the old fiat into minor trick

[ian.k]

firstly, hello to all you fellow minor enthusiasts. well, a bit about myself. I am a kiwi who is now on the other side of 50 and find myself with kids that have flown the coop, and now being on my own have the time and perhaps a little more money for frivolous things ( as my ex would say ) such as the minor I have always wanted to build. now, that minor just happens to be a four door thousand with a lo light front and fiat power. I have most of what I need, such as brakes , diff, motor and front sheet metal and have my eye on a likely candidate for said transplant. my question to all the knowledgeable ones is this; which copy of "street machine" magazine had the article that showed you the dimensions of the engine mounts in it. I used to have the copy many moons ago but years later it has gone the way of the dinosaur. the help of the wise ones would be very helpful in my little endeavour. many thanks Ian

[plastic_orange]

Plenty info around on the net. Best forum for this type of advice is here: http://morrisminorowners.co.uk/index.php
Fiat engine is a bit long in the tooth these days with not the best spares availability. There are other options available to you these days.
Lowlight metal work isn't cheap either - for an all steel front end you could be easily £500+
I do know of a Fiat turbo set up that may be for sale - this was in a Minor, so everything you need should be there - depends on your budget.

Pete

[Chipper]

Welcome to the MMOC! It was the September 1995 issue of Street Machine:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23129801@N05/6727497969/

Quite a useful article - I found it to be of some help when I had my Fiat twin-cam saloon.

You may also find this link useful:

http://www.minormania.com/feature.php?id=2125&catid=756

[twincamman]

Also have a look here:-

http://www.beardmorebros.co.uk/

[ian.k]

thanks for the welcome and info guy's. I have been in contact with John Beardmore who put me on to this site .I should have mentioned that I am in NZ PO, and that I already have two sets of guards and four grilles which are not that hard to find over here if you poke around. our Trade Me site has four or five lo lites on at the moment. Fiat parts and motors are still around in good quantities over here, I know a guy who is a fiat fan and has complete cars and plenty of spares ect, so no problems there. well while the wind is blowing and the rain is threatening I will use my time on this summers day to browse the sites so kindly provided.

[rayofleamington]

John's been at it longer than anyone else I've come across when it comes to what you can get under the skin of a minor including twinks. John and Ian have put some useful stuff online. iirc there were some videos too.
The bro's had their own website last time I looked but I have not checked for ages.

The usual things to do are reducing the front crossmember to cope with the longer engine and sourcing a thinner radiator.
The oil filter housing will foul the chassis leg so some will turn it upside down. Others have made custom housing adaptor.
I sourced all the usual bits for a conversion a few years ago but then couldn't decide if it was going on the Marina camper instead!

For the best power I'm told the 2 litre twink in Lancia guise is a good one to go with.
Cylinder head gaskets can be problematic and fuel economy is rather 1970s like with many upgrades.
The Fiat 4 speed box is an easy one to source if you have a donor car but 4 speed boxes aren't going to give you as much as a 5 speed box. Whichever box you go with try to get the propshaft too.

[Chipper]

I was under the impression that all the Fiat twin cams had 5-speed gearboxes as standard - my 2-litre Fiat's certainly did, which came from a circa 1980 Fiat 131.

With a 3.9:1 MGB axle, mine would return around 30 mpg on average - not too bad, and it could easily have pulled a higher axle ratio, such was the torque.

[rayofleamington]

Maybe most have a 5 speed then.
Mine's a 4