Next project - 38 fiat topolino

dyce,

sounds like you had some work cut out for you to get 366 heads to work, I used mine to fill a trash can,,,, actually I gave them away at the pomona swap meet

 

Everytime I think your build can't get any better, you kick it up several notches. I think most people could do a good job building a large car. But fitting so much into such a small package isn't for everyone. Great planning and execution. Keep'em coming.

 

onward with more stuff....

pic #1 shows the new rear cross frame part I fabbed to allow for driveshaft clearance after changing the ride height etc.

pic #2 shows the part welded in place

pic #3 dif angle... the bottom of the battery tray was the bottom of the frame, I cut the notched area out of the frame and lowered it into the new piece, this allows for the new "full drop" distance of the rearend... you can also see the new upper driveshaft loop and the old upper is still up in there higher (going to use the area between the two for a center console storage area) also had to rerun the battery cable slightly, the p/s front brake line slightly, the p/s e-brake cable slightly & shorten.

pic #4 shows the rear residual valve we cut into the brake line (will show front valve later) because the calipers are higher than the master there was a bit of leak back when the car sat and therefore the first push on the brakes was more pedal thrust than desired, these valves stop that from happening.

pic #5 shows the new brake line to the rear caliper, with the rearend narrowed another 3" on each side the old lines that used to wrap around the 4 link supports had to get trimmed, while I was thinking about it it came to me that I had gone hard line across the rearend and right into the caliper... if I ever wanted to remove the caliper I had to open the system duh... hence the new steel braided lines. new fittings and blah blah blah for clearance etc.

 

I was working on a way to mount the front nose/grille panel and after spinning my wheels for 2 days bending small tubing and plates and etc. I figured it wasn't working because it wasn't right.... then I remembered that I wanted to extend the roll cage to the front of the car but couldn't until the body was mounted so I could check clearances.... YIKES there isn't any!

mocking something up that is floating in space, is going to have 4 contact points, is going to have to slip fit together, be level, be straight, clear a bunch of things is more than a bit challenging... FUN!!!

pic #1 shows the mock up stages on the tight side first. remember that the engine is mounted 7/8" towards the passenger side so there is no room. I had to clearance the tubing and then weld a plate back in to return the strength... I had to design this part to be removeable so the end that connects to the A piller bars slide onto a small snout that is welded on to the A piller bar and a bolt is tightened thru both tubes once slip fitted in place.

pic #2 is making clearance, with the nose in place there is 3/16" between the tubing and the panel, however since they move with each other that is plenty of room :/

pic #3 is the clearance set for good (ok maybe it was changed a few more times)

pic #4 is the cage in place

pic #5 shows the nose tubes with an alignment pin in place, I welded tabs on the frame rail and cut slots on the back side of the down tubes so when the cage slides on the back on the A piller snouts the frame tabs slide thru the down tube slots and then bolts go thru the tubes and tabs.

pic #6 is a side view. the water pump tubing is also a close fit, however with the engine being chained to the frame and only allowing for the motor mounts to move less than 1/8" there is no clearance issues.

 

and more....

pic #1 shows the mounting tabs on the front frame rail. I had a bar that connected between the two shock towers to keep them from flexing inward and I wanted to incorporate that into the new front cage. you can see the "wing" like plates welded to the upper shock towers, there are similar plates welded into the down tubes on the cage and I bolt them together..

pic #2 shows the tab in the tube prior to the slot being cut in

pic #3 shows the cage in place...

pic #4 the cage.. you can see the "wing" plates...

pic #5 finished product

I then fabbed support brackets to hold the nose/grille panel off the "wing" plates and will show pics later... as you can clearly see the cage gets wider as it goes back, and yet it has to slide on and off? on the p/s 8" before the slip joint area the tube is bent slightly inward (center of car) so the last 8" both tubes are the the same width which allows for a straight on slide action to occur.

 

Makes my 50 topolino project look lame!!great work chap!!

 

thanks paul... I picked up the project on page 5... there is also a few other customs I've built in the past posted... what's your 50 topo looking like these days?

 

thanks gasser

 

update of the day..... (as if there is an update everyday)

I finished up the rearend completely today and was eager to set the car on the ground and see if the replacement torque convertor was going to stall correctly..... or was I going to have to R&R the trans again?

happy to report at 2800rpm the front wheels started to get pushed across the floor, not happy about the wheel push but happy about the stall rpm... that means when I use the trans brake I ought to be able to get 3400-3600rpm of stall.

the other benefit is I can set my idle at 850-900rpm and not have it tank when I drop it in gear from the transmission load.... can't stand seeing hot rods that sound great at idle but when they are dropped in gear the engine is struggling to stay alive and the driver has to goose the pedal etc... now when I drop it in gear the engine doesn't get affected at all, it acts and responds like its still in park... rockin!

 

played with wheelie bar set up yesterday.... just long enough to figure out "what the fuck?" : ) after I made all my assumptions and calcs I called the guys at Alston and rambled to them... turns out I wasn't that far off on my theories for set up... shipping back the first set of bars I bought and just ordered a set from Alston...

(first set was old school with the flat plate for the bottom bar and the spring on the upper bar... I knew the flat plate also functions as a secondary spring but when I found out how much it actually moves it was way to much, out with the old and in with the new... round bar upper and lower)

 

this is the first set mocked up (just a wee bit too long).... they are getting shipped back monday, the new set from Alston arrive wednesday. I bought a kit that allows me to make the length whatever I want.

Got the ride height where I want it finally, that allows me to move forward with welding my headlight arm bracket mounts to the frame....

Hoping to get the head lights finished this week along with the wheelie bars and the tail lights..

I figured out a great place to get heat run from.... the radiator fans blow hot air up the inside back panel of the car and while I have to build a panel to close the interior off I figured I would build in two sliding filtered doors to funnel hot air into the passenger compartment.

 

too f'n cool

 

finishing the dash this weekend, hopefully I can get the headlights completely wrapped up as well... except for the actual bulbs... but the mounting tabs and the arms and the swivel adjustments and the wires run internally.

next week looking to get the wheelie bars tackled and the gas door situation handled.

after that I think it just interior work, glass work, and door internals.... I think? oh tail lights.....and the lexan top.... inner panel blinkers.... and I think THAT'S it.... yeah yeah HA HA HA

I'll post some pictures in a couple days of the headlight stuff and whatever else is in the camera.

 

cool lookin forward to it

 

There are a few dash pics on page 16 of this blog...

pic #1 shows the insert I built welded into the original dash.
pic #2 is the distressed leather glued in place
pic #3 is the gauges about to be DE chromed
pic #4 all is well
pic #5 all installed and wired back together
pic #6 another angle

still have to finish body work on tabs that are welded to the rollcage and
bolt to the dash on either end. Also built a brace that mounts on either side of the
steering column and bends up and over it. Have to buy some small brushes so I can
finish wrapping the dash around the edges ie: around the steering column opening.

 

tasty... very tasty

 

these are from last week when I was figuring out the correct ride angle I was shooting for....

pic #1 is a bit wider shot then the previous post... this is exactly what I was looking for, the nose just out past the axleand right in the visual pocket for close tothe ground but not to close that you can't drive it. I can go right over a pretty steep speed bump without concern as the lowest point of the nose is 2" in front of the tire footprint and 4" off the ground.... there are 3 holes that mount the nose to the body (there will be a pressure plate on the nose when its done) and if you follow down the nose there are two more holes that connect the nose to the mounting brackets that tie into the engine cage (these brackets mirror the shape of the wheel opening so they disappear when you look in)
the grille bars where pretty hammered so after some straightenign I sprayed a wet coat of undercoating and then painted it. The texture actually removes any visual cues that the grille bars aren't really straight. I still have to paint the grille trim and polish the nose (of course I have to do some welding on the nose so its actually going to get a rererepaint)

pic #2 this is taken from laying on the ground as I was checking a few things out and thought this pic is ok to post. From the bottom of the pipes to the ground is 5.25", which is .5" lower than the oil pan. Happy to have that much clearance to the ground.

pic #3 still working on the stance. this angle doesn't show how cool the rear wheel fits the wheel opening and how this new angle of the car really "speeds up" the rear lines of the car.

pic #4 the nose is merely set in place in this pic but you can clearly see how the engine is set to the passenger side 7/8". Lots of reasons for this...

I used to draw pictures from this pov of a 32 ford.... I like this better.. the headers, the coil overs, the big rotors, the tight brake lines, the limiting straps , pan hard rod, seeing the front of the engine and not a radiator... omg the ton of shi*t in my garage.... YIKES!!!
(before the body was mounted I actually had the rolling chassis on dollies, the body on a rolling cart, all my equipment AND I parked my hemi magnum in the garage ALL of it everynight..... soon as its finished a bunch of the stuff gets to leave.... yeah!

 

Totally awesome this has to be one of my most favorite builds on the HAMB. You have nailed it and it's not even finished yet.

 

Just read through this whole deal. You just built a car I have wanted to build since I was 14 years old! I have the drawings and everything!!! You did a hell of a job can't wait to see the finished pics. Can't wait to hear how fun it is!!!

 

Hey Maddog Thats my black blown fiat . I sold it to a guy in vegas in 2007. Do you own it now ?

 

32 highboy54

you wish

#1 no its not your black blown fiat

#2 no its not blown

#3 no mad dog doesn't own it

#4 go to page #5 of this blog and get caught up.

 

thanks for the cool post claymore and TTT.

finally back to the blog with a new laptop (another computer bites the dust) will have some more pics up soon. finsihed the wheelie bars today WOW lots of design work to get those correct, especially when starting with a pile of parts and some tubing.

had to order new factory headlight lenses and clips, have the inner reflector sheilds, going to machine an inner fixture to allow me to use a modern bulb that plugs in the back. going to install the headlight brackets and assemble the buckets this weekend... will have to put those pics up soon as well.

my brother is going to finish the wiring sometime over the next two weeks and after I figure out my tail lights and gas door I only have the interior to tackle ....sort of

looking to be cruising my the end of the month....

 

I spent the last two days building templates for interior panels to enclose the areas from the frame to the body and body to roll cage.... it gets a bit tricky with the radiator being in the rear forcing me to make even more panels.

I am using the hard interior cardboard door panels are made out of.. laying up a cloth/mesh fiberglass weave on one side for strength and a couple coats of resin on the other side and edges to seal each piece. I have to make 13 seperate panels.

 

i know your working your butt off,can't wait to see it.one bitchin ride

 

I decided to use the upper 4 link bar as part of the bump stop so here's what I worked out.

pic #1 is the upper 4 link bar before I grabbed it.

pic #2 I took 1/4" steel plate and welded it to the bar

pic #3 I then rotated the bar and welded another steel plate, each plate is welded to the bar on the underside and to the previous bar on the top side

pic #4 final with all the plates welded

pic #5 in place

 

pic #1 shows how much of the bumper I had to remove

pic #2 the bumper placement. I had to remove the shocks to get full compression and then had to calculate the placement so that full compression stopped the tire before it touched the body and so the 4 link bar did not start to contact the bumper under normal road use movement...

pic #3 shows the upper support that is welded to the frame and has the bump stop mount welded to that. d/s

pic #4 p/s

pic #5 bodywork completed and installed.. also gives a good view of the limiting strap, the e-brake cables, and the rearend breather.

 

some misc items....

pic #1 e brake clip I made to hold the cable away from the tire

pic #2 mounted to the 4 link bar (screwed in place on bottom)

pic #3 top view

pic #4 this breather hose used to come out of the top of the oil filler cap
via a slick machined fitting, however.... the line itself was just sitting to high to look right. so... time to design and machine again.

pic #5 this shows just how much the new fitting was able to drop the breather line.

pic #6 bottom view. had to machine a hole in the valve cover (there was a flat already there) and use an aluminum male fitting thru the cover.

 

more misc items....

pic #1 these little twisted plates are the rear mounts for the tail of the body to the frame

pic #2 needed some rear shock mount spacers so why not do something different

pic #3 in place...

more sanding and repaint... chips happen : /

 

Subscribed, Awesome build.......

 

headlights anyone? this takes about 20 pics...

pic #1 is the first mock up for height and positioning

pic #2 side view

pic #3 mount arms

pic #4 I cut some flat plate and then started doing some bending

pic #5 making things match