# [The Italian Restoration](https://psychip.net/entry/the-italian-restoration) ## July 06, 2022 The recent pandemic put importance of private transportation on the table, everyone become mad max hence we was literally in a post-apocalypse situation. Before the pandemic i was driving a M-segment light truck which left from family. After that i bought a cheap 2006 fiat palio with 1.2lt engine at 2020 and adventure started from there. In middle east the things like phone,car,house etc is a sign of social class. People treating each other based on what you wear, what you drive and same treatment follows you on the mechanics shop. While driving palio, someday i wanted to replace it's brakes but can't get a proper attention from two different shops i visited. I said, fuck it i'll do myself. Purchased few parts and watched couple youtube videos and did it. Same year i replaced water pump, ignition coils and also fixed it's ecu by soldering a burnt component. **Resurrection of the dead** With a proper maintenance i managed to hit 90 hp - 170 km/h with palio but i was literally feeling the pressure of the wind over hood. After a minor research i found 1996 fiat coupe with 2000cc engine. It have the same setup which i familiar with and easy to modding. Sold the palio and bought this one, the problem was it's so damaged and missing few major components to drive. I bring it to office with fire extinguisher and lot of prays. In following six months literally rebuilt it from scratch. Including the pistons, cooling systems, fuel rail and ecu wiring. **Modernization Process** It has an ecu from 1993 technology, but it's only for injection. Started with the installing a pirated version of [link=https://www.vems.com/]VEMS[/link] ecu, also the supplier delivered it with an [wiki=Air–fuel_ratio_meter]AFR gauge[/wiki] and in-line VAG coils which used in modern audi & porsche group. Installation was quite challenging. Eventually did it but the new setup created more problems afterwards. **December:** The wiring done in one month, removed the unnecessary stuff. Removed all existing cables and attached new silicon ones that also covered with fire-resistant fiberglass tubes. The most challenging part was adapting 60-2 crankshaft wheel from Marea/Bravo for trigger sensor. **January:** Here goes the first challenge, it's working as expected but engine heating too much, even become undriveable. I literally burned the engine at first attempt to drive, replaced the pistons afterwards. Ofcourse including the learning process it took 3 months. **March:** I installed the pistons, cranked the engine and ran for 5 minutes. This time one of the valves is broken and we got a giant hole on the brand new piston. Probably that was caused because of an off-timing **July:** Installed the headlights, replaced entire fuel delivery system and installed temperature sensors to critical points. All of them collected with arduino, if one of values pass the treshold a warning text appearing on the oled screen. So many values distracting while drive, so i built a basic monitoring system for that. **June:** The first drive, i hit to 160km/h on highway by keeping temperature around 80c. I was so nervous because if the crankshaft sensor exceeds 100c, it's sending random signals to ecu which leads to immediate piston damage due to random explosions. I also put a ntc thermistor to there and watched closely alongside with coolant temperature. **Final Setup** - VEMS Ecu v3.3 - 60-2 trigger wheel with Magneti Marelli SEN8I hall sensor - AEM wideband AFR gauge - 470cc bosch standard injectors, 2v2 - Beru ZSE32 vag coil, 2v2 wasted spark - WTS05/09 coolant and intake air temperature sensor - 3bar fuel pump, Mercedes-AMG equivalent rail and filter VEMS v3.3 compatible map and mentioned arduino sketches are [git=PsyChip/mad-max]available in here[/git]