Hi everyone,

does anybody know if any Punto Mk1 models were fitted with Air Conditioning?

I have a T reg '99 Mk1 Sporting that i am working on, with standard hot/cold blower that just cant keep up and gets a bit too warm in summer!

when i searched it on the net, i found some promising sites, but they want a small fortune for the kit, and i wouldn't have a clue where to start fitting it!

hypershop.org/products.php?cat=78897

i have never seen a listing advertising a '94-'99 punto that has a/c but wondered if anyone had the facts?

could it be done using the Mk2 setup? (im expecting a bit of a challenge)

any help much appreciated, cheers

Hi mate,

As far as im aware AC didnt come as an option on the Mk1. You could take an AC system out of a Mk2 and bodge it into the Mk1 but to be honest, that is going to be a difficalt job. weather the exchanger unit would fit under the Mk1 dash is another issue. Bolting on the compressor and fitting the condensor should be not tooo difficalt. Depends how much of a challenge your after lol!

Alan

hey guys, i am looking for info on the mk1 punto with aircon. i am intrested in taking the bits form the engine (if it is a 1.2 8v fire) and bolting it all to the 999cc fire panda engine.

i am willing if that bit is not doable to do a complete engine swap on my panda so long as it is an 8v 1.2 engine (as it has the same gearbox bolt patten the 999cc engine has)

so my questions would be, do these engines exist, how hard are they to come by, and umm.. thats about it for now.
oh and i dont need power steering but if it has it that wont be a problem.

not fussed about the sizes of the evaporator and condenser as i have all that already. (i will be building the a/c pipework system myself out of bits from multiple cars)

In Israel, MK1's came with original A/C.
I have one from 1996 (75S).

All the ones that came without A/C got it installed by big air condition companies here.

If you want anymore help, ask.
I can take pictures and everything.

thanks for the reply. i have been looking for the 1.2 8v in other fiat cars too.

mostly looking on ebay for complete engines. as it would be nice to have a little more power. i cant use the 16v engine as the gearbox wont fit.. i have to use the original 4x4 gearbox on my panda.

the 999cc engine only has 50hp, and to be fair i find that in modern traffic it is all foot to the deck to keep up with modern traffic.. i do carry a lot of tools with me though and have a lot of extra weight bolted to the car.

if you could it would be most awesome if you could take a few pictures of where the a/c compressor is. just so i can see how it would fit in the engine bay of the panda.

thing is with the 999cc fire engine is i guess it would not have any of the mounting points for the compressor. also it is all V belt and not multi v belt.

i am secretly looking forward to the electronics side of things too. going from carb to injection would be a nice thing

I think you'd want to look at Uno's engine.
Uno came here without A/C but got A/C installed here in Israel.

Don't know if it helps you much, most of it is in hebrew but here is a drawing of an Uno A/C unit that was installed here during the early 90's:



On my 75S which came with original A/C from Italy, the compressor is behind the engine, below the alternator.

On my 1.6 Cabrio, the compressor is at the front of the engine near the air filter box.

On the non A/C cars that came here, like in the drawing, the company putted 4 relays, and added one more fan at the front of the condenser.

The original A/C cars units had 2 fan speed on the original radiator.
This is where the compressor is:



It also had a different radiator as you could see here:

thanks!

i understand that diagram completely.

so the compressor fits under the alternator.. nice! to be fair that was where i was going to put it.
im finding it hard to find pictures of it though, i want to see if its on a bracket or if its bolted directly to the engine block/sump.

thanks for the diagram

Hi John,

It will fit your engine, my seicento had aircon. There is a plate that bolt to the back of the block, and the compressor and alternator then bolt to that instead. The compressor at bottom yep, and you can see alternator location in that pic above.

And then there is a 2 belt setup, one belt going from crank pulley to the compressor and another going from compressor to alternator (which is a bigger than normal one, but pretty sure you have a big alternator already).

Having owned one i would say it will fit on any FIRE engine in any FIRE engined car. Although it lining up with 16v pulleys might only work if you got it from a 16v car with ac, i'm 90% sure the plate on the engine block for it to all mount to will be the same.

Sadly i don't think i have any pics of my old system which was removed - alot got thrown away but the plate i kept and i think from memory i sold it with the seiT.

edit: really common on cento's on the continent but pretty rare in the uk on cento's and mk1 puntos really. But i would go to scrappies and look at later punto's where it became common, pretty sure it will be transferable - just pipework and heater box will be needed which could be tricky!!

ahh thanks, ill be using copper pipe for the system then rubber flexi hoses or whatever i can find really.

should be a great system. still think i am going to try to find a 1.2 8v multijet engine though

Just a mk1 P60 or even better a P75 would be best option (imo) to stay 8v. For a kick off they have cable accelerator and not fly-by-wire stupidness.

I would be interested in your 999 engine if you go ahead

Dragon Man said:

i am willing if that bit is not doable to do a complete engine swap on my panda so long as it is an 8v 1.2 engine (as it has the same gearbox bolt patten the 999cc engine has)

Click to expand...

This bit is confusing me, as the 16v engines have the same gearbox bolt pattern as the other 8v FIRE engines (but I don't know the 999). 16v engines into Cento Sportings are pretty commonplace.

Indeed, the Idea uses the old 5 speed C514 gearbox. The others just use the 6 speed C514 (apart from the T Jets).

I assume he is talking for one of the 4x4 panda's so he needs to keep the existing box.

But yes you are right, he could use a 1242 8v or 16v or even a 1.4 8v or 16v, the box will fit on all of them.

But a high revving 16v engine might be a bit silly on a 4x4, i'm thinking the better low down torque of an 8v would be more suitable.

yes, if you have ever driven a panda 4x4 you will soon come to realise that everything is one gear more than any other cars. (like 2nd gear in most cars is what you use to take a turn in.. not the panda 4x4! you take it in 3rd!)

so the 1.4 fits too eh... heheheh..

i am sure i read somewhere that it wont mate up to the panda 4x4 box though
ill see if i can find the post..

hmm sadly i cant find it, but i am sure Bartpanda would lend a hand with this knowledge.

i wish i was able to take the gearbox somewhere (as i have a spare) and see if it will bolt up to a 1.4 engine. if i could get away with a 1.4 i would stick that in!

not sure if it would make the vehicle tax band higher though?

think i read somewhere that it only goes higher if it is any more than a 1.5l engine?

well where me and fingers are coming from is this.. the cento box (C514) will fit on a 1242 8v engine from a P60 or P75 (they use a C514 box as well)

And cento drivers with fast cento's also swap the flywheel and clutch from a 1.4 16v onto our cars (straight bolt on swap, no mods).

Knowing this is the case, and that the 4x4 gearbox will bolt onto a 1242 8v, it stands to reason that the 4x4 box will bolt onto a 1.2 or 1.4 16v engine as well. I for one have a 1.2 16v engine in my cinq that is mated to the original box from the cinq. I can't see any reason why or how if a 4x4 box fits a 1.2 8v that it wouldn't fit on a 1.2 or 1.4 16v engine - even using the 1.4 flywheel and clutch it should still fit (they are same size, just a bigger mating surface than a 1.1 or 1.2 8v one).

And ultimately the newer 16v engines still use the same C514 box just some variants have a 6speed but the bolt pattern etc is the same throughout all FIRE based engines on everything except the abarth 500 and GP (and i tjets as well)