Joe Curry's 1963 Spitfire, with VTEC Engine from a Honda S2000
The Honda S2000 is a very potent, modern, rear-wheel-drive sports car. Its
motor is an excellent candidate for British sports car engine conversions!
Note: Joe's write-up (below) has been excerpted from a series of e-mails with Dan Masters.
"I now have the frame modified and the engine sitting down in it. I have cut the
two collector tubes off the header so that I can modify them to fit the installation..."
"I took the drive shaft(s) down on Tuesday to have one made from the various
parts. It will be 25 1/8" long!"
"I installed the water and oil temp senders without affecting the stock ones so
I won't need to mess with the ECM. I will be able to monitor the temp of both
fluids from gages in the dash. The oil temp sender was unique. I didn't want
to mess with the finned aluminum oil pan so I rigged up the drain plug with the
sender in it."
"The water sender is mounted in a housing that I made in the connection between
the heater inlet and return hoses. I took an in-line shut-off valve and stripped
out the guts and threaded an adapter into it and in turn installed the temp sender."
"I had to make a massive hole in the firewall to fit the engine because it mounts
about a foot further to the rear on the frame than the original engine. But it
does not interfere with pedal room and I intend to run the exhaust into the passenger
floor where I will install the muffler. This will eliminate ground clearance problems.
I will be fabricating an elaborate shield to keep the heat contained..."
"One problem I will be facing is how to remount the hand brake.
The gearbox is so far rearward that I had to cut out the brace where it attaches.
As soon as I get the drive shaft installed and in turn the body, I will then
have all the dimensions from which to work. I already have some ideas but
won't be able to evaluate them until I get some actual dimensions from which
to work."
"I will do a matte finish on the aluminum tunnel cover to give it a better appearance."
"I cut the hole in the bonnet for clearance and will be installing
the cowl induction scoop over the top of it. The scoop will need to be cut
down since it is about 1.5 feet too long."
"But it is starting to look like a car again. Here are 3 more photos. Today I got
the body bolted on and the steering, brakes and clutch hydraulics connected.
I decided to go ahead even though I still don't have the drive shaft connected.
I have enough room to access the rear of the gearbox from the inside of the car
to connect the front of the shaft and the rear can be accessed from below."
