
Plans to upgrade the engine began prior to the accident. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the crossflow. It sounded fantastic, had great throttle response, a strong low-end, and really began to scream – both aurally and from a seat-of the-pants perspective – as the tachometer swung past 4000 rpm. However, the gas mileage was pretty poor for the power output (~22 mpg and 120hp), it was a bit rough, and it lacked ultimate oomph.
After investigating many options,
ranging from modifying the crossflow with an alloy head, steel bottom end, and fuel injection, to installing a tuned Zetec, I finally settled on the (then) new Duratec option. Raceline was just putting the conversion parts into production and I was able to source a new engine for a ridiculously low price. The Duratec was much lighter than a Zetec, yet it promised the potential for far more horsepower. I was sold.
The accident, however, had changed things. I had anticipated performing just an engine swap, but suddenly I was faced with the task of also doing a rebody. Although Peter Egan praised my car’s build quality when he wrote about it for Road & Track in March 1996, I was less impressed. Magic marker lines were still visible on parts of the body where fiberglass had been removed, the carpeting was fit poorly and was of cheap quality, and the whole car had an air that it was assembled to a price point. After 2 years of ownership, I had also decided that I wanted to take the car in a slightly different direction: from vintage feeling sports car to a modern interpretation of the Chapman’s original Seven
concept. I wanted cutting edge components, less weight, and for lack of a better term, a purer driving experience.
The changes made during the build were profound. Virtually every component was replaced with a nod towards improving some aspect of performance, be it acceleration, handling, or braking. The only items that carried over unchanged were the frame, fuel tank, drive shaft, rear suspension arms and calipers, front & rear rotors, front & rear
uprights, and windscreen & pillars. Virtually everything else was either replaced or modified.
The end result is a completely different car. When it was tested in Road & Track, it had about 115-120hp (the claim was 145hp, but it put out just 96hp at the wheels on a Dynojet.) and according to their scales weighed 1405lb. Today it has closer to 210hp (174hp at the wheels on a more conservative Mustang dyno) with more torque at 1500rpm than the crossflow put out at peak, and the weight with over ½ tank of fuel is down to only 1223lb. That last change is worthy of more detail and is covered in the Specs page.
After investigating many options,
ranging from modifying the crossflow with an alloy head, steel bottom end, and fuel injection, to installing a tuned Zetec, I finally settled on the (then) new Duratec option. Raceline was just putting the conversion parts into production and I was able to source a new engine for a ridiculously low price. The Duratec was much lighter than a Zetec, yet it promised the potential for far more horsepower. I was sold.
The accident, however, had changed things. I had anticipated performing just an engine swap, but suddenly I was faced with the task of also doing a rebody. Although Peter Egan praised my car’s build quality when he wrote about it for Road & Track in March 1996, I was less impressed. Magic marker lines were still visible on parts of the body where fiberglass had been removed, the carpeting was fit poorly and was of cheap quality, and the whole car had an air that it was assembled to a price point. After 2 years of ownership, I had also decided that I wanted to take the car in a slightly different direction: from vintage feeling sports car to a modern interpretation of the Chapman’s original Seven
concept. I wanted cutting edge components, less weight, and for lack of a better term, a purer driving experience.
The changes made during the build were profound. Virtually every component was replaced with a nod towards improving some aspect of performance, be it acceleration, handling, or braking. The only items that carried over unchanged were the frame, fuel tank, drive shaft, rear suspension arms and calipers, front & rear rotors, front & rear
uprights, and windscreen & pillars. Virtually everything else was either replaced or modified.
The end result is a completely different car. When it was tested in Road & Track, it had about 115-120hp (the claim was 145hp, but it put out just 96hp at the wheels on a Dynojet.) and according to their scales weighed 1405lb. Today it has closer to 210hp (174hp at the wheels on a more conservative Mustang dyno) with more torque at 1500rpm than the crossflow put out at peak, and the weight with over ½ tank of fuel is down to only 1223lb. That last change is worthy of more detail and is covered in the Specs page.