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Just finishing up the last parts of my front brake upgrade. I have not been happy with the 850 spider front disc setup and I stumbled onto a set of calipers that seem to fit the bill perfectly  The calipers are Tokico's off the front of a 2008 Suzuki GSX R750. Somehow it just wound up a perfect match. The original fiat calipers uses a single 45mm piston. The bike calipers use 30/34mm pistons so if we calculate the surface area the fiat caliper has 1590sq/mm and the bike calipers have 1615 sq/mm. That is so close that it is scary. This means brake biasing will not be affected and the master cylinder will not need to be replaced.  Swept area of the pad decreased slightly but there are more pad compounds avaliable for sport bikes than old fiats I did have to space the 2 halves 1/8" to fit over the rotor. Pretty simple I just needed to cut reliefs for the seals to sit in and add another seal.  The carrier is just a simple plate with mounting bosses welded on.  These calipers have proven to very cheap as I have purchased 3 sets for under $10 a pair via eBay. The best thing is that this setup weighs 6 pounds less per corner than the brakes I am replacing. |
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Ingenious. I love the way you use the term 'simple', suggesting that it's a plain-old like-for-like bolt on conversion. Motorbike/Fiat hybrid brake set up? Simple...if you're a mechanical and planning genius. My hat is off to you, sir.
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berendd
Europe
why do I need 3 keys for one car?
Posts: 1,449
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Feb 23, 2010 10:11:38 GMT
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Love your engineering!
great little motor!
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
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Feb 23, 2010 11:07:10 GMT
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What they said /\ Proper, good, thought out stuff  |
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable. |
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Feb 23, 2010 22:07:17 GMT
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Absolutely beautiful car, looks tough as nails!! Just to repeat everyone else, some fantastic engineering gone into this little car, well done that man. |
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1981 VW T25
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Do like that very much. Looking through the parts you've repaired or replaced (the distributor/ignition setup is impressive) it's interesting to look and recognise so many of the parts that were fitted to my Cinquecento... ...recycling of ideas is a FIAT staple after all. Did quite like the Magneti-Marelli fuel/ignition they'd set up for my 899, adaptive which was good, even if it was less than aggressive it still managed to pull hard all the way across the rev range. Think you've created yourself a much more versatile setup there though! Keep the colour too, you hit a winner there in my book  --Phil |
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The planets aligned, free time became avaliable, the weather cooperated and I now have new front brakes on the car. Out with 11lbs of the old brakes  and in with 3.69lbs of sportbikey awesomeness.....yes that is right, complete per side caliper carriers, calipers, bolts, washers and pads weigh 3.69 pounds  I had the braided stainless brake lines made up locally I couldnt resist the little abarth scorpion decal, it just seemed too cool.  How do they work you ask? Pretty damned great. As expected pedal feel didnt change much. Modulation is better, before they were kinda like a 3 position switch. off/kinda on/locked up. Now they work like.....gasp...modern brakes. The reduction in unsprung weight is great. far less banging and crashing over bumps, overall "lighter on its feet" feeling. Now to do the rears!!!!! |
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Great solution.
Looks good too.
Chuffed to bits for your planets aligning.
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Sadly relying on the car to take me to work everyday slows the development process quite a bit. I have built 5 different intake manifold/throttle body combos so far. Starting with a pair of Mikuni bike carbs to a couple of firefly/metro/swift TBI units and then a setup using 2 of the four throttle bodies off of a GSXr sport bike. Some didn't fit in the engine bay, some didn't work very well and some couldn't supply enough fuel but I think this one is the winner. Take one 2" mandrel bend, machine an adapter ring with sealing groove for the jubilee clamp  It turns out that the 2" exhaust tube when squashed to the oval shape of the fiat intake port on the head is a PERFECT fit. Together!  TB is from a 2008 Raptor 700R  The injector is supposed to handle 75hp at 80% duty cycle and 46PSI rail pressure. There are 2 companies that offer upgrade injectors for about $120 each. It even has a coolant operated cold idle booster. ebay worked out for me on this as the seller managed to spell throttle "throtle" in the ad and I was bored enough to keep trying misspellings. This SRT4 "intercoller" was only $13  But it is rediculously oversized and I won't be using it. I have a Thunderbird supercoupe bar and plate intercooler that is closer to what I need but still a bit big. Gotta work out a fuel pump solution. Either build a whole new tank that can use a sportbike pump or something else with the stock tank. More later..... |
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a112
Part of things
1100
Posts: 91
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Apr 21, 2010 13:36:14 GMT
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Excellent project!
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,543
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Apr 21, 2010 18:33:07 GMT
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Engine mods look fun  |
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Last Edit: Apr 21, 2010 18:33:24 GMT by Seth
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Anglia68
Posted a lot
Powered By Boredom.
Posts: 2,050
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Apr 21, 2010 21:07:14 GMT
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Superb and inspirational. |
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Apr 21, 2010 23:35:03 GMT
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The more I see of this car, the more I love it. Totally jelous, got to be one of my favourite RR cars right now. |
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1981 VW T25
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agreed |
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 SPLIT RIMS ARE FOR WINNERS |
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DutyFreeSaviour
Europe
Back For More heartbreak and disappointment.....
Posts: 2,944
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Very very nice - the mods are all coming together well. The brakes are a fantastic bit of adapting.
Another car that is certainly on my 'want' list.
(Off to keep trying spelling mistakes for the bits I need - $13 is truelly bargainous!)
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Back from the dead..... kind of
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Apr 22, 2010 14:03:22 GMT
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Thanks guys, you flatter me.
I did find a suitable fuel pressure regulator in the back depths of my toolbox last night. Bosch unit off of a 2.2 turbo dodge. Stud mount with hose barb fittings. 55PSI. Considering making it adjustable just to have that option later. Now I need to source the harness plugs for the throttle position sensor and the injector.
Fuel pump mounting is what now has me perplexed. If I mount a pump to the existing pick up tube I feel that it will starve out every time the tank is under 1/4 full and I take a corner "spiritedly".....which is all the time.
Pulling the tank requires dropping the engine and transmission so what ever I do needs to be well planned.
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Sven
Part of things
Posts: 341
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Bitching ... nice work, mate. That combo cries, nay screams, megasquirt to me. You *could* also do away with the dizzy and roll with Ford EDIS ignition components on the megasquirt ... just saying while you're building FrankenEngine... -Steve |
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1969 Chevrolet 4x4 C10 Pickup
1969 VW extended cab pickup (doka)
1980 Volvo 240DL
1995 Mazda Miata MX-5
2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser
2007 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2011 MK Indy R (building)
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You sir are a mind reader. There is actually a Megasquirt 2 on a version 2.2 board installed in the car now. And as far as EDIS goes. About a month ago I machined down a US escort trigger wheel to fit the back of the crank pulley   I have yet to acquire a sensor so I am not sure exactly where it needs to be mounted so I have not welded the trigger wheel to the pulley yet. In due time I guess. |
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Sven
Part of things
Posts: 341
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Sweet! For a 4 banger, the sensor has to be at 90 degrees BTDC relative to the missing tooth. It'll all come down to how you can mount the sensor to the motor in a position so it's about 1mm from the wheel. The sensor conveniently has two bolt holes you'll be able to use easily along with a could bits of aluminum angle so it's adjustable. Once you decide on that you can attach the toothed wheel. One option to consider may be to bolt it to the pulley by drilling and tapping the pulley or wheel. The wheel is made of weird stuff and there has been mixed results welding it. Ask me how I know? Alternatively diyautotune also sells wheels that are made of actual real steel and can be welded. www.diyautotune.com-Steve |
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Last Edit: Apr 26, 2010 5:57:38 GMT by Sven
1969 Chevrolet 4x4 C10 Pickup
1969 VW extended cab pickup (doka)
1980 Volvo 240DL
1995 Mazda Miata MX-5
2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser
2007 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2011 MK Indy R (building)
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One more step in the right direction. I "borrowed" the gas tank from the 850 coupe to modify for use in my sedan. It was pretty nasty inside. I dumped out what looked like rust colored curdled milk and then flushed about a pint of rust particles out of it. Afterwards it looked like this inside  curse word photo I am afraid. Hard to get a decent pic of darkness inside a hole with a point and shoot. Just imagine the worst case scenario of rust. The players on todays team  $6 worth of muriatic acid was the heavy hitter here. The metal wash was just there as support afterwards so that the bare steel wouldn't flash over with rust immediatley. The 4lb box of baking soda was there to neutralize any spills and to render the mixture inert after I was done with it. 3 gallons of HOT water... I reckon about 160 degrees F were poured into the tank and then about three quarters of a gallon of acid was dumped in after that (Always add acid to water...never water to acid) I then used scraps of old chemical resistant gloves and hose clamps to seal off all openings. After that I just kept turning it over so that all sides were allowed to sit in the acid bath and when I was sure all sides were covered for a sufficient amount of time (I was just guessing....I really had no idea how long it takes to eat rust) I started shaking the tank around, aggitating it for a good 15 minutes. I carefully removed the stuff stopping up the holes and poured the nasty hot gasoline varnish and acid stew into a 5 gallon bucket and proceded to pour baking soda in to neutralize the acid. Chemical reactions are neat and in the case of hydrchloric acid and baking soda the resulting chemicals are water, salt and Co2. Lots and lots of Co2. That damn bucket foamed and boiled over for about 10 minutes staining my new patio with a rusty hue...doh! I used an aquarium PH test strip to verify it was now harmless and could be safely disposed of. I mixed some baking soda and water and rinsed the tank out with it then flushed it out half a dozen times with fresh water and then treated with the metal wash according to the directions on the can The result? This  Darn clean. Clean enough to start modifying the tank. |
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