Tuning Playing with FIRE

[Liquid Knight II]

So 2018 has been turbulent so far.

The MG ZT had a sudden and catastrophic water pump failure. Literally came from nowhere. The car was supposed to have been serviced last MOT but when the pump went it took the cam'belt, twelve valves and one of the head gaskets with it.

I had managed to save up for the retired Uno race car but had to replace the MG instead.

With this...

....mighty steed of a Rover 620Ti. As quick as the MG, smaller on the outside, bigger inside and as economical. Best of all a factory fitted dogs dick tow bar so I managed...

...to get the soon to be built Uno home at least.

Now the plan was to get the race car and build one as quick using the 1368cc 16V (98hp) engine from a Fiat Idea I bought for my sister last year.

I bought a set of wheel straps to get that home and the fun begins.

It was a tad wet when I pulled the engine out.

Phase 1 ditch the ecu, injectors and other ballast.

Ignition taken care of by the Uno distributor (using a knackered old Panda one at this stage) replacing the drive with an 18mm socket so I don't have to cut a locating wedge in the camshaft bolt. The original locator is too short and a standard socket too long. It would be easier to shorten and drill the socket than lengthen the shaft or weld a nut on the end of the bolt to meet it.

I'm thinking bike carb's for fueling. I have a set from my GSXR250R SP that'll be too small and from my old FZR1000 that are too big. CBR600 ones should do the trick. Having said that the ports are tiny...

...compared to any engines I have played with before so I guess a new base plate and fun ahead.

The Uno has a sunroof and I'm not a fan of those on track so before headed to the scrap heap the Idea had one more part to give.

Now do I use duct-tape or silicone?



@1:09 I think I'll weld it.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

So today...

I went to visit.

https://www.facebook.com/EliteMotorsportEngineering/

To get some barely broken in tyres from a couple of Ginneta Jnr's.

Serious case of shed envy here.

195-50-15 Pilot Sport tyres as fitted to my Alfa 145

Should fit the arches of the Uno...

...once the Stilo Steel wheels arrive.

 

[Steve145]

I have the exact same dent in my front wing.

Same colour too.

Watching with interest.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

I have the exact same dent in my front wing.

Same colour too.

Watching with interest.

It's were someone has leaned on it while the bonnet was up.

Minis got those all the time but no plastic inner arch in the way to push it back out.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Started stripping the interior today.

It's just as well I'll be fitting harnesses as these...

...lower seat belt mounts are a certain MOT failure.

I'm thinking of cutting the spare wheel well out...

...fitting a plate to make it flat so I can...

...have a rear diffuser from the beam axle back to the bumper between the back box and tow point.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

In other news I dropped the inlet manifold and old exhaust gasket off at...

http://www.optimastainless.co.uk/

...to get some base plates made.

More later (so long as the rain holds off).

 

[Liquid Knight II]

I don't need to do a pedantic step by step guide of how to overhaul rear brakes do I?

Considering the old girl has been stored outside both wheel cylinders being seized solid was not a surprise. 　

New shoes and cylinders all round, wheel bearings greased up, but I could not bleed them as the pedal is would not move. So it's either sized front calipers, knackered bias valve (if they Uno has one like my Pandas have) or knackered master cylinder.

As the car will be...

"Moving faster!"

...I was going to replace...

"The Master! Master! Master of puppets is pulling your stings!" :slayer:

...anyway. 　

 

[perelaar]

Watching with interest!
Which kind of racing will you do in it?

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Just the track days I took my Bravo to last year, Punto HGT and Alfa 145 to this year.

Either hash tag...

#FCTDC

...or follow the link to...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/561769647533221/

...for more information. Rather than a track day organisation that attracts "Track Day" people we're a bunch of mates having fun and helping a few charities while we're at it.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Poop!

For some reason unlike my old Uno 60S this one has Fiat Panda "I like to seize solid if I'm left for a few weeks" aluminium calipers. Solves the mystery of why the pedal does not move at all but also is a massive pain in the faff because I would need new hubs and bearings to fit anything I have kept in my shed. That and the wishbones being miraculous means I will not be able to make it on track this month. Realistically the track day on October 25th is out as well.

I'm already thinking "long term" and considering bodywork and paint options.

No spiders or snails were knowingly harmed while working on the Uno and were rehomed.

 

[dadecoza]

Awesome thread! Thanks for keeping us updated.

 

[Steve145]

Cor, has that been used to launch boats?

I mean, I know I need new wishbones, but that's impressivly bad!

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Stored in a garden so I imagine grass had grown up to the wishbones and trapped moisture.

The Stilo wheels arrived. and I gave them a coat of satin black paint I had left over from painting my Alfa Spider and MX5 window frames with.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

All summer my local tyre fitters have worked on a Sunday. Not today. Meh.

So I got started on something else.

I never noticed the boot floor was bent before.

The rear valance was 3cm further in the middle but the tailgate slam panel was unaffected. Poor thing must have had a rough previous life.

So I cut it out anyway...

...just to see if the exhaust rubber was perished.

Not really.

I trimmed the plate ready to fit...

...so long as I don't endanger the manifold it should be fine. :devil:

And I have a boot floor repair panel for an Uno turbo that's being restored.

On the topic of manifolds. I got an email from Optima...

Yowzers!

The last ones were £30 each.

I have ordered some 6mm mild steel plate and I will make them myself.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Today didn't go according to plan.

I was supposed to get home from work, sleep until around lunch time and set about taking the Uno 60S engine and gearbox out of the car.

Instead I was woken up before nine by some rev' limiter bouncing Darwinist outside. Okay before nine isn't an unreasonable time of the day to be a complete tool; how was it supposed to know there was a shift worker in the house they were outside?

:bang:

Anyway today's plans were scuppered, due to my lack of sleep extracting the Uno engine would have involved more swearing than my neighbors deserve.

So...

...I got the tyres fitted and test fitted the Stilo wheels.

Just like the Momo Ferrari wheels I had on my Uno Turbo they needed a 10mm spacer to clear the rear arm by 8mm and only just fit inside the arches.

A 10mm spacer was required up front as well to clear the suspension but the original bolts were long enough this end.

I have a set of 20mm longer bolts from fitting Uno Turbo wheels to my Panda and the spacers were pre-drilled to fit the hubs using the disc bolts.

My longer bolts were too long due to the Uno Turbo wheels being much thicker than the Stilo Steels and the original bolts too short at the rear so I used Mk2 Punto bolts that were 12mm longer than the original 60S ones. I'll get a complete set of those when I fit the wheels the final time.

For those of you who aren't aware of my previous adventures (with parody)...



...I have applied the same principal here...

...to get a rough idea how the car will look 60mm lower.

Then I got bored.

Does anyone want 350g or plastic washers?

I have a track day spec' bumper now. :devil:

I'm going to try and have a nap before work.

 

[Michael Dranfield]

Watching this with great interest as a few months ago I bought a Uno that had been stood under a tree for 9 years and hoping to start some work on it in the next few weeks,5 door but same colour not looked to hard as yet but needs extensive welding in the boot area.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

My friend Frank Hall (Halls Chip Shop and the guy behind our charity track day group) is based in Matlock just up the A6 from you and I know a couple of Punto GT guys from Buxton. If the Uno turbo guy from Birmingham decides he doesn't want my boot floor you are welcome to it.

Well. I was woken this morning around half ten by neighbors doing some DIY. So almost four hours sleep out of seventy two. Meh.

Sleep deprived, but not exhausted...

...yet.

I'll trim it tomorrow to fit the engine rather than the gasket so there's more subject metal to weld the four branches to.

 

[Michael Dranfield]

Small world,I use to collect faulty TV sets from Farmers in Matlock untill they closed down a few months ago,I don't know any other club members in Buxton but a couple of times during the summer I have seen a broom yellow punto GT up harpur on my way to work,as for the boot floor let it go to your friend mine had rusted around the base of the rear arch and what appears to be the underneath of the rear spring mount ,your photo appears to show some sort of a hole there,may be to access a nut ? Hence my interest in your photo s, however if there is anything else you may not need please keep me in mind as the car I have is in a shocking state and people who have seen it think I am mad to try and make it roadworthy again but I have seen others bring cars back from the dead with great success.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Oh, yeah you just weld a lip around there.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Quite an eventful day today.

You know you've done a decent job making the back of the car lighter if this happens when you lift from the front subframe.

First off was the exhaust. Now I fancied doing a Paul Hogan...

"That's not an exhaust...

...that an exhaust!"

...but there are people who get out of bed extra early to be offended by nothing so I won't bother.

As I had the plastic arch liner out I pushed out the dent the go-pro mount failed to before.

At a little over 1.4 kilos each they will not be going back on either. One of the YouTube tuning channels I can't remember which one did a test session with a car on a track. Setting a lap time removing weight and setting another lap. Each Kilo worked out about 0.057 seconds quicker with no other modifications so the arch liners are a tenth!!!

Here's a top tip for you. While the liners are out you can use the bumper brace bar to support your caliper.

When playing with a wet box it's a good idea to tackle the plug side first. That way when you pull out the shaft it will lube the plug making it easier to screw.

Make sure you have a bucket handy so you don't make a mess.

Uno radiator out and Idea one test nowhere near fitted...

...but the Punto GT one I had in my shed looks to be a winner.

Front bumper modification is not as extreme as the rear as I only need to increase air flow to the radiator. More holes would mean more drag.

The Uno bonnet doesn't have the frontal drop of the Cinquecento so to keep things legal (looking) I mounted the original plate slightly lower.

The engine dropped out even though I forgot one of the heater matrix pipes and broke the plastic "T" piece. Never mind I'll work out how to plumb it all in later.