fiat fuel injection?

[downsey]

I was at the junkyard today and saw a fiat 124 there. It had a really nice aftermarket header that i wanted to modify for my 4age project. Anyways i started looking more closely and instead of carbs it had fuel injection. Was this an aftermarket modification or factory stock? Anyways i thought it was pretty cool.

Also the header i bought for 19 dollars (half off weekend ) practically bolts up to the 4age. The primaries line up exactly to the exhaust ports on the 4age. Only two holes need to be filled and re-drilled on the flange and the flange has all the necessary recesses to clear the bosses on the head. I'm not exactly sure but i think that the fiat engine and the 4age were both designed by lotus.

[jonathon]

Not sure about the 124, I had a injected 132 Argenta engine, which had been installed in a Morgan, during a period when they stopped fitting Ford motors. This was a 2.0L unit 135bhp, masses of torque and reasonably economic 30mpg+. I had this fitted in my 1000 van and used to pull off in 2nd gear and change straight into 5th which it would pull from 1800rpm.
Very brisk acceleration and good top speed.
Don't know about the Lotus link. Fiat 124's are really sought after over here as classic sporty cars.

[downsey]

hmm thats interested, i'm not an expert on fiats but i'm pretty sure it was a fiat 124 car. Perhaps it had an engine swap. The motor looked like it had been just rebuilt; if i hadnt done this 4age conversion i might have considered it. 4age has loads of high rpm horsepower but it's lacking considerably in torque.


Yeah it's shame-every time i go to the junkyard which is usually once a week i see one or two old fiat twin cams just going to waste.

[jonathon]

Why not try the Toyota MR2 silver or black top motors, the latter has 165bhp out of the box and we have the bell housing to attatch it to the type 9 Ford g/box. There is even a supercharged version which I have seen produce 265bhp with only a small amount of modification.
The 124 would have had a TC motor and most probably injected for the US emission laws, but I'd imagine that it was the earlier 1.3L or a later 1.6L unit.

[downsey]

The reason that i didnt consider the silver or blacktop motor is due to the fact that the dizzy sticks out the back of the head. On the 16valve version it is off to the exhaust side. My car (although needs a complete restoration) is a pretty cherry example and i didnt want to cut the car if i could avoid it (if i had a rust bucket i probably wouldnt think twice ). The supercharged version you saw may have been a 4agze blower fitted to the 5 valve engine. Its been done pretty extensively in australia and makes for good horsepower.

I have a t-50 corolla 5 speed right now which can take 200 hp fairly easily ( more in a morris due to less weight probably)and bolts right up to any 4age engine. Since it is my daily driver i also want to keep the driveability and gas mileage decent.

My motor is out of an 86 MR2 (4valve) which is said to produce around 130-135 horsepower stock (varying sources). I plan on deleting as much of the smog system as i can- i made an air intake for it with a 3 inch K and N cone filter and am in the process of doing a free flow exhaust for it without the cat coverter. It should get me into the mid 140 hp range. A small amount of head porting and a new set of fast road cams should get me around 160 which is plenty for a daily driver.


What kind of mufflers have you used in previous conversions? what would be the best to use in terms of flow and horsepower? I dont care as much about noise reduction as i am only 18 and have PLENTY of years to lose my hearing

[jonathon]

Easiest option is to go for a coil pack system with he blacktop, negates the need for the dizzy.The supercharged unit was the agze, stunning motor even in standard form. Went out in a std black top Raw engineering Striker with a c/r box and 4.7 diff, absolutley mental, 0-60 in around 4 secs and over 130mph, certainly gave me the wi---s as a passenger around the country lanes.
Sounds as if you have your motor spec sorted, how do you get on with insurance , being of such a young age??
We normally use a 2" system from Jetex a Swedish company, producing excellent systems or component 'universal parts, in both aluminised or stainless steel. A two box system is fine for 94 decibels which is a track norm in this country. With a turbo you could run large bore headers with a 21/2" system. This will save yer ears too

[downsey]

Wow, that sounds like an awesome package! Was that in a Minor? Ive been thinking about changing the rear axle. I replaced the series mm diff with an mgb diff but it would be nice to have a slightly higher final drive ratio. Standard mgb is 3.9 but i think i would benefit more from 4.1-4.3. 1980-86 rwd corollas came with a positraction option and a 4.1 ratio. I'm not sure if it is narrow enough though and finding one could be challenging. What do you think my 0-60 speed would be approximately? Somewhere around 8 seconds hopefully

Insurance is extremely expensive over here in the states, especially if your a guy (guys generally wreck more). If you get good grades and are going to college you get discounts. I got the cheapest insurance i could get for it. They call it crash and cry insurance because if you wreck and its your fault then you dont get any repair money.

[jonathon]

No ,it was in a kitcar weighing around 500lbs.
We have just changed a diff on one of our K series powered cars from a 3.7 to a 4.4 and its transformed the car. Obviously its quicker, but the whole car is more responsive and the motor can drive any gear from low rpm, not bad given that the torque is pretty low in comparison to the bhp figure.(114bhp). We reckon it still slower than the fire breathing 185bhp 1.8K and should clear 0-60 in around 7 secs. The 1.8K did the same in 6.1secs with a 3.7 diff.
Depending on the wheel /tyre size I should think you will be around 7 secs with a 4.1 diff and the power available. Best get some good suspension and brakes though!!

[downsey]

Wow that makes me wonder if i should be trying to find a 4.3 maybe. Is there much driveabilty sacrificed on the freeway?

Well i have pretty good brakes already. I did an mgb disc brake conversion up front and im using the the mgb rear drums in the back. I'm also using the mgb master cylinder mounted in the stock location. The car stops on a dime-at least compared to my dads bugeye or his tr4 . Suspension definetely needs a look over, it would be nice to get some stiffer torsion bars out of a marina but those are extremely hard to come by over here. Also whats the easiest telescopic shock conversion? I dont really have the money for a kit so getting shocks out of another car that are similiar spec to what i need would be the best option for me.

[jonathon]

The motorway (freeway) driving we have yet to test. We have a Ford type 9 V6 spec gearbox which has much longer gearing, so in effect with the motor now able to pull the gears better, you can always stay in touch with the powerband. 5th gear on the Ford box is very much an overdrive, and at an indicated 80mph the motor was only doing 3750rpm, and well able to take it pretty briskly upto 110mph before we ran out of road (private of course).
Cannot advise on suspension from other donor cars, but I'm not a big fan of uprated torsion bars as they can give a very choppy, pitchy ride quality.

[downsey]

3750 rpm is definetely within standard with these kind of motors. My twin brother (who has absolutely no interest in cars whatsoever) has an acura integra with a 1.8 vtec in it and it will drive 4k rpm all day long.

As soon as i got my car running i'm going to take a walk through the junkyard and measure up some compact car dampers and see if i could make something work.