Engine conversions?

[laceykate]

I want to do an engine conversion to my 126 bis does anybody have some good ideas that are not to difficult to do that give it good power.

[Gordan]

Hello, it would be nice of you first to introduce yourself and your ride in the introductions section. As for your question, i doubt there are any engines that would classify as an "easy conversion", most people put a bike engine in, but that isnt easy...

[stuey]

my first question would be- do you have any mechanical knowledge and fabrication skills? theres is no bolt in engine swap all will require serious work and you arnt going to do it for much less than a couple of grand....

but if you are serious west garage do a seirra diff with a motor bike sprocket, mountings and half shafts that will run you about £700 you'll then need to mount the bike engine wich is likely to cost you another £500 then you need to cool it run throttle, gear, clutch and a dash loom to it and thats just for starters...

other options are a smart car rear clip or an mr2 rear clip (the latter requires body widening widening of about 10 inches...)

[dajwid]

LaceyKate, Maybe you just bought the wrong car?

These cars are not known for there speed.

[1973/126]

 As Stewie said, no engine conversion will be straight forward. I was thinking, if I was doing one, would use a unit from a rear engined car together with the gearbox.(Fiat 850 Sport Coupe, Skoda Rapid or a Beetle...) The power output range would be around 50-70 bhp. Also not sure how realistic this is, and which unit would actually fit the easiest.
 With the bike conversion it would need to be a ground up rebuild, with a roll cage, body strengthening, disc brakes etc...
 
 

[Gordan]

Hey, while we are at the subject, what about the smart car engine? does anyone have a schematic for the engine layout of the smart? it cant be much different than the bis ? and if im not mistaken theres a brabus version

[1973/126]

 I think this would be a bit expensive, the power output is not that great, and I`m not sure how good they actually are.
 Some mechanics said to me they are a piece of s... There is always a few rebuilt engines for Smarts on eBay.

[Gordan]

you can get a sart engine with power output of about 80hp, that would turn a bis into a rocket! as for reliability issues, it cant be worse than the orig fiat engine....

[stuey]

96 if you chip them a friend had one, the main pain with the bike engine is the lack of reverse gear somthing  a rear engine conversion would not have to fix, the smarts have a similar track and width as a 126 as well... one of the optioons Im looking at...

[laceykate]

Me and my partner and close friends have all got modified cars with different engines in we all have very good knowledge on putting different engines into different cars. i have rebuilt a mini and the engine many times. we have all the tools and knowledge to do pretty much anything but some ideas that work well would be great as im new to fiats. cheers

[Maddog]

if you scour the forum theres loads of discussion on engine swaps, also have a look at retro500.com for some really well executed transplant surgery, personaly i'd stay away from a motorbike swap, the cost of all the parts and reverse gear problem means even if you have all the skills and plenty of friends to help, it will still take ages, cost loads and probably have no/useless reverse..

top swaps in my opinion are 1108 from seicento onto standard box or subaru 1800 single cam(if you can find one) onto standard box or a VW IRS box, check out TRS racing for a virtually bolt in swap for the 1108

[stuey]

Me and my partner and close friends have all got modified cars with different engines in we all have very good knowledge on putting different engines into different cars. i have rebuilt a mini and the engine many times. we have all the tools and knowledge to do pretty much anything but some ideas that work well would be great as im new to fiats. cheers

Sorry if our answers seem a little discouraging, we do get alot of people who post saying

"HoW dO i GeT my 126 to do 150 mph 0-60 in 3 sec lOl PLS"

then when you start to give then any info or ideas you find out they have no tools no car no liscence and no mechanical knowledge what so ever..

the bike route is a possible one you could use the originall drive/ suspension system with a set of customised halfshalts and a chain drive (westgarage do such things), (obviously you would need to uprate the brakes and suspension but the world of fiat 500 tuning parts is open to you on this-

or if you get an air cooled check out some of the polish/eastern block websites such as the fiat and the furious etc (Im sure our european friends can furnish you with plenty of webistes and help with translations..

or if you are willing to widen the track then the mr2 (the way i might go..) or smart car rear clips would be interesting...

or even a flat 4 vdub engine!!!

hope this helps..

[landyman]

my thoughts on this subject tuning any car including our beloved baby fiats keep it simple (the kiss principle needs to be obeyed to the letter) keep it light  !!!! very light. try to get the power to weight ratio as high as poss, a 600cc bike engine should reap about 175bhp per ton very repectable from a 126.smaller bike engines could still provide 2-2.5 times the power of a 126 and still have weight savings over the fiat twin+gearbox. look on you tube for videos of fast bike engined fiats then decide .in the early 1980's a brave chap put a cx 500 honda engine in a mechersmit bubble car the performance was astounding and put boy racers in rs turbos to shame so todays technology 30 years on should do wonders .      go for it    we will help when we can with advice   post photos+progress


                         good luck andy

[Andi]

I'm dreaming of a Guzzi-V2 from a Le Mans 1000 in my 126, with 80hp. It's small, lightweight and fits to the Fiat-box with an adapter. The only problem to be solved is the cooling. I got such an engine, but i don't want to break down my Guzzi:

Another thing that came to my mind yesterday is the 6-cylinder boxer of a Goldwing. But, as far as i know, this engine has the gearbox included, what makes it useless for us. The aim is to find an engine, that fits to the fiat-box.

[stuey]

bmw bike engine is another...