Hi, I've got an Uno 45 (999cc fire engine), and I need excuses to tinker with it A friend of mine (who specializes in 205 GTis and Hillman Imps) suggested new air filters/induction kit, and at least cleaning the jets on the carb. Has anyone else got any ideas? This is my first car, and I'd love to be able to get a little more power out of it. Also, where would I get the stuff from? I doubt my local fiat vendor would stock that sort of thing...

... Also, last but not least, I've heard that you can fit the carb from the later 1.4l unos onto the fire engines? I've asked around a bit because it sounded a bit dodgy

Thanks,

Matt

Hi Matt,

There's not a lot available for the FIRE engine to really increase the power unfortunately.

However, check out smokeme's website, as he's produced excellent results by turbo charging it.

http://smokeme.coconia.net/index.htm

Other than that, you're fairly limited to induction kits and exhausts, though don't expect much of an increase in power from either.

Apparently fitting the Panda 4x4 camshaft will liberate an extra 5hp! I haven't tried this myself, but the power figure for the 4x4 Panda is 50bhp from the 999cc FIRE compared with the standard 45hp from all other Uno/ Panda 999cc engines.

The 1.3 twin choke carburetor will NOT fit the FIRE manifold. The flanges are totally different - the FIRE uses a two bolt circular fixing whereas the non FIRE ohc uses a four bolt square flange. It might be possible to have an adaptor made, but bear in mind you will also need a new throttle cable bracket as the twin choke carb uses a different layout.

The easiest way to increase the power is to fit the 1108cc FIRE engine from an early carburetor mk 2 Uno 60. And if you were to convert to injection you could then fit the 1242cc SPI Punto engine.

Or buy a rotten turbo and swap over the turbo engine and suspension and you'll have a real road burner!

But a simple swap to a free flow air filter is a start, as is making sure the engine is in a good state of tune (timing, ignition system/ wires, spark plugs etc.) Cleaning out the carburetor is not likely to increase power unless it is very dirty, but will help make it work at 100% efficiency. It's still worth doing though, and while you're at it you might as well buy a rebuild kit and change all the gaskets and diaphragms etc. It's a simple carb to work on so there are no real problems when doing this.

If you manage to find an easy power increase then let me know because I'd love to get more out of mine!

Chas

Thanks for that
I thought the carb thing sounded dodgy, so I thought I'd ask around...
As far as getting more power out of it, I wasn't expecting much, and I don't think I could afford to turbo it... But I can always slap a few go faster stripes on and pretend, lol.

Thanks for your help though - I think my first task will be to look at fitting a small(er) bore exhaust, I think this would give better back pressure (a little)... Anyway, thanks again

or approach it from another angle, you have a set amount of power in a standard bodyshell, lose some weight! if you're not too fussed about the niceties, rip out the majority of the interior, go bare and racer! i know it's light weight but even in the turbo's, dunc (i think) was looking to strip out a bucket load to lighten the load

Forced induction is not the only way to get power from these engines, it's my way to do it.

There are many ways to tune the 999cc fire carb.
-Punto 75 cam or reprofiled Punto 60 cam- i tested this and it showed around 15hp gain , make sure to check shims though
-Ported head-will increase top end dramatically and leave bottom end where it is
-cold air intake- should give around 5hp or more
-exhaust-like all cars a better exhaust will give a little more power maybe 2-3hp
-header- this should give a bit of power too
-advance timing

with these mods you should reach ~70hp, i admit it would be cheaper to swap a 1242 and have that power but the insure may complain

Smokeme, That's some excellent information!

A few questions:

Would swapping in a Punto 75 camshaft liberate power without changing anything else?

On the 999cc carb engine, would the carburetor be able to flow more air/ fuel as it is, or would it need rejetting? Or is it necessary to swap to a different carburetor setup?

What do you recommend about the exhaust? A complete new system?

And how much does the head need porting to show gains?

Hope you can supply some answers!

Thanks again for your information.

Chas

Would the Punto 75 cam be a good mod for the 1108cc engine?

I guess it would as the only difference I can find in its written spec is the stroke length?

The Punto 75 will fit 999/1108/1242 8V engines carb/SPI/MPI
I have not tested on the 768cc yet but will do soon.
The valves will need reshiming to specs.

Instead of porting the stock head i would recomend swapind a 1108 or 1242 Punto 60 head and fitting the existing manifold on it, the 1.1/1.2 heads have bigger intake valves and this alone will give a performance increase. Mild porting should bring about a good increase in top end.

The stock carb is good to 120-150hp with rejetting but it should flow more fuel as it is since porting the head increases volumetric efficiency of the engine so the intake vacuum produced will be greater.

These engines can produce around 100hp in NA form will a lot of time and MONEY but i don't think they will have lots of torque.

A friend of mine is maxing out a NA 999 to see it's limits like i did for the turbo with stock internals. We already know the internals are good to at least 150hp but only rev to 8000 before the main bearings go, if anyone knows a better bearing that would fit. I'm using a bearing meant for a Honda but it was oversize and required machining the block.

Hi Smokeme,

Thanks again for the excellent information.

I'm considering doing some upgrades on my Uno, my main criteria is to gain a little bit more power without spending a lot of money. So I'm not looking at getting 100 horsepower, rather more like 60.

On my bog standard 999cc with a carburetor, no modifications from standard, what I'd like to know is:

1. Fitting a Punto 75 camshaft to the standard 999cc head. What kind of power increase could I expect?

2. Fitting a Punto 75 head and camshaft to my 999cc block. Again, how much power would I be looking at?

3. With some porting/ gasflowing of the 75 head, how much more power over the standard 75 head would I be looking at?

4. With the Punto head, will the 999cc inlet and exhaust manifolds bolt straight up without modifications?

5. Isn't the Punto 75 head MPI rather than SPI? Does that mean it has injector holes to blank off?

I'm not looking to make a road burner, more just get some more power without losing too much torque in the process. Also, I'm looking to do it as cheaply as possible!

Hope you can offer some more excellent advice and help my Uno burn a little more rubber ;-)

Thanks again.

Chas

1986Uno45S said:

Hi Smokeme,

Thanks again for the excellent information.

I'm considering doing some upgrades on my Uno, my main criteria is to gain a little bit more power without spending a lot of money. So I'm not looking at getting 100 horsepower, rather more like 60.

On my bog standard 999cc with a carburetor, no modifications from standard, what I'd like to know is:

1. Fitting a Punto 75 camshaft to the standard 999cc head. What kind of power increase could I expect?

2. Fitting a Punto 75 head and camshaft to my 999cc block. Again, how much power would I be looking at?

3. With some porting/ gasflowing of the 75 head, how much more power over the standard 75 head would I be looking at?

4. With the Punto head, will the 999cc inlet and exhaust manifolds bolt straight up without modifications?

5. Isn't the Punto 75 head MPI rather than SPI? Does that mean it has injector holes to blank off?

I'm not looking to make a road burner, more just get some more power without losing too much torque in the process. Also, I'm looking to do it as cheaply as possible!

Hope you can offer some more excellent advice and help my Uno burn a little more rubber ;-)

Thanks again.

Chas

Click to expand...

First off the punto 75 cam won't support the machanical pump on the carb engines without mods (the pump won't support more flow anyway).

1.15hp as measured on my dyno
2.punto 75 is MPI, it would be better to swap a 1108 or 1242 SPI head which has bigger valves then the 999cc but smaller then the punto 75
3.the stock punto 75 head will flow enough air to make 250hp, porting will make it easier to get that air
4.the exhaust manifold will bolt to any 8V fire head but the intake will only bolt to SPI heads
5.no it's the intake connection that's different, est option is to use an SPI head off the 1.1/1.2 (the intake valves are 1mm smaller )

hope this helps

Hey smokeme,

what pulley do you recommend to advance the timing?

thanks