New Fiat tries Old Fiat

[SoCalAlex]

Greetings All,

I am new to this website but I have enjoyed what I’ve seen so far. I was born and raised a Ford guy but recently after a trip with my girlfriend to Carmax, we purchased a 2015 500s and she let me drive it a few times. Well that was the end of that and I had to go out and buy her a 500 X 2017 so I could drive the 500 S . We are very happy with both the cars and I am very impressed. I started to look more into the make and discovered the Fiat spider and after about a half a year of searching with a very very minimal budget I lucked out and found a 1971 Fiat spider for 800 bucks. The car is very much in sad shape and covered in rust. It came with two tops and a hardtop and the original 1.4 L motor. I have a very crazy idea for it as I want to drop in a 3 L alpha Romeo motor from a 88 164l. Once I get the opportunity I will post some pictures of the 1971 project but we have done restorations before and have heard about the possibility of the universal ECU. Has anyone else heard of putting new motors in older cars and getting them to function as I will need a lot of information on this if this car is to work. We plan on stripping the car down to the chassis and putting in a tube frame to assist in taking the weight of the new motor and eight in the front suspension. I think you all in advance for any knowledge you have in these areas

[baltobernie]

Hello and Welcome. Glad you're here.

If you do a Search on this excellent forum, you'll find many examples of folks who have begun a project replacing the original Fiat engine with a more modern/powerful/alternative fuel/etc. one. Over the last 10 years, I can count the number of completed transplants on one hand. Many of these projects were undertaken by individuals claiming to have experience in these matters.

The biggest challenge facing anyone attempting to significantly raise the engine power on these cars is one of balance. Fiat designers (like others of the era) did not "over-engineer" anything, in their quest to produce an economical, lightweight, balanced sports car. Even if you are able to achieve proper weight distribution, cooling, etc. with a (your brand here) motor, you'll need to upgrade suspension, transmission, driveline, diff and braking. This would truly be a labor of love, with the result costing not twice what the car is worth, as a typical restoration, but more like 3x or 4x. These aren't tri-5 Chevy's, with every imaginable upgrade available as bolt-on's.

And when (if) you're done? You'll have the look of a classic Pininfarina design, true, but also a marginal convertible top with a plastic window, mediocre ventilation, no A/C, no ABS or airbags, lousy wipers, and more. The pre-CARB 1971 Spider is a great example of a car that should be restored, not resto-modded.

[SoCalAlex]

Thank you very much for the insight I will definitely keep all of these things in mind. My father and I run a 1967 mustang that he bought in Hi school and took it through many different versions from Concours to a drag car to now an SVRA capable race/ street car. He has also gotten to the point of about $30-$40,000 into it and countless hours. I definitely understand the limitations of the car and will keep this in mind when, or if, I change engines. I will definitely leave the engine for last and see how I feel at that point but I will keep you posted and you can share in all the headaches and heart aches that I am pounding count I will definitely leave the engine for last and see how I feel at that point but I will keep you posted and you can share in all the headaches and heart aches that I am bound to encounter. I appreciate your guidance and look forward to all the help from this great community.

Cheers