71 Fiat 850 sedan the redux

Wait, somebody was PAYED to lay bondo down like that? It doesn't even look like fiber filled bondo!

Thats crazy! It would be hard not to be mad.

RossD wrote: Thats crazy! It would be hard not to be mad.

That is pretty typical for what happens when people take their classic car to a "Body Shop". Believe it or not, in 90% of the cases, everyone is happy.

You need to keep in mind that a bodyshop's quality horizon applies only to the paying customer and wont extend past 5 years at the most. Unlike a restoration shop, they are not building a car for the owners to come after you.

Now, as to the other 10% of the cases, they are a financial and emotional nightmare for the owner.

I, too, know the pains of Bondo:

Although, to be fair, mine wasn't "professionally" restored when I started.

I'm actually sort of amazed you can hang that much bondo off a panel without it cracking and falling off at some future date.

ssswitch wrote: I'm actually sort of amazed you can hang that much bondo off a panel without it cracking and falling off at some future date.

It will eventually become an issue, but what is your definition of an acceptable timeframe?

Despite what all the lead-heads will try and tell you, modern body filler is a pretty good product.

thats the second time this week ive seen bondo like that. Added alot of time on the vehicle here. Ended up having to pull dents to get it back to acceptable.

I was confused looking at that thinking, "Why are there giant gouges in that fender?" and then I realized what people were saying, that someone just laid bondo down to make that body line come out. Wow.

I found this on my toolbox today after lunch

I cracked open the can and it looks awesome. Darker and bluer than I thought but that will change when it is sprayed.

I went over after work to see if Jason had done a sprayout card. He hadn't but was in the process of regluing the hood supports back to the skin.

Thats a $40 tube of panel bonding adhesive just for that one trunklid This is going to get expensive.

Tape removed

The dude takes pride in his work.

Once the adhesive cures he can start the metal work

Great that you are a pro at this and have a bunch of pro co-workers stepping up to help you out. Really looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Before

During

I would stop here and finish with filler but Jason says no

Awesome work! Really enjoying following this one!

I assume Jason is some sort of wizard.

Glad you are back at it, one of my favorites!

Would have liked to see order of operations as that dent came out. How did Jason deal with the need to shrink the tin as he worked the dent out?

I had to bring the car back down to my shop. Jason was moving too fast and was already talking about painting the interior. I have a lot of work to do in there. I would rather not fuss about fresh paint while I am cutting and welding.

I did make a major score yesterday.

Autobianchi A112 Abarth motor!

74mm stroke crank!

This is a former backup motor for a race car. Forged JE pistons in there. At least 1050cc.

The alloy flywheel will go away. I over lightened a stock flywheel and hated it, this thing weighs even less.

Valve cover itself was worth the price of admission

This motor is probably 10.5:1 compression. I will need to knock that down a point or so. New pistons? Heavily deshroud the intake valves? Not sure yet. I also need to set it up for counter clockwise rotation.

The counterclockwise thing caught my attention.

The obvious bit is the camshaft. I assume one exist. Starter that spins backwards? Alternator? Timing belt tension? Oil pump? (new cam deal with this?)

Last I checked, pistons had a thrust side to them.The piston pin is actually offset to some degree if I recall.

So, does this seem like a good time to source the new low compression pistons or can you just rotate them

Do the ramps in the distributor care what way they spin?

People have been reversing the rotation of these motors for near forty years now with no adverse effects. 850 motors have been reversed to clockwise to fit 600's, A112 motors made to go clockwise for 850's.

There is a timing gear set available that replaces the chain for the quick and easy route, I have built a reverse (clockwise) rotation 843 with all Fiat parts that went into a Multipla. I am hoping there is a cam laying around that will do the trick. I don't think the cam bearings changed in the A112 block.

I haven't had a distributor in this car for a long time and there is no way I am stepping away from a crank trigger.

Timing chain is tensioned with flyweights. You just flip the chain over for CCW.

It is also entirely possible that this motor has already been reversed. It was a spare race motor for a car that had an 850 transmission in it.

I have never seen a timing chain with scales before. Trying to picture exactly how it works. I am guessing some kind of cam action? It is either very clever or, if the brits had made it, very failure prone.

NOHOME wrote: Last I checked, pistons had a thrust side to them.The piston pin is actually offset to some degree if I recall.

Now you got me thinking. I have ordered a dozen sets of pistons from JE and they have never specified a pin offset. I assume they center them.

http://www.jepistons.com/PDFs/OrderInfo/custompistons-orderform.pdf

I will have to measure a few OEM pistons and see what, if any offset is there. Just out of curiosity.

If this motor is as fresh as I think it is, and the ring land is significant enough I might just machine the pop top off the piston to bring it down to where I need it.

I believe (read: we're dealing with my memory, so mostly worthless on its own) pin offset is mostly a piston-slap-avoidance thing to make production engines quieter. I don't think it's universal.

I'm trying to recall whether I read something (Smokey Yunick? Carroll Smith?) about offsetting the other direction for a tiny improvement in rod angle relative to pressure in the combustion chamber or something like that, but now I'm totally off the rails. I'll see if I can find my own sources at some point...

EDIT: Okay, here's at least enough to suggest my brain's not just making stuff up in its spare time: http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=86266

My buddies Buick has taken some time away from the Fiat. Jason has been begging me for the doors so off they went. Broke three impact driver tips before I said berk it and drilled the screws out.

Interior is now totally gutted. Harness is out

Started to peel up the asphalt to see what the floors need.

I knew about the split next to the tunnel but the fender well side looks to be a pretty deep rabbit hole

End of short day

Jason decided I needed a bit of a boost and sent me this picture the next morning

Engine cover panels in color. He figured this would give me the inspiration to keep plugging away.

Nice to see you're back at it. At least you'll know every inch of it. The deck lid looks great. Can't wait to see it all back together.

That color is just perfect. Reminds me a little of Ecurie Ecosse.

We will keep the secret where you found the color. It looks awesome.

Would love to hear the story about where you found that engine.