Horace is on the road!

[MM]

I owned a 2-litre Fiat twin cam 2-door saloon for 4 years, and they are a very torquey engine, so you can for the most part, just stick it in a high gear (they have a 5-speed gearbox as standard) and waft along on a wave of torque; it was pretty pointless revving it much.

This makes them reasonably economical too, with 30+ mpg average easily achievable.

It would top 100 mph with ease.

I liked it because it was a relatively simple and uncluttered design, that suits the Minor's engine bay well, and rather more inspiring than a BMC B-series or Ford Pinto that were popular conversions.



However, the engine is pretty dated technology now (also getting tricky and expensive to find spares for), and they are significantly heavier than the A-series engine, so you may prefer to consider a more modern and lighter engine such as the Ford Zetec/Duratec, Rover K-series, etc., if building one from scratch.

[horace]

hi guys

thanks for the welcome

i don't have one yet but I know of one, so no photos yet.  need an engine too, is the fiat twin cam like horace used the way to go?

Hi Chris,
Apologies for late reply!
Thanks for the words,yes I am enjoying him like you wouldnt believe, just over a year on the road and its brilliant. I would not hesitate to recommend the fiat/lancia twin cam engine. There are loads on ebay to be had (complete engines that need restoring from £50) the parts are all obtainable I am currently having an engine fully rebuilt and have had no issues sourcing new parts for that. The power from the 2l is fantastic,the torque, acceleration & noise is very good. Cannot comment on fuel efficiency or top speed as have yet to get my speedo calibrated but much faster than my mk2 golf gti and so much more fun!!
A good friend built Horace for me,so if theres anything specific you would like to know just ask.
As for contacts Middle Barton Garage are useful for Fiat spares and very helpful. There is a guy in Germany through ebay I bought all my engine parts from ,let me know if you need his details and I will find.

[chriss]

hi guys

thanks for the welcome

i don't have one yet but I know of one, so no photos yet.  need an engine too, is the fiat twin cam like horace used the way to go?

Hi Chris,
Apologies for late reply!
Thanks for the words,yes I am enjoying him like you wouldnt believe, just over a year on the road and its brilliant. I would not hesitate to recommend the fiat/lancia twin cam engine. There are loads on ebay to be had (complete engines that need restoring from £50) the parts are all obtainable I am currently having an engine fully rebuilt and have had no issues sourcing new parts for that. The power from the 2l is fantastic,the torque, acceleration & noise is very good. Cannot comment on fuel efficiency or top speed as have yet to get my speedo calibrated but much faster than my mk2 golf gti and so much more fun!!
A good friend built Horace for me,so if theres anything specific you would like to know just ask.
As for contacts Middle Barton Garage are useful for Fiat spares and very helpful. There is a guy in Germany through ebay I bought all my engine parts from ,let me know if you need his details and I will find.

Thanks for the reply.  Is your friend also in leics because if so I would be interested in enlisting his help if he would be willing?

[horace]

Hi Chris,yes he is Leics I will ask him.
My partner owns a workshop in East Northants too he used to work at a specialist morris restorers too so if its standard Moggy work he will be able to help. He also restores standard or modified to order 1098 A series if that's of interest. To install the twin cam there are quite a few mods required just depends how far you want to go.  Regards Rachel

[chriss]

hi rachel

many thanks for your reply, would be great if you could let me know all the contact info for the ebay seller, your partner's garage and your friend if he is able to help?  is he a garage or just a keen amateur mechanic?

maybe you would even like to show horace off some time?

regards chris

[irmscher]

Nice car