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

When you have a couple extra minutes, watch this Topolino music video. Translates roughly to "Topolino I love You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26JBlxtltRM&feature=related

 

Which Fiat guy on the HAMB was I going to send a Rod Action to last year? I cleaned out my mesenger bag and found the issue but no addy! DOH! It had to do with a flip top body feature. Sorry

 

That be me Not a problem. I forgot about it also. Here is how it came out. You can still send the article if you want.
Thanks,
Bob

 

Resend me your addy!

 

wife says i should learn to sing it if that's what it translates to...she told me when i got Lil Beast rollin, that she never thought i'ld keep and put the topo back close to anything driveable...and she's watched my do 4 cars since we been together.and sell 2 street rods to finance the topolino......

got issues with my house in cincy, gotta go there and do some repairs, long story told quickly...tree branch, a big one fell and knocked the chimley over and screwed up the foor..causing water damage...planed on renovating in oct nov, but...the local village has gotten involed and it's a mess... .... so this is cutting into the hot rod funds when i can just about see a workable hot rod...feels like a car now that the steering is figured out... ...and i've gotta defer funds to the house and Lil Beast last few big money parts are on hold.....radiator...hdy to bearing....and finishing the interior tin.....

but it was always the intent to sell the cincy house, go on my disability
and start collecting and draw my 401 ect...travel the usa in Lil Beast...just was hopeing to make a "test drive" by the end of the second year on assemblying my lil fiat...that's the sat after Labor day weekend..but that don't look good now...

i still have tons to do that doesn't require big money...beating out the roof, cut the tin from the patterns i'm making right now for the flooring....and bloting the body to the frame...i have all the stuff collected for these, so... .and there's the needed repair of the lower rear tail section...so i got stuff to do but don't think there's gonna be much time ..or energy for Lil Beast...just alot of traveling to cincy from michigan..236 miles each way..no to mention the work i have to do while there..gonna take several trips..thinking 3/4 gut job, so...

we'll just have to wait and see how it goes..slowly it will seem, i'm sure

 

Mark,

Sorry to hear the house will set you back but glad you aren't just walking away from it like so many others! Keep up the good Fiat work.

 

Well , that sucks.
I know you were talking to me about this when you were over for the firing off of my engine, If you need anything like i said before , if i can help I will.

 

2 of my best topo supporters!!!!
Danny, the house has been paid off for 6 years...originally bought it for an investment,,,place to go when i got too old...or to sell or leave to the kids...lots of history and memories there...15 years i lived there...the longest place ever on my own...the michigan trip , is going on12 years...

life's funny like that some times...

more than anything, it's a mental burden dealing with it all..and has been affecting my garage time for 2 months now..very little done in last 2 months to Lil Beast...

Randy, coming down there and help ya fire your mouse motor was a nice mood altering adventure...got me out of here and it was fun..nice change of pace...besides, i know ya was diein to hear it after swingin by here and hearin the hemi....sign of a true hot rodder!!!!glad ya got a good bite from the hot rod bug!!!!!

spent last nite un-mothballing all my house working tools...i've renovated my place in cincy twice in the last 20+ years...this is the last hurrah
for the cleves house...and hopefully the begining of my retirement...yeah ....at 54.....

nothing done to the Beast last nite...sat and stared at it...i did tighten up all the ball joints and turn the wheels....couple of times ....still can't get over how smooth and easy it is to spin......

ya know the saying....if i ever get this thing rollin down the hiway,

 

I got lots going on at my place, too. If it ever gets calmed down, I'd be glad to give you a hand. Hope to roll Eli's panel around this week. Court has jaw surgery int he AM. Edie has 2 fiber shows in the next 8 weeks. And I'm still fighting this sarcoid crap.

 

Hang in there mate. Life gets in the way, simple as that. I think that sometimes we expect our cars to move as quickly as those that people are paying pros to build them. I've only been able to do a few hours a week on my car, it can be really hard to focus when everything is in your way... just soldier on, it'll happen.

 

Tarlo, i know ya can relate to where i'm at on trying to finish my topolino...these lil mouses aren't for the faint of heart..nor are they for big people either hahahah......i just came from the garage and telling Lil Beast i'll miss his stuborn ass while in cincy........but this is the future...all i got to do is survive the driving, demolition and renovation...personally, i'm feeling a bit old for all of it right now,,,hopefully that'll change once i get there and get something done...

should be off line until i return....but i think the Hamb will survive.........

don't think i'll have tooo much time for hot rods while there, but anyone in the cincy area want to meet for a few in the evening,, my cell.......just leave a message cause the phone will be hanging somewhere....

734 299-0063......mark

 

Be safe...Ohio is a tough crowd! You should have looked at the Ohio HAMBERs social group...there are some good folks in and around Cin/Dayton

 

well i made it down and back..so hot a sticky, it made the last few weeks up here feel coolll.....didn't have time to visit, all the motels in the area booked thru the wekend..camped in the driveway , in my cherokee...was totally miserable...just came in from unloading the jeep, too hot to wanna do anything to Lil....laid out other peices for tilt nose on some steel, looked at pulling the hemi....this is a tough one to get it down to a ...easy???/ science.....need the lil elephant out of the way to weld the steering together...still coming up empty on a column drop bracket...

 

Glad you are home. How much length do you need for a column drop? I've got some baling wire...works on exhaust.

 

well i hope you were able to accomplish something while you were there.

Im at the same place, as far as needing a 3.5" column drop..with a slight twist toward the center of the car (at least from the stock drops location)
let me know what you come up with

 

Randy, i went with the borgeson u joints also...seems to be real quaility peices...with the model a front frame section, my coulumn is pretty much damn near in a straight line with my smaller jegs vega style box...i'm running one at the gear box like i seen on your setup, but went with a double u joint setup at the bottom of the column to my DD shaft.....i am running a 36 degre angle there which is beyond the recommendations from borgeson on their joints...the double u is rated to 70???degreese???just made the angle there less per joint and gave me a ton of room to clear the "planed" headers i want to build... .wish i had known you didn't have all of your stuff, i just sent back to Jegs 3 u joints for refund...sounds like we need to be talking more about where we're each at and what we may still be needing...

as far as running on angle, don't see it being an issue as long as it doesn't exceed the recomended angls...u joints don't know why they are angled, just care how far... Randy, buzz me up if ya want to stop by and peek at the angles ect i am dealing with....at first i thought it was going to be a headache..till i got the double u joint setup......

 

I have had all my stuff for the steering with a few pieces needed..The joints I have..I need a stick of DD 3/4" and maybe an intermediate bearing or support, and a lower column bearing, and a 3.5" drop that will have to be custom made by yours truely..so im kinda good to go ..i still have a few moves to make before the column is completely set up and hooked up

 

well last nite i passed the 2 year mark on the arrival of Lil Beast's body/shell at about 1:20 am...never thought this car would take this long and still not be driveable...still buying and collecting parts...still fabricating parts....

but i skipped out on my every other weekend trip to cincy to deal with the house..just couldn't bring myself to NOT be with Lil Beast on his second aniversery...

spent the day yesterday and the evening grinding out some of the brackets and bracing for the master cylinder and pedals...ordered all my brake springs for the olds housing...should be installing the last of the brake system on it this week...got happy with a lite/shcok mounting setup i been grinding out of 1/8" flat stock..take about time consuming....

so i figure the next realistic thing to do would be to shoot for having the topo finished enough to drive into cobo this winter...depressing to realise at this point..been a weird, crappy year money wise at the truck stop...

but i did have a good time remembering the drive home with the topo loaded into a 6x8 u-haul gravel trailer...peeking in the rearveiw mirror every time i went under some lite on the hiway, trying to get a glimpse of the body...was a fun trip home...and i'll never forget the lok on the wife's face when she saw what i was so crazy about before i left..she thought i lost my mind...thought it would end up gone in few months...a flimsy couldn't support itself shell of a topolino....

got the bengals on the tube today, hard to find them on the tv here in mich....have a nice fall day planed with the garage open, messing with Lil and catching the game inbetween ...i guess this is what makes up great memories when ya finally get to drive em down the road...

hope your day is as enjoyable as mine ..wouldn't trade the last 2 years for nothing

 

Glad to see you're still plugging away...I've got the Bengals game on too, taking a bit of a lunch break from working on my '63 Dodge Custom 880...spent the morning redoing electrical connections, replaced the belts, tied down the battery, adjusted the carb, added some pencil tips to the dual exhaust, cleaned the trunk out, put together a toolbox for the trunk and now I'm tracking down an erratic charging issue...enjoy the beautiful weather as much as I am man, and soon enough Lil Beast will be on the street/track...

 

Hi, I'll try this again. I just typed in a message regarding my 38 Topolino only to be disallowed. Don't know why, I was logged in. I am interested in your radiator choices! I'm trying to figure out what will work in my Topolino with a 406 Small Block Chevy. I can squeeze in 15 X 18 inches of radiator core with the current design. How much core area do you have in Lil Beast? I'm interested in all the choices you are making regarding cooling, as there's not much help with the experts that I've talked to so far. Lil Beast looks like it will be a fine ride. I will continue to follow your thread and appreciate any advise that you can provide. Thanks

 

Welcome to the HAMB 38 Topo. When you get a chance put up some pictures of your Fiat. Would love to see it.

 

Hey Mark 'olino, I'm free of that big blue beasty that was eating up all of my square footage. If you need me for a couple hrs here n there, call. I know I missed the last time but I'm free at last...for now anyways!

 

probably got disallowed due to not doing an intro post...my radiator mock up shell is over at a freinds shop, he thought he might be able to find something it's size...but didn't...so later this week i'll have it back in hand and can measure it...my frame is front section of a model A...and i'm sitting the rad in the poscket behind where a stock A rad would sit..there's a pic a few pages back in this thread with me holding it in place....page 7 post 131?? by Danimal...shows it and the location fairly well

i'm holding mine to the width of the lower bottom of the grille/nose..don't want to see it hanging out past it..i have set the hemi way back into the car , mainly to help balance it out...i did have a sbc mocked in there at about the same set back..was tons of room for a rad...at first i was considering a daul pass rad...but think it would be over kill for the hemi, due to the way the engine has nothing much around it...besides after cooling a daily street driven vega wagon with a blown 400 in it, keepin the hemi in a wide open topolino should be fairly easy....let me know if ya still need the dimensions...

 

damn Jocko, i was thinkin about ya the other day...i'm getting really close, well could be, to needing to find out about doing some bead rollin for my floor and firewall....here lately i been trying to come up with a shock and lite mount that i like and also a column drop...something different...but lately my creative juices have been runnin down my leg instead of thru my brain...i'll buzz ya up later this week and see what's up....

so did that big beauty of a packard get gone, huh....good to get out from under one, gets to be monotenious after awhile...guess that's why i am constantly working on several different things at the same time...

but i still would like your opinion of a mild chop ..just can't get past the nasty that a chopped topo projects ...thinkin 1 1/2" or 2" max in the rear and a tad more in front then the back...also i need some help with the banged up rear tail section...might be easier to make a 4"-6" section and weld it in.....

 

what he said^^^^^^^^also is it a hard top coupe or drop top???...

damn man, topo's seem to be poppin out of every mouse hole in town lately...

 

Yeah man, a chop is definately in order. Bead rollin...easy. keep in simple and functional and you can't miss. I gotta see the tail section you're on to. Might be easier to fab one up, then we can get it to do whatever else ya want back there. I'm pretty much available on weekend mornings, sometimes after the work day too. Usually after a day at this place I feel like a bag of smashed assholes, but sometimes a hot rod hang is just what the doc ordered. Stay tuned...

 

Hi, I tried to attach some pictures of my 38 Topolino. This is my first attempt, hope it worked! My Fiat is an open top. The body is mounted on a 31 Ford frame (boxed). It's a pretty clean car with no dents. I have no hood, however I'd like to find one. You have a nice hood on Lil Beast. I'm still interested in the dimensions of your radiator mock up. If the picture attachments worked, you'll see the radiator that came out of the Fiat on the engine stand. That radiator barely kept a 327 Chevy cooled to 200 F. Chevy 400's are known for running hot, so I'd like to make a good choice on a replacement radiator. As you know Topolinos don't have a lot of frontage area for a radiator. I appreciate your advise. I can see that one picture is attached. I'll try to send more in a future message. Thanks

 

Looks good!! is that what looks like a section of glass nose over behind it?? the nose/grille section i picked up from europe...pricey, but they do turn up...i have another nose, but has the bars cut out for racing...came with my body...i would like to have a insert like this made for it...



.i should be getting the rad back, i'll post deminsions when i do......

 

Yes, there is a glass nose with stainless steel rods running vertically in the shell. It doesn't look bad. What I'm missing is the center section of the hood that sits above the engine. If you know where I can find one, please forward the information. I'm going to attempt another try at attaching more pictures. The radiator that you see on the engine stand came out of the Fiat. Thanks.

 

well the rad is probably earl ford, T, A..i'm not that good with those rods,,,i can tell ya that the section missing from your topo is typical of old drag topos..cut out the center to
A. make room for some sort of induction...
B. make it a hell of alot easier to yank engines out of em...

which leaves ya a limited amount of options...

buy a glass section from Rod n Race..they make great glass topo peices,,probably would custom mold exactly what ya need...

hunt down some louvered panels and fab in the center...it is a very simple peice..and no, i surely ain't not metal shaping dude!!

Lil Beast came to me the same way yours has to you..center cut for induction and ease of motor installation..but my topo came with the original peices that had been cut out..and it's kinda a good thing, it helped preserve my louvers..most of the time these are bent from year of abuse...

so, ebay europe is your best bet for old stock topo tin...noses and the such..Ezio is good for finding old topo tin, but he's slower then frozen cat shit and shipping from europe is a killer..unless ya set it up thru some good european hambers...call it a euro-relay hamb style if ya want...saved me tons...(thanks Rich, Bluto, and of course Herman!!!!!!)...but if ya find a set of louvers, i could help ya out filing in the missing center section..right now mine is just tacked in place...i ever get done building the car, then i'll weld it permenatly...but if ya want tin to re-install, i think maybe Ezio may be your best source...he generally has one hanging around he's cutting parts from...

http://www.topolino-parts.com/