The Premier 118 NE thread

[ilangop]

Dear all,

Last month I had tried a DIY cleaning up the Mikuni carburetor in my 118NE. After putting it back, the idlling is not proper. Means, I have to tightening the throttle screw completely in to keep the engine alive.
The Anti-dieseling solenoid was working fine and seems to work fine even now. What else would I have to check.
Also I need a picture of the enrichment valve diaphragm assembly sequence. Somehow I had missed to click the picture of the arrangement. There are 2 springs, a diaphragm, a cup, and a vacuum operated nozzle. Any help in this regard would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Ilango.

[Aniket Pawar]

Hello,
Could anyone please tell me how much should a 97 model Fiat 118 NE should fetch??
Running 57000km
Seemingly okay conditiion

Regards

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by Aniket Pawar

Hello,
Could anyone please tell me how much should a 97 model Fiat 118 NE should fetch??
Running 57000km
Seemingly okay conditiion

Regards

It would be a PREMIER and not a FIAT 118NE
Anyway, you can offer between 50 to 65,000 for a well maintained Factory fitted AC vehicle.

[autodoctor]

Hi All,

Is there any need of greasing any ares of the car. Up on a quick look i found greasing nipples for from Ball joints.. are there any on the propshaft..?

My 118 developed a grinding noise from the prop shaft area audible through gear lever hole.

Looking for experience suggestions

Thank You

Kannan

[Sudhir284]

Originally Posted by autodoctor

Hi All,

Is there any need of greasing any ares of the car. Up on a quick look i found greasing nipples for from Ball joints.. are there any on the propshaft..?

My 118 developed a grinding noise from the prop shaft area audible through gear lever hole.

Looking for experience suggestions

Thank You

Kannan

Dear, in all there are 9 (Nine) greasing nipples on 118 NE and you need to grease all the nipples periodically to ensure that your car runs and behaves as expected. Yes, there are greasing nipples on the propeller shaft as well! Let an experienced mechanic examine your car by hoisting it or taking it over a ramp. Hope it helps.

[Sudhir284]

Dear, in all there are 9 (Nine) greasing nipples on 118 NE and you need to grease all the nipples periodically to ensure that your car runs and behaves as expected. Yes, there are greasing nipples on the propeller shaft as well! Let an experienced mechanic examine your car by hoisting it or taking it over a ramp. Hope it helps.

[bikertillidie]

Originally Posted by autodoctor

Hi All,

Is there any need of greasing any ares of the car. Up on a quick look i found greasing nipples for from Ball joints.. are there any on the propshaft..?

My 118 developed a grinding noise from the prop shaft area audible through gear lever hole.

Looking for experience suggestions

Thank You

Kannan

In case you replace the UJ crosses on the prop shaft, you may end up with crosses having greasing nipples. If so, they will require periodic lubrication.

The drag link assembly has ball joints which requires greasing.

A grinding noise through the gear lever opening could have multiple causes -

simplest first - check transmission fluid levels
#2 please check for loose bolts on the prop shaft at both ends
#3 please check pillow block bearing and gearbox mounts
#4 time to check the gearbox

[autodoctor]

Originally Posted by bikertillidie

In case you replace the UJ crosses on the prop shaft, you may end up with crosses having greasing nipples. If so, they will require periodic lubrication.

The drag link assembly has ball joints which requires greasing.

A grinding noise through the gear lever opening could have multiple causes -

simplest first - check transmission fluid levels
#2 please check for loose bolts on the prop shaft at both ends
#3 please check pillow block bearing and gearbox mounts
#4 time to check the gearbox

Thank you.
When you are saying "In case you replace the UJ crosses on the prop shaft", do u mean it came without the greasing nipples from factory??

I managed to find a guy here who knows at least half of what's he talking. He could find 3 on prop shaft and 4 on steering.
Greased them up. No difference.

Gearbox: I doubt it, but I will check anyways.
The sound is audible once the car pick up speed above say 15kmph. It's like a bad bearing noise.
On doubt I have changed left wheel bearing, didn't change the noise.

Kannan

[bikertillidie]

On my 118NE, the UJ crosses didn't have greasing nipples right from the factory.

From your description, it sounds like the pillow block bearing is shot.

[Sudhir284]

Originally Posted by bikertillidie

On my 118NE, the UJ crosses didn't have greasing nipples right from the factory.

From your description, it sounds like the pillow block bearing is shot.

Hello all,

I have a stock 118 NE lovingly gifted by my late mother (brand new) in late 1993. So far it has done close to 51000 Kms. only! Since I am emotionally attached to this car, I take extra pains to maintain it. I never cared so much for my other cars, the latest one is a Chevrolet BEAT LT!!

The whole talk was to emphasize that I am always present when I take my 118 NE car to any mechanic.

I noticed that the original UJ cross on my car has greasing nipples.

But I too feel that the gear box transmission fluid as also the differential box lubricant needs a close examination in addition to the clutch bearing and pins on Universal joints at both the ends!

Hope this helps.

[ilangop]

Hi all,
With a friend's advice I took the plunge and placed an order for iveco truck for opening levers from partsbigboss.in.
The sale pay arrived on the 5th day some I placed the order. The part is stunningly similar to the 118NE for handle. However the hemispherical cladding needs to be cut a little to let the lever pass through. The iveco lever is little stout and is made of metal, nor plastic.
At ₹75/- a piece the result is satisfying. Just wanted to share the info.
In the below picture, the lever in the left is the original lever of 118NE and the one in the right is of iveco (Ashok Leyland E-comet) truck.
The older version of E-comet even had the same side indicators like in the 118NE for the fender.

Regards,
Ilango

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by Sudhir284

Hello all,

I have a stock 118 NE lovingly gifted by my late mother (brand new) in late 1993.

Can you please post some pictures?

[Sgt.Kamarov]

Electric powertrains are a lot like women - we ICE traditionalists with our masculine arrogance dismiss them as weak, inefficient, and inferior like a plug-in Prius, but then we find out that they can be absolutely BADASS doing something they wouldn't be expected to normally do, and do it far better than their male counterparts, as seen in works of absolute awesomeness like the McLaren P1, Mercedes-AMG Project ONE, and the new Tesla Model S, not to mention the current F1, Formula e, and WEC-LMP1 powertrains, and are simply blown away, scorched, in their wake licking the second-degree burns to our pride. As an engineering student (and car guy, duh) myself, I am tantalised by the potential of electric energy in making my set of wheels go that half a second (or more) quicker around a track while still conforming to emission regulations of today's polluted days of detremental climate change.

So, I thought, "Hey! Why not ressurect a rusty old s$%^box from India's poverty stricken 80's and make it a badass track monster that's as addictive to drive for a petrolhead as marijuana is to Snoop Dogg?" The *s-word*box in question is a 1995 Premier 1.38 D in my dad's garage, currently with ample rust bubbles and holes dotting its body, with the side skirts and wheel arches being beyond repair. The 1.38D may have taken the lifetime of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II to get to 100 kmph standing, but we do know that the 118NE series was essentially based on the Fiat 124 sedan from the 1970's, which, according to the great James May, was "a car as bouncy and lively as Tigger's honeymoon night", and if that wasn't reason enough, REAR WHEEL DRIVE BOIIII!!! Come on people, you don't get anything that isn't front wheel drive in our country for below 40 lakh, let alone 3 or 4).

Now, since having a big Lithium ion battery pack, like in hardcore hybrids as well as full EV's adds a great deal of weight (steel body, guys, I doubt it can get lighter than 850 kgs) and occupies space (which the car runs short of), and also, is an absolute liability for electric fires in case of an accident, including circuit overloading... *catches breath* I feel a full series or through-the-road powertrain would not be a good idea because it could mess up the handling and compromise on performance and driver involvement (I'd be saying goodbye to the good ol' stick shifter), here are the big changes regarding what I thought of doing (hope I'm not building too many castles in the air, PC racing sim game style):

Engine
A) 1.6 litre block from the older (and in every way better) Baleno, mated to a head from the Esteem. If I have to cut costs, then only the former. I've heard it's an amazing marriage of machinery and is quite popular among tuners.
B) 1.4 ivtec from the current gen or previous gen Honda City, or the 3rd generation City.
All in all, get around 200 hp from the engine itself and a tiny bit more from the electrical components.

Gearbox
Manual all the way! I'm a purist here. Since something like a six speed from say, a Mazda Mx5 would have to be imported and hence cost TOO much, I think I should be looking in the domestic market - Maruti parts, after all, have had a reputation for being insanely durable.

Turbo
I currently lack in-depth knowledge on turbocharger design, hence I'd initially go with what's popular among the tuner community. Now here's the fun part. Convert the turbo into an e-turbo (like an MGU-H used in Formula 1) by adding a coaxial motor-generator unit and a small battery pack to it.

Brakes
Discard those horrid vacuum-assisted brakes (because they don't work anymore haha ) and replace them with amateur racing pedigree hydraulic circuits with braided lines. Not just this, but also, a regenerative braking circuit on the front wheels (basically to act as front wheel drive stability on flooring it out of a corner) complete with two traction motors and a torque vectoring control unit. The picture's still pretty hazy though.

Steering
Get rid of the old worm and roller, and slip in a hydraulic-assisted rack and pinion system.

Weight reduction and suspension is something I'll have to think of much much later, when and if I actually start working on the car (after finishing college ), with the obvious priorities being lowering the CoG and reducing body roll and excessive spring compression, while maintaining sufficient grip through a corner. E-glass hood, boot-lid, wheel arches, and rear doors (front doors too, if I go for a fmsci-compatible rollcage) - I've had a little experience in fibreglass and FRP layups by vacuum bagging. I've also been playing around with ideas for aero mods already in my tough-to-come-by spare time - casual CFD muses and the like etc. etc.

Anyway, enough about me and my immensely superior genius! As a complete novice to making a simple project car or restoration project, let alone one this ambitious, in the petrolhead's hellhole that is our great motherland, I'd love to have all the advice I can get from you guys, especially the gurus out there. I'd like this discussion to include both advice as well as discussion on the hybrid project car scene in general. How much will a mostly self-made build cost me? What are the dangers and barriers (not just financial) involved in making a custom hybrid project car in India and even around the world? What about the eligibility of this powertrain in amateur Indian motorsport, such as autocross? Is there a cheap, quick way that this car can be deemed street legal so that I can use it as a daily drive too? What would the maintaince experience be like? The list of all my basic questions goes on and on. I'd be greatful for evey word of wisdom that you guys offer me. Feel free to debug, debunk, and analyse every word of what I typed in this post. Also, feel free to roast my immaturity and ambition! Let me know if you guys want any car pics (the car's real and it's a mess right now) and I'll post them as soon as I get home to click some photographs!

[akshay380]

If you plan to do this in Goa, I would love to help in cleaning the shop floor etc

[blackwasp]

Wow. Great idea and best of luck for it. Long ago, when we had the Punto 1.2, I was contemplating on the same lines as you are planning to do. Back then, I had come across news of a $3000 kit which made your existing car a plug in hybrid (link). The premises was that a front wheel drive car has its rear wheels free. One can easily (ok, with considerable effort) attach a power source (electric motors). With a small battery pack in the boot, it would be possible to give a range of 25-50 km just on electricity. I thought, why not use the engine as well as the motor to give better power to the car?

However, then we upgraded to the Abarth, so the project went on a back burner. However some of the problems I came across in my research -
1. Only engine or only electric is ok, but how to control both of them in tandem?
2. Braking - generally the re-gen braking can be used for recharging the batteries, but will need some algorithm to decide when to use re-gen and stock brakes.
3. Additional weight could change the handling characteristics.

Now, since your car is a RWD, why not consider attaching the motor to the prop-shaft so it supports the engine and you don't have to deal with complex ways to attach it to the front wheels? e.g. you would have to consider the fact that front wheel are used for direction control of the car as well. Something on the lines of an electric assist bike? You can pedal most of the times, but use the help of the motor while climbing flyovers etc.

Or better yet consider a setup like the diesel-electric locos. The main power units will be electric motors instead of the regular engine, connected via the gearbox to the rear wheels, but have a small onboard engine to replenish the small batteries which would be tuned to run at its peak efficiency.