Fiat Turbo Question

[dsnyder]

I have a 1982 Spider that is one of the original Legend Turbo models... However, the guy I bought it from sold all the turbo stuff off of it. Since so few were made, is it worth it to seek out the parts to restore it back to somewhat close to stock? What should I pay for the turbo components?

[Zmatt]

Not an expert, but good luck. I know of some people making their own turbo setups. If you want to force feed it I would recommend doing the same. The turbo kits form back then are very archaic by modern standards and have a lot of room for improvement.

http://users.chartertn.net/jseabolt/80spider.htm

This guy has a pretty effective budget system. I've been considering the benefits of a turbo carb setup myself, but i don't know if it's worth it.

[Mathew26]

Well the trubos didn't work all that great on the Fiats. The main reason is they kinda just threw it on the car. They didn't even change or modify the ECU in the car, so as you can expect it wasn't the best outcome. I know a lot of Turbo car owners that have removed the stock Turbo and turned them into regular FI cars and are a lot happier. If you're going to re-Turbo the car go with an aftermarket kit with some programable options or as Zmatt said a Turbo-Carb car. And btw we have a LOT of used Fiat 124 Turbo setups.

Matt

[carl55]

Matt
Would the stock turbo (the used ones you have) with aftermarket electronics make a good set-up?

Carl

[BEEK]

I have owned 2 turbo spiders, 1 of which was awesome, car ran great, hauled butt was very happy with the performance. the second one was lathargic, had boost but seemed as if it was not all getting used. car ran well but not like the first. there was 5 years between the 2 cars, the first one had 12,000 miles on it when i bought it, the second 80k. but dont think the mileage was a factor. as the motor on the second was rebuilt. did have a exhaust valve problem on it though it kept galling aftermarket exhaust valves, finally the 3rd time i used oem refaced valves and never had a problem again

[Zmatt]

I've been kicking the turbo-carb idea around in my head lately. Seems like a cool idea, but Kentucky has OCD weather and I'm afraid a bad day could mean it wont start, fuel economy would be in the pits and all the power would be in one spot, obviously I would tune the carb to work best when the turbo does and lean elsewhere, but that means POOWWEERRR! in one spot and nothing everywhere else. Parts would also be a tad challenging, although if Mark releases the Turbo header the hardest part would be take care of for me. Aside form the header the only complicated bit after that would be a way to make a vacuum seal around the carb. All other parts can be salvaged form old turbo cars or bought aftermarket with little fuss.

[BEEK]

EFI is the answer to turbocharging. use a different boost enrichment control. i would bet a fiat could stand 12psi of boost stock, using an intercooler. then it would be a rocket!

[Zmatt]

I know EFI makes turbos great but i don't have an EFI spider engine, and i don't think i can just pull the hear off of one and make my carb engine EFI. Doesn't the spider use L-Jetronic anyways? I would need an expensive haltech unit or something similar to get it working. And a totally custom basemap. The carb approach is far simpler and cheap but not as versatile or tunable.

[BEEK]

YES Simply bolting on a efi head will work, ive been studying the megasquirt system, very inexpensive, yes you have to build it yourself. it has boost enrichment built in. mapping is not that bad or technical, people will help you. just a thought

[htchevyii]

Not a turbo, but check out this 131 with an S2000 engine. It looks like way too much fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-jm0oMt5Hc


here's a link to the swap:
http://www.turbo124.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5768

[htchevyii]

It looks like we need to get some of out European members to send us some Lancia Prisma intake manifolds. With a mod to the inlet to clear the intake cam pulley, it looks like the bomb.




links:
http://www.fiat-abarth.co.uk/124%20prep4%20news.htm
http://maranello.dy.fi:8080/galleria/jspider/index.html

[Zmatt]

YES Simply bolting on a efi head will work, ive been studying the megasquirt system, very inexpensive, yes you have to build it yourself. it has boost enrichment built in. mapping is not that bad or technical, people will help you. just a thought

Definitely looks like something worth looking into. Can the mega-squirt use the stock wiring harness?

[brunorahl]

It could use part of the stock harness. But since the stock electrical was such low quality due to plating and such, you'll probably be better off with a few spools of wire and some new electrical connectors. You'll have to rewire the TPS regardless. Remove the air flow meter. Add a map sensor and crank positioning sensor. Half your OEM harness would be chopped up by the time you're done.