Tuning Fiat Fire - Turbo Conversion

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Tuning Fiat Fire - Turbo Conversion

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Mar 20, 2011
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So I'm Basically uploading this post as a general guide on how to convert a FIRE engine to a turbo unit.
My experience is with a 1242cc Punto 75 unit. The reason for choosing this engine was in the fact that it has the best flowing head and cams of all the older FIRE engines. This block also has under crown piston coolers which help dissipate heat from the pistons when turbocharging.

The P75 unit also comes with direct port multipoint injection and a larger throttle body which is once again ideal for what is to come aka turbo. These general guidelines can also be applied to the other fire family engines but lower gains are to be expected.

First and foremost before starting to turbocharge anything get your engine re built, which basically means:

Full gasket set, all oil seals, rings plugs that you can think of
New water pump, timing belt, tensioner and thermostat
New head bolts
New big end bearings and main bearings
Ideally get the 16V pistons with new rings this will lower your compression to 8:1.... this is a must if you plan to run anything higher than 5psi... but there have been individuals known to run 8 psi with no problems.... my line of thought is why risk it.....

At this stage whilst you have the engine out it might be a good idea to trade for a 16V flywheel with an uprated 190mm clutch....bottom line at 7 psi boost my new 170mm standard clutch started to slip... so if you don't think about this now you'll learn the hard way....

So at this point you've rebuilt the engine, threw in a new clutch and you've got it running again....you'll notice that the lower compression robbed you of some of the grunt .... this is to be expected as you will need to advance your off boost timing by at least 5 degrees to compensate.... but more on how to do this later.

Now we will need to start preparing for our turbo installation..... Fit a thermostatically controlled oil cooler and a bigger rad.... optimum cooling is key.... you dont want going beyond 90-95deg on the water temperature and past 100deg on the oil.... ideally a hair under 90 is optimum for both....

Now you can start preparing your actual turbo kit...a standard manifold or custom one will be needed to fit your turbo.... I've fitted a garrett gt15 which performs well and has minimal lag.... make sure ur oil drain is at least 13mm and is lower than the turbo but higher than the oil level.... yes u'll need to take off the oil pan and drill it to fit ur drain point. The turbo oil feed will need to be restricted.... the pump pressure is too high... aim for 1.2 bar at idle and 4.5 bar max when revving.... ideally fit a gauge and a valve to be able to adjust the turbo feed pressure.... you can tap ur pressure fitting off the oil pressure switch or the top blank near the oil filter.... threads are m14 and M22 respectively if i'm not mistaken.....

So once your turbo is in you will need to adapt the exhaust and fabricate the boost piping and plenum, this will require significant custom work but its quite straight forward....an intercooler would be a wise investment....

Fuelling is key with a turbo application, at this stage you will need a pressure regulator to raise the standard 2.5 bar fuel pressure to 3.5bar this will enable ur injectors to flow a bit extra, a wideband lambda sensor is also a very useful tool at this stage....

The electronics will need an upgrade as well, the standard ecu will need a piggyback of some sort to make it see the boost pressure... I used the ecumaster DET 3 its fantastic and gives you all the flexibility that you will need without breaking the bank....

From this point on I will let the photos speak for themselves.... feel free to ask if you need help....I will try my best to answer within this thread...
 

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The 1368 is harder to find and expensive to buy.... That was the main issue...I assume ur talking about the T-jet version running 120 or 155 hp...

The manifold from 16v engines are incompatible with 8v heads the ports are different. Regarding the turbo yes an IHI would have been OK but this one was available complete with manifold so I just bought it since it was the right size anyway
 
What is the advantage of the 8v over the 16v? Does the 8v head really flow better?
 
The 16v flows better but is much heavier, and more complicated with the cons exceeding the pros by far... The additional weight and complexity does not make up for the mere 5 hp gain in aspirated form...

In short the p75 head is the best all rounder....at least IMO
 
Wow, thank You for the photos and info, i make a Panda mk2 1.2 turbo, and your post Can help me!
I'm so Sorry for my bad english, i write from Italy [emoji16]
This forum is phenomenal!
 
Cavolo, che fortuna qualcuno che parla italiano [emoji16] se posso chiederti, per gestire la sovralimentazione, quale centralina posso usare? Sono indeciso se acquistare una aggiuntiva ecumaster det 3, oppure passare ad una standalone [emoji53]
Grazie in anticipo per il tuo tempo!
 
for my opinion Turbo engine is not the answer. try 1.4 MPI Engine complete with Transmission & Clutch it will fit engine bay as well no need to upgrade to Turbo Fuel Tank ..


you can either install external fuel pump which will work fine or just get a Punto fuel injection fuel tank full set with fuel pump change the all hose & clips


advantages 1.4 MPI engine is much powerful than the turbo engine
as well in future you can get the turbo kit & Install it on your 1.4 MPI Engine instead
















So I'm Basically uploading this post as a general guide on how to convert a FIRE engine to a turbo unit.
My experience is with a 1242cc Punto 75 unit. The reason for choosing this engine was in the fact that it has the best flowing head and cams of all the older FIRE engines. This block also has under crown piston coolers which help dissipate heat from the pistons when turbocharging.

The P75 unit also comes with direct port multipoint injection and a larger throttle body which is once again ideal for what is to come aka turbo. These general guidelines can also be applied to the other fire family engines but lower gains are to be expected.

First and foremost before starting to turbocharge anything get your engine re built, which basically means:

Full gasket set, all oil seals, rings plugs that you can think of
New water pump, timing belt, tensioner and thermostat
New head bolts
New big end bearings and main bearings
Ideally get the 16V pistons with new rings this will lower your compression to 8:1.... this is a must if you plan to run anything higher than 5psi... but there have been individuals known to run 8 psi with no problems.... my line of thought is why risk it.....

At this stage whilst you have the engine out it might be a good idea to trade for a 16V flywheel with an uprated 190mm clutch....bottom line at 7 psi boost my new 170mm standard clutch started to slip... so if you don't think about this now you'll learn the hard way....

So at this point you've rebuilt the engine, threw in a new clutch and you've got it running again....you'll notice that the lower compression robbed you of some of the grunt .... this is to be expected as you will need to advance your off boost timing by at least 5 degrees to compensate.... but more on how to do this later.

Now we will need to start preparing for our turbo installation..... Fit a thermostatically controlled oil cooler and a bigger rad.... optimum cooling is key.... you dont want going beyond 90-95deg on the water temperature and past 100deg on the oil.... ideally a hair under 90 is optimum for both....

Now you can start preparing your actual turbo kit...a standard manifold or custom one will be needed to fit your turbo.... I've fitted a garrett gt15 which performs well and has minimal lag.... make sure ur oil drain is at least 13mm and is lower than the turbo but higher than the oil level.... yes u'll need to take off the oil pan and drill it to fit ur drain point. The turbo oil feed will need to be restricted.... the pump pressure is too high... aim for 1.2 bar at idle and 4.5 bar max when revving.... ideally fit a gauge and a valve to be able to adjust the turbo feed pressure.... you can tap ur pressure fitting off the oil pressure switch or the top blank near the oil filter.... threads are m14 and M22 respectively if i'm not mistaken.....

So once your turbo is in you will need to adapt the exhaust and fabricate the boost piping and plenum, this will require significant custom work but its quite straight forward....an intercooler would be a wise investment....

Fuelling is key with a turbo application, at this stage you will need a pressure regulator to raise the standard 2.5 bar fuel pressure to 3.5bar this will enable ur injectors to flow a bit extra, a wideband lambda sensor is also a very useful tool at this stage....

The electronics will need an upgrade as well, the standard ecu will need a piggyback of some sort to make it see the boost pressure... I used the ecumaster DET 3 its fantastic and gives you all the flexibility that you will need without breaking the bank....

From this point on I will let the photos speak for themselves.... feel free to ask if you need help....I will try my best to answer within this thread...
 
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