My Fiat Topolino is a Flip Top now

no flip body??????????????????????????????????????????gotta ask.............WHY?????????? i mean there's lots of issues with doing a flipper.....lord knows my old sand funny willys jeep taught me that....i always thought it would be a bit of a issue if ya drove it more then track time....are ya leaning toward cruisin'????we'ld make for a sweet pair tooling down the hiways....bring me up to speed, gotta hear the skinny on this.....i'll be out trying to get the left coilover set up....then i can pull rearend out and finish all the gussets and plating....buzz me in a bit if ya get bored.......mark

 

hey i'm lovin the 2 tone....the silver is a bit drabe....dude i can relate to the cash being tight..as well as the time for mouse'n around....if need be i can mail ya some bolts for that back fender.......

seriously Bob, looking great!!!!!!!2nd rod here on the hamb i seen today that wasn't flat black...i went with a high strength black rust inhibitor on Lil Beast....really kinda tired of black....but it's keeping the rust off so.....(wiped a spot with carb cleaner to peek at bare metal....looks good after 4 years)

n ya make me jealous every time ii see those front spokes!!!!!!!!

looking great!!!!!!!!!!!!



edit,,,,,just noticed the difference in the nose latches....stock or did ya fill in the holes where the hooks stuck thru????

 

Mark,
I was going to do the flip body but it became an issue keeping the body from tweeking as it went up and down. It would have needed alot of steel and bracing to keep it straight. Just by flipping it by hand worked the body out of shape and I had quite a tough time getting it straight and true again. I had even bought a pair of liear actuators for the up and down motion. If the body was fibergl*** it would probably been more practicle. The steel body is fairly heavy so I changed direction and mounted it solid. The primer is a Spies Hecker epoxy primer. I did a few lettering and striping jobs for a nice trade off to get it blasted and primed. the hood latches are stock that came on it.

 

Hi Bob.
Car looks great. Thanks for the update. Man I have not painted a car in a bunch of years. Have been looking latley to reeducate myself with HVLP and some of the newer systems. The prices on paint just have me in shock...
Luke

 

hey Bob, that a wild shade of red primer. going to get stared on mine pretty soon I hope. still got to get it from Guffey. Wife has had some health problems, and didn't want to leave her alone. talk later. Art

 

Case of another fiat lurking it sounds like to me....

 

Luke,
You have that right on the cost of paint. I don't think you can paint a car for much less than $1500 in materials.

 

Got a fibergl*** furgone from Guffey a while back, just can't get up there to get it. soon I hope ( Mike probably hopes soon too ) when I get it home, I plan to start on it. Its gonna be open wheel. I'll probably be asking you alot of questions, like I do Bob. ( zoomers build is what set me on fire for a topolino ) . Thanks, Art

 

Hey LZ, I'm still educating myself with the HVLP guns, after all the years of using standard binks, or devilibss guns, first time I used a saita (sp ?) HVLP, put several runs in the paint. still learning the new peices, and the price of paint these days.... its like the gas prices, keep going up. Art

 

( zoomers build is what set me on fire for a topolino )

I really enjoyed Zoomers topolino build. I still look back to his build thread for ideas on how he did things. A fantastic fabricator, I think his use of the Fiats limited space was very clever. It is a shame he was banned from the HAMB. He had alot to offer.
I can't wait to see your Fiat start coming together. There don't seem to be many out there. Zoomers build can surely help. I would use every step as a reference for an open wheel build. Look forward to seeing it come together for you.

 

Hi Art:
You know last complete paint job I did was a color change . Which involved door, hood, fender, Lid, bumpers and some interior removal. So fairly involved. Used Delstar with catalyst, Low gloss black for 2 tone,PPG Primer sealer (cant remember which), Corresponding accoutrements, Ditzo, Spot putty, Surface prep, Reducers , Fish eye,etc. If I remember right everything totaled about not much over 200 dollars. My cars looking at implement paint and a little ALSA stretch film at this rate.
Sorry about the sidetrack Bob. Think you can mention some materials when you work along?! Its nice to see for the education.
Hope to catch you at the tracks sometime. You going to try the new Heritage series race at Epping next year??
Take care
Luke

 

Yeah Bob, we didn't mean to hijack your thread, we ( I ) just got carried away. I said zoomers topolino is the one that got me going for a fiat, equally was the fiat I think in Ca. Bad News, You said a girl owned it. That is one bad*** fiat. does anybody know anything about it ? Maybe the owner or builder on here ? Hey LZ, talking about implement paint. I painted my truck a ahile back (85 chev. crewcab) with rustoleum red, can't remember the name, bur was colse to gm torch red. went over it with a few coats of poly. clear. looks like ppg delthane. Think I'll spring for something a little better for the mouse. Art

 

Luke,
We should be at Empire Sept 15 for test & tune and the 16 for the g***er racing series event with our Opel. Never been there but I am sure Gary and Barb Antinora ran the car there a few times. Hopefully we have good weather.
Bob

 

Nice Bob"
If I make it out will stop by. Good luck.
Luke

 

It has been awhile since I had anything to update on my Fiat. Just had the rollcage built by a local fabricator. It's a big step. Now I can get the steering finished up, start on the floor and firewall. The plan now is to make the nose, hood and fenders flip fowards to make the engine accessible. The cage makes a little car, a little smaller. Just hope I fit when it's done.

 

I wanted to include this shot of my Fiat sitting next to my Dad's Anglia. We brought the Anglia home in the back of a chevy luv pickup in 1977. It was a family project for many years. I also took some pretty hairy rides in it. Wanted to show how much smaller the Fiat is next to an also pretty small Anglia. The pic of it in the back of the pickup also gives an idea of it's small size.

 

Here is another update. Made some progress this weekend and finished up the steering for the Fiat. Also picked up an aluminum seat and a set of headers that I need to chop apart and try to make them fit in the fenderwells. The steering works pretty good. It's nice that it steers now, makes moving it around the shop alot easier. Still have to figure out throttle and brake pedals. Have a couple good ideas for them. Well, enjoy the pic's.Bob

 

Bob, I sure hope you get my old Furgone finished while I'm still alive!
Workmanship throughout is magnificent.

 

Thaks Rich. It's a long road but I'm gaining ground on it. Glad you like it.
Bob

 

Nice pair of cars there. That Anglia looks cool.

 

Thanks Captian They are my two all time favorites.

 

The progress is looking great, making a little car even smaller...lol

 

Ya, the more I put in it the smaller it gets. So far for me it is fairly comfortable. But, we'll see what happens when I get the trans tunnel in and some pedals. It has about the same amount of room as my Dad's Anglia. He kept the seats way ahead because when myself, MY brother and sister were kids we rode in the back seat. When dad's foot would get cramped he could just reach down slightly and work the throttle with his hand. I will be able to the same in the Fiat. I think the trick is to stay slim and as flexible as possible so I can bend my way in the car and unfold my way out.

 

Cut up a perfectly good set of headers this weekend in a attempt to piece together headers for the fiat. Alot of measuring, cutting and fitting. They started off as sprint style headers made by Patriot with 1 5/8 tubes and a 3.5" collector.

 

Finished the drivers side headers tonight. Have them tacked together. Now I will take them to a friends garage to have them tig welded to finish them up. First time for me building a set of headers. Can't wait to do the other side.

 

Very cool build! It's come a long way. Can't wait to see it running and driving.

 

Just read though the whole thread and ,well, what an awesome job you are accomplishing on a tiny but neat little car. What size engine are you using in it as I may of missed that and although extremely short, nice to see a drive-shaft hoop fitted to your car. Is this build just for strip duty or for both street and strip ?

 

TFOCH
Thanks, I can't wait to see it running either. Would really like to have it close by the end of the year.