Marcos Maniacs

I finally pulled the Mazzzdaaaa engine OUT of my 1600 GT!

I think they used a shoe horn and sledge hammer to put it in, absolutely the worst engine 
conversion I have ever seen! 

Damn thing weighs like an iron V8, it's clear the car was off the road as the brakes were 
wore out in no time flat.

Got to play with a tape measure and the Alfa-Romeo 2000 engine.

Looks like plenty of room for everything but the exhaust, which I can fabricate myself to 
fit.

Alfa engine will sit well back in the engine bay, keeping it decently "mid-engine".
The silly Mazda sat way too far forward, I am surprised the car did not leave every corner 
arse end first.

Spec. is looking something like this.

175-200 BHP 2.0 Alfa, built to live at 8000 RPM.
4 bike carbs for the intake, taking less space than Webers.
Custom fabricated exhaust.
5 speed transmission, mild OD on top.
Alfa rear axle, which gets me a strong and light unit with rear disc brakes.

Wheels?
I have full set of five original Mag. Minilights.
Some claim they are not safe to run, they are dull but very clean, the car has only 30,298 
on the clock.
So I have to decide, original, Wires (Looks the BEST!), or Compomotive three piece ML 
replicas?
There is also the question of rim diameter.
13" is possible, but what to do for tires?
I don't want to overload the WOOD chassis, but I do want to be able to run at over 130 
MPH.
Larger diameter rims have better tire availability, but will the car look funny with low 
profile tires, will the tire's be too sticky for the chassis?

Paint.
Jaguar silvery metallic blue, which may have been the original color.

Interior.
Either red as original, or Biscuit.
Black is not a viable option in my climate!
Cloth seat inserts, it's been warm working in the Marcos, even with the doors open, top 
open, and rear window out.
Leather would be nice, but sticky, and does not last well in Nevada.

So that's the recipe, now all I need is a couple of years and a ton of money.

Are you using Delorto carbs? When I built my 79 spyder I picked up a ton of  
horse. they seemed to outperform webers. My Alfa flew.Also I have a 66Marcos  
with a terible conversion as well that I will be hopefully replacing this  
summer.
 
 
Hal
5353./5006

He put an automatic 6 cyl.  capri which is a down right travesty. I am  
currently building a 1600cc cortina motor to put back in there. I am building  the 
car to race with Rocky Mountain vintage racing. I think the most difficult  
part will be figuring out how to anchor the roll cage to a wooden car.....At  
least he kept the original engine and tranny other wise the car would be  
worthless to me. I like cars that have their original engine.
 
Hal
5006/5353