1958 Fiat 600 Diesel Conversion

[snakub]

Does anyone have any good recommendations on where I could find a diesel engine that would fit in this car and perhaps fit to the tranny? Or if it doesn't exactly fit the tranny then maybe something that would fit the engine bay that I could adapt to the tranny? Hey maybe the new fiat diesel motors fit right up to the old ones

[AndrzejM]

It won't be an easy conversion, because engine is longitudinal and engine bay is pretty small. So you need a very small engine, that can be bolted to the original gearbox. Maybe 1.0L Daihatsu Charade engine? Don't know if you'll find it in US.
I'll try to find some more info on engine swaps for this car. Lets hope I'll get back to you with some useful information.

Good luck with your project anyway

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

It's not impossible at all. In Argentina and Spain, some folks used to adapt bigger engines, up to 1.6L, into the Fiat 600 platform. Well, maybe a 1.3L Multijet (if you could find it in America) would be a good option. Regarding transmissions, it might worth to note that few ones were retrofitted in Brazil with Volkswagen transmissions and engines during the 70s and 80s due to the absence of replacements back here. Eventually a Volkswagen Diesel wouldn't be the worst choice, after all...

[snakub]

Where would I buy the 1.3 liter? Would a volkswagen engine be as efficient as the newer more modern diesel engines?

[euromodder]

The 600 is rear-engined, like the old 500, right ?
A Smart Diesel might go in the back (it has the same concept anyway).

But ... why ?
If it's good enough to put a diesel in, it's good enough to restore it ...

[elhigh]

The original 633cc engine was good for about 28hp, you could conceivably replace it with a C0.7 Caterpillar diesel. You'd be down on power but probably enjoy a nice little torque bump. The Cat is about 19 inches long and weighs 160lbs.

Comparable: Kubota D902-E4B, approx. 900cc inline 4, 25hp, 18.5 inches long, about 160lbs.

Comparable: Kohler (Lombardini) diesel, 1000cc inline 3, 26hp, 20.2 inches long, about 190lbs.

Comparable: Yanmar 3TNV70-ASA, 850cc inline 3, 22hp, 20.7 inches long, about 220lbs.

Fun project. It might be really hard to fit one of these engines into that dinky little engine bay, though.

[snakub]

Yes it is a rear engine bay vehicle, I will have to take measurements of it to see what I'm working with. I think the stock engine in only got 32 mpg when it was new and I was hoping for much better what kind of mpg could I expect with the engines listed?

[AndrzejM]

The biggest problem is fitting engine with transmission, but I've seen many different engines matched with many different gearboxes. The problem is that you don't have many choices for swapping transmission. You can use original or one from Fiat 126, VW Beetle or similar VWs, Porsche 911. I've seen many Beetles with VW diesel engines fitted. That can be done easily, especially when you're using LT3 (Transporter) gearbox.
Of course you can use any engines mentioned above by elhigh. Or Smart's CDI engine, that would make your Fiat flying

Anyway I think that you can rebuild your gas engine with good impact on FE. There are some mods that you can make to increase it's efficiency. And it's always nice to have a "stock" car. But I've made some strange swaps on my own, so I get your idea

[War_Wagon]

Here's a blog on a 600 with a Beetle motor and trans if you want some pics of how things fit etc. Fiat 600 D Gasser Project: Where to start

[Arragonis]

A Smart Diesel seems an obvious choice as it is small. The VW Bus made in Brazil used the VW Polo 1.4 engine in the back for a while.

Updating the engine to something more modern with FI would probably be easier and give you the same FE at lower cost ?