My Fiat Topolino is a Flip Top now

Moving right along

 

Thanks Swade,
Trying to keep progress moving forward.

 

Man,it's not gonna be long before you're wreckin' a pair of rear tires with that little monster!
Nice work,and glad to see you back on your feet!

Scott


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Scott,
I hope to wearout a few sets of tires. The plan is to try and get as far along as possible over the winter. I don't know if it will be ready to go next summer. But I hope it's so close I can taste it.

 

If its done in time are you gonna make it to the Meltdown Drags?

Scott


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Would really like to make it to the Meltdown event even if I don't have the Fiat ready. It would depend on the cash flow also.

 

My 66 M***ang just got accepted,so I'm taking my Dad this year.First time for both of us.

Scott


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So it's been a while since you mentioned it:What are the plans for power for this beast?

Scott


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My plans are to have the Fiat be a street/strip car with a little more emphasis toward being a drag car. My initial hope is just to be able to fire it up, put it in gear and move it out of the garage under it's own power.
After that if it goes straight and I am comfortable with it, then I will take it out and play at the track someday.

 

I just scrolled back to some of your engine shots.
Are you still planning to use the stroked Windsor?That would be such a perfect motor for your car!

Scott


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Yes, It's 377 cu.in. with a 3.7in. stroke and bored 30 over. ran it on the dyno, made good power and sounded real nice.

 

That oughtta give those wheelie bars a workout...!

Scott


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Great progress, looking good. I know how you feel, I can't wait until mine can move out of the garage on it's own.
Tom

 

Thanks TFOCH
It seems good things take time.

 

The front 4-link bars came in today, so I took a little time and threaded on the rod ends and jam nuts to see how the bars would fit. Initially the bars were at about a 5 degree slant down. I am not an expert on front end geometry but, they just didn't look right at such an angle. I dropped the frame down a couple inches and that put the bars very close to level.
Am I thinking correctly? or does the angle of the 4-link bars not matter as long as they are parallel?
I was originally forced to raise my frame (thus changing the bar angles) because my harmonic balancer was directly over the front axle with only an inch of clearance. So I raised the frame at the front shock mounts to give me a few inches of clearance with the balancer over the axle. Now that I am moving the front axle forward the balancer is no longer an issue and I can put the front ride height were it is supposed to be.
You can see in the first picture in relation to the frame the angle of the bars. The second pic I laid a bar across and brought the degree finder up to level. You can see there is quite a difference. The third pic is of the bars level as you can compare to the frame.

 

Tonight I fit the front bars from the roll cage to the front of the ch***is. I don't have a mill or hole saw tool for notching the tubing. So I used my grinder and just made the radius top and bottom a little bit at a time until I had the fit I wanted. Then welded them in place. It looks like shock brackets are next.

 

added a little extra support to the front bars. Tomorrow hope to finish the front shock mounts.

 

Nice work!

Scott


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Thanks Scott,
I cut off the old shock mounts and had hoped I could use the old ones but they are to short and I really had no way to make them look right. So I designed a new mount on paper then cut it out off matte board to the shape I wanted. Then I scanned it in the computer and emailed the design to a local machine shop were they are going to cut out the pieces on their water jet. Hope to have them later this week to weld them together and get'em mounted to finish up the shocks. I'll get some pic's as I get them done.
Had to make the steering longer and I need an extra heim joint for a support for the longer shaft.
Bob

 

Finally got the upper shock mounts back from the water-jet company.(3 weeks) So this afternoon I clamped them in place and welded them. I then removed the front axle and welded the wrack and pinion bracket in place. I previously had only tack welded it. Now the font end is back on the ground.

 

Hard to see from the pic angle, but can you still get the valve covers off?? engine out??

 

It is going to be close with room to get the engine out but I think it will clear the down tubes. I am hoping to lower the engine and move it forward a few inches to try and gain a little foot room.

 

It's looking good.Keep at it,looks like you're getting really close to getting up and running.
Can't wait to see that stroker Ford shove that thing down the road!

Scott


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With lengthening the wheelbase the next step was to move the engine forward and down. Did this for multiple reasons.(more room in the car, lower center of gravity, and improved pinion angle) Here are two photo's to compare the before and after. The pic on the right is how I initially set up the wheelbase and drive train and the pic on the left is the changes that were made. I had hoped when I started this project that I would build everything one time and be done. So far I have had the privilege to do each stage 2-3 times. It has definitely been a interesting learning experience. Hope you guys like the improvements so far.

 

That looks fantastic so far.
I honestly think that with the longer wheelbase,it's going to be a whole lot less twitchy and darty,making it more fun to drive.
The added legroom will allow you to enjoy your time behind the wheel more,and an added fringe benefit of the lengthened wheelbase is that the car will now look longer,lower,and meaner...it's kind of starting to remind me of a certain drag car that just looked SO damn right....
Nice work man.Its really starting to come together.

Scott


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Looks better with the longer wheel base, and the engine/trans moved forward, and down.

 

Thanks Ken,
Have you made any progress on your Fiat?

 

Nope, it's still hanging from the rafters waiting.

 

what are your plans for the front sheetmetal to match the now longer wheelbase ?
are you going to lengthen the nose or run fenderless?