criceo
New member
Hello all,
I've been battling with trying to get my '72 500L to run properly for a while now, and, though it will occasionally cough into life, it still suffers hard starting and poor acceleration. Anyone interested can look at my previous posts to see the long list of repairs and replacement parts I have thrown at this thing to revive it. As such, I've considered just lumping in a tuned 650cc engine, or at least a 600cc engine, from FD Ricambi and a 5 speed gearbox, the latter being on the list even if I can revive the stock engine. I'm interested in hearing opinions on this from people who have done anything similar.
The five speed definitely sounds like a huge quality of life improvement, not having to floor it constantly to be at 55mph. As for the engine, I'd like to know if people have felt that there was enough of an improvement over the standard lump to warrant the cost of the upgrade. I'd also like to hear from anyone that has rebuild their 4 speed into a 5 speed with one of those kits as to the quality of said new parts.
As for the old engine and gearbox, I'll probably mount them, without damaging them of course, and put them on display in my living room. I'll make sure not to alter them, in case I ever decide to go back to stock.
After all is said and done, I may, with a little bit of hacking and welding, try making a small hole in the bottom of the frunk and fitting an electric fan and AC condenser. As for the compressor, I could go with an electric one also mounted in the frunk or try my hand at some fan belt bodging to modify the crank pulley and create a new bracket to hold a belt driven compressor. Of course, the latter would require running AC lines through the whole car, not that that would mean very long lines with such a small car. Anyway, that's for another day.
Again, opinions and experiences from people who have made, or at least attempted to make, the engine and gearbox modifications are very much wanted and appreciated.
I've been battling with trying to get my '72 500L to run properly for a while now, and, though it will occasionally cough into life, it still suffers hard starting and poor acceleration. Anyone interested can look at my previous posts to see the long list of repairs and replacement parts I have thrown at this thing to revive it. As such, I've considered just lumping in a tuned 650cc engine, or at least a 600cc engine, from FD Ricambi and a 5 speed gearbox, the latter being on the list even if I can revive the stock engine. I'm interested in hearing opinions on this from people who have done anything similar.
The five speed definitely sounds like a huge quality of life improvement, not having to floor it constantly to be at 55mph. As for the engine, I'd like to know if people have felt that there was enough of an improvement over the standard lump to warrant the cost of the upgrade. I'd also like to hear from anyone that has rebuild their 4 speed into a 5 speed with one of those kits as to the quality of said new parts.
As for the old engine and gearbox, I'll probably mount them, without damaging them of course, and put them on display in my living room. I'll make sure not to alter them, in case I ever decide to go back to stock.
After all is said and done, I may, with a little bit of hacking and welding, try making a small hole in the bottom of the frunk and fitting an electric fan and AC condenser. As for the compressor, I could go with an electric one also mounted in the frunk or try my hand at some fan belt bodging to modify the crank pulley and create a new bracket to hold a belt driven compressor. Of course, the latter would require running AC lines through the whole car, not that that would mean very long lines with such a small car. Anyway, that's for another day.
Again, opinions and experiences from people who have made, or at least attempted to make, the engine and gearbox modifications are very much wanted and appreciated.
