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Hi,
The motor will initially be a mild 1600TP that will be used for club road rallies and autotesting in UK. The type of roads used are quite harsh and I learnt quite early on that having a stiff, well handling chassis was worth a huge amount, was cheaper to develop and maintain and could embarass similar vehicles with 50 - 75% more power especially if they had gone the more glamourous route of horsepower instead of handling.
I've had a long hard think about the installation and it will be a compromise structure that may be a bit more of a birdcage than is usual. Certainly, there will be a cross brace between the damper towers below and forward of the damper top mount, struts down to both front and rear end of the frame horns from the cross brace (between the heat exchanger and the gearbox) and bracing struts from the damper tower to the frame horn struts to relieve some of the bending out of the cross brace.
In respect of retaining a heat exchanger, both in the use as daily driver and the type of road rallying that I compete in, a heater is a must and I have ideas on how to develop larger bore exchangers. I do however, subscribe to the view that unless you are out for the last ounce of horsepower maintaining gas speed with modest bore primary exhaust pipes is the most important factor.
The cup brace is on the list of things to do but I am desperate to get the car on the road after 12 months hard work so it might have to wait a couple of months.
evilC
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