Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post pics of your car in here
Post Reply
nabihelosta
Posts: 94
Joined: December 14th, 2010, 5:37 pm
Location: Lebanon

Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by nabihelosta »

Hello Gentlemen

I've been on this forum for a while reading all the interesting threads, and making comments on things I have personally experienced.

After many replies about random technical things concerning race car preparation (BMW) which I am into, I think it's by time to present the Fiat I own.

It's an 1980 Fiat 132 2000 (Yes, 4 doors sedan). My father had it since 1994, originally bought from a fellow BMW racer, keeping it in an old warehouse. It was his mother's car, she had it factory new in 1980, so I'm considered to be the second owner. It may seem an ordinary, rather old and dull car, especially here in Lebanon, where everybody is driving 2005+ sports cars (including me), but for nothing in the world, would I sell it or trade it. It has a special meaning to me, it's the first car I drove, and after 32 years (she's older than me), it still is one of the most comfortable rides for long distances, and most sporty and responsive engines on twisty steep uphill roads, that never seem to end here in Lebanon.

It isn't an original-kept one, as it is never intended to be. It's just for the old school looks, fun to drive, reliability, and comfort. So here are the specs:

Exterior:
1- Jaguar S-type "shadow silver" paint job, with some bronze bits added to the paint to give more shine (Done 7 years ago, still in a mint condition).
2- Fiat 124 CC Cromodora 14x5.5 rims, 185/65R14 tyres. Will be sitting on 15x7 and 15x8 BBS in a week or two (205/55 front, 225/50 rear).

Interior:
1- Original seats and upholstery, reconditioned with new blue velours cloth 5 months ago.
2- Original dashboard, with Argenta instruments.
3- Deep dished steering wheel (OMP).

Suspension:
Original suspension on all four sides, no lowering. Just a complete reconditioning 6 months ago with new TRW ball joints and steering ball joints, N.O.S rubber bits all around, and 4 Sachs shock absorbers.

Braking:
1-Original braking setup in front, drilled discs, ATE pads.
2- Fiat 132 GLS 1800 rear brake setup, substituting the 2000 drum brakes with drilled discs and ATE pads too. (Great improvement on stopping power by the way).

Transmission:
1- Fiat 131 Sport (We call it Racing over here) close-ratio gearbox. original ABARTH short gearchange. (Custom center console to fit the gearchange).
2- Fiat 132 1800 differential (4.10:1 Ratio. Original 2000 diff is 3.73:1).

Engine:
1- Originally, an Argenta VX engine (1995cc).
Had a burnt valve last summer, so I decided to overhaul it, and add something more "juicy" that suits my driving and preferences. Going N/A all around. I'm no big fan of forced induction (unless 450+hp is my target).
2- Mondial pistons, 6mm dome (130TC maybe?), STD size 84mm.
3- OE rods.
4- Lightened flywheel (as per Guy's directions on this forum), fully balanced bottom end.
5- Spesso Racing head gasket (1.35mm compressed)
6- Slightly ported and VERY cleanly polished VX head. Already this head is known to have the biggest ports in the Fiat family (36-34mm)
7- New OE Vx valves (43.5mm In, 36.5mm Ex)
8- Stock VX exhaust manifold, cast iron, 4-2, the 2-1 pipes. 50mm ID pipe, with 2 straight-through stainless steel silencers.
9- OE Fiat waffle intake manifold, ported, port-matched, and polished.
10- 2x Weber 40 IDF carburettors, in great condition, fully overhauled. Specs are:
- 35mm venturis.
- 145 mains.
- 180 air correctors.
- F16 emulsion tubes.
- 55 idle jets.
- 40 pump jets.
11- Standard Magnetti Marelli electronic ignition (with GM HEI module), cam driven distributor.
12- Camshafts: Intake 130 TC camshaft (10mm 7/51), timed at 105 FL
Exhaust Argenta 2000i.e camshaft (9.9mm 53/5), timed at 107 FL
13- Local made adjustable cam pulleys, alloy center plate, great pieces of work (My machinist is good, thanks Lord!)
14- Handmade aluminum airbox (by me). All measures are withing permissible clearance specs over the carbs. Remote cold air intake (75mm) with K&N cone filter.
15- Standard mechanical fuel pump.
16- Car is climatizated, and so it will always be. Nothing beats cold air when temperature rises above 40deg C here in summer.
17- Mercedes Benz aluminum core radiator (230E W124), custom fitted with very minor modifications (To the radiator, not the car).
18- OE Fiat electrical fan, plus one pushing outer fan for the AC condenser. Temperature never goes beyond 90C in hot summer uphill rides.


Those are mainly the overall specs. Pictures are to come soon this weekend (3 days off work for now).
More parts are on their way from the US, will cite them in another reply soon.

Problems?
Not on reliability, car is extremely reliable especially on Lebanon's harsh roads, full of bumps. Engine is going well after 12.000Kms of the rebuild. I can't even remember I added coolant since. I change oil and filter every 4000Kms, put Liqui-Moly 20W-50 MOS2. Switching to Valvoline VR1 the next change.

Performance problems?
Yes. This engine seems never wanting to rev high. Pulls like a tractor and spins wheel on 4th, from 2000 to 4800 rpm, then suddenly dies completely. It's a pain to the heart listening to it trying to reach 5500 rpm.

Any suggestions or comments are welcome.

Thank you for your precious time to read my thread, and sorry for talking so long.

Thank you Guy for this awesome forum.

Nabih
HORSEPOWERunlimited
Biancorally
Posts: 50
Joined: July 9th, 2011, 2:30 pm
Contact:

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by Biancorally »

Hi Nabih,

Are you sure that your tachometer is working properly? I had a similar case with my Strada 130TC. After connecting a second rev meter in parallel I've found that my rpm meter does not indicate properly. He always said less.

Regards

Daniel
GC_17
nabihelosta
Posts: 94
Joined: December 14th, 2010, 5:37 pm
Location: Lebanon

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by nabihelosta »

Daniel

I think you made a great point there, you practically read my thoughts!

I was doubting the tachometer in first place, as the complete instruments are borrowed from another 132 model (Argenta, maybe fuel injected), and never been calibrated. Mainly because nobody here (not even me) have any idea how to do it on old Veglia Borletti units.

In fact you can hear the engine making more noise (maybe revving), but the needle moves very slowly.

How much rpm difference did you experience on your 130TC?

I will try this first, although it's a struggle here to get a decent aftermarket tachometer. I will search through my old stuff to see if I still have an old VDO unit. They were widely used on BMW 2002s once.

Thank you, your advice was really precious.

Nabih
HORSEPOWERunlimited
Biancorally
Posts: 50
Joined: July 9th, 2011, 2:30 pm
Contact:

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by Biancorally »

In fact you can hear the engine making more noise (maybe revving), but the needle moves very slowly.

How much rpm difference did you experience on your 130TC?


Nabih

Indeed it happened the same with my tachometer. At idle the rpm read was right, but at 6000 rpm, it was in reality 7500 rpm. More the engine rpm increases, more slowly the needle moves! Let me know the result.

Regards

Daniel
GC_17
nabihelosta
Posts: 94
Joined: December 14th, 2010, 5:37 pm
Location: Lebanon

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by nabihelosta »

Daniel

I'm still in doubt about this RPM thing.

Yesterday I was driving my car on the highway. At a steady 100km/h 5th gear, the needle reads 3200rpm, which is supposed to be right after calculation the gear ratio vs final drive vs tire size. Could it possibly be that it's beginning to get "late" from 4000 up? Anyway, I am still willing to try an aftermarket tacho, just to clear my thoughts about this point.

Another thing.
Yesterday before I took it for a ride, I changed the camshafts timing, as I'm preparing the car for the MOT test this week. I timed them at 112 In, 111.5 Ex (OE 130TC figures). They were 105 In 107 Ex before. What I noticed when driving, is loosing at bottom and mid range torque, and getting some high RPM pulls. The engine before stopped revving at 5500, now it goes till 6000. It was a nice drive on the highway, but when I started going uphill, it felt so slow. If the rpm dropped under 4000, it never wanted to pull higher again. How do you explain this? Increasing the lobe separation angle, and loosing on bottom and mid range?
Is there any figures of cam timing you would advice for stock 130TC cams?

Thank you

Nabih
HORSEPOWERunlimited
Biancorally
Posts: 50
Joined: July 9th, 2011, 2:30 pm
Contact:

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by Biancorally »

Hi Nabih,

all I can say about cam timing for 130TC, with stock setting engine pulls hard from 2000 rpm and that until 6500 rpm without hesitation. The 130TC has 40mm carburetors with 32mm venturis. I think it will be difficult to find any better setting, because that stock setting is already very strong, over the entire operating range. First check the accuracy of your rpm meter! Do not trust your speedometer, go on feeling.
Never tried other cam timing on stock engine.

Regards

Daniel
GC_17
nabihelosta
Posts: 94
Joined: December 14th, 2010, 5:37 pm
Location: Lebanon

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by nabihelosta »

Hello!

Finally passed the MOT test today! Wow my car is "Good to Go"! I've had bad times with the emissions test last year, the car just wouldn't pass the CO2 percentage test. It was always low however I set the carbs, timing, and sealed up totally the exhaust system. This year, seems that the cam timing thing worked at last. When I backed up the cam timings to 112/112, it passed nicely the test :-)

Enough talking, tomorrow I will put my camshafts back to 108/108 at TDC, and start testing with that setting. I may need to go down to 105 or 104 on the inlet cam, but just stick with 108 on exhaust. Trust me, I know pretty well my car, and by driving it I can feel every single horsepower gained or lost.

Still didn't find a decent tachometer to connect and see if there's something wrong with my car's tacho. However I found one that can be infinitely calibrated with a tiny screw at the back panel, so I'm thinking to get it, calibrate it against a stock VDO unit on a BMW 318i, and try with it.

Next week, a bunch of goodies will be here arriving from the US: MSD ignition Blaster 2 ignition coil, MSD HEI ignition mudule, MSD spark plug wires set (8.5mm), and a set of NGK Iridium spark plugs (BPR7EIX). Fingers crossed, hoping for an improvement over stock in the "idle/light throttle/light cruising" range, and emissions. Anyway if it doesn't do good, it sure will never do bad. For 150USD they are buy"able".

More to come soon, and most important, PHOTOS. Please excuse my crowded schedule, I have my first hill climb on the 29th, and my new dog leg gearbox arrived today (For my BMW) so..

Thank you
HORSEPOWERunlimited
nabihelosta
Posts: 94
Joined: December 14th, 2010, 5:37 pm
Location: Lebanon

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by nabihelosta »

Hello

FInished my first hillclimb of the season with a second place in rear-wheel-drive, and 5th overall. It went like this:
1- Mitsubishi Evo 6 Prototype (Driven by my cousin and middle east rallies champions Abdo Feghali): 1'.29".55
2- Subaru WRX STI Prototype: 1'.34".12
3- Lancia Delta HF Integrale: 1'.37".05
4- BMW E46 M3 Prototype (3.5L): 1'.37".12
5- BMW E30 M3 SM4 (3.0L): 1'.37".66

I was too close to win my class and a 3rd overall place with my "modest" engine (412bhp). I think I owe it to the Proflex suspension and the Samsonas Dog ring gearbox.

Anyway.. About my Fiat

I first changed the cam timing to 108/108. Wow. Awesome. Great improvement. The engine never pulled this strong. It goes spinning wheels on 3rd from 2800 till 4500 rpm! Then continues to pull strongly to 5500. (Then nothing of course). I'm very happy with this setting I think I will keep it this way, and I really recommend it.

Another thing I surely recommend, is the MSD ignition parts. I never imagined they will do all this good. Car starts early in the morning by a blip of the key, without pulling the cold starting device, immediately idles nicely at 850 rpm, and goes on like this till forever. Even with the AC and all headlights on, idle speed won't drop a bit below 800rpm, and engine turns surprisingly smooth! I even tried and lowered the idle speed to 700, and the engine still idles very smoothly. Wonderful! Plus, it gained a lot on throttle response and torque. You can feel an awesome "push" under light throttle, spins wheel even more now. Frankly, no improvement on high rpms. But with as little as 87 USD, I surely recommend those parts. Parts are:
-MSD Blaster 2 ignition coil.
-MSD HEI module.
I changed my spark plugs to a set of NGK BPR7EIX. Even on 0.9mm gap, they never ever foul.
I didn't receive my MSD spark plug wires yet.

Thank you.
HORSEPOWERunlimited
nabihelosta
Posts: 94
Joined: December 14th, 2010, 5:37 pm
Location: Lebanon

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by nabihelosta »

Some awesome pictures of our first hill climb this season in the Lebanese Championship. Video footage is to come soon, as soon as it's published on You-tube.

The pictures are placed by order: EVO 6 (1st place), Subaru (2nd place), Lancia (3rd place), BMW E46 (4th place), and our BMW E30 (5th place).

(Guy don't worry, there's no copyright on these photos. the name (Wissam Abdel Nour Photography) is just for the records, and not copyrighted. Wissam is one of my best friends, and a member of the motorsports family in Lebanon. We are truly a "family", we spend most of the time hanging out together, drives preparators and photographers).

Hope you enjoy!!

Nabih
Attachments
DADO.jpg
DADO.jpg (188.41 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
DADO1.jpg
DADO1.jpg (182.45 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
NADIM.jpg
NADIM.jpg (171.7 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
NADIM1.jpg
NADIM1.jpg (208.56 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
RODRIGUE.jpg
RODRIGUE.jpg (222.39 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
ROGRIGUE2.jpg
ROGRIGUE2.jpg (220.21 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
GARO2.jpg
GARO2.jpg (150.12 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
GARO4.jpg
GARO4.jpg (193.62 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
GARO5.jpg
GARO5.jpg (183.56 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
GARO7.jpg
GARO7.jpg (220.86 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
MICHO1.jpg
MICHO1.jpg (116.55 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
MICHO5.jpg
MICHO5.jpg (180.74 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
MICHO2.jpg
MICHO2.jpg (181.31 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
MICHO6.jpg
MICHO6.jpg (168.26 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
MICHO7.jpg
MICHO7.jpg (205.05 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
MICHO4.jpg
MICHO4.jpg (144.88 KiB) Viewed 9505 times
HORSEPOWERunlimited
nabihelosta
Posts: 94
Joined: December 14th, 2010, 5:37 pm
Location: Lebanon

Re: Fiat 132 2000 from Lebanon

Post by nabihelosta »

New rims and tyres just arrived. Will install them on Saturday, as I am still waiting for the studs and nuts to come. (Will convert from conventional wheel bolts, to 8 cm long studs, and wheel nuts, M12x1.5. I'm adding some 15mm spacers to clear the back of the rim and the springs).
Rims: BBS 15x7 ET 20 front, 15x8 ET 15 rear.
Tyres: Vredestein Sportrack 3, 205/55 R15 all around. Would like to have 225/50 on the rear, but couldn't find any dealer that have this size here. Maybe will order them separately over my next tyre change.
Will post some pictures on saturday, before and after the wheel swap.

Thank you
Attachments
rim.jpg
rim.jpg (102.45 KiB) Viewed 9458 times
tyre.jpg
tyre.jpg (143.44 KiB) Viewed 9458 times
HORSEPOWERunlimited
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 48 guests