Got a '67 Spitfire MK2 with 1147 cc straight 4 engine and 4 speed, so I hear you loud and clear on winding out and making some noise. My better half, riding with me last week, remarked on a bit of backfiring and I told her I'd check the exhaust underneath in the future (Zzzzz), but I agree with you, that's at least half the fun. Now, 5 or 10 years in the future, if it comes time to pull the whole engine for a rebuild, and battery and electric technology has improved dramatically which I do foresee, I may well put an electric drive in with everything else the same, 4-speed, original braking, same old dash, no radio, no frills, i.e. pretty much just like now. But that's just me with local driving so I wouldn't even need 100 mile range and got plenty of time for a slow charge, overnight, on a 110 outlet. I created a new group on britishcarforum for electrical upgrades of all sizes, and got most of the members from the electric LBCs recent thread already on that group, so I'll send out some more invites to those of you that were not on that thread. Those of you from the other thread already know the only electric upgrade/modification I have done on my 1147 cc engine is gutting the condenser and points and installing a Pertronix electronic ignition.