Winter project

Interceptor

I have been working on several cars recently but I have started a simple project to try and get the maximum power-to-weight ratio possible from the smallest car I could find. Having owned several Minis I needed something a bit more modern and with a ready availability of parts and tuning supplies. The current fashion in the UK with Minis is to fit 1.6 and 1.8 VTEC engines but a finished car will run to €10k and I ain't got that sort of dough.

I worked through the Buy and Sell, made lists of the popular small cars which get tuned and couldn't settle on something I liked which I could afford to tune. Hmmm. Then my neighbour asked if I wanted a 00 punto (1.2 16v) which had been in a bad rear-end smash but the engine etc was good so I bought it.

Now what to do with it - I couldn't find another Punto with a blown engine for cheap so I had a look and found that the engine would fit in a Cinquecento Sporting with some modification. These weigh 710kg as standard and are rated at 56bhp. With the interior stripped I reckon I can get it close to 650kg.

The 1242 16v is good for 120bhp with moderate modification. According to some folks on Fiatforum.com who rally Cinquecentos (yes, I know it sounds funny but Fiat actually organised a separate class for racing these in Europe back in the nineties) the max the Cinq running gear can handle is 110bhp so I now have a target.

I bought a 97 Sporting last weekend (blown engine, panel damage to front but not bad for €80). I'll put pics up when I get started but the plan is to build a wolf-in-sheeps-clothing Cinquecento with more than 100bhp and the ability to leave everything behind it at traffic lights. Watch this space...

'cptr

ando

woohoo, that sounds like its gona be the dogs!! Defiantly keep us informed, really interested on how this turns out

bp_me

If it's any use to you ....or you ever get bored with only 110hp there is a UNO turbo for sale on racershaven at the moment (not mine before anyone says anything)

ciarsd

lol, i am loving the sounds of this one. I know you've got the engine front sorted, but I believe that there is a well-tried/tested and reliable turbo conversion for the cinq. out there - so bigger uninterupted power is possible.

keep us posted!

5500

120bhp seems fairly optimistic from a punto sporting without a large amount engine work,there only 80bhp as standard.

If you really want a jaw dropper forced induction would be the way to go but again there'd be alot of engine/suspension/brake work needed to have it running safe and right but im sure the puntos 1.4bv turbo engine could be adapted to fit if you ever came across a crashed one.

Interceptor

ciarsd wrote:

lol, i am loving the sounds of this one. I know you've got the engine front sorted, but I believe that there is a well-tried/tested and reliable turbo conversion for the cinq. out there - so bigger uninterupted power is possible.

keep us posted!

VanAaken low pressure turbo and Novitec turbo have been investigated but at a cost of €1500 for the bits, and according to some of the people who have fitted them they make the 1108cc standard engine less than reliable.

The Uno turbo lump will fit in my X1/9 but rear-end stability is compromised by the turbo lag (I don't want to die going backwards through a hedge) but it won't fit in the Cinq without major modification to chassis rails and bulkhead.

I'm currently trying to figure how to get the Punto fuel pump into the Cinq tank because the injection rail runs at higher pressure than the Cinqs pump can supply (Sportings normally run with the same engine as the Punto 55 which has a single injector). I don't want to have to get a tank fabricated but lets see what happens

'c

mike65

Should be fun, ceptor keep us up to speed with pix (yes you'll have to do it now!).

Mike.

kluivert

A nice project to do would be a mazda mx-5 mk1 with a ford V6 engine. 240bhp. Light weight loads of power, the ultimate roadster. Popualar in the states dont see any over here at all.

Just a thought

Green_Martian

Sounds like a brilliant project, you will have to keep us all informed

If you can post pics stage by stage that would be excellent

Interceptor

Pics will be posted as soon as I get the Cinq past my wife and into the back garden - its currently hiding at a mates place...

SouperComputer

I stumbled across an original Beetle with WRX running gear a while back. That could be fun, espcially on original Beetle tyres!

[edit] found it: http://homepage.eircom.net/~veewrx/index.html [/edit]

Green_Martian

Interceptor wrote:

Pics will be posted as soon as I get the Cinq past my wife and into the back garden - its currently hiding at a mates place...

Lol i think we have all been in a similar situation

Interceptor

Heres last winters project. I bought the car for field use for €150 and having blown the original engine decided to see what it could do with some extra power. I found the wheels in a scrap yard, the seats are from a Gen4 Prelude, the lights are from a Mondeo Morette body kit, It is lowered 50mm onto Bilstein gas shocks, the engine is an 8v Punto 1242 which has been chipped, 40mm throttle body fitted and custom induction kit with cone filter being built, the colour is from the new Focus ST and the body mods were all my own work - I recently added the Punto side skirts I bought from unklerosco on boards.ie. but had to cut six inches out of them. The roof spoiler (which everyone hates) is from a Pug 405 with 14 inches cut out of the centre.

Its got a home-made alu gear knob and a Raid steering wheel (eBay). It is fun to drive but I use the Alfa for long journeys to prevent premature deafness from the Cinq exhaust - you can see the double drain pipes in the big pic which was taken after the car was painted.

ando

cool, how fast is she with the 1.2 under the bonnet?

Interceptor

I was planning to get it dyno'd at TTM a while ago but am waiting for a stainless steel exhaust manifold to come from the UK - bloody eBay. It is fairly quick but it runs out of steam at 90mph and has a top speed of 105. I think the induction kit will help move the torque curve up a shade as it currently has a huge hole in the airbox so it isn't the right length. Once induction/exhaust are sorted I'll dyno it...

Abelloid

SouperComputer wrote:

I stumbled across an original Beetle with WRX running gear a while back. That could be fun, espcially on original Beetle tyres!

[edit] found it: http://homepage.eircom.net/~veewrx/index.html [/edit]

Legacy turbo motor-


http://www.tsrdragracers.co.uk/