Throttle Bodies

With the Alfa finally booked in for paint (5th May!) and it going to the sodablasters next weekend, attention turns to how we’re going to build up the engine.

I’m really keen to keep the rorty carb “sound” of the old engine – its just a defining characteristic of an old sports car. There’s no way I was going to keep the fuel injection of the doner twin spark motor, so the Bosch Jetronic was one of the first things we binned after lifting the motor out of a Alfa 75 condemed to the scrapper by its rusty sills.

However, I’ve been coming round to the idea of throttle bodies, specifically Jenvy throttle bodies, which maintain the sound of old carbs (and look pretty similar) but use modern injectors and an ECU for very accurate fuel delivery, and mean you can get massive power and a well-behaved engine when pootling about in traffic.

Image © Jenvey Dynamics

Combined with an Emerald K3 from engine management guru Dave Walker, these puppies should be good for 200bhp and beyond.

I suppose I can get some of the not inconsiderable funds required to purchase them from selling my old Dell’orto 45 carbs on the ‘bay.