Sciecento 0.9l engine - adding distributor?

[FiatFire1108]

Hi All,
I am a newbie on here and also a newbie to fiats in general.
I am wanting to use a 0.9l engine from a sciecento to drive a generator, saw bench, oat roller, threshing machine and some other bits of kit. The engine will be running on wood gas created by partially burning chunks of wood. The engine will be started on petrol through an old SU carb but will be switched over to running on the wood gas once the gassifier has got going.

I am wanting to use the Sciecento engine as it is a simple little thing, small and light and readily available quite cheaply.

The one thing I want to do is to install a distributor for the ignition side of things. It seems the hole in the block is there ready to take it. The head is a bit different but I can machine a bracket to mimick the piece of the head that holds the distributor. I will fit an old pointsless system with a crank trigger so just need a distributor to send the spark to the right place.

As far as I can tell I need a distributor and the oil pump drive shaft, with a spline on the top, from an earlier vehicle.

I don't know the fiat development history of this engine. It seems there are a few variations with some rotating the opposite way and maybe other variations I don't know about.

Can anyone cast any light on the fiat history of this little engine and which cars I might find these parts in?

Kind Regards

Rob

 

[fingers99]

Olde style classic Panda, I think.

The 1108 FIRE engine probably has as much promise in this regard -- from (ancient) memory FIAT once pushed for its adoption as a combined generator/central heating unit.

Like the 899 pushrod engine, it was also available (in the early days) with a carb and distributor.

 

[FiatFire1108]

I am not realy wanting to use the 'FIRE' engine for this.

The head on the 903cc pushrod engine is a lot simpler when it comes to de-carbonising and cleaning the muck out that I might get with running it on wood-gas. So I am wanting to use the 903cc pushrod engine but need to work out the distributor installation and where to find the bits

Rob

 

[fingers99]

Well, it's simpler in that it has no timing belt. But it has horrible hydraulic valves (unless you can get a pre Cento one). The head design itself isn't that different.

I think you're looking at Uno/Classic Punto here. Rallycinq in the Cinq/Sei section will know.

I'd have though that either methanol (from poo) or ethanol (just about anything organic can produce alcohol -- OK, you need a licence for the still) might provide better alternatives. If running a still, you could still use the combusion gases from the fire to provide fuel gas. From memory, something like 50% of the energy from burning coal or wood is simply wasted as uncombusted gas (mainly carbon monoxide?) Decent filtration/tar extraction of the fuel gas will be important.

Use the coolant (via a heat exchanger, if you like) for radiators and hot water.

 

[FiatFire1108]

Yes, Little heat will be wasted. All this lot will be going on in a small building at the end of one of our polytunnels and heat will be taken into the polytunnels if needed or taken into the house. It will be used mostly in the winter when our solar panels are not performing so well and that is when the heat would be needed.

I would like to get rid of the hydraulic tappets if I got hold of an earlier rocker shaft and rockers but that is a lesser issue.
We will have willow growing so a gassifier running on chopped up willow is the easiest, and possibly cheapest, option for us.

I have the old Uno haynes manual but typically it does a realy good job of missing out the details I needed to figure out the distributor setup hence my questions on here. I may ask in the Uno section about that in a while.

Rob

 

[348azeus]

Its based on the 903 cc pushrod engine which used to be in Fiat 127's, early Uno's and Panda's.
The distributor will normally be a Marelli akthough some cars had a Ducellier. I wouldn't know if the engine has the distributor drive on the oilpump though.