1974 Fiat 500 1284 Fire powered–engine finished

[hudsonhenry]

A few pic of my fiat 500 1108 Fire engine conversion.

[HoTWire]

OMG seks!!!

That is stunning!!

and it's on Cosmics,.. which always makes me a very happy boy!!

[Seth]

Had another quick look round it yesterday.....

Quick question If you made had to adapt manifold to engine why then a carb adaptor too? I'm guessing stock carb on that manifold was too small? What are manofold and carb from?

[rmad]

Cool!
Does it wheelie? ;D

[hudsonhenry]

The engine had multi point fuel injection with a plastic inlet manifold, the inlet manifold I used was from the single point injection version of the engine. For some strange reason the MPI head has the top row of studs higher up than the SPI hence the adaptor plate.

The carb is from a 128 rally and is a progressive twin choke. The alloy block below the carb funnels the fuel from the twin-choke into the round opening in the SPI manifold. Its a bit heath-robinson but it seems to work well.

Over the winter we are going to try some bike carbs and a bit of head and cam work as well as some work on strengthening the box and raising the gearing.

Nigel

[qwerty]

Looks really cool. The conversion looks quite "involved"?

[Bioshock]

Great looking car.Nice one ;D

[Mr K]

superb!! whats the engine mount holding up the front of the block from?? looks perfect for my project too!! are there any other mounts at that end?

[slater]

Thats pretty damn good!

What spec is the gearbox? (have you broke it yet?? ;D ) do you know of the best place to get gearbox parts from?

How easy was it to get those cosmics, i want them!!! what kind of size/width are they? 12" or 13"?

So many questions! i never relised it had a fire engine!

[bryn]

Frikin ace, well done sir. Must be a scream to drive... Got a lot of time for that.

[guy]

I may sound like a curse word But "fire engine" whats that from? Fire Blade bike engine???

Guy

[Snoozin]

Fiat Uno I think.

Gorgeous little car there fella, it looks so right! Big thumbs up here!

[hudsonhenry]

guy said:

I may sound like a fool But "fire engine" whats that from? Fire Blade bike engine???

Guy

The Fire engine is fitted to Punto's, Cinquecento's and Seicento's in 1108 and 1242cc. Its still fitted into Grande Puntos and will be in the new Fiat 500. The latest ones are all alloy and up to 1368cc so there is a good upgrade path for the future (even a 1400 Turbo on the cards for the New 500!!)

The conversion looks quite "involved"?

It's reasonably straight forward once everythings been worked out. Nothing can be bought so we had to fabricate the following bits:

Adaptor plate – cast aluminium from MDF pattern
Adaptor plate to gearbox studs - stepped to act as location dowels
Spigot shaft bearing
Sub frame for mounting radiator
Rear sub frame
Swan neck engine mount
Adaptor plate for inlet manifold
Aluminium block for twin choke into spi inlet
Throttle butterfly
Water piping
Flywheel is from an early 999cc Panda Fire with the holes slotted to fit the later crank (takes a smaller clutch to clear the bellhousing) also lightened balanced and skimmed
plus a myriad of little bits and pieces

I made two plates, sets of studs and spigot bearings while I was at it.

How easy was it to get those cosmics, i want them!!! what kind of size/width are they? 12" or 13"?

I got the Cosmics off another member of the 500 club, they are 12 x 5 (or is it 51/2 ??!!)
They are the correct Fiat PCD. I have never seen another set on a Fiat. I gave £200 for them without tyres, mini ones can be bought for peanuts.

whats the engine mount holding up the front of the block from??

The mount is standard Seicento, its designed to hang but it seems to work well in compression. We were going to fab one up but it seemed easier this way. Havent we spoken before? when I was thinking about fitting a reliant engine in the 500, you might have even bought the inlet manifold from me.

Does it wheelie?

Must be a scream to drive...

I need to do some strengthening work on the gearbox before I try to do wheelies!! the box is standard Fiat 126, its the next thing to sort, along with a taller diff. The top speed is is only about 85-90 Mph at the moment but it flys up there, its so light.

Thanks for all the comments

Nigel

[trg1984]

i would love a 500, it would look great sitting next to my mini (i think theyd get on well)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Brilliant car, outstanding skillz0rz. Ace!

[planty]

That is one seriously diiirty lil FIAT. loving your work. Muchos respec' innit ;D

[DerbyDan]

I've got a thing for Fiat 500s - especially when they are suitably modified, theres something about seeing a 500 with its engine lid slightly ajar that makes you go Yummmm A bit like seeing cute girl with some tattoos & a nose piercing

Your fiat looks spot-on & much respect for the work that you have put into it - welcome to the board by the way & hope you stick around

[Stu]

Awesome! Welcome aboard! ;D

[Ministrone]

Hats of to you sir, your 500 looks great.

[guy]

Very nice me like, i saw loads while i was in italy.

I love this pic;



I also saw an abarth and this estate!!!!


Guy