I should really learn to clean up after myself.

That's my rust removing drill attachment stuck into the tyre.

Luckily the tyres only flat at the bottom.


Also Alfa is busy doing Alfa things:

That's the oil cooler. Having a ponder what to do here...

It's got an oil cooler?! Where does that live?

Is it dropping new oil, or look like the leak's been there for a while?

As for the new springs and dampers, I only fitted boggo Bilstein stuff, but if yours is anything like mine, the ride will improve and the stance settle over the first 1k miles or so. Mine looked like it was on stilts when I first got it back on the road.

The 147 has got a rather wacky double wishbone set up at the front? The top wishbone is really jammed in. It looks as though AR decided to fit it in the space intended for a conventional McPherson strut install. Would be interesting to see if it could be made to fit a Multipla

It's got what we call at work a modene. It sandwiches between the oil filter and engine and diverts oil off to this cooler which is infront of the drivers side front wheel. No idea why a 147 needs it and a Multipla doesn't, sump capacity may be?

It looks to be fresh oil (well its jet black like every other dizzle burner) but I'm monitoring the oil level and i think its a weep not a gush.

I haven't got up close & personal with the Alfa yet but will try to take pics sometime. A Multipla with handling like a 147 would be something special indeed!

The Multipla suspension packaging is very tight over the front wheels. Both the spring pan and the strut are pretty close to the tyre. I think it was one of the first cars to get springs mounted eccentrically to the strut, which was cutting edge at the time.

As it's a space frame construction there is some wiggle room to be had, if one got inventive with a bit of tin bashing. It's a lot easier to see what's what with the wings unbolted.

@shedenvy - just out of curiosity, can you measure the distance between the strut tops for both the AR 147 and the Multipla? Also, if you can, an idea of the width of the engine bay for both, measured between the inner wings, at or about the line of the struts/springs, and the height from the top of the strut mounts down to the drive shaft (wheels on the ground)?

widemouthfrog said:

@shedenvy - just out of curiosity, can you measure the distance between the strut tops for both the AR 147 and the Multipla? Also, if you can, an idea of the width of the engine bay for both, measured between the inner wings, at or about the line of the struts/springs, and the height from the top of the strut mounts down to the drive shaft (wheels on the ground)?

Click to expand...

Will do WMF, on holiday in Norfolk though at the moment. Saw another blue Multipla like mine today between Cromer and Holt. Unfortunately I was in the Eggs-Type. [emoji20]

Nice job you're doing.
BTW how do you post pictures AND text together?
You got some alchemy going on in there?
George

Oletimer
On mobile version I type some text and then tap the + button to add photos add files.



Then tap in the text where you want the pic to be and tap the uploaded image.



Tap insert line option and then carry on typing. Or type it all first and then upload all your pics and then insert them in the right places. If you dont insert into the text it just dumps them all at the end of the post in the upload order.

WMF: i haven't forgotten your request, I even have the tape measure in the Alfa today...

Multi timing tools arriving today so I'm going to try and start the timing belt / water pump over the weekend.

widemouthfrog

Right here is the Alfa:
1000mm between strut tops (Yellow)
900mm width of engine bay (Green)
560mm from the strut top face to the driveshaft centre (wheels on ground) (Blue)

Multi to follow.

I think it'd be useful to know the diff centre line to the bell-housing / block face too so that people could work out how difficult the 6 spd swap would be. I'll try to photograph the gearbox mounts for comparison too.

shedenvy said:

widemouthfrog

Right here is the Alfa:
1000mm between strut tops (Yellow)
900mm width of engine bay (Green)
560mm from the strut top face to the driveshaft centre (wheels on ground)

Click to expand...

Same dimensions on the Multipla (approx):
1150mm
930mm
550mm
Respectively.

So, will it fit in the hole? Yes.

Given the generous width perhaps the 2.4jtd is worth considering! [emoji41]

No seriously though i'm not going to do this swap. This particular Alfa may make a good donor because it's an ex CAT D, rough and rusty around all the edges and it needs a new clutch so the box has to come out anyway. I think the Polish legends were alluding to the point that the 147 must have a BCM. To do this swap *easily, you must have to basically re-shell the alfa with the Multipla anything else would require some Jedi level of Auto electrickery. Perhaps thats why they use the 156?

The 6spd box is worth a look though if its as easy as mix and matching the driveshafts. The engine might struggle to pull 6th without a remap though. 140ps should be possible and is plenty in the Alfa. 140ps in the Multipla would be hillarious!

The 2.4JTD is way too heavy (hell, the 1.9 is quite bad enough as it is). I reckon the 150bhp 16v is the way to go. I've been encouraged by finding out that the front track for the Multipla and the 147 are only a couple of mm different so I'm surprised that there's such a difference in the strut top centres.

I thought the Polish guy said that the ECU isn't tied up with the BCM, which makes things a lot simpler? Or was that the 156 as you mentioned, so use a 156 ECU for the 147 mechanicals!? Need to dig back through the threads.

I wonder if it would be simplest to take the whole 147 subframe, engine, 'box, wishbones, uprights etc (with the possible exception of the steering rack), graft the 147 turret tops into the Multipla and the box section that's on the back of the 'pla subframe onto the 147 one? Are you certain those dims between strut top centres are correct?

Mmmm.......

Spotted near lakeside;


WMF, yep those dimesions are correct but approximate. The Alfas strut tops are completely different and look to be pointing inwards slightly. The Multiplas are much wider apart. Perhaps I can take some more photos with a stick for scale or something - I'll have a think.

No - that's fine! I just wanted to check that there wasn't a typo.

It may have something to do with the eccentric mounting of the springs that the Multipla employs.

The 147 has funny strut tops to accommodate a casting that sits on top of the struts that provides the mount for the top wishbone.

Hi gang,

Started on the timing belt / water pump saga.

Hit a brick wall. This appears to be a t60 torx head bolt. Does it definitely need to come off to remove the top engine mount to release the belt or is there some Houdini routine I dont know about?

I found this image which suggests you do need to remove it.

From this site:
https://multiplastatus.wordpress.com/

The tool I need is apparently a M12 star bit. I'm going to have fun today trying to find one.

I forgot this site existed:
https://sites.google.com/site/fiatmultipla/Home/repairs
Absolutely excellent!

Summat that didn't make sense last night was the auto tensioner position. The correct procedure is to tension it to the max, 2 revs then set to a hole on the top of the tensioner bracket.

Photo below shows how I found mine. Looks to be on the lowest tension setting!


like my jeans during most of the job, the belt is showing lots of cracks too.

Little more progress last night. Ended up getting a T55 Torx bit and the offending top mount bolt was removed easy enough. There is no visible mark on the casing for the crank to be timed to, but the tool I bought does seem to lock it so that the cam is correctly timed. I pulled off the tensioner/idler/belt/camshaft pulley/camshaft sensor and finally the water pump after draining the coolant.



Should start putting it all back together tonight.

Looks as though the tensioner pulley pinch bolt had slackened itself off. Or wasn't tightened to torque in the first place.

At least you've now rescued it from that perilous state.

Has your new water pump got a plastic or a brass impeller?

widemouthfrog said:

Has your new water pump got a plastic or a brass impeller?

Click to expand...

Neither, it's metal but grey and cast - assume aluminium, it's made by FAI.

The one I took off is the Fiat original and plastic. To be honest it looked good but the O ring will never go back in the slot as it's expanded.

The rest of the timing kit is supposedly genuine FIAT service parts though the manufacturers are different to the ones I took off.