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Originally Posted by OLDMAN
Engines do not swap out and in that easily. It will probably be more of a nightmare.
OLDMAN
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OLDMAN is right. I was around in 1995 (or was it 1996) when Skip Barber changed out the original formula ford engines for the neon motors. It took them about 6 months to get it right. The neon motors weighed more than the fords, and were initially too powerful, with the result that brakes were fading out 1/2 way through races. They eventually put restrictor plates on to solve that problem (and may have altered the braking system as well). I also recall tales of overheating, and handling problems caused by the increased engine weight. Of course, SBRS did eventually sort the problems, and the neon engine served well for many years.
One would hope that some of the older hands at the school remember these teething problems, and are planning to switch the engine and chassis at the same time, rather than going through the pain of mating the Mazda engine to the car formerly known as the R/T 2000, only to roll out the new chassis a year later. Of course, the real issue is whether SBRS has enough neon engines in hand (or can continue getting them from Dodge at a reasonable cost) until the new chassis is ready. It sounds like a tough transition. Went through a similar "conversion" at work a few years back when a key electronic component on one of our products got discontinued, and we had to hustle to put a new design into production before our supply of old chips ran out. It was a harrowing process . . . . .