164 Engine?, your thoughts ...

[boogiedude]

I think you would absolutely replace the tranny along with the engine. I don't know about anyone else, but my little 5-speed is so high reving that when it rains, I can hardly keep the back wheels on the ground. I can sit in one place in 1st, shift to 2nd and start creeping forward and then bark them in 3rd before it stalls out because I'm only moving forward about 5 mph. That's with 102HP. What would it do with 160 or 200 or God forbid 300HP?

I have fantasized about trying to shoehorn a Subaru WRX boxer engine, 6-speed tranny and AWD drive train into a Spider though. That would be awesome! WAY too wide though with the boxer setup but all-wheel drive and 250HP in a 2300lb spider would be unbelievable. Scary/awesome.

I think you need some new fatter tires, or clutch control

[MrWampus]

I think you need some new fatter tires, or clutch control

Could be I just need a little self control. I had the same problem with my '79 when I was in college.

[124spiderman]

My thoughts would be DO it if it was feasible. But you'd have serious handling issues - massive understeer with all that weight up front.