General 1993 Fiat Uno Turbo i.e., a few doubts

[porta]

In answer to your other questions above:

The full list for Uno Turbo models is:

146.728.2.0	1300 TURBO MPI USA'83 ANTISKID 3P
146.738.2.0	1372 TURBO MPI ANTISKID 3P
146.768.2.0	1372 TURBO MPI USA'83 ANTISKID 3P
146.788.2.0	1372 TURBO MPI ANTISKID 3P RACING
146.928.2.0	1300 TURBO MPI USA'83 3P
146.938.2.0	1372 TURBO MPI 3P
146.968.2.0	1372 TURBO MPI USA'83 3P
146.988.2.0	1372 TURBO MPI 3P RACING

Yours is the 146.968.2.0 so not the RACING so the racing decal would not apply.

The USA'83 is almost certainly an emissions homologation (cleaner).

ePER does not appear to quote a horse power rating so your only other clue is the Engine Number from you Chassis Plate and 1372cc

Your trim details are:

M	1370 USA'83	(M2)
P	3 DOORS	(P3)
Colors/Fabrics list
PAN-160	FRONT DOOR PANEL GREY MATERIAL
SED-160	GRAY CLOTH SEAT COVERS

In Leeds we had a batch of MKII uno turbos that came through with ‘racing’ badges (about 5 of them)…Fiat UK were not happy and instructed us to remove the badges and replace with Uno Turbo ie…
We were often supplied with motors that had European spec badges and a few that came over with non UK colours, including one listed as Bianco that was bright yellow, which we found out was an Eire intended vehicle

 

[s130]

Fiat had some very strange practices with models near / at the end of production which are hard to explain. Our 1988 Strada 130TC is a good example.

We first saw it as new in Caffyns Bournmouth showroom. Odly it had no Scorpion badge on the front grille and no side window deflectors. I asked the service manager were they removed during PDI and they were not. The car arrived to them direct from Bristol docks like that.

What is even odder is that to this day you can see the faint footprint of where the shields had marked/depressed the paintwork at the bottom of the quarterlight windows. So the wind deflectors were there on original factory build.

The front grille badge is hard to explain as well. I have to assume that it was never put on at the factory.

What we do know is that the 125TCs, 130TCs were built at the Abarth 38 Corso Marche, Turin factory and not at the main Strada/Ritmo Cassino factory in Piedimonte San Germano, which is way down Italy and some 800km from Turin. It is conceivable that Corso Marche ran out of badges and wanted to push cars out and not wait for fresh supplies. Also I could source these badges as spare parts in the UK so I do not beleive there was a problem with supplies in general but just a problem at Corso Marche.

I believe / have heard that other Fiats at the end of their production runs all had oddities where it looked like parts were raided from everywhere to complete the builds. e.g. different radios, grab handles, etc.

 

[porta]

Fiat had some very strange practices with models near / at the end of production which are hard to explain. Our 1988 Strada 130TC is a good example.

We first saw it as new in Caffyns Bournmouth showroom. Odly it had no Scorpion badge on the front grille and no side window deflectors. I asked the service manager were they removed during PDI and they were not. The car arrived to them direct from Bristol docks like that.

What is even odder is that to this day you can see the faint footprint of where the shields had marked/depressed the paintwork at the bottom of the quarterlight windows. So the wind deflectors were there on original factory build.

The front grille badge is hard to explain as well. I have to assume that it was never put on at the factory.

What we do know is that the 125TCs, 130TCs were built at the Abarth 38 Corso Marche, Turin factory and not at the main Strada/Ritmo Cassino factory in Piedimonte San Germano, which is way down Italy and some 800km from Turin. It is conceivable that Corso Marche ran out of badges and wanted to push cars out and not wait for fresh supplies. Also I could source these badges as spare parts in the UK so I do not beleive there was a problem with supplies in general but just a problem at Corso Marche.

I believe / have heard that other Fiats at the end of their production runs all had oddities where it looked like parts were raided from everywhere to complete the builds. e.g. different radios, grab handles, etc.

It wasn’t just at their ‘run out’ periods, it was throughout their life…we got all sorts of ‘extras’ or non UK specs through. We once got a, second generation, Ducato through with 4x4…the techy’ doing the PDI put it on the ramp and stood looking up for about 15mins dumbfounded…Fiat picked it up and took it to Warrington, the customer had to wait another fortnight to get his spec van but got a free tilt/slide sunroof for his trouble. I had to fit the bloody thing!

 

[vmg]

Uno Turbo Badges/Emblems

Boot Badge

Front Grille Badge

It was only the early MkI Uno Turbos that had the front and back Turbo ie badges. Later models only had the sill side trims.

Yes, as I understand it, original Mk2 models used only Fiat emblems front and back plus a UNO emblem at the back, right side, but no Turbo i.e. info on it. That is what I was told and what the car had when I got it.

Thanks!!

 

[vmg]

One more year has gone by... and little progress on my Fiat, other that installing that Alpine period correct radio I had mentioned, and doing a bit more detailing.

Right now, I believe the only non original components are the exhaust outlet (I got it already with a sports muffler with two chromed exhust tubes that I will admit look nice... but more than the nice it may look, I would not go into the hazzle of getting a correct uncut or not modified rear bumper plus a correct muffler), and also an after market radiator cap.

I have a question here: My car has a 1.4 bar radiator cap. I got an original cap from a vendor, which is 1 bar, and the car overheated more easily. With the 1.4 bar it still overheats a bit on heavy traffic, barely touching the first red line on the gauge, but I can see and hear some vapor coming out of the white plastic deposit when this happens. By the way, I had to change this deposit as the old one broke, I guess from the age plus lots of pressure. The electric fan seems to work fine, but is not enough to keep the temperature down.

So... question here is, how normal is it for these cars to work hot on traffic?

Thanks,
Victor

 

[s130]

In theory your car should be OK in traffic and hot air temperature.

Colling comprises: (in no particualr order)

1) Good thermostat
2) clear and unclogged external radiator elements - free from flies, dust, debris, clogging etc.
3) efficient water pump
4) working eletric fan
5) good unclogged water flow through radiator and other water paths

I've never owned an Uno Turbo but it should not be getting near the red warning lines.

I would initially suspect 4) above i.e. is the fan cutting in at around 90 degrees C. If not the the fan has failed or the temeprature switch on the radiator has failed.

 

[vmg]

Thanks, s130 !! Yes, fan cuts in around 90 degrees.... so I am tempted to look for a similar bulb but that will start working at 75 or so. And yes, everything is clean and theoretically unclogged, but I will take a good look into everthing you suggest.

Thanks again,
Victor

 

[s130]

Until you have found any other problem then instead of fitting a 75 deg.C / other sensor to the raditor you could just install a simple manual overide switch so you can manually turn the fan on.

Also I seem to recall on the Uno radiators then is a little bleed plug tucked away at the top of the radiator, one side or the other. You could have a large airlock in the radiator. Unlike later Fiats there is no, to my knowledge, a return bleed to a header tank. That radiator has it's own intergal side tank so air locks can occur in the main matix.

 

[vmg]

Thank you, S130.

Life has caught up with me, so I haven't checked back on the car.... but I am hoping it may be the air pockets you mention.

I am not inclined to add a manual override switch for the fan, as it seems to be working well. Turns on at about 90 degrees and stays on till it cools a bit. In fact, even when the car is hot, just after being turned off, it may turn on and work for a few minutes. I am hoping all of this is how it is supposed to work.

Thanks again,
Victor

 

[The Panda Nut]

Yes, looks and feels metal though, maybe we had this only for uk

We had numerous Unos in the family in teh 80.s and none had fibreglass panels of any sort. They werent Turbos, but I did know of a tunbo froma work colleague and that was a steel tailgate as well. Its possible the car has havd a few minor bumps over the years and things like front bumpers adn grilles are prone to get damaged and changed over the years.

 

[porta]

Mk1 turbo grp tailgate, MK2 steel

 

[vmg]

Mk1 turbo grp tailgate, MK2 steel

Makes me feel better. My car is a MK2, therefore it's steel tailgate is correct. Thanks!

 

[vmg]

Just a brief update. Overheating is over, apparently. The impeller from the water pump somehow broke loose, and depending on temperature it was more or less noticeable. Anyhow, we made a thin bushing, put a pin through the impeller and shaft and got the car working again. It now works great! Pic shows as high as I got the marker after almost an hour of use.

I am sooooo happy! haha

 

[vmg]

What it does now, and I can really live with it, is that the temperature needle drops briskly when revving the engine a bit hard. At close to 4500 rpm and under acceleration, the needle drops quickly to about half the regular temperature, shakes a bit, and then comes up again. My mechanic already check on grounds and whatever he could think of.

Oh, well.... old cars. I guess I will have to learn to live with it.