500 Abarth 1.4 Turbo swap.

[TonyK]

Back to wiring of the module box. If only there was access to the ECU and I could drop off the imoblilzer and a bunch of other stuff and just use the engine management control only for this engine to work. On my build I spent a lot of trial and error time that even though the car was on the road, it could leave me stranded. All of the other stuff not needed in the build could be just deleted or checked off in the ECU line of code or two and what a sweet set up this all could be. Back to reality, until someone cracks the ECU it is only a dream. What is needed for all of this to work is that engine has to think it never left the Abarth body. It is constantly looking for things to be there and to happen. With that stated, the wire harness for the clutch switch and brake pedals must be extended. Also the ambient temperature sensor located in the right passenger mirror must be harvested and installed. In all of my builds the temperature sensor is installed in the right engine air scoop. It is constantly monitored and must be there. Then there is the SPORT button, I have it on my dash, but Bob Martin's car uses a set of timers and relays that once the car has been started 15 seconds latter it goes into Sport mode. There is a manual shut of of this feature, Bob has not used it yet. But...how do you know it is in Sport Mode or not Apart from seeing the boost levels change on the gauge and what kind of gauge will be used? Just a note here both Bob's car and my car have after market tuning. I use Open Flash and Bob has a tuning box. My car sees 26PSI boost so the stock Fiat gauge will only peg at the top end. I install an actual vacuum boost gauge off of the manifold mounted on the dash. It gives a true reading of MAP values at all times. Stock ECU or after market and then speed indication and tachometer needs to be displayed in the X1/9 entity or... the Abarth round stupid looking instrument cluster needs to be installed in the X1/9 dash somehow. Then there is trouble shooting, what if the car goes into lock out how do you know the ECU and Body Control modules are in this status. If you are messing with any of this it will leave you stranded and there is no one from Fiat USA you can talk to. The diagnostic software that is needed is at your Fiat dealer and my OBD2 code reader only reads engine faults for the most part.

So pictures for this week between Christmas and New Years are to follow.

797. Use good quality wire for any remote switches or sensors. I use both single conductors and a 9 conductor multi conductor cable. Make sure you have spares routed to the dash of the car. Extension of the wiring harness through the car body needs to be decided now and how long will the extensions be. 801 I have figured out my route length and use clamp to make sure each wire is long enough. 802 Always make notes. 803 these are the extensions for the wire harness for the car. 805 Now some of the magic to make it all work. 806 Module box cover. 808 Module box is ready for sand blasting, painting and fabric to be installed. I think I will move on next to the pedal box for the clutch pedal and brake pedal switches to be installed.

Happy New Year

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

 

[myronx19]

portable spot welder

Funny story about that spot welder - I bought the Power Fist version of this for work. It did not have any electrical certification mark on it, nor did it mention anything in the manual either. I called Princess Auto, that didn't go anywhere. I called ESA, and they wrote me a nasty letter! I notified them of a non-compliant device being sold in retail stores without a certification mark and I'm the one getting in **** - I think I still have that letter. I returned the unit to PA, and I believe all of the new units are marked. Yours is clearly marked.

 

[Bjorn Nilson]

MaxxECU means that their "Race" and "Pro" models support this engine. Maybe you should give them a call.

 

[TonyK]

MaxxECU means that their "Race" and "Pro" models support this engine. Maybe you should give them a call.

The Abarth 1.4 has two different heads. The Euro version, non Multi Air can be controlled by this unit. It is the multi air that is the issue, which I wanted to keep. I would have to import a non multi air head and change it which I did not want to do. I know of someone in the UK installing the 1.4 turbo non multi air in his X and is using a stand alone ECU. Thanks for the information.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

Funny story about that spot welder - I bought the Power Fist version of this for work. It did not have any electrical certification mark on it, nor did it mention anything in the manual either. I called Princess Auto, that didn't go anywhere. I called ESA, and they wrote me a nasty letter! I notified them of a non-compliant device being sold in retail stores without a certification mark and I'm the one getting in **** - I think I still have that letter. I returned the unit to PA, and I believe all of the new units are marked. Yours is clearly marked.

View attachment 69333

And I just happen to be an ESA inspector. What are the odds?


TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

 

[Bjorn Nilson]

The Abarth 1.4 has two different heads. The Euro version, non Multi Air can be controlled by this unit. It is the multi air that is the issue, which I wanted to keep.

I met the chief developer on Street Week Festival this summer and we discussed the support for Fiat and AR among other things. Yes, the older non Multi Air engine can be managed out of the box, but he meant that MaxxECU also handle the Multi Air engine with some programming. If they manage by advanced CAN functions I don't remember but they claim they can do it. However, they didn't refer to any specific project or customer.

 

[TonyK]

I managed to spend a bit of time on the pedal box as the swap requires the clutch switch and brake pedal switches to be installed. With a spare box on the bench I can make up the brackets and transfer them to the road car latter. Once done I moved on to the wheel sensor plates, the holders will be made latter when the road car is here. I thought I had a set of front knuckles but didn't seem to find them in the barn. I will look again latter as if I can find them I can work on the holders for the wheel sensors. I also cut out the inner hard engine mounts for the engine bay. I prefer to use stainless steel as it is more resistant than steel is from cracking under the stress of the engine torque. The left side will be welded in section. I used an aluminum casting on my car and Bob's but I don't really think it is needed. So I will fabricate it when the car is here and the engine is out. I normally cut stainless with my power hack saw with the blade up right. Complex curves are cut with my plasma cutter. With that done I have moved on to the air cleaner. More on that to come.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada

 

[TonyK]

I have had a few evenings to work on this project and have now moved to the free flow air cleaner. I will make a comment here as I personally think cooler air is better than hot air in a large diameter duct feeding the engine. This engine uses an ECU controlled MAP value, it seeks a intake manifold pressure. It is for that reason it does not matter whether or not the inlet to the turbo charger (2") is larger than 2" as the limiting factor is always the MAP value. In my build I put the free flow air intake cone in the engine bay beside the right engine scoop. It is difficult to remove and really is not the best choice for intake air. In Bob Martin's car the air intake was moved into the spare tire compartment and intake air is drawn from the right side scoop vent. The air cleaner is a custom build from sheet metal that I now Spot Weld together from my new spot welder. I wish I would have had it years ago. Simple to use, fast, no mask, it is just great. Fabrication is done with a 12" multi tool that shears, breaks and even has slip rolls. Simple to use, reasonable price and fast.

Here are few pictures.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

 

[kmead]

Any concerns with the switch plunger not meeting the surface square and putting side load on it from a reliability perspective? We have had switches fail over time when the stop isn’t parallel with the operating direction of the switch.

Great work as always, thank you for showing us.

 

[TonyK]

Any concerns with the switch plunger not meeting the surface square and putting side load on it from a reliability perspective? We have had switches fail over time when the stop isn’t parallel with the operating direction of the switch.

Great work as always, thank you for showing us.

I looked at what you presented. I may weld a section of sheet metal to it before the swap to the road car. For now the plunger gently follows the ramp. I have done electrical tests to confirm that the contacts on the switch change status from at rest to slightly depressed action.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

 

[My1stCar]

I managed to spend a bit of time on the pedal box as the swap requires the clutch switch and brake pedal switches to be installed. With a spare box on the bench I can make up the brackets and transfer them to the road car latter. Once done I moved on to the wheel sensor plates, the holders will be made latter when the road car is here. I thought I had a set of front knuckles but didn't seem to find them in the barn. I will look again latter as if I can find them I can work on the holders for the wheel sensors. I also cut out the inner hard engine mounts for the engine bay. I prefer to use stainless steel as it is more resistant than steel is from cracking under the stress of the engine torque. The left side will be welded in section. I used an aluminum casting on my car and Bob's but I don't really think it is needed. So I will fabricate it when the car is here and the engine is out. I normally cut stainless with my power hack saw with the blade up right. Complex curves are cut with my plasma cutter. With that done I have moved on to the air cleaner. More on that to come.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada


View attachment 69555View attachment 69556View attachment 69557View attachment 69558View attachment 69559
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Hi Tony, I see the 500 brake switch has four wires attached, is that the reason you can't use the standard switch? (I get that you leave the standard switch for the brake light activation, using the X's standard wiring)

 

[TonyK]

Well that is an interesting question and depending on what you want from the build and how the two entities are split. If I wanted to I could delete the stock X1/9 brake switch and use the new brake light switch instead then tap into the out put wires of the body control module and have it turn on the brake lights. This also could be done with the back up lights as well. The brake light switch from the Abarth sees one set of contacts open and another close at the same time to present status, possibly a redundantancy. The ECU is looking for this change. As I indicated earlier once the donor car has had the electrics stripped out of it, the time is now to decide what you want to retain from the donor car. The build can be simple or so complicated that it has ABS installed as well. Engine output is depending on seeing the clutch switch to indicate a gear shift. Boost is limited on the stock Abarth untuned ECU to 10 psi in 1st and 2nd gear. The only way the ECU knows what gear it is in, in based on load, ( throttle postion) engine rpm and clutch switch activation. The back up light switch is the only switch on the transmission. In 3rd boost goes to 18psi. In my tuned variant that changes to 18 PSI in 1st and 2nd and 26 PSI for 3rd, 4th and 5th gears. I use a vacuum line to a dash mounted vacuum/PSI gauge that is connected to the intake plenum for actual reading.

There are some issues with the stock X1/9 for instance that the rad fan comes on at 190 degrees F where as the Abarth the ECU controls the fans to turn on at 176 degrees F. This causes a problem as the coolant returning is hotter than what the ECU expects to see. All of this is trial and error as I don't have access to the diagnostics of a Fiat Dealership or, when a problem came up I took the car to the dealership and had them plug it in to see what was being reported.


TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

 

[kmead]

Well that is an interesting question and depending on what you want from the build and how the two entities are split. If I wanted to I could delete the stock X1/9 brake switch and use the new brake light switch instead then tap into the out put wires of the body control module and have it turn on the brake lights. This also could be done with the back up lights as well. The brake light switch from the Abarth sees one set of contacts open and another close at the same time to present status, possibly a redundantancy. The ECU is looking for this change. As I indicated earlier once the donor car has had the electrics stripped out of it, the time is now to decide what you want to retain from the donor car. The build can be simple or so complicated that it has ABS installed as well. Engine output is depending on seeing the clutch switch to indicate a gear shift. Boost is limited on the stock Abarth untuned ECU to 10 psi in 1st and 2nd gear. The only way the ECU knows what gear it is in, in based on load, ( throttle postion) engine rpm and clutch switch activation. The back up light switch is the only switch on the transmission. In 3rd boost goes to 18psi. In my tuned variant that changes to 18 PSI in 1st and 2nd and 26 PSI for 3rd, 4th and 5th gears. I use a vacuum line to a dash mounted vacuum/PSI gauge that is connected to the intake plenum for actual reading.

There are some issues with the stock X1/9 for instance that the rad fan comes on at 190 degrees F where as the Abarth the ECU controls the fans to turn on at 176 degrees F. This causes a problem as the coolant returning is hotter than what the ECU expects to see. All of this is trial and error as I don't have access to the diagnostics of a Fiat Dealership or, when a problem came up I took the car to the dealership and had them plug it in to see what was being reported.


TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

I know you are aware but one can get a thermo fan switch at the temperature the system is looking for.

 

[TonyK]

And I installed one. Or, in the other two builds I just run a hot wire from the Body Control Module and have the ECU switch on the fans.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada

 

[kmead]

And I installed one. Or, in the other two builds I just run a hot wire from the Body Control Module and have the ECU switch on the fans.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada

Even better.

 

[My1stCar]

The only way the ECU knows what gear it is in, in based on load, ( throttle postion) engine rpm and clutch switch activation. The back up light switch is the only switch on the transmission. In 3rd boost goes to 18psi. In my tuned variant that changes to 18 PSI in 1st and 2nd and 26 PSI for 3rd, 4th and 5th gears.

I don't have any Fiat ECU knowledge, but could it be that the ECU tracks the fact the clutch is released and rate of change of the engine rpms in order to determine if it is a low gear?

I've heard that that was the way some F1 teams worked around the traction control electronic aids ban. They simply limited the rate of rpm change to the traction available dependent on track conditions, which only worked in the low gears obviously, but without any other sensor information as per the rules.

 

[TonyK]

Continuing on. I have been working on the swap, but just have not had a lot of time to post. Air cleaner box has been completed. I purchased some clips to close the top of the air cleaner. Fabrication of the out side air intake will happen when the road car is here to the top side of the air box. Air is drawn into the turbo charger through the back of the air box. I know that the intake appears to be small, but the stock Abarth only has a 2" duct as well to the turbo charger. My thoughts are that it is better to have cool air going to the turbo in a 2" duct than to have a 3" duct that is routed through the hot engine compartment. The thing with a turbo charger is that the ECU controls the boost which is what is needed and a bigger duct has not been required as my car is running 26 PSI of boost without issue. That is 8 PSI over stock.

Fabricating the tight quarters of the X1/9's engine bay requires the use of Donuts. In the past I have purchased these fabrication components from the Chassis Shop, however they are expensive, the Canadian dollar is $1.37 to the US dollar and are required to be used on the intake plenum and exhaust. I did find some from China that were cheaper for use on Bob Martin's build but found out afterward that they were 400 series stainless that rusts and I only use 300 series that does not. So I made up a set of punches and dies and form my own 2" donuts from stainless steel sheet. Depending on the alloy and the gauge of the stainless steel sheet tearing can occur, but I just cut around it and use the section need. Here are some pictures of the forming. You will see that the edge crumples and gets wavy, then submits to the force of the 20 ton press and gets pressed into the forming die.

Looks like I ran out of room for pictures. Will continue in another post.

TonyK.
Grimsby Ontario Canada

 

[TonyK]

As I stated I only use sections to fabricate the duct and exhaust and the tearing is not an issue. I have in the past welded the entire outer edge or seam, the inside must be done after the cuts are done to present a section. Even the store bought donuts do not have the inner seam welded. I have in the past produced sections without tearing, it is just a matter of alloy and thickness that causes it to happen or not.

I use TIG welding method with a .040 tungsten at 25 amps DC to do the welds. I do not use much filler metal, only at the start to get the puddle to form between to two halfs of the donut being welded. The air cleaner box is mounted to the test body and you can see the location of the turbo charger intake. It is close to the air box, but some fast bends are required and flexibility as well because the air box is not part of the engine so a silicone hose is used to allow engine movement.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

 

[Mike Schofield]

Gorgeous! Absolutely beautiful!

 

[TonyK]

I am still working on this swap and continuing on have fabricated the intake with taps to suit the OEM engine configuration. I prefer to do this in Stainless Steel but painted or powder coated steel is also an option. I normally use T Bolt clamps but the issue is always the sizing. To get past this I order clamps that are larger than needed. Cut them, over lap them and then use my TIG welder on the outside edges to assemble them. I did try using my spot welder, but it blew holes through the stainless steel clamps. Not that it matters, the outlet of the turbo charger is only 1.300". I have also fitted the waste gate piping and control tubing with electrics on the inlet side of the turbo charger. The discharge side of the turbo charger piping has been completed and I have fitted all by 2 clamps which are currently on order. So I have completed the plumbing for the induction system and have moved on to completing the integration of the X1/9 entity electrics to the Abarth electrics. More to follow.


TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

 

[TonyK]

Although I haven't posted in a few weeks, does not mean nothing is happening in prep for the build. As you can imagine before the build starts it must be decided how the 2 entities well be blended or extinguished. It is possible to remove all of the X1/9 wiring and install all of the Fiat 500 Abarth wiring to control everything in the car. Can be done, but was not done in this build. So. We have the X1/9 entity and the Fiat 500 Abarth entity that need to meld. The Abarth electrics need to see certain things and to do this I use relays to mimic the key switch of the Abarth for power on and start functions. Aux 1, Aux 2 and C/I ( crank interrupt) relays mimic the stock Fiat Abarth key switch. Two wires go to the key switch location to control the relays in the back trunk. Next picture is of the wheel sensor inputs. The ECU on this car is a learning ECU and needs to see certain things for it to run correctly. It needs to see the wheels turning. However as will be shown latter the wheel sensors are all mounted on the front undriven wheel hubs and because the ECU never sees wheel slip it never cuts the power to the drive line. Shielded cables will be installed from the back of the car where the module box is to the front corners of the X. Next picture. The Abarth ECU needs to see the SKIMM for it to function and as much as I have searched the internet, no one has yet hacked the immobilizer on this ECU. The ECU needs to see the stock Abarth key from the antenna. Do not mess with this, I did and it did not turn out well. The stock Abarth key is required, make sure you have a spare. If you don't and the only key is lost, it will require a new antenna, (2) keys and a body control module to be installed. ($1000) and a trip to the dealer to program all of this. All of my engines came from a complete car with 1 key only. I trailered the car to the dealer, ordered a key and had them program it to the car. All keys must be present so that the ECU can reject an old key if found. A custom holder is made for this purpose. The Inter Cooler on this build will be cooled by the AC compressor on the Abarth engine. The road car does not have AC. I try to use as many of the hoses and fitting from the original Abarth as adapting can become difficult and complicated. Here I am using a dremel with a carbide end mill to cut the ferruel from the fitting. The hose needs to be turned 90 degrees to connect up to the custom fitting on the bottle intercooler. A new steel ferruel is swaged on to the stock fitting and crimped. The return hose from the intercooler is completed. Still more to come.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.