Hi...ideas for my cinquecento?

[Cinquey]

Hi
I have just found out that there was an article in last months mag with a Fiat cinquecento turbo conversion and i am intrigued to find out more.
I own a 1995 cinquecento and having now done a fair bit of googling some ideas have entered my head...punto engines, turbos etc.

I have no experience in modding cars but i feel like this would be a good project to begin with. If anyone has a spare copy of the article i would love to see it as i was out of the country whilst it was on sale so could not buy it.

Any pointers, links, ideas for my cinquecento are welcome!

[Relentless Rob]

Perfect timing and welcome to the forum. The Cinquecento already featured was a test bed for a Zetec turbo unit destined for a Mk4 Escort shell. This months edition there will (should) be a cheaper Turbo conversion to draw inspiration from. You can pre-order your copy from your newsagent, WH Smiths or ASDA stockist, better still if you subscribe you'll get it through your letter box.

There are plenty of Fiatosi on here and we're all happy to help.

[Cinquey]

Which issue number/month was that one? and which is next months? is it the one on sale today?

thanks

[Relentless Rob]

I think it was issue 94 that had the Zetec turbo and this months should on the shelves today.

[Renrut]

The zetec turbo one was a serious piece of kit. The guy who built it used to work for Z cars so knew his stuff and the gearbox on it alone would have been worth more than any normal cinquecento.

Don't want to push you away from here but another good place for starting to look is Fiatforum, they have a lot of mildly to wildly modified Centos on there:

http://www.fiatforum.com/cinquecento-seicento/

They're a good bunch of lads with sound advice.

However I have had a seicento and I would say if you're going to tune the engine first sort the brakes and suspension.
- punto GT brakes are a bolt on upgrade if you've got the 14" alloys and get 2 small adaptor plates laser cut.
- easiest suspension improvement if you haven't got it is the springs and dampers from a 'sporting' model, then perhaps polyurethane bushes. That will give it a nice tight chassis with great feedback but still fine for road use.

Once they're sorted I'd look at increasing the power. Easiest method if you're mechanically minded is to swap in an 8V 1242 from a punto instead of the 1108 you'll have. It only gives about 10bhp more but its more torquey and makes the car much quicker off the line. the 1.2 16V also fits but is a bit more involved. Similarly turbos are possible but need properly setting up to ensure it doesn't go pop.

Photos? We always like some of them

[kieran07]

Hi there, sounds like a fun project. I don't know much about Fiat's but perhaps it'll be worth getting hold of a donor Punto or something and swapping the gubbins over to the smaller and lighter Cinq. The Punto GT 1.4 turbo has some go, not sure what it would take to get the engine in.

[Renrut]

The Punto GT 1.4 turbo has some go, not sure what it would take to get the engine in.

By all accounts the punto gt 1.4T is a big heavy lump, takes a lot of effort to get it to fit and ruins the sweet handling of the seicentos.

Better bet is the more modern 1.4 FIRE engine, no mounts to fabricate (uses the same as the 1.1), 100bhp in factory setup. Can pick up one from a Stilo for around £500.

[Relentless Rob]

Better bet is the more modern 1.4 FIRE engine, no mounts to fabricate (uses the same as the 1.1), 100bhp in factory setup. Can pick up one from a Stilo for around £500.

What he said.

There are a couple of twin-air converted Pandas about and I think you'll need bonnet modifications to fit the taller 1368 block in the Cinquecento but it is do-able. Most common though is the 1242cc 16V from the Punto Sporting. I believe (don't know for certain) that the 1242 engine from a Bravo/Brava 80 will fit straight on to the Cinquecento gear box and is torque tuned for the heavier platform. That would give you a stronger platform for forced induction later on. Best of the bunch is the Punto 75 block with 16V sporting pistons to lower compression. I've found a chap who builds turbo FIRE engines for competition use I'll put his details here later.

[ysidfa]

Hey there (First post )

Nice to hear another Fiat owner,
My best advice is to check out the cinq/sei section the fiatforum. Theres countless turbo conversions and some ridiculous engine conversions (if you dig hard enough there is a 2.0 C20 Vauxhall engine conversion into a sei.
Good luck with the project
Tom