131 for sale-new zealand

[curt]

Hiya guys-in bed dying of man flu !! keep looking for 131s for sale -here is another! The guy is selling it less engine and box.I just wondered if anyone out there could tell me -this thing has a volumex blower on it and various bits-was this the engine out of a lancia beta coupe??
I dont remember seeing an engine with the dizzy in this position-or am i just being dumb 

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Car-parts-accessories/Fiat/auction-96416296.htm

[Thotos]

There were Fiat 131s called "Volumetrico" which had the volumex blower but the installation looked different to the one in the photo of the car for sale. Original Fiat-Abarth Volumetrico engines look like this:

The engine in the car for sale doesn't seem to be from a Lancia as Lancias usually have "Lancia" embossed on the cam covers. There's also no mention of the blower on the car's badging so I would guess that this is an aftermarket conversion.

But you are right that the distributor is on the wrong side and in fact the air intake is  on the  'wrong' side of the engine.  I think this is a Turbo conversion and not a volumex as the air intake is on the exhaust side with pipework going in front of the radiator (presumably via an intercooler) to what looks like a plenum chamber on top of the carburettor. Although the plenum chamber is to one side so it must have a custom manifold?  Weird.... dazed and confused....

Sorry to hear you have the man flu. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

[curt]

Good shout Theo-just been reading the ask seller a question bits-In one of his replys he says that it has had a turbo conversion and carries two intercoolers into a blower 
Now that to me really doesnt make sense-whats the point of compressing the air intake twice ?? 
I can see the fuel pressure regulator in the fuel line pipework going in under the plenum chamber-so has it been fitted with a single point injector or is it still carb?? I think i may just have to join the site to ask this guy what on earth he's been up to !!
Its certainly a bizarre one 

[Thotos]

Intercoolers do not compress but as their name implies, they cool the compressed air. When air is compressed it's temperature increases and engines do not like hot air so the intercooler is there to reduce the temperature before the air goes into the engine. Having two intercoolers probably has more to do with available space to mount them. If there wasn't enough space in front of the radiator to mount one large intercooler they mounted two smaller intercoolers in series so the air goes via one and then the other. In fact multiple small intercoolers work better than a single larger one. The pressure regulator looks like a normal carburettor type so I'd guess the car is still running with a carburettor. The plenum chamber also looks rather big and therefore most likely for a carburettor. It looks like a nice conversion and probably works well which is why the guy wants to keep the mechanicals and is only selling the rolling shell.