17-year-old Fiat Palio: 76,000 km major update including engine swap

The donor engine was in perfect condition with no internal noises and I was assured of its flawless reliability for the next 3-4 years at least.

BHPian sidindica recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Major Update | 17.5 years | 76000 kms | Rebirth of the Cygnus

17 years is a long time to keep a car like this running. People change houses, generations change, technologies change, mindsets change, three generations of cars get changed, markets change, markups change. But, there are few of us who like to remain old school and keep ’em machines running, simply because it’s the emotions we see on them. New cars are here, but all of them are carputers. I am not a fan of carputers at all. But, what do we do when a car has aged like this? Dump it or see a change of heart?

Well, what to say, I took the latter route.

There was a time when small cars with big engines ruled. Big shameless gas guzzlers. Today, all we get to see is a myriad of dinky 3-cylinder turbo mayhems which are all show and no go. What if your future generations ask for no engines? Well, unfortunately, we are headed that way. And yeah, missing the growl of 7000+ revolutions was not something I will look at at least in the short term.

Over the past few weeks, the car was exhibiting many small issues, age related. There was water ingress on the rear right floorboard, the suspension was making noises, and the engine tappets were creating a racket. Primarily I have a habit of redlining it as well… but yeah… YOLO.

Again, the car made a visit to Jhalak Noida, and since I have no less than 3 donor engines at my disposal, after my consultation with Palio 1.6 experts down south, I decided to change the main engine itself (the engine body with head, tapper cover, block). Exchanging it was working out to be way cheaper as well so decided to get it done. The 1.6 torque has self-adjusting hydraulic tappets which don’t need manual valve clearance check, but there is no definite clarity or expertise on whether at all this can be done or by manually setting the tappets as well.

But the bigger problem was traced to the cowl area from where the water was leaking. There were 3 drain areas on the car which were clogged and the corrosion points were beginning to emerge (these are known Palio issues only neglected). I got the interiors fully stripped, the engine out and painstakingly the problem areas were rectified once and for all by the usage of welding, body sealant and anti-rust coating.

The AC heater core and cooling coil were the next to be replaced. Age took a toll on them and they rusted from the bottom part.

Finally, the suspension arm was changed, axle boots were replaced and the underbelly noise was sorted.

And then the new engine core. The donor engine was in perfect condition, with no internal noises and I was assured of its flawless reliability for the next 3-4 years at least. The inlet points were cleaned, injectors, plug, plug wires, throttle body, intake manifold were all transferred from my engine to the new one. New engine oil (shell helix 15w40) with oil filter, new paraflu coolent (red) was poured in, test drives were taken and finally, the car was back in fine shape. Few clips, nuts and bolts were changed or relocated to their actual places so that factory catalogued specs of the car were maintained.

But yeah… this does come at a price. Wallet damages of INR 50k.

Note the red sport logo. Got from ebay via Lithuania (Fiat spare part).

Underneath the front bumper is Linea’s bumper underrun protector.

I have not driven the car much… like just 200 odd kms. There is a difference of night and day. The addiction of the sound, the torque, the power, the speed, the handling. The overall package today, from the good old era, is still unbeaten, as I continue to fly the baton. A baton now which I call as the Cygnus.

Here’s what GTO had to say about the matter:

Gorgeous machine, Sidindica. Looks stunning for its age. This is perhaps the best Palio 1.6 in the country and that red + white combo is just sizzling hot.

Don’t Delhi cops give you a hard time if you drive it there? Or is it in another city?

Here’s what BHPian ex-innova-guy had to say about the matter:

What a gorgeous red beauty! I just can’t get over the colour and the rims make it look even more smashing.

I still remember my friend’s Palio in the 2000s which had a distinctive shade of Yellow and iirc there was just 1 Palio in our society out of 500 odd cars and that car clearly stood out.

Wishing you many miles and happy smiles with this beauty!

Here’s what BHPian GForceEnjoyer had to say about the matter:

I love how beautifully maintained your car is, and the amount of effort you’re willing to put into it. As someone who also has a 17-year-old car with a 1.6 petrol engine in their garage, hats off! Wishing you many, many more happy years with your beauty.

Also, I see that your car has Haldwani licence plates, so is not registered in NCR, but do Delhi police not have any issues with you driving your car there? Curious to know about this.

Here’s what BHPian Fiatfan had to say about the matter:

Superbly maintained car, hats off to you for your efforts in keeping it in top shape, btw the alloy size in your car should be 15″ If am right. I too had a 15″ alloys in my Palio multi-jet which will be turning 15 years in coming Nov, I had to replace it with the original 13″ rims since the control arms and suspension parts were getting strained more on our infamous Bangalore roads.

Wish you many more years of keeping this gorgeous beauty running on our roads.

Thanks for the write up, btw how’s your Punto Abarth doing, are you still having it with you?

All the best.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

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