What project thread!

[Renrut]

I measured it up this evening. Currently the fiat is only about 3.4m long. This gives me a nice 1.5m gap between the bumper and my bench to move things around, store my engine crane (although that might be going to live at my brothers for a while once he gets his double garage built), stand around picking my nose and make a mess with my welder and grinder.

So in theory I could fit a near 5m car in but I'd not be able to get in there to work on it so kind of pointless.

I think anything much less than a metre gap is gonna become annoying fast. RX7 FC = 4.3m long. MGBGT = 4.1 for the longer rubber bumper model. I suppose I could put a Duratec V6 in with a jag ZF gearbox. But an MGBGT still doesn't grab me as something worth spending time and money on...

[TeamTotalWankel]

But an MGBGT still doesn't grab me as something worth spending time and money on...

I'm with you on that Will.
I'd have another FC in a flash, as long as it was solid. When you work on them and see little bits like alloy front wishbones, nice 4-pot calipers etc, then drive them round the Ring and see what they're capable of you realise how good they are.

[Steve33]

They must be bullit proof a girl I know had one running on 3 cylinders for months just put lots of water in it .
I offered to buy she wouldnt sell to me for love nor money.
A 1400 would be fun .
I say stick with a cinq

[Renrut]

There are a few FC's knocking around in the classifieds, only one turbo that I could find and that was a convertible.

Getting another cento (cinq or sei) does make sense, they're dirt cheap with a broken engine, I've already got lots of spare parts (gearbox, diff, wishbones, shocks big brakes, etc etc) and it does fit in the garage easily. Keep it front engine fwd and see what can be squeezed in there. I could even use the shell I've got as a test bed to see what will fit

Biggest anyone has managed to my knowledge was a 150bhp redtop with a bit of cutting about of chassis legs and putting the radiators in the back. But what would I put in it? (some one is gonna say 13B aren't they)

[Relentless Rob]

More fun from the land of the rising Sun.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Daihatsu-Char ... 231675e322

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-SILVIA ... 45fe92b068

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1993-NISSAN-S ... 19cac4b558

S12 the thinking mans 12A?

[Steve33]

Liking the s12 but how does he drive it without keys
Would a saab turbo lump fit a cinq a mate is selling his k plate lpt and it says he will break if it dont sell.
Might be a bit front heavy though.

[Relentless Rob]

It can fit in the back of a Reliant Kitten and Will has already cut a hole in the boot of his Seicento...

Sell me the VTR lump and buy the SAAB and a roll of duct-tape.

[Renrut]

Rob - you can have the VTR lump for £500 inc all the bits that make it go. Thats everything you need to flick an switch and make it run - fuel pump and tank, CDI, ecu, wiring loom, dash, relays, airbox, throttles. I can even leave it full of oil if you like

Don't think a Saab lump would fit in the front unless its smaller than a redtop. The redtop one had to have quite a bit of inner wing cutting and iirc the wheels hit the gearbox on full lock.

What's the thoughts on welding back up the rear end and putting [insert interesting engine here] in the front? I'd have to check that I haven't hacked off any of the rear axle mounting points but I don't think I did.

[Steve33]

Thats an idea would a 20vt from a coupe fit?
You already have the basics but how would that affect the 999 budget ?

[jnoiles]

A Mk1 MR2 is pretty wide. If you're worried about space I'd be worried about that.

[Relentless Rob]

Thats an idea would a 20vt from a coupe fit?
You already have the basics but how would that affect the 999 budget ?

The 20VT barely fits the Fiat Coupe' let alone the Seicento.

The idea of swapping the 20V N/A from a Bravo 155 HGT with the 20VT is straight forward and could potentially be awesome. A few Johnys have done the conversion and the little difference in weight between the Bravo and Coupe' engines mean the chassis dynamic is largley uneffected. The 16V turbo will fit in the engine bay of a Punto HGT snuggly as well.

[Renrut]

MR2 Mk1 ~ 1700mm wide. The Seicento is about 1600 wide and I've got a 3m wide garage so not really an issue. Worst case I'd have to roll it out and turn it round to work on both sides.

As Rob says the 20VT are quite wide/long but would be a potential to fit in the back but bear in mind that the back of a seicento is actually about 100mm narrower than the front you only save on the wheels not having to turn.

[Steve33]

Could stick some wide arches on
I saw a punto with the same engine on ebay last week.

[Renrut]

Punto is a fair bit wider than the seicento but its not the arches thats the problem - you end up with nowhere to put the top suspension struts or hang the engine off. You'd have to completely spaceframe the front end as a minimum. Maybe possible but with a 20VT you'll have a very limited lock on the steering to avoid hitting the gearbox end. People get the gearbox wheel contact problems just by fitting the punto 6 speed box on the standard 1108 engine.

I've had a nose at the mess in the garage. The mounting points are still present to bolt a fiat subframe back on if I wanted to put it back to a normal fiat rear subframe.

I'll measure the engine bay up if anyone knows of something that might fit but approximately its:

700mm between the upper chassis legs.
700mm from lowest point the front suspension mounting brackets.
600mm from bulkhead to front crossmember but that has to include the driveshafts at about 100mm from the bulkhead.

[MFrV1]

There's been talk of big engines in the front, the rear but not both.

A pair of 1400 twin cams should do the job.