AngelsFiatWorld - 1438 DOHC

Original 1438 cc has been bored to 80.6 mm. Block decked .008. Pistons are 1608 9.8:1, using Deves Swedish steel rings (excellent oil control and wear). 1438 rods retained. Crankshaft main & rod journals ground .010 undersize, then micro polished. Rear main seal surface polished as well to eliminate excessive seal wear. Oil plugs in crank replaced with set screws.

Rotating assembly balanced to zero grams. Windage tray/scraper sandwiched between oil pan & block (design by PBS Engineering, fab by me - see pic). Flywheel resurfaced, new Valeo clutch cover and disc. New or rebuilt water pump, alternator, idler bearing, hoses & belts. Block painted with gun metal grey metallic enamel. Head, cam boxes & valve covers sand blasted & lightly misted with several coats of clear engine enamel.

Single 2 bbl Weber 28/36 DMSA carb, modified with mechancial secondaries is mounted to '72 1608cc dual-plane manifold. Stock carb was 26/34 DHSA. Big improvement. Jetting is 125/155 (pri/sec) fuel & 195/185 air. Idle jets are 60/70 with F6 emulsion tubes.

Fuel inlet uses threaded fitting. Replaces stock press-fit fittings that always seem to work loose. High flow Sprint air cleaner with washable element.

Solid core 8mm Taylor plug wires connected to reliable block-mounted '79 Lancia electronic distributor & control module. A very reliable ignition system used on Fiats after 1978. Coil is Accel 50K volt.

This dual overhead cam, cross flow, hemi-head engine was first introduced in the european 1966 Fiat 124 Spider.

The 1608 was created from the 1438 by increasing the stroke to 80mm in 1971. The next year, because of a tax break, the stroke was reduced to 79.2 for the 1592cc. In '74 the bore jumped up to 84mm, creating the 1756 (1.8L). Finally, the stroke was increased one more time in July 1978 for the 1995cc (2.0L).

The 1438's successors have the distributor driven off the exhaust cam, extra coolant port at rear of intake manifold, and no centrifugal oil filter at the front pulley.

The heart and soul

of the 68-70 Fiat 124

Spider & Sport Coupe