Tuning 700cc of Brutality

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Tuning 700cc of Brutality

Hutbed

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I was going to do it right and build it myself. I wanted the experience and I had even bought the project 126A1 engine to start with. But then I received a message- an engine I had looked at 3 months prior was price lowered. And then I haggled it even lower still, to where it would cost several hundred euros less to buy this than build my own. Ladies and gentleman, I present my new engine. Im still learning about the build. The seller seems to have acquired it from the passing of the enthusiast, who left him a pristine 500L with the same engine plus this second identical engine. The only info I have so far is that it uses a Dellorto DHLA 40 carb into a Panda head feeding 700cc with 32/34 valves and 45/75 cam. He ran it for me (sitting in the garage connected to batt, coil, and fuel). It started immediately. After a brief warm up, he revved it *in a spirited fashion* and it was absolutely BRUTAL. The idle after was deep and powerful sounding. I will be swapping it in Monday with help from friends. My car has the 126 synchro gearbox and the stronger axles already, along with sport suspension and electronic ignition which will be transferred to the new engine. I will provide pics of the process. :)
 

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That is one wicked looking engine Andrew! Looking at the ignition side of the engine, you might find that with that exhaust (which looks like an 'Abarth' copy) you will have to fit the 126 shrouding if you want to get any heat from the engine into the cabin. It looks as if the tubing from the car would want to go right through the rear exhaust down-pipe.
 
Tom, not a problem! I can utilize the shroud from the 126A1 engine I bought. SOOO excited to get this installed!
 
[FONT=&quot]Congratulations with the new engine, it looks very nice. I bought a similar engine last year (although I was only looking for an unspoiled 500cc head) with 800cc. The creator was moving out of the hobby and clearing his inventory and I could not resist buying it. He built it about 15 years ago as a project together with his kids to see how large they could go. When his kids then started abusing the power he removed it from the car and put it away, so it has seen very little miles. Compared to the 650cc it replaced the extra torque and lower exhaust sound is most noticeable. Mine is more a "easy-coaster", no fast cam, which is good since it powers an unmodified L so brakes are so-so anyway.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I did have to set the idle higher than the engine itself requires since it's very low idling causes some self-resonance that makes it shake like a drunken laundry drier in the motor mounts.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Currently my heating is indeed not connected because of the exhaust tube and the choke cable is not connected since the standard cable is too short. All easily fixable, but it also drives fine as-is [/FONT]
 
Tom, not a problem! I can utilize the shroud from the 126A1 engine I bought. SOOO excited to get this installed!

Well done Andrew, it's a nice looking engine. You may find that you need an oil cooler at some stage (y)(y)
Is there any chance of posting a pic that is taken looking directly at the rear and front of the engine (not down at it) as I would like to see the detail of the fan housing and thermostat housing and how they are fitted ????
Ian.
 
Ian, of course. If I remember I will take them in the morning before work. If I forget, I will be taking many pictures before the install Monday for sure.
 
Ian, here you go. Just let me know, anyone, if you'd like another specific picture. The last pic- I'm not yet sure what the notch is for, but I'm sure I'll figure out during the install.
 

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Attached a picture of my little power plant. It is in no way as shiny or nice as your 700cc :)

It complements nicely with the rest of the car; no work of perfection but it runs well and is a lot of fun (y)
 

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Thanks, but it was just a "right place, right time" thing for me. I am a bit sad I can't take credit for the build or have that pride, but I'll probably feel just fine when I push the throttle. Haha
 
Thanks, but it was just a "right place, right time" thing for me. I am a bit sad I can't take credit for the build or have that pride, but I'll probably feel just fine when I push the throttle. Haha

Andrew, the cut out in the tinware join is probably for clearance of the rear engine mount it looks like the wriggle room needed to fit the spring and the mount onto the engine studs is tight - you will find out anyway. Thanks for the pics too.
Ian.
 

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I agree with Ian---it is to give you a bit more 'wriggle room' for fitting the rear engine mount. May I also suggest that you check that the fuel line up from the fuel-pump is of the correct type and that you fit a proper fuel-pipe clip/clamp on it---might be worthwhile replacing the jubilee clip on the 'in' pipe with a proper fuel-clip/clamp.
 
The standard '126' engine has a capacity of 4.5 (imperial) pints--2.6 litres. Looking at the pictures of your new engine I would reckon that you have a 4 litre sump--almost a 50% increase in sump capacity. Being that the normal 126 runs perfectly OK, even in the heat of an Italian summer, I would suggest that you try the engine before you get involved in all the extra work required to fit an external oil cooler. I don't think that you will need it.
 
Ian, here you go. Just let me know, anyone, if you'd like another specific picture. The last pic- I'm not yet sure what the notch is for, but I'm sure I'll figure out during the install.

some guys have all the luck.

very nice find indeed.

great pics too.
 
Having recently fitted oil temp gauge to Valentina and running a 4l sump. I can confirm that the cooling of the engine is pretty good. Driving in high heat yesterday down sarf, I observed max 85c and once on the move at speed in 4th gear, this decreased to late 60's. The cooling works well (y)
R
 
some guys have all the luck.

It's funny you would say that... yesterday my only other car here in Sicily hit a pothole and cracked open the oil pan. :/ The world balances itself. Haha
 
Took about 35 minutes to pull the engine yesterday with help from my neighbor. That's when I realized this was going to be a lot more work than I thought. I had totally forgotten that although my gearbox is *internally* a 126 gearbox, it is in a 500 case... and therefore does not mate to the new engine. Luckily, when I previously purchased the 126A1 engine I planned to build up, I also decided to buy it's matching transmission just to have a spare. Stopped for the day yesterday after removing the shafts from the trans I was using, resuming soon today at installing them to the 126 trans and hopefully smooth sailing for reassembly.
 

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Had a number of dilemmas, the last of which is something wrong with the gearbox. When I run the engine in neutral, all is well. If I put it in gear, any gear, it makes loud gear noise and has a substantial amount of resistance, it will stall the engine without some throttle applied even though the wheels are lifted off the ground and spin freely by hand in neutral. I can't continue on it today, and any insight would be much appreciated. I've posted a video of it to my YouTube channel, here is the link:
[ame]https://youtu.be/LinSDBFNm8Q[/ame]
 
To clarify- it does not have resistance to the idle or make any noise while the clutch is pressed.
 
Had a number of dilemmas, the last of which is something wrong with the gearbox. When I run the engine in neutral, all is well. If I put it in gear, any gear, it makes loud gear noise and has a substantial amount of resistance, it will stall the engine without some throttle applied even though the wheels are lifted off the ground and spin freely by hand in neutral. I can't continue on it today, and any insight would be much appreciated. I've posted a video of it to my YouTube channel, here is the link:
https://youtu.be/LinSDBFNm8Q
Diff bearings too tight?
 
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