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Mezzanine
Mezzanine Dork
5/4/18 9:04 a.m.

That's hot. When are you installing?

Robbie
Robbie PowerDork
5/4/18 10:19 a.m.

Agreed. Looks great.

Both of you guys are crushing my current progress though. Need to get back on my game.

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand New Reader
5/4/18 10:45 a.m.

Installing now wink

 

 

Last look before it goes back in! HRPT or BUST!

Mezzanine
Mezzanine Dork
5/4/18 12:38 p.m.
Robbie said:

Agreed. Looks great.

Both of you guys are crushing my current progress though. Need to get back on my game.

Come on man - team Fiat here on GRM needs to represent! laugh

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand New Reader
5/4/18 1:18 p.m.

Had to have an extended conversation with one of the trans mount bolts about stripped threads being unacceptable, but she's home!

Now to start hooking things up

Recon1342
Recon1342 Reader
5/4/18 1:25 p.m.

That’s beautiful...

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand New Reader
5/4/18 8:09 p.m.

I want to go on record and say that alignment shims inside the buckets for rear LCAs might be the stupidest automotive idea I have dealt with, ever.

 

Now, for the good stuff

https://youtu.be/ghuIYhUiIBA

 

 

smiley

GIRTHQUAKE
GIRTHQUAKE New Reader
5/4/18 9:28 p.m.

Nice! Gotta love that weird exhaust you've got, tho it doesn't do this little engine any favors in the sound department.

Mezzanine
Mezzanine Dork
5/5/18 3:55 p.m.

In reply to gumby :

What’s up with the shims? Mine had the same shim forward and rear at each bushing. Do you have a big tapered alignment pin/punch? I use one for getting the shims to get lined up and then slide the bolt through from the other side. Alternative: a dot of super glue on the bushing stacks to hold it all together and aligned as you insert it. 

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand New Reader
5/5/18 7:37 p.m.

Just silly to get all lined up while laying on a creeper.

In hindsight, a bit of threaded rod and a couple nuts/washers to spread the buckets open BEFORE attempting to shove the stack in would have been a good plan. I'll know for next time.

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand Reader
5/7/18 11:45 a.m.

Put the X up on the lift last night for a good look-see underneath. No new surprises thankfully.

 

Located the trans leak

 

And drove it 24 miles to work this morning!

Robbie
Robbie PowerDork
5/7/18 11:50 a.m.

dunno if it is what you were referencing, but a wire is broken on that sensor. you may not have reverse lights or something.

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand Reader
5/7/18 12:02 p.m.

Nah, fluid leak from the bolted plate. Biggest leak under the whole car wink

There are no reverse lights on this car. We don't need no stinking reverse light switch

Mezzanine
Mezzanine Dork
5/7/18 1:18 p.m.

Plate comes right off- ball-spring detents are in there, so don't lose them. Also note the springs are different in each of the detent holes. I can point you to the Bernice write-up on transmission disassembly which shows pics if you need.

 

Indy-Barely Functional-Guy
Indy-Barely Functional-Guy SuperDork
5/7/18 1:57 p.m.
gumby said:

 

And drove it 24 miles to work this morning!

 

Congrats. looks like power tour is s go!

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand Reader
5/7/18 10:08 p.m.
Stefan said: Like many euro cars from the 70's ground points are prone to corrosion and causing issues

Coming back around for this. Cooling fan quit working on the way home this afternoon.

 

 

 

Stefan
Stefan GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/7/18 11:47 p.m.

Yup, Bosch’s finest in junk metals.

Same POS things used on my 924 and they are prone to the same corrosion issues.  Annoying since they are buried under the dash, behind the fuse panel, near the pedal and steering assemblies.

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand Reader
5/10/18 6:32 a.m.

This little car is coming alive and things are starting to get fun now smiley

 

Sealed up the detent spring plate.

Pumped out all old fuel to check tank capacity and get fresh stuff in there.

Painted the timing marks since I couldn't see them!

 

Timing was way advanced, got that reigned in. Carb still needs choked to run down the road without surging. Probably time to buy a book and start learning Weber.

 

Little harder to start it this morning, but the trade off was an engine that wants rpm! With reasonable timing I can actually use more than half throttle and 5k rpm. Nasty snarl with the secondary open! Underpasses are amazing devil

 

Gonna be a riot with the carb dialed in 

Robbie
Robbie PowerDork
5/10/18 8:39 a.m.

Awesome dude. Your work paying off, and I love to see this back on the road!

Mezzanine
Mezzanine Dork
5/10/18 9:48 a.m.

Love hearing this thing is coming along! Post some video sometime soon to give Robbie and me some motivation.

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand Reader
5/18/18 5:44 p.m.

Chasing down little bits here and there.

Wired up the second cooling fan which was already installed but the connector was left dangling.

Covered the bare battery terminals in the frunk.

Went to the BMV for a tag and had the insurance guy to put some coverage on it. That wasted a full morning. Been putting miles on it when it is not raining. Waiting on an air cleaner to show up; rain in the carb does NOT make it run better. The carb isn't fixing itself either.

Keys. I received only one ignition key with the car, and it was twisted. The lock was sticky and I ended up breaking the key while freeing things up. After being shut down by a half dozen local locksmiths, I ordered from a guy who cuts to code. Door key is perfect, but the ignition key was wrong. Apparently someone has re-keyed the ignition at some point. He offered to cut another key based on looking at my pic of the broken key, but I didn't have enough time to wait on another package from OZ before HRPT.

 

I cast my net a bit further out and was referred to an old school guy a couple towns over. He seemed willing to at least try which is more than I can say for the rest of the lot. I drove down there today, and he confirmed the blank number and that he had none. Compared it to some general blanks on hand, none of which were close enough. Said he could order a couple blanks and have me keys in about three days. Then, light bulb! "I got this old rack of furrin car blanks in the back of that old garage. Let's go have a look."

Sure enough, dead center of the rack is a pair of blanks that say FIAT right on them. They are too long, and have a funky notch on the side opposite of the teeth on my keys, but the ways fit my ignition cylinder! He ground them by hand and cut the pattern into them from my broken sample. Both keys fit first go. Good stuff!

 

I went and got the front tires rebalanced. Above 60mph they were trying to break my wrists.

I stared at the carb for a few minutes. The rebuild kit and new float are sitting on the bench. I decided to pull the front struts off the car instead. The nose was 1" higher than the rear....No longer an issue

 

Looks much better. Camber dropped to -1.5° and toe set itself to 1/16th out. Perfect.

Now, about that carb.....

Indy-Barely Functional-Guy
Indy-Barely Functional-Guy SuperDork
5/18/18 6:45 p.m.

Man, I really appreciate real craftsman like that old locksmith.  Glad you found him.

have you put enough miles on it yet to get a feel for it?  You'll get plenty on power tour.

 

gumby
gumby GRM+ Memberand Reader
5/18/18 7:00 p.m.

I've got almost 400 miles on it now; pretty solid driver. I am starting a mental list of things to pack for HRPT!

Mezzanine
Mezzanine Dork
5/20/18 9:14 p.m.

Don't let the carb scare you. Rebuilding them is really easy, and that's coming from someone who despises carbs. 

I have two good carbs I need to sell since mine is EFI now...let me know if you need me to drop one in the mail.

TED_fiestaHP
TED_fiestaHP Reader
5/21/18 8:31 a.m.

 

     Carb problem can be solved by adding a second one.....  

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