I bought this a while ago, now need to make some actual progress....
I bought this a while ago, now need to make some actual progress....
Of course none of this will fit together, at least not yet....
Rabbit strut conversion?
Well the spring mount needs to come off the strut. That was expected, to fit the coil over assemblies. I expected to find a nut at the top of the strut so the insert could be replaced. I found a set of 4 MR2 strut cores, that have the threaded top and the nut. Each job on a project like this typically turns into 3 smaller jobs.
TED_fiestaHP wrote:
Just to remind you, your funky formatting is due to you putting 4 or 5 spaces at the beginning of your sentance.
Nice car, by the way 
Well keep in mind, I don't know what I am doing, this is a general theme... If your looking for some great wisdom or advice, you might be at the wrong place. But if you want to swap some stories. Progress here could be slow, I tend to make mistakes and I sometimes have limited energy, but that is a story for another day.
Most people use a Mk1 VW Golf/Rabbit housing and insert with the Fiat tabs welded on.
I didn't know about using the rabbit struts. I found the inserts then found out the struts on the car didn't have the nut to allow replacing the insert. I am open to any suggestions. I did find the MR2 has struts with the nut to allow replacing the insert, and I found a full set of strut cores cheap and cheap is always good, I am just going to cut off the top and the rest will go to scrap anyhow.
In reply to TED_fiestaHP:
I did the rabbit struts pretty early on in our 128 build. Maybe page 3 or 4?
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1974-fiat-128-sedan-for-the-bride-of-burrito/102542/page1/
The rabbit struts could be a good low cost option. There are some good coil over strut assemblies available for fiat 128's and X1/9, but to expensive for this build. I found the fiat 128 strut inserts and was a little surprised by the struts on the car, not having any way of replacing the insert. But there is always a solution, just involves a little more work. Will update as some progress is made. Just had a 4 day weekend, ruined by a bad cold. I have a hard time fighting off a simple cold, one of the many features of having MS.
Another proud member of the GRM Fiat takeover.
What engine will this car be getting? Looks great!
I have 2 old engine assemblies and 2 transmissions. One trans is supposed to be rebuilt and the other is supposed to be in good working order. The rebuilt one is out of a station wagon, and I was told it has lower gears. The engines are not ready for any kind of use. I have heard of using a Yugo 5 speed transmission, but that might be hard to find and might not be a vintage race type modification.
Not sure if it would be in the budget but koni has inserts that have a stud on the bottom. So you gut the original strut or rabbit and drill a hole in the bottom. There is a wedge type spacer that centers the top. You can also get them in shorter lenght as not to bottom the stut out with hard compression if you are going with the coilover.
In reply to brad131a4:
IIRC the appeal of the rabbit strut is it's really short and still has a decent selection of performance inserts. The direct fitment 128/X19 performance struts are long out of production and even stock stuff is hard to find and expensive.
Bayless and Vick's Fiat both have 128 / X1/9 high performance strut assemblies. But they are expensive, I was looking for a cheaper solution. Although sometimes the cheaper solution involves more work, possible mistakes and possible rework. Since I have to modify the strut tube, to add the insert securing nut at the top, I can also make them any length. The problem I might have, the strut inserts I bought might be to long. I found some shorter koni's that are adjustable, of course they cost more than the ones I already bought. At this point it might be difficult to really know if the strut length will be a fit-up problem. Once the camber plate mounts are made up and the rest of the suspension is all set up, removing the struts later won't be a big deal. So I think I will work on other stuff and think about the strut thing for a little while.
One step closer to getting the front struts to work. I now have MR2 strut cores which are threaded at the top and have the nut. New problem the struts I bought are to long, they are fiat 128 parts and might fit a sedan but not a coupe. I found shorter struts which are also better but also more expensive.
Progress on the camber plates and added structure, not finished, once the right side is done, the left should be easier. The left will be a copy of what finally fit.
Silly question....
As I set up wiring, I am tempted to set up all the lights, so I could drive it on the street.
This brings up a couple problems, this car has no title, typical of race cars, people don't bother with keeping the title current. Also the VIN plate is missing, removed. I did find the frame or chassis number.
SO how would I get a title and registration for a car that is missing all the stuff normally used to get that stuff? The title must still be in somebodies name, but that could be from a long time ago.
Could I claim it is a kit car? Or would that be worse...
I have heard that some states don't bother with titles for older cars?
I am in PA if that matters.
The doors don't currently have windows would that matter for inspection?
Thanks for the info about using the rabbit struts, but that might not work for the coupe. The body of the strut is only about 13 inches. The fiat 128 strut inserts that I bought are much to long, so if the rabbit struts are a good fit for the sedan, then they would be to long for this. I assume the fiat 128 strut inserts I bought would fit a sedan, I assumed they use the same part... I found some Koni's that are 14" compressed, that might work, they are also adjustable, and of course more expensive, but could work better for this set-up.
Some minor progress.... If you like that checkerboard, it is wallpaper.
On a car that old the chassis number probably is the "vin" number, the standard 17 digit vins didn't start until the early 80s.
Seems a little challenging to read the gauges
Luckily we 128'ers can follow the 128ski thread to get some ideas of how to do a modified suspension...
I do hope the checkerboard dash covering isn't to distracting. How many things seemed like a good idea at the time? It's just wall paper, but to properly do something else would require removing the gauges.
I did find the frame number, stamping on the "frame" and it is similar to the VIN tag number on the other fiat. Also found a place that has a service to replace long lost titles, not real cheap but not to crazy. SO a title and registration might be possible.
You'll need to log in to post.
