Alternate engine/gearbox/suspension for the Fulvia?

[Riccardo Spagni]

I'm picking up a Fulvia with a body in good shape, besides two minor rust patches. It looks like the engine will need to be junked. In the event that I need to replace the engine, the gearbox and the suspension with modern alternatives, what are my best bets? Bear in mind that I'm doing this as a hobby, I haven't done a lot of work on cars, but I do have an ex-BAR mechanic who will give me a bit of a hand:) Also, I'm on a tight budget, so preferably components I can pick up at a junkyard or second hand for cheap!

Regards,
Riccardo Spagni
South Africa

[Alan]

suspension would be a none starter I can't imagine how the transverse leaf and wishbones could easily be replaced, in any case they are an excellent design. I would suspect that the gearbox will be ok as in general they are as tough as old boots, space for a different engine might be at a premium bearing in mind that the original is not transverse and is very short due to the narrow V cylinder configuration. If the engine is really badly damaged I would try to find another 1.3 engines are quite common or strip and rebuild the one you have

[Riccardo Spagni]

Just spoke to Tony Seiler, the local guy that does Lancia restorations. Told him about the car, he pretty much said the same thing. So I'm going to wait for the car to arrive, and then he'll take a look at it and we'll go from there. If we can get the engine to crank, then he reckons it should be ok, and it won't be that expensive to restore. So we'll see:) The real question, though, is what colour should I go for? I don't want red...seen too many red ones out there! Suggestions?

[Alan]

if you are going to keep it near to an original colour they did some metallics that suited it very well, silver or bronze look very nice, i would avoid dark solid colours as they'll exagerate any bodywork repairs unless they are done to very high precision if you want to be racy maya yellow isn't too bad

http://www.lancisti.org/forum/modules.p ... _photo.php

[Paul de Raymond Leclercq]

Just a theoretical idea I have thought about for years.

I imagined converting the front suspension to use push rods and have a pair of coil spring/damper units mounted under the cross member where the leaf spring is normally located.

An alternative would be to modify the top wishbones so that they resemble those on a D50 and mount a vertical spring/damper unit onto the subframe.

This sort of thing comes from spending too much time in pubs with other Lancisti plotting!

Paul

[Paul de Raymond Leclercq]

I would add that there are very few modern suspension systems that compare favourably with the long wishbones fitted to the Fulvia.
Macphersons? Ugh!!

Paul

[Christopher Adams]

Is there any truth to the myth that when Fiat took over Lancia and phased out the Flavia that the flat four technology got sold to a Japanese companyu called Subaru?

Are the similarities beyween the Fulvia and flavia subframes enough to allow the installation of a flat four? A WRX powerplant / transmission would be interesting...

[Paul de Raymond Leclercq]

I have never heard of this. Anyway the Flavia engine has push rods in the style of the B20.

I have seen a Fulvia fitted with a Flavia engine although it was a bit of a shoe-horn job.

The Fulvia is a lovely car: I wouldn't change it - unless I could afford one of those tiny Cosworth 2.5 litre V6 competition engines...

A WRX engine would be interesting: terminal wheelspin!

Paul

[Christopher Adams]

I also agree that the Fulvia is a lovely car in its original form, but in the spirit of something like the F&M specials, a hideously overpowered, very light 'special' would be interesting. Failing there being sufficient room to accomodate said WRX powerplant in the engine bay, would you have any more luck trying the same in a Gamma? There must be a bit more space available there.

I heard about the possible connection between Lancia and Subaru through a retired mechanic I know in New Zealand, Bruce Wilson. Bruce travelled to Europe in the 60's with Chris Amon and worked as his GP Mechanic at Ferrari for 2 or 3 years. When he eventually returned to NZ he set up a small Fiat/Lancia dealership in Hunterville. He has a lovely collection of Lancias including a series 2 fulvia Coupe, a Flavia HF2000, a Gamma Coupe, and a Delta.

Has anyone else heard of the connection? It would be interesting to compare the flavia engines with what Subaru were doing in the early 70's.

And as far as wheelspin was concerned, couldn't you be really ambitious and create a 4WD special?

[Paul de Raymond Leclercq]

I think that rather than make a 4WD Fulvia, I would make a rear wheel drive version, perhaps using the rear assembly from an Alfa-Romeo which incorporates the clutch etc.

Another possibility is to make a mid-engined car - I have measured this and it is probably just possible....

Paul