Re: 4k 5+5 turbo experience...

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@cisco.com>]

> Actually, I was thinking of replacing one project with another ... 
> my interest in formal racing isn't what it used to be and I find 
> the idea of building a hot street car intriguing.  It sure would be
> fun to blow away all those pesky turbo Hondas off the lights...  :^)

I have these thoughts often when looking at the '83 CGT.  Several years
ago, I put the bottom end of my old SCCA E Production motor into my
street-driven MGB and had a blast outaccelerating BMW 5-series cars,
Volvo turbos, and the like -- at least till we found the next weak link
in the system and got to take the motor apart once more.  I got real
tired of that real fast.  

The CGT seems like the ideal basis (or at least an ideal basis) for a
hot street car, for a number of reasons.  First, the basic platform will
support it -- it's rigid, not too heavy, and well balanced, and I like
the looks.  Second, though, is the most important point: the factory
made several high-performance engines which would come close to doubling
the car's stock power output, but do so with factory durability levels.

I thought hard about this after driving Tony Lum's '87 Coupe GT not long
ago with the 130-bhp engine, and thinking how much more I enjoyed the
way it scooted compared with my tired old 100-bhp version.  And I've
been wondering ever since how much MORE fun it'd be with, say, 175
bhp... or 190 bhp... or as much as I thought those poor front tires
could stand.  

My problem, like JG, is that the last thing I need is another project. 
But... if I were to undertake one, what would be involved in putting a
5kt engine into a CGT?  And what is the end result like to drive?

--Scott Fisher