hi everyone. i have just got my hands on a DOHC 124AC (1400) fiat motor. But the only thing is that the exhaust is on the opposite side. is this going to cause a lot of dramas?? i have picked it up fairly cheap off a mate and it is an absolute ball tearer. do you think that it would be too much trouble to try and fit this motor or would i be better off buyin an A14? any help is greatly appreciated.
THANX DAVE

Hello David

I can

g'day ok then we're all entitled to our oppinions
i'll have you know that the FIAT was a very respectable rally car. the fact that this motor has 2 overhead cams and the a series has only one internal (pushrod style) cam has steered me towards the 1400 FIAT it also revs to about 9500rpm already oh well thanx for your oppinion
DAVE

RICLAGE - seems like you have fallen victim to some automotive myths ;)

do you know a guy called tony rigoli uses a turbo fiat motor to run 9 second passes in a datsun 1200 ute?

I think fiats got a bad rep because of the cheap soviet steal they used in their cars, which were very susceptible to rust.. but I think people generalise this on the whole range.

I know that some FIATs were good rally cars.

Ok, 9500 RPM are interesting and it may deliver a lot of HP's.

However, you have to consider reliability too.

Regarding the DOHC it will be worth nothing when the engine finally dies younger.

We've new FIAT engines around here, that after something like 6000 Kilometers in a regular utilization, loose all the oil and that is not so good for the brand image.

It is your choice, since you are beting on it and paying to see it.

I don't want to disencourage you from it.

Best regards and I hope it works

Ricardo

thanx ricardo. i have heard of rigoli does he have a web page if so, could you plz tell me i would like to have a chat to him
thanx DAVE

Shoom (Sorry, I can not found your real name)

I think that it must be great to run 9 second passes in a Datsun 1200 ute powered by a Turbo Engine from Fiat.

However, in my opinion I would be much optimistic and confident if I was running 9 second passes in a Datsun 1200 ute powered by a Turbo Engine from NISSAN.

In a discussion there are always three opinions:

i) Mine

ii) Yours

iii) The correct one

Best regards

Ricardo

Rigoli's ute has a super rare ex group B Lancia Integrale head on it. It's not something you can pick up at your local junkyard. As for Fiats back in the olden days when I was an apprentice I had a Fiat 124 1800 coupe and it was a bloody nice car. I have used the disc brakes off the rear of them on many conversions. My mates used to tell me that Fiat stood for Fix It Again Tony.. Though I would never have thought of bunging one in a Datto !!!

do you have any ideas as to what i could do about the exhaust?

YEah I was just gonig to point out that the fiat engine that the Rigoli's use is larger in size than 1400 (2 litre I think??) and it is also modded quite a bit as well.
But I think the main reason that they used the fat engine is because they used (Mayeb still do have) that metallic blue fiat which had almost exactly the same engine in it. And they decided that the thing that stopped the quarter mile times being any lower ws the weight. hence the 1200...
But yeah back to the engine it might not even be the same series of engine.
CAn't judge the entire engine just be who made it. I am sure that just about every manufacturer has made some lemons...

I am just blabbering now.