Right, missus has managed to cook the new Punto I got her, 1.1 55 SX on an M plate.

Can I just stick in a 1.2 8v from an R plate Punto? Will the 1.1 management from her car be sufficient to run the 1.2?

Reason I ask is because I think the R reg Punto has a coded key, and I really can't be arsed plumbing all that in, I just want to swap engines and get her on the road ASAP.

Well, no-one ever did answer me, so I went ahead and gave it a go.

Removed cooked 1.1 SPi, then removed 1.2 SPi, swapped engine loom from 1.1 to 1.2, put engine into her Punto..... started first time

Only issue is the heating. Leave the car to sit there and it gets nice and toasty, but go out on a drive and the car quickly cools down, temperature gauge drops to the bottom of the scale and the 'heat' from the blower is vaguely warm.

Is there a special bleed procedure for Puntos?

nice one buddy hows was it and how did she cooked the engin lol
glad you got an engin tho

I'm a Vauxhall man normally, first time with a Fiat, and I have to say it wasn't too stressful, other than putting the engine back on the box, took about ten minutes of haggling to get the damn thing on.

Water pump on the original 1.1 was leaky, and was going to replace it as well as the cambelt and tensioner, but the water pump decided to let go big time before I could do it, missus carried on driving until it conked out!

Shes only had it since Saturday!!

Had a pair of R reg Puntos, so the crap one of the pair donated its engine, and the box will now go into the other R reg Punto, so some goods come out of it!

Not difficult, just time consuming.

the temperature dropping when moving is caused by a thermostat jammed open, mine used to do that, i just replaced it on monday and runs at normal temperature now

the radiator and fan switch are identicle from 1.1 to 1.2
so i would say anything heating wie is up to your bleeding technique or the engine itself

thermostat is a good place to start

do you realise you have to inform your insurer and the dvla to the swap that you have just undergone or you are no longer insured and the vehicle details are wrong

there are some heafty fines for that lot

littlepip17 said:

the radiator and fan switch are identicle from 1.1 to 1.2
so i would say anything heating wie is up to your bleeding technique or the engine itself

thermostat is a good place to start

do you realise you have to inform your insurer and the dvla to the swap that you have just undergone or you are no longer insured and the vehicle details are wrong

there are some heafty fines for that lot

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It was the thermostat, figured it out before the message above, now works a treat.

As for informing an insurer, I couldn't give a rats arse. Firstly, the engines are identical looking, they'd have to prove that I did it during my ownership and wasn't already in there when I bought it, and if I or the missus did crash it, I hardly think an M reg Punto is going to merit a lookover from an Insurance inspector!

I only worry about those details on SERIOUS engine changes, like my 3.0 24v V6 Astra that was a 1.6 16v, thats one the insurance know about

As for the Punto, I'll sleep soundly thanks

Galahad said:

It was the thermostat, figured it out before the message above, now works a treat.

As for informing an insurer, I couldn't give a rats arse. Firstly, the engines are identical looking, they'd have to prove that I did it during my ownership and wasn't already in there when I bought it, and if I or the missus did crash it, I hardly think an M reg Punto is going to merit a lookover from an Insurance inspector!

I only worry about those details on SERIOUS engine changes, like my 3.0 24v V6 Astra that was a 1.6 16v, thats one the insurance know about

As for the Punto, I'll sleep soundly thanks

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depends what you hit

and it is very easy to identify an engine on these cars the engine number is also stamped on the chassis plate

yeh tbh its not you were worried about. its the guy you hit and seriously injure and then doesnt get his compo cos your not insured.

Xen said:

yeh tbh its not you were worried about. its the guy you hit and seriously injure and then doesnt get his compo cos your not insured.

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even simple things like alloys and exhausts invalidate your insurance if you don't declare

anyway when it comes round to mot time if the tester happens to check your engine number and finds that it is different he will simply make the necessary changes on the dvla computer

the insurer will then check your car details on dvla next time it's up for renual and find that you have been defrauding them for such and such a time how ether long it's been

any wonder insurance is so expensive these days

Galahad said:

like my 3.0 24v V6 Astra that was a 1.6 16v, thats one the insurance know about

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Now that's interesting! simply as i as compleatly custom rebuilt a 3.2 24V V6 and put it in my V6 Cavailer!!


What are you getting from yours? i'm at over 300bhp on the RR at 9200 rpm but have spent well over £30K on the engine

littlepip17 said:

even simple things like alloys and exhausts invalidate your insurance if you don't declare

anyway when it comes round to mot time if the tester happens to check your engine number and finds that it is different he will simply make the necessary changes on the dvla computer

the insurer will then check your car details on dvla next time it's up for renual and find that you have been defrauding them for such and such a time how ether long it's been

any wonder insurance is so expensive these days

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For a start you are seriously misinformed!

An MOT tester does NOT at ANY time inform DVLA of anything!

The only reason an MOT tester would need to know what engine was in there is to ensure that the emissions testing gear has the correct map for the right engine, and the engine size would go onto the MOT certificate, but other than notifying DVLA, well thats simply not in their remit.

You also have this big hangup about this engine change, we are talking about a 1.1-1.2 engine, and regardless of what the chassis number says, I refer you AGAIN to what I wrote........ that an insurance company would have to PROVE that I was aware it was a 1.2 and not a 1.1, they would have to PROVE that I converted it if they reasonably suspected I had done so, and in either case, they wouldn't be able to prove it.

Theres a world of difference between going from a 1.1 to a 1.6 16v where you couldn't REASONABLY expect to claim you didn't know, but whereas the 1.1 and 1.2 externally look the same, and run on the same 1.1 management, I think you're being slightly over cautious.

And thanks for the 'lesson' on how insurance works with alloys, and all the rest of the stuff that needs to be declared, I'm well aware of that, ta!

And as for defrauding an insurance company, again, they'd have to prove it, which they couldn't.

The only people that change information on the DVLA computer are DVLA, MOT testers don't change a thing!

allanhelen said:

Now that's interesting! simply as i as compleatly custom rebuilt a 3.2 24V V6 and put it in my V6 Cavailer!!


What are you getting from yours? i'm at over 300bhp on the RR at 9200 rpm but have spent well over £30K on the engine

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Its just as is at the moment, probably running about 220BHP.

I've got a 3.2 V6 as well, waiting for a nice-ish project Cavalier GSi to stick it into though

Xen said:

yeh tbh its not you were worried about. its the guy you hit and seriously injure and then doesnt get his compo cos your not insured.

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Yeah, because the 'power' step up from a 1.1 to a 1.2 is so huge, that the missus will struggle to keep all that power down!

Get real mate, if she hit a cyclist in her Punto, the Punto would come of worse, the cyclist would be lucky to get a scratch, its not one of the lowest scoring cars in Euro NCAP for nothing!

littlepip17 said:

depends what you hit

and it is very easy to identify an engine on these cars the engine number is also stamped on the chassis plate

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Doesn't matter how many times its stamped on the car, an insurance company still wouldn't be able to prove I knew it was a different CC.

End of.

any way doesn't matter if the insurer can prove you did the conversion or not

at the end of the day either way the car is not insured

it's up to the owner to make sure what they are insuring is correct

so basically no matter how many if's or but's they wont pay out

so after an accident the owner of the 50k mirk that has a concussion for example wont be very happy at all

i just cant get my head round your attitude to all this

your openly admitting on a public forum you intend to run a car after you have been inform that you will not be insured no matter how many excuses you make

and a both all that it's your wife's car so your prepared to let her take the rap for it

how hard can it be to just inform the insurer it's a 1.2 they wont charge much extra for that anyway

but if your prepared to do that it's your choice


just don't drive anywhere near me with it

ditto. i have to agree on this one... this is the sort of thing that pushes other peoples premiums up.

Galahad said:

Yeah, because the 'power' step up from a 1.1 to a 1.2 is so huge, that the missus will struggle to keep all that power down!

Get real mate, if she hit a cyclist in her Punto, the Punto would come of worse, the cyclist would be lucky to get a scratch, its not one of the lowest scoring cars in Euro NCAP for nothing!

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so your saying if you hit a pedestrian at 40mph in a 900kg car, they wont be injured? "get real mate."

Insurance company don't have to PROVE anything. The onus is on you as the owner and keeper of the vehicle to insure that the details on your insurance policy match that of your vehicle. There is no element of proof involved.
If your involved in a serious accident and vehicle is seized by the police, then they wont just look at the engine and say "looks like a 1.1 to me" a full forensic examination of the vehicle will be done. this will include checking engine numbers against records etc.

But as littlepip says, if your prepared to drive with void insurance then its your choice.

Alan