To Blow an old 3-liter Ferrari
Howdy,
I've owned a 1985 Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet (Eurospec) for some time now. Amongst Ferrari's these are about the least collectable and reasonably cheap to buy depending on condition. They share the same drivetrain as the classic 308, but are a bit heavier and don't handle quite as well, plus are more problematic in terms of aging electrical systems and other maladies. Despite that, they ARE a lot of fun to drive and the maintenance (if you DIY) isn't too horrific. I bought the car with 22k, and it now has about 54k on the clock.
Over the years I've fixed/upgraded a lot of the common problems: slow power windows, leaking gas tanks, main electrical panel, metric wheels for 16", aftermarket exhaust, K&N filter, and more. The big upgrade was ripping out the original ignition and mechanical fuel injection, replacing it with a full EFI made by Electromotive in Virginia, plus addition of a roll bar so it can be taken out on the track. http://www.electromotive.com
Although it's never been dyno-ed it should be pushing about 300hp up from the stock 260hp - not bad for 2996 CCs.
See: http://www.employees.org/~fty for pix and the EFI upgrade project.
Several people offer blower "kits" but these are pretty pricy @ $6k and up. With the EFI in place a blower upgrade should be pretty easy. For the EFI I'd only need to change the manifold pressure sensor and redo the fuel map. The injectors are already oversized and the fuel-pump is pretty robust as well.
Since the original FI pump can be fully removed (it's still in the car only because it's part of the original cold-air intake system) I'd have room for a twin screw Whipple or Lysholm between the rear bank (it's a sideways motor) and the rear firewall. It would be pretty easy to fab up a mounting bracket, and the nose pulley of the blower could be easily lined up with the harmonic balancer on the crank. At that point it's only a matter of pulleys, "plumbing" and programming. So, it comes down to figuring out:
a) how big a blower I need (assume 8-10 PSI max, engine redline is 7750)
b) how to relocate the throttle body to the blower (or just replace it)
c) sourcing the pulley(s), idler/tensioner, and air-intake plumbing
d) sourcing an adapter from the blower output to piping into the original plenum + blow
I figure on taking the easy way out and just plumb the blower output to the current intake plenum. There is not enough clearance on top of the engine for the blower without redoing too much intake stuff, and relocating the oil filter. I'd consider an intercooler, but I doubt I'll find any room for one, so will leave that for a future initiative.
Any help and insights on a-d above would be appreciated!
cheers,
Frank
Apex, North Carolina