Hot Rods My Project....1938 Fiat Topolino.....Lil Beast...........

IT WAS A DRAG CAR...For a good deal of it's life...building it for cross country cruisin'.......the visor was more for getting a look at a thinner windsheild, ala "chopped top".......and yeah they had a visor for topolino's....for if ya wanted an ITALIAN LOWRIDER.............

 

Hurry up already. What the hell is taking you so long?

 

Progress is good!

 

well Kirk's hard at it i'll give it that...looking forward to picking it up tomorrow nite, according to what he's shooting for ......looking at pics is one thing, but tomorrow nite i'll get to see it....i also know tomorrow will be a long day at work....and that 85 mile drive is going to a long ass one!!!

should be a really good weekend in the garage...got rod fever bad..........

 

Don't forget Kzoo Saturday or are you going to blow it off and stay home and spread your DNA all over the garage?

 

i'll go ..but if we see some slicks for Lil Beast ya gotta spot me for em...besides, i think most of my "DNA" is gonna be spewed all over Kirk's shop when i get there tomorrow........

 

You better not beat me to the street Mark

 

man i got wayyyyyyyyy more to do then you do big guy!!!!!!!...or is that supposed to read "beat me on the street"????...but then again, i will be rolling down I-75 tomorrow,,,,Lil Beast will just be on Dan's trailer lhahahhahaha..........

i know i'm dying waiting to go see it...and bring him home...i forgot to get a dimension for the shock diameter..making it a guess as to where to stick the upper shock tabs...sent Bob (fiat gasser) a pm, maybe he'll see it and get me the info before i'm ready to pull out of Kirks...hopefully he'll send some pics tonite, but i didn't ask for any ..and i am going straight there after work at 4:00 tomorrow....then we drop the body on and get it ready for the trip home.......

 

Awesome build!

 

Thats fucking sick man. Great build. Never thought a toppo would make a rod. Very kool.

 

Mark,
Here are a few pictures. I hope it helps.

 

."...........ooooooooooo and i get by with a lil help from my friends!!!!!"


thanks Bob!!!!! not alot of regular people would get up before dawn to measure and post pics to help another guy they never even meet !!!!!!man i love the help and support from all you guys !!!!!!!!!

 

Mark, he probably got up and took the pics BECAUSE he hasn't met you!!!!

Hope your trip home was uneventful. Love living on the edge of the storm and having ass hats driving their Prius with no brakes and Camries that just keeps speeding up in the snow! We'll hook up on the trailer return and you can help load the last of the hay that needs to come home and go into the barn on it, too!!

 

Alright it's going for 10 pm here in New York and Mark hasn't checked in to fill us in with some pictures and stories of bringing the Lil Beast home. I really can't wait to see how the Fiat looks with the frame buttoned up. Come on Mark, the anticipation is too much!!!!

 

Check the Topolino build action at Ozrodders.com
You'll dig it.

 

I love Topolinos. Don't care for then chopped though...

 

well i know the weather is kinda shitty tonight, hope the road trip went well Mark.
got a ton of shit going on tomorrow, I'll check in on ya in the AM

 

well we made it....lots of snow and slick ....going out and schuffle the boat and stuff and get the trailer backed into the garage...more in a bit..my rods gettin snowed on....cold=shrivel..don't want it to get any smaller then it already is....

 

ok tucked away in the garage..all covered in nasty snow..these are after i wiped the heavy snow off..it was a nasty nite to be out..let alone trailer a hot rod 100 miles!!!!!..cars and 4x4's off the road everywhere!!!i 4 wheeled the last 40 miles home...at about 30 mph down I-75..

.on the up side, i still have to clean and smooth the frame rails so the flash doesn't really worry me..it'll all be shiney when i get done...tomorrow i'll heat up the garage and load some pics of the new chassis...it's beastly looking, was a shock when i seen it,,damn thing is small..and we got a jack tied up when we was sling loading on the trailer at Kirk's..and then the weather turns to crap...i guess ya could say, Lil Beast is living up to his name...only a wild beast would trudge thru the weather we did tonite!!!!!!!!we slamed the body on low to ride better,,,get it off the trailer tomorrow and i can mock it up..Kirk made some changes and i think it's going to work really well..more tomorrow...

i need to thanks Dan (Danimal) for letting me tie up his trailer for the last 14 days...and to thank Kirk for all the nice fab work he did to put together my frame...and getting me in to do it while his 34 sat out in all this nasty weather.........mark......

 

Glad you made it. Call when you need a hand unloading and I'll bring my boys. Let me know if you need anything else!

I'll call you in a bit, heading for the DD fix myself.

Nice work, Kirk Hanning!

 

Topo Kid;
here's a pic of ours from several years ago..

took 1/2 day to take apart,1/2 a season to get back together..

keep up the good work.

Rick
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Watching this build makes a person wish they could shrink themselves. I barely fit in my project.

 

Hay is home! Glad to see and hear the Lil Beast today! I'm totally digging how that mammoth shakes the shit out of that front end! You'll need dramamine to drive it around but you're a boat guy so you'll just feel the same as you always do.

 

are you saying he's got it running too?

he is catching up to me

 

It's been running, Randy! Now it's acutally bolted IN and running! Shakes the tail feathers, baby!!

 

well yeah i kinda knew that..mine was running too..but at this time no finished fuel line or starting electrics yet so i dont conciter it "running"

but thats awesome..gotta get up there and see this thing

 

cut the body loose about an hour 1/2 ago..lined it up first in the garage and then cut it loose..thought i'ld rather have it turned around, but the change of veiw after 19 months is cool...besides i got alot of tail work to be doing...wiped the body down once, and it will need it at least once more,,damn snow and road salt/shit!!!!going out in a minute and seeing about moving the body into position,,,it's going to be like every mock up i did before we changed the frame was a waste of time..but sure was fun!!!!!!!!

enough being lazy, i'm off to the garage....and Lil Beast!!!!!!!!!!

 

Told ya i'ld come help.....i had to heat the garage up a bit and run it again once i got done fooling around trying to get it all mocked back into place...it's getting close....it run better once the snow melted and evaporated out of the plug tubes....looks cool with the rear planted when it runs,,,,quivers like a wild Lil Beast

with having a 4" front Z now i'm looking at the different stances i can go with,,,way more options then i had before...gotta get a leaf or 2 i think out of the front end also....and i still have to change tail shafts on the WC T-5 trans....

vega box came the other day, got to find out if there's a ball park figure for where it goes?????and start figuring what to do for a column..i haven't even looked at any or know what is common???

but the digi cam batteries went dead, i guess it laid out there in the cold too long, so no new pics..hey i'm a picture ho, what can i say...,,,,,,,,,,

Randy, ya got a good bit before i catch ya, i have tons of metal work to do,,,floors, firewall, finish the hangin the new inner and outter rockers and finish straightening the tail...but if i get steering in and brakes, hey i might just drive down,,,,i got a seat .....who needs windows and flooring..i'll stay warm due to tha lack of a firewalll
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Mark, not sure what others do or don't for a column. Court's is his factory column cut down with a bushing, spring and collet installed. The end was milled for a D and then a stock intermediate shaft was used to connect it to the S10 box.

Enjenjo helped us with the set up, you might PM him and see if he's got anything. Randy got some stuff from him once upon a time. We may have a spare shaft and tube set up here but I'd have to look around. I know I need one for my nephew's truck project we are starting.