in the legs instead of the hydraulic unit. Since I have a camaro rear end, I'll be shifting from the drum brakes to big chevy rotors in the rear, that'll be after the 58mm throttle body and a change in cams.

[brad131a4]

WoooHoo Rob now that looks like fun but would have been more impressed if you had a manual gear box in it instead of the slush box. All in all still very impressive though.

[fasterfiat]

Yeah, a 5 speed would be great but the automatic gives me a little more control!

[fasterfiat]

Heard a bumping in the rear, the rear end had rotated again due to the stock fiat control arms. They had elongated on one end and torn loose on the other, duh, should have replaced those too! Now I have chrome moly custom made ones! $500 bucks, actually 850 including labor.