1972 Fiat 124 Spider Resto-Mod...

crankwalk wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: Those are absolutely the right wheels. Perfect.

x2!

Gee-ZUSSS they look fantastic. They really transform the car.

Gotta love great period-specific wheels.

Awesome stuff.

I need to paint my wheels one day.

In reply to AndreGT6:

What wheels are those, Asen? They look wide, like 7" at least. I like the design alot, there was another type similar but the spokes curved inward and were polished...

Not sure what they are. Picked them up for $100. Off another FIAT 124 race car.

http://www.124racer.com/gallery/10/0130_RA1_Tires/

13x5.5

I like them because I can run long studs with an open nut.

http://www.124racer.com/gallery/11/0111_Studs/

Nice I have always loved the Fiat Spiders

They do grow on you.

I need to give mine a good bath and wax.

Picture back from 2009.

BTW thanks for the intel on the rad. Might need a new one but cheaper to re-core.

Well it's time for an update - I finally found a muffler that should fit my space constraints, help quiet this thing down, and maintain the current look. $40 eBAY muffler here I come! I'm going to buy a sound meter to actually show some real life before and afters. I'm going to be going from a 2" pipe to a 2.5" inlet using a setup coupler all welded together, to a 12" long muffler with dual 3" exits. I'm excited because anything to quiet this car down will be a blessing. It also maintains the look of poor man's version of the real Ansa (which run around $300).

Oh yeah

One more small update, so my old steel wheels were going to be my spare set until a fella on the FiatSpider board saw them and had to have them, so he traded me straight up my old 2 piece steel aftermarket wheels for a set of near perfect aluminum original Speedline wheels, aka Fiat Spider Turbo wheels!!!

Now that I have the set of Cromadoras I don't really need this set but I couldn't pass up the offer. I'm going to clean them up fix the one wheel that has some small gouges in a couple spokes and repaint them. Then I'll decide if I want to keep them or not.

NICE!

Hell yes. Those are great.

Muffler Update:

Here's the $40 Ebay muffler:

In box - well packaged actually...

Out of the box

Inlet

Outlet - it's hard to tell by the pictures but this is a straight through muffler with holes more akin to a resonator. I will be taking some before and afters with a sound meter to show any difference.

Coupler - had to get a coupler and have it expanded to fit 2" OD exhaust pipe to a 2.5" OD muffler inlet

For anyone not keen on the 'bling' factor don't worry, I'll be painting all of it but part of the tips black, sort of like a poor man's ANSA exhaust...

Great job. Really enjoying the progress. I think the hood is from an earlier car. 1972 was the first year for the "boobie" hood for more clearance around the cams. Perhaps this was an early '72 but every one I've ever seen has the twin bulges.

Jerry From LA wrote: Great job. Really enjoying the progress. I think the hood is from an earlier car. 1972 was the first year for the "boobie" hood for more clearance around the cams. Perhaps this was an early '72 but every one I've ever seen has the twin bulges.

This is a BS 1608 car, meaning it came w/smooth hood for US spec cars in 1972

Not done yet, I have to finish welding the coupler to the exhaust pipe. I did run the car and at 1000rpms @ 6 ft away the car measured 86 dB, that's loud. I'm hoping to get it under 80 dB. I only need an hour of welding time tomorrow night and I'll fire it up and get a reading. I'm also going to paint from the back of the muffler back up the exhaust and leave the muffler blingly, I actually really like it, it goes nicely with the chrome bumpers

AWESOME

Looks great! Maybe a cherry bomb under the car to quieten the car more?

it's got the original resonator and a catalytic converter

Done, I ran it, it's still loud, still 85 dB @ 6 ft, I think part of it is I'm using an app on my phone, might not have enough gain to really discern the difference, it is at much lower frequency, and as you rev it it's much quieter. I really like the sound, the look, the cost, I'm pleased as punch:

Side note: Have you tried Bar Keepers Friend on the bumpers?

I've tried a few things to no avail, it's pretty scratched up chrome, I can give it a whirl though