Hi guys,

I'm busy with repairing my Stilo abarth 2.4: main bearings need to be changed.

There is a chance that this repair action wont be succesfull. So I was already thinking about the possibility of building a 2.0 5 cyl turbo (Coupe) engine into the Stilo.

My question: how compatible is the turbo Coupe engine into the Stilo?

Is it a intensive modding job or can you throw it into the engine bay so to say? What are the main things to mod?

Is the turbo engine also as sensitive as the 2.4 motor of the Stilo (weak bearing nr2 crank)?

Happy to hear some feedback.

Thanks

This is a question that has been asked many a time. In Greece they have successfully turbo'd the abarth, whether it's the coupe 20vt lump or standard 2.4 abarth I don't know, if you were somehow able to get in touch with whoever done it - or go to the Greek Stilo club forum - I'm sure you'd pick up plenty of info regarding this.

In the UK, one member (Dax) attempted to turbo the standard abarth 2.4 engine, using mostly brand new parts; things like JTD oil cooler, mare turbo intake manifold, coupe 20vt turbo and such like. Using mainly brand new parts made his build rather expensive and in the end he didn't get it running as he couldn't find anyone with the Fiat Examiner to get it up and running.

It would probably be easier to swap in the 20vt engine. You should be able to use the 20vt engine mounts. Don't know if the driveshafts would fit but you might want to fit a pair of brembos off the 20vt as well. I've heard of people tuning the 20vt up to 400 odd bhp still running the standard bottom end so I don't think you would have any issues if you got it to run in standard trim.

Basically it should fit in there fine as they are both pretty much the same engine, you'll need to find space behind the bumper for the intercooler and oil cooler and surplus oil/ intercooler plumbing. Think if you got it working - you could eventually have a 300+ bhp Stilo at your disposal!

Thats basically what I wanted to know: whether the 2.0 turbo and the 2.4 are the same block. So that it will fit on the selespeed gearbox without much modifications.

Ofcourse: going from 170 bhp to 220+ will require some upgrades to the clutch and brakes. Other than that its not my intension to fuss around with the electronics at all. So I think when you install the complete original 2.0 turbo block inside the stilo: will it work immediately or will it need to be reprogrammed/chiptuned/remapped/soldering etc....?

Perhaps the selespeed already is not suitable for the extra power of the turbo engine?

Some links to websites of people already did the conversion might come in handy though. There is not much on the web to find honestly.

Thanks.

Ahh so you've got the selespeed? Not sure how that would fit to the 20vt block, I'll take a gander on eper and check it out. Yes you could be right in that the selespeed box may not handle the torque and higher output engine.

If I were you I'd swap the entire engine/ gearbox assembly over to your Stilo. It wouldn't involve too much work to remove the selespeed system and convert to manual. Your body computer might not like it though and give you warnings, but it might well be possible to bypass or delete the selespeed off it using the Fiat Examiner or similar.

Electronics wise; again as they are similar engines the sensors should fit in place, don't know if the 20vt has any extra sensors/ wiring but I doubt it. It should work off the abarth ecu but would need a remap to take in the new air/ fuel increase.

I'll get on eper and check out the headboard and a few other things

Yesterday I heard that the conversion to 2.0 turbo is a though job because the engine on it's own is very difficult to find. It's like a needle in a haystack.

Furthermore: the 2.0 turbo engine has the same weaknesses as the 2.4 abarth engine. As the expert said: all the 5 cylinders are problem engines of fiat.

So if i found one, probably it's a dead engine (crank!).It would need a complete overhauling, stressing my budget.

Basically: I have no choice than to put my money on the 2.4 engine repair. :worship:

But you never know when I bump into a turbo block! We will see....:yum:

Really, i have had 3 5 cyl 20v in the last 8 years one after the other, and never had any problems with them at all, and i have run qtr mile after qtr mile, and never had a n issue with them at all, ok i changed the oil every 5k but that is all i did.

could you not buy a coupe complete, and then you would ave all the wiring loom too, would make the job so much easier, and t hen you could sell the coupe parts and probably re coup most of your money.... Just throwing some ideas around

I would second Rat20v's post, the engine is obviously capable of lasting a long time and being ragged about too, what it probably comes does to is it's sensitivity to changes in the oil, but I don't know I've never owned the 5 pot

To find an engine on it's own may be hard but there are quite a few coupes on the road, and having the complete car would pretty much hand you everything on a plate that you need. But would you rather have a 20vt coupe or a unique 20vt Stilo?

If you go ahead with the conversion, just make sure - whether it's the car or engine you pick up - that it's backed up with good service history i.e oil changes!

And I third that comment the 20v is a strong unit so long as you keep an eye on the oil level then they will be fine

Well I did a bit of searching about and comparing on eper bloodiron and it appears as though the coupe 20vt and Stilo 2.4 selespeed share the same gearbox casing. One thing that seemed to differ was the design around the crank where the flywheel would bolt on, they seem to look different but not sure if it would hamper fitting the 20vt to your selespeed box, though the mounting points line up you may need to fit the coupes clutch and flywheel. That may not be a bad thing right enough as you would be safe in the knowlege that it would handle the power output just to give you a heads up

I received the bearings for the crank today. So i'm going to make my hands dirty this evening. Let's see if i'm going to need to do the conversion yes or no....



I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the usefull info.

It's aliiivvveeeee!!!!



But I still didnt rev it higher than 2500rpm. I need to take it easy the first 1000km. Else I might break the engine again....I think?

I've put 5w40 from Agip in the engine. The oil pressure drops to one block when the engine is hot, is that normal?

Tomorrow I will start driving the car again. lets see how long it will last.

For now: turbo conversion is on hold.