More HP.

[henry]

Kirkwall,

Can you explain about the re-profiled camshaft?

Thank you.

[kilrwail]

Ha ha...I had to laugh at my screen name. It's "killer whale" (kilrwail). But I'll answer to kirkwall.

The camshafts were re-ground to a higher lift and longer duration profile by a specialist shop. They weld material onto the lobes, then grind it to a new profile. Standard hot rod stuff. Mark Allison can do them for you.

[racydave]

Beam me up Henry!

[kmead]

I understand the 2L FI engine comes with 100hp.\

I had to reface the cylinders and add bigger pistons, and I also change the air filter for a K&N one.

How many HP more can I expect from this two modifications and what else can I do without more $$$$$?

The mods that you have will have very little real effect. You are only increasing the total displacement by a minimal amount, .040, .060 or .080 over is not a big change. There will be some change but not a lot.

Unless you have chosen high compression pistons when you reface the cylinders you won't get much change, and even then you would also need to really improve the breathing at the same time to get more air into and out of those cylinders. Big valve ported head, hot cams, header and so on. Some of which you already have. A good air cleaner would fall in the noise category in terms of your engine as it exists now.

Getting rid of the catalytic converter, which is old, will probably help reduce back pressure but won't do much for resolving the base issue: an engine that was retuned to minimize emissions rather than provide significant performance. A modern cat will have less back pressure but will not resolve the base issue.

In the seventies emissions control was a young technology, the tools to deal with it weren't very good. Controlling combustion using a carburetor was not at all exact so lots of kludgy methods were used to get the engines to reduce emissions. Low compression pistons and combustion chambers that minimized tight areas (dished rathe than domed) assisted with minimizing preignition and as a result high levels of CO and NOx. Strong EGR, lots of valves that reduced engine response, dash pots (to hold the throttle open to reduce NOx when you let off), ignitions systems that were tuned to reduce advance, cams/timing that kept the exhaust valves open during the intake stroke to pull exhaust gases back into the chamber to reduce combustion temps (and therefor NOx emissions) and so on.

Fiat used all of these strategies on their now nearly 14 year old engine. In 1980 they went to fuel injection which gave much better control of fuel delivery and combustion control with the feedback loop offered by the new Lambda sensor (using the now ubiquitous O2 sensor to measure the free oxygen in the exhaust gases). They were able to improve combustion efficiency and as a result power and response. They were still constrained by the limitations of the L-Jetronic system which is still evidenced by our inability to choose high lift, high overlap cams and cam timing on standard injected engines. If you go to the more modern injection control systems (Megasquirt and the like) you can change the cams to the old 80/40 style to get much more performance along with HC pistons and so on.

Reducing weight is a really good approach, dumping hundreds of pounds of bumpers is a very good start. If you have ineffective AC its an even better thing to get rid of (it saps the engine of power and it weighs a surprising amount).

The Fiat twin cam responds well to upgrades but like all engines it requires the application of money and a coordinated approach to making all of the different parts perform.

[mbouse]

wow, Karl! that's a lotta info. thanks for sharing.

Henry has a Pinin Spider, an '83 i think. which means he has little emission equipment removal available to him. Which in my book means he has few options for increasing the performance he already has available if his engine is running to spec.

yup, dumping a OEM cat will help dramatically. it only serves as added weight. dump the bumpers at the same time, i saw 103# reduction this year for that. Occasionally, Bruce's Parts Bin http://www.fiatparts.com carries cat eliminator pipes.

[So Cal Mark]

this discussion should begin with "my budget is $____, how can I increase performance?", otherwise it's mere speculation. If the budget is 0, then weight removal is the only option.

[ga.spyder]

Henry,
I have a K&N cone filter setup in my 82.Less than $100 w/ the filter.Gains in performance is minimal at best.It isnt truly a cold air kit,because it is still sucking warm air out of the engine compartment. Cosmetic gain is great though,getting the 'shoe box' out of there!
Craig

[kmead]

Henry,
I have a K&N cone filter setup in my 82.Less than $100 w/ the filter.Gains in performance is minimal at best.It isnt truly a cold air kit,because it is still sucking warm air out of the engine compartment. Cosmetic gain is great though,getting the 'shoe box' out of there!
Craig

You can make a nice air shield to ensure cool air from alongside the radiator goes to the intake. The early coupes and all of the sedans had a battery heat shield that channeled some air into that right intake area.

[ga.spyder]

Does anyone have a picture of the 'shield' that kmead mentions? That sounds like an easy project,and might help the engine a little.I have never seen one.
Craig

[mbouse]

there's a huge supply of cold air on the other side of that inner fender, Craig. get the hack saw out and cut some holes.

[So Cal Mark]

also a good spot to pick up water when it's raining

[henry]

Thank you very much for all the answers. I have one more question, What about replacing the head for 1800?

[speedracer]

Thank you very much for all the answers. I have one more question, What about replacing the head for 1800?

As far as I know, that a good mod to do.

I have a 79, and I've been told that I should do that several times. That 1800 head has a better valve setup and is much more efficient and it is more free revving than the 2000, which loses power at the higher RPM's, which almost defeats the purpose ot the twin cam configuration which is meant to be free revving! If you do that, you should also get rid of the 79 carb and manifold. The carb that year was small and the manifold was not as good as the 1800 setup. But then you start getting into some money.

I havn't bothered with all of that though, because I did a valve job on the car not to long ago before I knew how much better the 1800 head was, so the car is running to nice to start fiddling with it right now. I did however get rid of the smog junk and the cat and I am pretty happy with the performance from just that.

[racydave]

I have seen engines with bent connecting rods from injesting water. Air will compress, water will not.

[So Cal Mark]

the only advantage to the 1800 head swap is a compression bump. Without any other changes your engine won't rev higher or do anything except create a bit more compression