Yugo GV Fiat X19 1.5L Swap

saturn

Low Mileage
Hello everyone! I was recommended to this forum from a guy who sold me a fuel-injected 1.5L from his X19 (he's doing a Honda K20 swap himself).

I have a 1986 Yugo GV, which comes with the little carbureted 1.1L from the factory. Rather than rebuild that, I figured it'd be far more worthwhile to swap in a more powerful engine.

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Got lucky and found the 1.5L on ebay.

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My understanding is the angle of the engine is different when mounted in a X19 and I have to swap over my oil sump and tray from my 1.1L? Also, I've been told the Yugo ignition system is better. Planning to use the Yugo clutch/flywheel as well.

Anyone have any other general advice?
 
Welcome, and Cool project!

I do have a question - why would you use a flywheel & clutch intended for a 1.1l motor? Sounds like it could be a recipe for failure. Did you get all the FI components to compliment what's on the motor (ECU, AFM, etc..)? If not I have both of those....
 
I was told the Yugo clutch and flywheel are better (and fit without any extra work). To get the 1.5L Fiat clutch and flywheel to fit would require modification. But this was just from the guy selling me the engine.

He also is selling me the ECU etc.
 
I was told the Yugo clutch and flywheel are better (and fit without any extra work). To get the 1.5L Fiat clutch and flywheel to fit would require modification. But this was just from the guy selling me the engine.

He also is selling me the ECU etc.

I see, it is likely to make it fit with the trans, that's what makes sense. If the seller suggested it, I would assume he knows what he is talking about.
 
The 1500 has air conditioning! :) If you don't have AC in the Yugo you might want to think about simplifying the belt arrangement now. See if the water pump and alternator, etc, from the old engine will fit. You never know, but I am guessing the brackets will be an issue.
 
Everything fits, it's practically an identical motor (both are based on the Lancia SOHC motor design). The 1500 does have A/C, but the Yugo only comes with heat... I could figure out a way to make it work but I probably would never use it. Many people upgrade the alternator to a GM unit, so I'll probably do that and skip the A/C.
 
Welcome. I love Yugos, and hope to own one, at some point. I think you might be mislead about the Yugo having a better ignition system though. Or maybe I am?? I believe the GVX model had a cam mounted dizzy which is pretty cool and is a nice upgrade. The base GV has a block mounted distributor, just like the X1/9. Hope the swap goes well. Ill be watching this one.
 
When I did the A/C delete on my ‘85 (1500 w/ FI), I used the crank pulley, water pump, alternator, etc from a Yugo, so you should be able to do the same.


The 1500 has air conditioning! :) If you don't have AC in the Yugo you might want to think about simplifying the belt arrangement now. See if the water pump and alternator, etc, from the old engine will fit. You never know, but I am guessing the brackets will be an issue.
 
The Yugos have a simplified electronic control module that interchanges with the Bosch unit on the Fiat. That’s probably what they were referring to.


Welcome. I love Yugos, and hope to own one, at some point. I think you might be mislead about the Yugo having a better ignition system though. Or maybe I am?? I believe the GVX model had a cam mounted dizzy which is pretty cool and is a nice upgrade. The base GV has a block mounted distributor, just like the X1/9. Hope the swap goes well. Ill be watching this one.
The
 
A while back I saw a Yugo sitting in the side yard of a house a few blocks from me. I was curious so stopped to look closer. All original, 100% complete, absolutely no rust, no body damage, paint was mildly oxidized but solid, interior even looked very good (had factory AC), around 20K miles on it. A bit of a time capsule, in need of a good clean up. I talked to the owner. They bought it new locally, drove it for a few years, then it would not pass the state smog test (apparently they barely passed when new). He was told it needed a new carb. But at that time approved carbs for them were difficult to find and expensive. So they parked it. Sat there ever since. I asked if they would sell it but he needed to talk to the wife (actually her car). A couple weeks later they sent me a message saying it was available for $500 or offer, but I was out of the country and did not get the message for a few weeks. When I returned I tried to contact them but they had gone to their Florida home for the summer. So I asked them to contact me again when they returned. Never heard back. And I haven't seen the car since. I imagine it sold to someone else. The irony is by that time it was old enough that smog testing was no longer required, anything goes. That would have been a great candidate for a later 1500 5-speed swap, with AC. I still think the combination would make a terrific daily driver. I've seen some cool Yugo examples online:

Yugo 4.jpg Yugo 2.jpg Yugo 8.jpg Yugo 11.jpg Yugo 27.jpg Yugo 28.jpg Yugo 33.jpg
 
My understanding is the angle of the engine is different when mounted in a X19 and I have to swap over my oil sump and tray from my 1.1L? Also, I've been told the Yugo ignition system is better. Planning to use the Yugo clutch/flywheel as well. Anyone have any other general advice?

Yes, you'll want to swap your Yugo oil pump pickup, oil pan (sump), distributor & clutch/flywheel onto the 1500 engine. Also your upper & front (side) engine mounts, thermostat housing, intake manifold/carb set-up, exhaust manifold, valve cover, starter motor, alternator/bracket assembly, water pump (with bypass pipe) & asst'd pulleys, as needed. This is assuming you're not using the FI system & A/C components from the 1500.
 
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I do have a question - why would you use a flywheel & clutch intended for a 1.1l motor?

Because the Yugo 4-speed trans dictates using the corresponding (in this case original) 4-speed clutch/flywheel assembly & starter motor. Similar to doing a 1300 engine to 1500 engine swap in a 1974-78 (4-speed) X1/9, you keep the 4-speed components together (trans, flywheel, clutch & starter).
 
I think you might be mislead about the Yugo having a better ignition system though. Or maybe I am??

Though both are made by Bosch, the Yugo ignition has a slightly more modern & compact control module, & a simpler wiring harness than the X1/9 1500 ignition. For example:

Fiat X1/9 1500 Bosch EI:

x19boschEI1.jpg

Yugo Bosch EI:

yugoEIb.jpg


I believe the GVX model had a cam mounted dizzy which is pretty cool and is a nice upgrade. The base GV has a block mounted distributor, just like the X1/9.

That would be the GV+ (GVPlus) with the cam-mount distributor on its 1300 Motronic FI engine. The GVX was block-mounted like the GV.
 
Jeff, i guess he want mount all the EFI system..regarding the brand of the motor, well lancia was alredy a fiat brand at the time, also the 1979 lancia delta (and later the prisma) had the 128's sohc motors
 
Though both are made by Bosch, the Yugo ignition has a slightly more modern & compact control module, & a simpler wiring harness than the X1/9 1500 ignition. For example:

Yugo Bosch EI:
View attachment 17416

That looks like an easy conversion. Volvo used that type power stage 83-89, probably the same replacement number for any 4 cylinder. Easy enough to make the short harness to the coil & dist. Requires the later coil (no ballast) too, though I would expect.
 
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I did three 128 1300 engine swaps for the later 1500 X motor. I used the oil pan, pump and return tube from the 128. I obviously used the torque arm from the 128 to get the engine angle correct, the 128 exhaust and 128 intake manifold. All the exterior engine bits were whatever was on the 1500. Flywheel, clutch and starter were from the 128 fourspeed. I would assume the 1500 to Yugo swap would be similar.
 
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