General Turbo x1/9

[TeamTowleMotorsports]

Hello all! I am from the United States first off. I have a 1980 X1/9 with the 1500 carb. motor. I know that there are "Turbo" motors. But which models did they come in?

Also, has anyone here actually added an actual turbo to their x1/9 at all? Everything I search for turbo it comes up as someone with the turbo engine or swapping that motor into their current vehicle. So if somebody else actually had done it could someone point me in their direction so I can view that thread?

Thank you all and have a great day!

-Chad

 

[littlephil]

Hi and welcome to the mad house.


99% of turbo conversions are carried out by fitting the engine out of either a Fiat Uno Turbo (Mk1 - Mk2) or even a Fiat Punto GT. Don't think that they sold either of them in America though. I think that you could convert an X1/9 1300 engine to turbo with all the ancilleries and head from the Uno Turbo but not sure. If you are a lunatic though you could try and fit a 2.0L Fiat Twin cam?

 

[jimbro1000]

The lower compression ratio of the federal spec engine means it is possible to just bolt the turbo manifold to the side and plumb in a low pressure turbo. There are more than a handful of examples of these in the states.

The full conversions are as Phil described - the engines typically from Mk1 Uno Turbos but occasionally from Mk2 Unos or Punto GTs. The later models are harder to convert but not by too much.

Keep in mind that a carb model is again harder to convert as the positive pressure from the turbo means the carb will not work as intended. You could move it to the start of the induction path but this in turn creates even more problems. The simplest solution is to convert to fuel injection (plenty of those around in the states and none here) but that in turn means wiring problems - sadly nothing is simple but this path holds less headaches and hurdles than the other options.