78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

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pantera928
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:20 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider

78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby pantera928 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:56 am

I have a 1978 spider with a 1979 engine. The car also has a hood from a 1982 spider. I have installed the crossmember to lower the engine as the 2.0 is taller than the 1.8 but I still cannot close the hood without interference with the throttle linkage and the distributor cap.
If I turn the distributor 180 degrees so the wires come out of the bottom of the cap, there is not interference but that still does not solve the problem with the throttle linkage.
Was there a different mounting bracket for the linkage?
Is there a lower distributor than the one on my 79 engine?
Is the hood insulation maybe the problem with a hood from a 1982 injected car?

Any and all ideas for a solution are appreciated.

User avatar
Yadkin
Posts: 161
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2014 10:08 pm
Your car is a: 1974 Spider
Location: Pisgah National Forest, NC

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby Yadkin » Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:15 pm

I'm not sure about the throttle linkage but you could always upgrade to a distributorless ignition and gain a lot of clearance that way.

https://allisonsautomotive.com/products ... 24_and_131

grrrdot
Posts: 224
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:14 pm
Your car is a: 1967 124

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby grrrdot » Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:48 pm

Did you use 1800 engine mounts? ( the metal part that bolts to the block ) Not sure if its your issue but I've experienced that the Fiat motor mounts are different across the different engines. They can move the engine fwd back and up / down.

Alternately, if you only need a little room I *think* the Volvo mounts that fit are slightly shorter. Or you can just drill new holes in your existing mount to move the engine down. Need to watch the pan to cross member clearance and if your alternator is on the passenger side that it does not foul the lower radiator hose when doing this.

-G

pantera928
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:20 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby pantera928 » Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:03 am

Not sure which engine mounts I used. Guess I can check.
The electronic ignition option look very nice but the price is $575. Wow!

Thanks for the responses so far.

piperstan10
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:02 pm
Your car is a: spider 1973

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby piperstan10 » Wed Mar 07, 2018 5:49 pm

Distributor can be mounted to run from auxiliary shaft to left of the mechanical fuel pump - should see a circular cap held in place with a fork clamp. The auxiliary shaft has a spiral gear that matches distributor gear which was used on the 124 sedan I think.

If you have a 1979 carburetor engine, redline Webber has alternative linkages and cables. Otherwise you might visit a Harley motorcycle garage they often do linkages.

Stan

pantera928
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:20 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby pantera928 » Mon Mar 19, 2018 6:23 pm

Ladies and Gents
I appreciate the feedback but I keep thinking that there has to be something missing here.
A swap of a 2000cc engine into a 1800cc car is not something new. Other than the different cross member and the humpier hood(both od which I have installed), there has to be something else that is causing this issue.
Have any of you done this swap?
My motor mounts are 50mm thick and I have seen a sight that advertises 47mm mounts but do not think that will be enough to solve this issue.
These are basically the same cars just with 2 different engines.
I swapped the engine and tranny as one unit with all of the peripherals. In my mind this should be a non event.

Thanks and forgive the rant. This is just getting aggravating.

Ragno124
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:48 am
Your car is a: 1981 124 Spider
Location: Northwest Chicago Suburbs

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby Ragno124 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 8:43 am

Fiat issued a Technical Service Bulletin in 1979 regarding the orientation of the distributor causing interference with the hood. Review this and see if this may be your problem.

https://i.imgur.com/yC51zJo.png
Steve Muzzillo

1981 124 Spider 2000 (ex-turbo)
2006 Acura MDX
2008 Honda CRV
2014 GMC Acadia
2017 Acura RDX

zachmac
Posts: 1278
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:20 am
Your car is a: 1978 Spider [1979 2 ltr engine]
Location: Aiken, SC

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby zachmac » Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:29 am

I have a 78 with a 79 2 liter in it sitting in the garage. Hood closes fine.
Jeff Klein, Aiken, SC
1980 FI Spider, Veridian with Tan (sold about a year ago), in the market for another project
1989 Spider, sold
2008 Mercedes SL65
2008 S600 Mercedes V12

pantera928
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:20 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby pantera928 » Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:47 am

Zachmac
Did you install that engine?
Can I take a look at it? I get your way a lot with my work.

pantera928
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:20 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby pantera928 » Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:51 am

Ragno124
Thanks for that bulletin. I was thinking about doing that. I had the distributor set up with the wires coming out of the bottom but never liked it that way. Facing forward looks better if it clears the hood.

zachmac
Posts: 1278
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:20 am
Your car is a: 1978 Spider [1979 2 ltr engine]
Location: Aiken, SC

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby zachmac » Thu Mar 22, 2018 5:17 pm

pantera928 wrote:Zachmac
Did you install that engine?
Can I take a look at it? I get your way a lot with my work.


Sure, just let me have some notice. Text me on my cell, (803) 624-3796. If you want pictures give me a cell to text to and I'll do it. BTW, should be a few engine bay pics in my old posts. Here is a post with engine bay pics.viewtopic.php?f=10&t=36168
Jeff Klein, Aiken, SC
1980 FI Spider, Veridian with Tan (sold about a year ago), in the market for another project
1989 Spider, sold
2008 Mercedes SL65
2008 S600 Mercedes V12

herman
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:42 am
Your car is a: 1974 spyder

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby herman » Fri Apr 20, 2018 8:27 am

I have a 74 drop in a 2 liter fuel injection at the time I couldn't understand why I had a problem closing the hood ,drove car for two years didn't have a performance problem until one day it came to a sudden stop .Tow it home and couldn't believe my eyes the distributor came loose the pins inside the cap there bent the router hardy had a tip at the end to make contact It began to puzzled me why the distributor came loose not been able to see the engine when I close the hood I place my cell phone on video used a trouble light position it beside the distributor close the hood.The hood push down on the distributor about a inch to a inch and a half I kept moving the phone to see different views, and every time there was movement with the distributor. I place a piece of foam and close the hood and noticed the imprint of the distributor I ended up carefully cutting a section out of inside of the hood there its doubled up now the distributor fit perfect and no more movement HAPPY CRUISING

DustyDave
Posts: 69
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:12 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: Greenville, SC

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby DustyDave » Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:38 pm

To zachmac,
I have a ‘78 spider in process of restoration, not yet running. It has a 1.8l engine. I have an opportunity to buy a 2.0l engine from an ‘82 cheap. You mention above that you have done this swap before... I would like to know based on your experience what the complications are... sounds like distributor height, need for 2.0l engine cradle and hood with engine. Are there others? Trying to decide how feasible and complicated to do this swap for more power? I would prefer to keep it carbureted and just swap the block with 1.8l head and top end. Thoughts? P.S. I’m in Greenville, not too far from Aiken :D

scrapironchef
Posts: 155
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:06 pm
Your car is a: 79 Spider
Location: Richmond, CA

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby scrapironchef » Fri Dec 27, 2019 12:07 am

Is there a spacer under the carb?

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chrisg
Posts: 746
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:30 am
Your car is a: 1971 FIAT

Re: 78 with 79 engine. Cant close hood

Postby chrisg » Fri Dec 27, 2019 11:17 am

Unless I've missed something, I didn't see what sort of carburetor linkage you have? I've put 2L engines in earlier cars w/o any special motor mounts & using the earlier type crossmember. The spacing for #4 spark plug is annoying close to the firewall & in general you have to be mindful of how you orient the distributor, but otherwise I did not have clearance issues. The throttle linkage has a million alternatives to give you clearance if that's an issue. The carb itself and/or air cleaner is so simple to figure out it's not worth talking about. The distributor takes some careful observation & trail error, but it's not bad either (and a 123 distributor which is shorter, a block mounted distributor of all sorts of varieties, or a DIY setup triggered by whatever are also options).

2L in an earlier car is a pretty common thing. It used to be that there were simply more 2Ls laying around, many with a body rusting away from a perfectly good drivetrain. So, the common thought was to re-do the 1.8 head & use it with a 2L block to get a slight CR increase & not be in the market to purchase pistons, etc. etc. I guess. Things are different these days in terms of prices/cars available/products, so I'm not sure I wouldn't just opt to build a nice higher CR 1608 or 1756 vs the 2L, but I have some spare 2Ls hanging around for the same purpose, because I guess I'm sentimental.
Chris Granju
Knoxville, TN
'71 FIAT 124BS (pretty), '72 FIAT 124BC,'76 FIAT 128 Wagon(ratbeast), '85 Bertone X 1/9, '70 124BC (project), 79 X1/9 (hot rod in rehab), '73 124BS (2L, mean), '74 124 Special TC, '73 124CS, '73 124 Familiare


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