Next project - 38 fiat topolino

Hey Zoomer, how is the new project?


Rod N Race http://www.rodnrace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=gallery.list
They are the ones that used to have the door bottoms.

http://www.mrfiat.com/index.php try these guys too. One of them will have them or will know where to get them.

Lookin forward to seeing it move forward. I wish you the best of luck with it.
Maddog

 

Mr. M Dog,

Decided on a vega steering gearbox, going to do the install wednesday, earlier if I can get the new pitman arm sooner. Using a dual pass radiator, it allows me to have the inlet and outlet on the same side and forces the coolant to flow across the radiator twice from entry to exit AND no radiator cap : ) using a remote bottle up front which will also be the high point in the system (easy for bleeding out air).

You are going to love what I'm going to do for a gas tank shhhh! Still moving the engine around, looks like its going to sit in the original place, unless the compression is too high for a blower, in which case the engine will be 3" forward of your position and have a dual 4 hi rise.

Sliced up the steering column and am currently designing the system to have the steering wheel directly in front of the driver and also allow for the running of the steering shaft out of the gear box to run down along the frame rail : ) oh yea!!!

Thinking about running halibrands on all 4 corners with disc brakes +/- I like the old school drums but not a big fan of drums... still up in the air about it, I might put discs inside the old drums in which case I will cut most of the meat off the inside of the drums to cut the weight.

Thanks for the links I appreciate it. Have a great holiday weekend... you know what I'll be doing.

 

Good to see the project moving along. Since I sold Rod 'n Race 2 years ago, neither I or the new owner has imported the repair panels you are looking for. The good news is that Mr Fiat here in Georgia either has thm in stock or can get them for you. A second source is Ezio Casagrande in Switzerland. His business is Topolino Parts and can be found with a Google search. Both also sell on E-Bay.

 

hi mad dog and all you fiat guys cant believe how long this thread has gone fore why did you get so far and bail out it was going to be a great rod must have broken your heart and hi rich the black one on the salt here in aus is one i built for mathew saunders he is in the same rod club as me please finnish it quick zoomer kev

 

damn Jim, i was hopeful that you would finish it...and Zoomer, welcome to "THE ITALIAN CLUB"....ya gotta great start on a fine rod....

 

Please listen to this guy^^^^^! He's SO right. Those tires are horrible.

Send those nasty tires to me, I'll take the appropriate actions with them.

 

Rich,
Thanks for the info, I sent an email to Mr. Fiat yesterday, we'll see what comes back.

Topo kid, thanks for the welcome, the italian club is good for me as long as its chev powered : )

All this tire talk, he's a pic of the fronts I'm thinking about and two rears I am still pondering. Thoughts?

 

and eventually I'll figure out that to show pics I'll have to attach them

 

i still have to buy tires for Lil Beast..figuring sizes and stance, ect...kinda waitin to see the new 12.00 - 15 Radir is coming out...have also looked at the diamond back's and just about everything else tire wise...pro's con's, this that...

i guess what i'm telling ya is there's lots of options, and asking opinions will bring every reply possible here..........as the saying goes, "CHOICE WISELY, GRASSHOPPER!!!!"

 

If titling is an issue: In many states the VIN can be assigned to the frame. If that T bucket frame came with a manufacturer's statement of origin (try contacting the manufacturere if needed) you should be able to get a VIN from that; the car does not necessarliy need to be titles as a Fiat (although that would be cool). Hee, maybe since Fiat owns Chrysler you can title it as a Chrysler, especially if it has a hemi in it.

Guffey: that is an awesome piece of history you have there. I imagine that one would probably need Leno money in order to get that thing properly put back together so that it runs. Please keep us apprised of your progress on that amazing machine.

 

Are you looking for paint color suggestions too?

 

Well Zoomer, everything Topolino and more is coming to you in classic HAMB style!!

The guys in my car club cant wait to see it running. Me too.

No broken heart, no regrets, my plans just changed and presto, Zoomer came along. Great guy and totally capable of finishing it properly, and he said I could drive it when its done.

 

Good for you Madddog and Zoomer. Glad everyone's happy.

Say saw this pic at DRO and made me think of this thread.
Its about midpage on the right.

http://www.dragracingonline.com/raceresults/2009/xi_5-hot-6.html

check it out ..

 

Those things are a gas koolllllllllllllll.

 

there is never a wise choice there is only a choice.....

I might be offing the radir fronts that came on the little rod, thinking of halibrands....

did a bit of serial number snooping and figured the 454 is actually a 454, truck block which gives it the "tall" desired component but it also said 2 bolt mains : ( however, when removing the timing cover and cam gear to hopefully see a cam number it was clear its a 4 bolt main engine : ) all better.

Block ID is shaved off from decking so I'm guessing to much compression for blower, thus its looking a lot like dual 4's on a high rise and gear drive.

Probably going to pull the heads and make them breathe a little easier as well as match the intakes to the new manifold once its here.

Final decision coming next week which allows me to set the engine location and get on it.

 

Hey Maddog,

Forgot to say thanks for the pretzeled rear bumper : ) and the grille screen.
... and thanks for posting that I am capable of finishing the little rod correctly.

Here's a few pics of a past project for ponderance by the HAMB...

I'll post more if anyone's interested. I'm enjoying this community, very cool.

 

Zoomer,
You must be a very modest guy. The workmanship on the pickup is great. Would like to see other projects you have done. Now that I've seen the truck, I can't wait to see the Topolino's progress and outcome.

 

back from vegas and ready for something : ) radiator being built as I type, door bottoms on there way to the USA from somewhere that trades in swiss francs ? mini hi torque starter, gear drive, induction, battery, all on order. Just found some really cool bomber seats that I'm thinking about getting (extra $150 for the holes, wow I think I can handle that job myself) . the "plan" as it stands today is to have a busy next week and get the steering gear box in, motor mounts, trans mount also wrapped up. we'll see if the real world leaves me alone long enough.

Anyone in need of topo fenders? I have a L & R front and 2 L & 1 R rears, also have a not so cherry rear bumper.

 

the world didn't stop knocking ALL week long, and tomorrow is no different, jeez. sunday is unplug the phone day so at least the steering gearbox will get fabbed in place, you never know what else might get done.

I got a big pile of boxes from Fed Ex today

Edelbrock hi rise dual quad manifold.... 2 Holley 650cfm carbs

Pete Jackson gear drive (noisy)

Perma cool trans radiator and fan

Holley blue fuel pump


I'm also having Ron Davis build a dual pass aluminum radiator that I designed, should have it 3 weeks. Also ordered a dual electric fan in shroud set up that pulls 4000cfm (unheard of volume)

Found door bottoms in switzerland and they are currently sitting in san pedro (dock in LA) waiting for something. Going to have a round fuel cell built that will set in where the spare tire sat with a fiberglass cover so it will still look stock.... except for the fat tires and big engine and etc.

When I actually DO something tangible to the car (other than plan, design, and order parts) I'll post some pics. Until then, happy tinkering HAMB.

 

I built a 1/24th scale model of that car at least 35 years ago, based on the old AMT double dragster kit, with 4 AMT spare parts kits Allison aircaft motors! Sadly long gone

 

Correct. Most of them that came here were brought back by ex-military after WW2, but they were mostly Tipo Bs or Cs with the ugly nose and a 569cc OHV motor rather than the original Tipo A side valve 569cc motor...

 

LOTS of stock Topos around in Europe, but mostly Tipo Bs or Cs. Not many Topo As left...

 

It's a sports-racer that ran in the 1940, 1948 and 1950 Mille Miglias. It won the up to 750cc class at the Mille Miglia in 1948. The nose on the car now is modified from when it was built in 1939, modified by Avale in 1940, changed again in 1948, and "restored" incorrectly in the 1980s..

Top left is a the car is today. Top center is as the car was built in 1939, second row right hand photo shows 1940 modification to nose by Avale.

Car has 3 main bearing roller bearing Siata Topo engine with Siata pushrod OHV head, a hot cam, bigger valves, a compression ratio of 8.5:1, and 2 1bbl downdraft 22 Webers, and puts out about 45 hp in a car that weighs less than 800 pounds..

My avatar is a one-off Moretti 750 twin cam Zagato bodied sports racing car I owned back in the mid-1980s that was a DNF in the 1954 Mille Miglia. About 70 hp out of a DOHC 750cc motor in a 950 pound car...

 

where ya stuffing that radiator????????

 

where am I stuffing the radiator? have a look see..... just did this last night

 

posted a bunch of rust repair pics a few days ago but obviously they never posted on the page? I'll try again later.

 

sweet .. only problem is its not mine.. keep us posted

 

here's the rust repair pics showing the removal of the d/s door bottom frame and skin and trimming in the new parts from switzerland. lets see if the pics post this time

 

hmmm lets try 2 pics and see what happens

 

and 2 more