Practically Classics Forum

Thanks for the input chaps.

Apologies if this upsets anyone but I'm not interested in 'sensible' or originality. I already have a Beta Spyder and an opportunity has presented itself to buy a half decent coupe shell. Most of the interior is missing and the top end of the engine is also missing.

As a proper restoration this would be an absolute money pit and Beta values are not high (not that this is a money making venture). In fact I'm amazed it hasn't already been weighed for scrap.

But I love the Beta shape and quite fancy the challenge. So my thinking is drop a 160 - 180bhp engine into a stripped down Beta and have some fun.

Well, the 2.5/3.0 v6 from a Mondeo is not expensive. my one came from a scrappy for a few hundred quid bundled with other stuff with the engine loom, ECU and all the ancillaries including the manifolds so I have the MAF and Lambdas.
It will squeeze under the bonnet of a morris minor (which is where I will put it eventually with a ford type 9 box, etc). The beta's engine bay must be bigger than that so it may be possible to squeeze it in.
If you are sticking with FWD then the standard 6 speed with it's cable gear selectors may fit or the MTX75 5 speed from the 2.0 mondeo / focus is smaller and i am told bolts on to the v6. If you can find a Mondeo ST220 / ST to put a tape measure on to see if it can be modified to fit. If you were to grab the engine with subframe, loom, ecu, manifolds, drive shafts, hubs, etc you will have everything you need to fit it to anything you want.

TerryG wrote:Well, the 2.5/3.0 v6 from a Mondeo is not expensive. my one came from a scrappy for a few hundred quid bundled with other stuff with the engine loom, ECU and all the ancillaries including the manifolds so I have the MAF and Lambdas.
It will squeeze under the bonnet of a morris minor (which is where I will put it eventually with a ford type 9 box, etc). The beta's engine bay must be bigger than that so it may be possible to squeeze it in.
If you are sticking with FWD then the standard 6 speed with it's cable gear selectors may fit or the MTX75 5 speed from the 2.0 mondeo / focus is smaller and i am told bolts on to the v6. If you can find a Mondeo ST220 / ST to put a tape measure on to see if it can be modified to fit. If you were to grab the engine with subframe, loom, ecu, manifolds, drive shafts, hubs, etc you will have everything you need to fit it to anything you want.

That's my thought process with buying a complete car. Hadn't occurred to me to buy the engine etc from a scrappy.

If i could find something with a similar track it would make life easier.

if you are looking for a challenge have you thought of the mazda rotary engine? tiny but powerfull..

I'm (hopefully) getting close to finishing an engine swap in my Mercedes. I've gone down the route of replacing the 2.8 original, but knackered and very thirsty engine with a low mileage 2.3 out of a saloon I ran for a year that had a horribly rotten body.

Even this swap isn't straightforward - I'm having to do a lot of wiring (and we all know how fun reading wiring charts are!), including extending wiring to allow for sensors being on opposite sides on the different engines. I've also had to have the propshaft shortened. I've not actually fired it up yet, but am hoping to soon. Hopefully it'll all work fine, but there's always a possibility there'll be more wiring etc to do.

In some senses, I wish I'd gone the whole hog and shoved a more modern turbo-diesel in there and got 40mpg out of it. At times it seems like it'd be easier to completely re-wire the thing with a new engine with ECU etc.

I'm all for putting newer engines in the less desirable/valuable classics. I'm always taken by the idea that (assuming you don't cost your own time), you can end up with a much more interesting car than a 'modern' with all the reliability etc for about half the price.

Well if you determined then how about the Thema/coupe 16v Turbo engine 180-200bhp or for a much simpler install the 8v turbo and your at least sticking with the same name.

Go for something Italian. What about the 5 cylinder out of a marea or coupe. 20v Turbo may be fun!

The 4 cylinder 1.6 /1.8 is probably too small for you but they are pretty good motors and willing ones at that. 20v 5 cylinder 2.0 turbo would be fiendishly quick with a light weight body and spirited pilot...

3L Alfa 166s are nice and cheap.......

The problem with the 5 Cylinder and the V6 is that the gearbox is BIG making the whole unit probably too wide for the Beta.