Hot Rods My Project....1938 Fiat Topolino.....Lil Beast...........

The banging sounded random;try a drive around without the camera taking your attention. My video camera makes strange noises, sometimes.
Loved the ride,nearly as good as being there!
Davo.

 

Davo, i found it real quick..i had started the rear frame drops to support the tail end of the car....after beating all over it i grabbed the hole in the center of the tall s spare tire mount and shook out..sure enough same exact banging....i hadn't installed the rubber isolators between the frame n the body....
Besides i forgot about the vid before i hit second gear....i was too busy Trippin on drivin it....


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Well spotted! Now you need to make another trip around the block, with someone else holding the camera. Just to make sure!!! ha ha.
Davo.

 

Thanks for the ride

 

Yeah i get lucky with the weather tomorrow when i get back to Michigan...Lil Beast will get a chance to sneak around the block again....the hemi was stored for many years...it runs a bit sweeter every trip out....
......I'm trying to break it back in easy, officer....gee sir i thought it was ok to drive on the holidays with open pipes...

Praticing my lines just in case i get too far around the block
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Is a quieter exhaust system on the drawing board?

 

No just better sounding...now.. center dump factory exhaust manifolds with 3" of
down pipe.. Got am idea for some headers i mocked up....but that's down the road

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Don't rush; you'll get there!
Davo.

 

Ha, my first ever build when I was 15 was a 48 ford p/u with a 300hp 327/glide combo. It had rams horns with about 18 inches of straight pipe, I used to terrorize the neighborhood with that thing...lol

 

Well ya could say i was out terrorizing the neighbors today...rainy here...had to pull the topo out between rain spurts..to weld a bracket on the cherokee s muffler...swept up and thought we ld go for a spin before Putin the hot rod away...did about 1 1/2 miles...got up enough steam to cruise some in 4 th gear...slicks was wet when i backed in the garage...couldn't resist.....everything felt good...so i dropped the clutch at about 3200 rpm....wet slicks....Smooth concrete floor...HEMI TORQUE!!!!!!!

Ass end hoped right up!!

Still more to do before i can pull a hole shot in the dry

No not my tag..friends wall atty he let me borrow for size and placement...but it its a small version of a 1938 tag...the came in two sizes for cars...go figure..


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Love hearing all this good news,ROCK ON !! JW

 

OHHH Man, the fun has begun!!!! The dream continues.

 

Yeah well i wouldn't have done it but....the garage floor is no traction surface...and I've done a baby burnout with every hot rod I've had here I'm the last 15 years...pretty cool as ya can see where the slicks started out fat and then got tall n skinny..just like a old AA/FA!!!

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Awesome to see it running!

 

would have alt more awesome to have seen it in person rollin into sins of steel....

But i took Lil Beast out for another ride today....too beautiful of a day before leaving for work this afternoon...

 

Re paneled the original dash gauge center section....for the third time
I've cut it out for 3 different gauge cluster types...but i think i like the clean panel...get me some SW gauges to put in it... still have touch up to do on it as the center had been cut out before i got the dash so.....and full some old holes...



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Love the way that ole 354 Hemi sounds!

 

yeah i love the way it sounds....don't matter how i start it it always roars to life....then settles down to a nice rumpty rump idle......

best part it sounds great if it was a 354....but being a 325 dodge it sounds even better

 

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Ok...reloaded the app:banghead:

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Dash repanel

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All looking very cool. JW

 

well 3 years later I finally took and hooked up the tach...way too much bad advice on the hamb as to which wire went where,,,and too many mine hooks up this way....4 wires ...gray, orange, red and black....general rule, red is switched battery,,,black is ground....so that left the gray and the orange...run continuity on the lite...tried the black and gray with good bulb installed,,,,no meter reading...tried the orange and black and got contin reading...pulled bulb and open circuit again...which left the gray for the negative side of the coil.....

works great and love the color....never seen one this color...thought at first it was a green line...till I searched for greenline and they are totally different

 

Like the dash

 

Martyn, its a stock fiat dash....just had the center cut out...i replaced it with flat stock cause i love the bead around the outter edge..plans is probably to just install gauges in it to mimic stock....the tack is going on a custom mount I'm fabbing that is mounted to the column support..i Get the column drop bracket done I'll post a pic



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I've been trying to figure out what gauges match....in the old Stewart Warner stuff...but hard to tell online....(evil bay, ect ) ...i want the typical Speedo, fuel, oil pressure, water temp, and amps/volts...but don't think it'll get hooked up..to many stories of fires from em in hot rods...



Also like the thought of runing the dash lie for gauges...the stock dash ya can see w where it was mounted....
So it doesn't matter if the gauges have lites inn em or not.....just want em all to match



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couple of pics showing the way the dash cuts in for the door handles and locks.....i also have the wind screen trim for the inside , it has factory cut outs for defrosters ...

still tons to do..just trying to get enough done to cruise a bit this summer......

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12.00 ~15 Radirs.....

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Holy Crap! I've been checking in on your posts for some time - The Topolino has turned out awesome! I just checked out your driving video and the homes/area seemed REALLY familiar, kind of like the area my entire family is from in Michigan. Then I noticed one of the street signs, you ARE in my families home town and in the area my father grew up in - I used to live at 3rd and Washington across from were the jail now is when I was a kid, still have family in the house today! I'm gonna be out visiting real soon to visit family and attend the dream cruise - hopefully I'll see you in the Lil' Beast out and about town.

Pete

 

That looks killer Mark,very nice indeed. JW