General Uno engine conversion

[Gav F]

Need some ideas.
The 1L will be too slow for me
I like the uno so im not buying a different car, and ive done alot to the body work that i dont wish to do again lol so ideally i want to finish it off and then put in a bigger engine
Ive thought of:
Uno turbo
1242 Conversion (maybe turbo it next year)
1.2 16v (same as in punto sporting and stuff)

Im just sort of playing with ideas tbh and an input from you lot especially some of the more knowledgeable on unos Alex, dunc, louie , Chas and Pottle
Cheers
Gav

 

[Jai]

how mental do you want it? and are you happy to upgrade brakes/susupension etc to match increase in weight and power?

 

[Chas Uno]

Easiest conversion is the 1242 8v (SPi) as it will drop straight and mount up to your existing gearbox. It will also run off the Uno 32TLF carburettor or SPi system at a push, though ideally for maximum benefit you should plumb in the Punto throttle body or fit a bigger carburettor.

1242 16v (and 1242 8v MPi) will physically go in, but you HAVE to run the MPi system. They will NOT run properly with a carburettor due to the 'dry' design of the inlet manifold. You will have to wire in the ECU and stuff, plus you may need to uprate the fuelling side.

Uno Turbo engine conversion is easy but time consuming. You will need EVERYTHING from a doner car - mounts, fixings, ECU's, wiring loom, driveshafts, gearbox, fittings, brackets, brakes, suspension, exhaust etc. etc. Don't think you can just buy a bare engine off Ebay and whack it in as there's a LOT more involved.

Unless you can get hold of a rusted UT with good mechanicals I'd go for a 1242 8v or 16v conversion. You'll get a sizeable power and torque upgrade and have plenty of parts available. They can be turbocharged, and if you look in the Cinq FAQ you'll find a lot of info. and guides on this.

Though it's not meant for Unos, Damon (Panda Sport) wrote an excellent guide on how to fit the 1242 16v engine into classic Pandas. Most of the same principles apply to fitting one into a Uno so it's a very useful guide.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/119200-how-fit-16v-fire-engine-panda.html

Oh, and as Jai says don't think about doing an engine swap unless you're going to uprate the suspension and brakes too. The standard Unos were somewhat marginal in these departments even with 45bhp!

Good luck!

 

[alexGS]

I have nothing to add to the excellent post from Chas

Except that in these times of high fuel costs, I'd be sticking with the 999cc FIRE engine in your Uno.

If you want a faster car, buy that separately

-Alex

 

[Gav F]

cheers lads.
tbh 1.2 isnt going to be that much of a fuel guzzler considering my first car will be 2.5 Cherokee

 

[andy97]

How about a 1580 engine from a Tipo?

 

[oldskoolmk1unoturbo]

buy a mk2 uno turbo donor car and turn your 1.0 into a turbo, dont bother wasting your time with a 1.2 8v or a 16 there weak and slow compared to a proper uno turbo

 

[Gav F]

im gunna use my 1L , wait till insurance gets bareable or till i get fed up with the tiiny engine lol
first things first better pass my practical

 

[alexGS]

im gunna use my 1L , wait till insurance gets bareable or till i get fed up with the tiiny engine lol
first things first better pass my practical

Good plan

I'd like to point out that for the last couple of days, I've been driving around in a 999cc FIRE-engine Uno and it's really surprised me - nice to drive, it's quite gutsy yet smooth and forgiving. Of course I'd driven one before, years ago, but I was expecting it to feel like a gutless wonder as my Uno 60 did a couple of years back after I'd been driving other cars.

So I still stand by my advice before - keep the Uno as it is, and get a more powerful car as well. This goes along with the 'no halfway house' advice from oldschoolmk1unoturbo. Incidentally I'd say that off-boost the Mk1 Uno Turbo is probably weaker than a 1.2 (lower compression being the main problem), and on-boost it's not the easiest car to drive smoothly.

I love my 164...

-Alex

 

[Chas Uno]

Good plan

I'd like to point out that for the last couple of days, I've been driving around in a 999cc FIRE-engine Uno and it's really surprised me - nice to drive, it's quite gutsy yet smooth and forgiving. Of course I'd driven one before, years ago, but I was expecting it to feel like a gutless wonder as my Uno 60 did a couple of years back after I'd been driving other cars.

So I still stand by my advice before - keep the Uno as it is, and get a more powerful car as well. This goes along with the 'no halfway house' advice from oldschoolmk1unoturbo. Incidentally I'd say that off-boost the Mk1 Uno Turbo is probably weaker than a 1.2 (lower compression being the main problem), and on-boost it's not the easiest car to drive smoothly.

I love my 164...

-Alex

Well said Alex, though I would say that discounting a "halfway house" conversion is to deny a car that could be both fun and practical. Of course, unless you fit a Delta 1.6 turbo or a 2.0 litre Coupe turbo engine then for outright power and straight line speed a Uno turbo will always appear better on paper than a less powerful conversion. However, for day to day running a bigger FIRE lump will win hands down on a cost per mile basis and has a proven track record of reliability and durability. With power ranging from 60 bhp for a 1242 SPi to 75/ 85 for 1242 MPi/ 16v and all the way up to 100bhp for a 1368 16v you have plenty of options to choose from. Other than failed headgaskets (primarily caused by lack of maintenance from owners who never change the coolant) they are strong engines that are known to be good for 200K miles. The chances are that the car will rust to bits long before a FIRE lump fitted to it will fail

For a younger driver like Gav a bigger FIRE lump could be a cost effective way of upping the power without having the liabilities of extra insurance/ running/ maintainence costs. No, it won't have the kick of a turbo, but fitting the 85bhp 1242 16v engine will give a power to weight ratio very similar to a 105bhp (standard) mk1 Uno turbo. If you look at the Fiat Uno handbook the kerb weight for a 999cc FIRE 3 door is 710kg compared with 895kg for a Uno Turbo i.e. That's a substantial weight difference that will enable an 85bhp FIRE Uno to give on paper performance similar to a 105bhp Lampredi turbo.

There will be added benefits too as the lighter FIRE engine will actually improve the handling and reduce understeer compared with the heavier Lampredi engine (assuming both shells are equipped with equivilent suspension/ tyres and turbo anti-roll bars). I noticed this when driving my 70SX (1301cc Lampredi engine) and comparing it with my 45S (999cc FIRE engine). The 45S corners noticeably better than the 70SX with a far less tendency to understeer under hard cornering.

As for outright performance, Panda Sport (see the Panda section) fitted a 1242 16v FIRE into his classic Panda. The calculated 0 - 60 times came out in the high 7 seconds! He also managed a 17.34 standing 1/4 mile, which considering that Damon doesn't thrash his cars at all shows what it's capable of. With a more spirited driver a 1242 16v Panda is likely to get into the high 16's on the 1/4 mile. See Damon's thread here:

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/146193-any-sunday.html

The Panda is only slightly lighter than a Uno so you can expect similar performance figures when doing the same conversion to a non turbo Uno. And an even bigger bonus is the miserly fuel consumption of mid 40's to the gallon round town and even better on a run.

Maybe this is the best thing about a Uno. You can find one to suit any specific purpose, and if you can't you can always build one to your own specifications! If you want a high performance turbo, then get the turbo. If you want to have miserly running costs, then get a 999cc FIRE. If you want something in between, then choose your engine and fit it :devil: