[ananthkamath]

i've probably posted this before, but i'll do it again just to liven up the conversation if for nothing else. I wish I could post a few pics of what follows but......

anyway, my mentor tuned and raced Heralds & Fiats, and later, Fiat-engined Formula Indians for over 30 years at Sholavaram (not rallying). He has some of these cars at his place in mysore, and having seen (breathed even) and experienced them ever since I was a kid, I can say that this variety of 1100 is probably the most exotic found among any modded fiat in india, bar none.

probably no engine in the world has been used in mainstream racing for over 30 years, a reflection of the pathetic Indian automotive industry....the 1100 has seen it all. The Group A2 (unlimited) & A1A (indian parts only) saw the most action.

My mentor's A2 class engine is a piece-de-resistance (as far as Fiat engines go) It is bored out to the max. possible (1194cc, I think, not sure) using domed Arias pistons. Both the head and the block are milled, this combo gives 12.5 compression and will not run on anything less than 110 octane because of the cam combination. The cam is a special grind from Iskenderian . The rockers are offset bored and the entire rotating assembly is statically balanced (meaning each cylinder has parts of equal weight to a 1 gram tolerance). The head has a lot of development work on it; all I can say about it is that the valves are bigger and have a multi-angle cut (not just 3 angles). some places in the head are extremely close to zero wall thickness (near the water jacket).

the intake and exhaust really depends on what car its being used in; if its a saloon then the header is different, if its the Formula (which weighs about 400 kg) the header is different. Same with the carburetion; for the Formula Indian, only Indian carbs could be used so it was either twin Solexes or 4 mikunis (from the RD350). For the A2 it was either a single or twin 40DCOE Webers. The exhaust is the normal cannister type with side exit.

An electric fan is used, and even the water pump is cut down to reduce hp loss.

For some applications a close-ratio gearbox from the Triumph Herald was used. We dont know the bhp figures, but what we do know is that with the Formula Headers and twin DCOE combination, the car will pull (notice I said pull, not merely rev) to 8000 rpm with ease.

I cannot describe the sound that this engine produces with words. It is both defeaning and orgasmic at the same time. This is because of the unique port configuration of the Fiat (its called a siamese exhaust port, where the center cylinders fire into the same exhaust port). If you hear it rev, you wont even guess its a Fiat 1100 engine, cause you are used to seeing and hearing anemic response from stock 1100s. When the engine fires up, it sounds like the timing's out. The idle and off-idle are extremely poor. This effect continues upto 3000 rpm at which point it "comes on the cam". After that its just one mad rush to 7500 which, I am told, is the ideal shift point.

The formula's another piece of brilliant engineering, but thats another story.

This engine now resides in a Dolphin (after I "re-kindled" the racing spirit in my mentor; how ironical) which was supposed to have raced in Speedrun '06 but we couldnt finish the car in time. Its a sleeper in the true sense, we found the car buried halfway in a field in Maddur and planned to race it as is, without any exterior mods. Even the wheels had rust on them and that would have been something to watch, even though it might not have won against the present open class cars.

Ananth

[planet_rocker]

a big thanks to @salil for the Premier Padmini thread link started by @ram. yup salil i have come across the thread a time ago. it was completely out of my mind. i completely forgot about the beauties owned by ram and outlaw.

@ ananathkamath and @ sutra - thanks alot for sharing the informations.

[Edmund]

I LOVE these beasts...................... Is the 'Wild Child' MH12V10 Padmini actually located in pune???? Would love to check it out..........

The Black one is beautifully finished............ superb front face!

[planet_rocker]

@edmund - yup maneet / "wildchild" stays in pune (411036). check out my friends list (orkut) and look for maneet singh ahluwalia. you can check out his phone number there as well. but no point in scrapping him. i havent seen him online for a very long time.

@edmund - outlaw's fiat sports an after-market mess grill which he bought from the local market in mysore.

[Edmund]

Whereabout is pune 36?
Aftermarket mesh grille??? Wow......... the quality is baffling!!!!

[planet_rocker]

@edmund - no idea as to where in pune, but you can call him on his cell. his number is there in his profile.

@edmund - yeah after market mesh grill. very easy to install. buy one alluminium mesh grill from a local market (hardware store) and cut it according to the shape of the present grill and simply screw them in the original position. but you gotto be very carefull while screwing it. avoid dents on the mesh grill...cuz they will "mess" the look.

@ edmund - maneet's OHC had the mesh grill...which he painted black very recently to match with the smoked tail lights and pass/indicators. check out his gallery.

[1100D]

Great to see so many Padmini enthusiast's. Infact whenever I take my car out I get stares from the generally unaware public to whom its just an old car which well-to-do people dont use these days!! (even in the condition ours is)

Anyway Karl the pics of the 103E definitely has increased confusion, cos the engine is indeed 118NE (with the manifold on the left) but the tailpipe is sticking out thru the right side. Maybe undercarriage pics (if u have) can help.

However, I am not too interested in the 118NE conversion cos that makes it a Nissan at heart (no offence meant to the Jap anyway)

Originally Posted by ananthkamath

If you hear it rev, you wont even guess its a Fiat 1100 engine, cause you are used to seeing and hearing anemic response from stock 1100s. When the engine fires up, it sounds like the timing's out. The idle and off-idle are extremely poor. This effect continues upto 3000 rpm at which point it "comes on the cam". After that its just one mad rush to 7500 which, I am told, is the ideal shift point.

This off-timing sound is due to te modfied Cam profile, as well as timing. However the cam profiling could be done at variety of settings from mild to wild. One more thing to do was shave a couple of thou's from the head to increase compression ratio. All this actually makes the car sound unrefined at low-revs but then when you floor it it just blows everyone away (with or without a Free-flow exhaust. infact better without a free-flow IMO! which gives you that mild growl)

[salilpawar1]

To all those who have submitted pics of modded fiats:
Can you give an idea about the capability of these modded machines...viz., performance, handling et al..... And will it be good enough to atleast smoke the sub-1.4 litre engined stock hatches (atleast in a straight line)...

[ananthkamath]

Originally Posted by 1100D

One more thing to do was shave a couple of thou's from the head to increase compression ratio.

the A2 engines had more like a couple of mm shaved off. they will blow a hole neat through the pistons if you put anything less than 110 octane in them.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by ananthkamath

the A2 engines had more like a couple of mm shaved off. they will blow a hole neat through the pistons if you put anything less than 110 octane in them.

Yeah you are right, but I was mainly talking about modifications for daily applications. The maximum you can go at 91 octane is a couple of thou's, but even then the result is quite endearing.

[ananthkamath]

i have seen upto 1.2 mm shaved off (stock pistons and block) running a rally cam on 87 octane. of course the timing and the exhaust plays a major role here.

[karan561]

Outlaw's black padmini is a STUNNER .... awesome stuff ....

[rahulvilas]

[HTML]@edmund - yup maneet / "wildchild" stays in pune (411036). [/HTML]
[HTML]Whereabout is pune 36?
[/HTML]

Pune - 36 is Mundhwa...I stay 2 kms before Mundhwa but have never come across this car.What is the complete address?

Rahul.

[planet_rocker]

@guys - check out my friends list @ orkut. and look for maneet singh ahluwalia. his cell no is there. but i have no idea as to what is the exact address.

Fiat 1100 @ DOHA, UAE.

• black leather interiors.
• pioneer Organic EL Display CD Player with full sound system by sony xplod Woofer 2000 watt .
• stone shift knob.
• engine changed to 120y datsun with custom headers.

pics:
check out the PAL logo in the LHD Fiat:


rear end:



source: car domain

[moralfibre]

Awesome find Planet Rocker!!! Is the owner an Indian?