1976 Fiat 128 engine swap advices?

Updated: 09 Dec 2024

Hello everyone!
As you may know from my previous posts I plan to buy a ‘70s Fiat 128 and make her a clock-crusher-sleeper. I have a pretty good idea of how I will proceed but there is still a point that turn me crazy…. The engine! I want to do an engine swap so I can get around 250hp and maybe - I’m still not convinced - convert her in a RWD. The stock engine is a 1.1L SOHC engine ( bore 80mm - stroke 55.5 - 55/65 bhp ) and I’m pretty sure it couldn’t handle this amount of wild horses and I think even the 1.3 version ( bore 86mm - stroke 55.5 - 75/85 bhp ) can’t achieve this. Furthermore is a 4-speed manual transmission and I would like to pass it to a 5 speed one. Furthermore - yeah I know I’m boring - I really would love to turbocharge it so I can have the tsutsutsu noise - it’s a grown kid dream -. I firstly thought of an abarth 1.4T-jet engine but it sucks too much fuel for not enough power in my mind. Now, I am thinking about an E30 engine so I can use her parts to do the RWD convertion as well. But I have to admit that I’m quite ignorant in this specific field even if I hardly tried to document my self… So after all this blabla I will ask you all which engine will suit the best for me?
Thank you for your time! :D

Comments

A bigger engine. Or, if you don’t want/need a 460 CI Ford V8, maybe a Subaru 2.5 boxer would be cool. Or a Rotary. There’s plenty of engines out there, I guess it mainly depends on what you’re planning on using the car for and how you want it to drive.

I don’t like V8. I don’t know if a boxer would fit in it and the rotaries are cool but to fragile :/

A honda s2000 . 240hp stock and its a great engine

Does it fit in my Fiat? 😂
Would be the rwd conversion easy?

my tops would be
sr25
ka24
b18
rotary
maybe miata engine?

Thanks for the tips, I will search on the net if it is possibru 😁

As far as I can tell, this is something like a 124. V6 is the biggest you can get in there.An 13B-REW or a Renesis or some Turbo I4 would sit quite comfortably in there.
Also, which BMW engine(or engines) do you consider?

I don’t know if the 13-Rew would fit I really don’t know that much about engines 😭😭😭
I thought about a E30 engine because she is similar to the 127 :/

Honda 1200cc bike engine. Let it rev to 8k

I thought about bike engines but if I can I would prefer a car’s one, I feel like the swap would be easier

Only 8k? Kawasaki ZX-6R engine and let it rev to 12k!

Thanks guys, my problem is that I don’t know a lot about engines an I thought that a bigger engine won’t fit in. But if you tell that it would I’m glad about it. I would like to do a track car that I can use daily basis. So not an hardcore track car. I didn’t knew that a Nissan’s V6 engine could fit in it, if it work I think I will go for it if the conversion is not too hard to do ^^

A quick wake up call here… Just about any swap and conversion will require massive amounts of work and modifications. If you are at all serious regarding the 128, my best suggestion is to forget the rear-wheel drive setup. These 128’s were the first Fiats to have a front wheel drive setup, and are quite fun if set up right. You have a range of 128 series engines to choose from (not the car 128, but engine code wise, 128.A1.000 and etc.) These are all made by Aurelio Lampredi, and are both willing and dependable. Now here is a setup that I have done before on one of my 128’s: 1498cc engine from Ritmo/strada or a few lancias. But make sure to keep the engine mounts from your 1116cc as they are different. The 1498 is a VERY revving and quick engine, freshen it up with either an alquati or stock coupe/rally intake along with a 34/36 dmtr. You could also use the electronic ignition from early uno’s/tipo’s. All of the above along with a spiffier camshaft approx 10mm lift and some headwork you would be putting down roughly 120-130 hp which in 128 goes like the wind. The 5speed transmission from the ritmo can fit, but requires a late swaybar from a Yugo and some modifications to the driveshafts as the 128 box uses bearing-like input shafts. There are still plenty of parts available to cure over/understeer. This is a very short summary of what could be done to have one heck of a daily racer!