In the following months I drove it as a daily driver. The 1725cc I4 did OK at best (for my tastes). I rebuilt the carb, added a petronix ign and flame thrower coil, adjusted timing and fuel curves, plugs, wires, used an assortment of internal cleaning products, etc. but it just wasn't peppy enough for me after driving a big block 476 as a daily driver. Since then I have read that much of the power loss was likely due to the inefficient Borg-Warner Auto...
All of those facts combined to motivate me to look for an alternate powertrain. I thought about the Buick/Rover V8's (all aluminum), but they are actually wider than an SBC. I heavily considered a GM 60 degree V6. Specifically the 3.6 from the Caddy CTS (all aluminum). But in the end there was not much aftermarket support and I could not find a single documented swap (I'm not looking to be a complete pioneer on this one). Looking for something that had at least been done with success lead me to the F20C and 6sp from the Honda S2000. It's all aluminum, small, light, and powerful (240hp with a 9000 RPM redline), with an abundant aftermarket. The 2800 LB S2000 gets closer to 30 MPG hwy so my car should be at least there or better.
A couple months later this found it's way to the shop. You can see the car already being prep'ed in the background:
