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

randy, i'm headin down to cincinnati tonite,,,gotta get back on the remodling....has to b e done by sept 1...it's going to be a busy 6 weeks...looking at going to 4 10 hour days at the truck stop...driving down and back in a weekend of 2 days just wears me out...maybe next week i'll drop down after work...see what ya been up to..........

 

Wow bro..yep thats busy..whenever you got the time is cool.

be safe

 

Nice to see you back.

 

thanks Dan, it's good to be back...between the cincy house, this house here and Alphie dieing a few weeks back, i been overly stressed and super depressed...

but last nite around 11, i found myself out in the garage...stareing at Lil Beast....making a list of what i need to get to re-fire the hemi...it hasn't been started since i stripped the valve covers last fall,,,,didn't want the old spark plug tubes leaking all over the new paint...so i bolted the wire covers on to keep the crap out of the cylinders...been rolling it over thru this time to keep it lubed inside....

next thing ya know, it's midnite and i find myself out working on the 48 cj2a willys....stuffing the new body blocks down the right side, impact going, drilling the holes bigger for the new mounting bolts...makin all kinds of noise...figure fuck the neighbors, i need to get this done to get it up for sale and give Beast a major injection of cash... 3 1/2 years gone by now and i think it's pass time to get the topo up and capable of moving under it's own power...

still needin the radiator built, a clutch system, fuel tank fabbed...and tin work ....also wanting to convert the front half of the hemi over to get the Lil John's Stuff water pump bolted up...going to need a different timing cover and the adapters for the w/pump....work an altenator into the mix....then eventually some slick ass valve covers from O'Breins.....and something besides the stock intake to feed the Beast....

so hopefully i can stay in this frame of mind for a bit....yeah i'm still jumping back and forth to the cincy house, but it's close...and i'm supposed to be going on 4-10 hour shifts this week to give me more time to get that place rapped up.....

but for now, it's back to the good old days....coffee, the Hamb and then out to the flat fender...........

 

Have fun with all of that! I may need to come steal a small block from you. I have something else piled up at the house.

 

steering column mounting and tach mount.....short throw shifter...(thanks Dan!!).....

 

Keep on a rockin

 

Looks great. Love the little blue inspirational Fiat on the dash. Almost ready to hit the road.

 

That thing is KILLER man!

 

trying Randy, not much time for the topo with all that's going on..cincy driving every weekend is hell...

Bob, i been collecting toy topolino's for uears...only one i ever found that is a key chain...now if i just had some keys for Lil Beast.....

thanks man....every year i hope it gets done...every year something pops up to kill my wallet......but hey that's life......



any luck things will ease up after first of sept....then maybe i can really get back to it...

 

out in the garage getting ready for the weekly trip to cincy to work on the other house...peeking in the rear window.......wall to wall hemi...




..

 

parting shot....got to try out the new camera.....

 

I also have an affinity for the little Fiat Topolinos. I am building one for my brother. We have the chassis and suspension pretty well complete and the BBC 454" W/TH400 and 9" rear installed. The plan is to make it a street altered. As you are finding out there is not a lot of space to put things. You know nonessentials like the fuel tank and the battery. Still really fun cars and something very different. Good luck with yours, I am sure you are having as much fun as my brother and I.

 

good lookin steel fiat you guys have there!!! nice to see a fresh one here on the Hamb....not sure off the top of my head what the dimensions are on that bbc, but i know the 325 hemi hogs up a ton more room then the sbc i had mocked in it.....sorry to say Lil Beast and i have been stalled for close to a year...but then there are things in life that shove hot rods on the back burner...but i'm getting closer to hitting it hard again...hell right now the mindset is go go go ...but the pocket book is saying whoa whoa whoa....

building the topo for cross county cruisin..guess i'll have to add you and your brother to my "along the way" list.....

 

working on the headlite-shock mounts....need to pick up a pair of cups to mount the lites for adjusting them......

 

Hey Bud, you still doing the Cinci shuffle?

 

yeah, no hot rod time for a long time now.....i'm here resting and hopefully will get the 1948 cj a willys ready to sell this weekend.....new body mounts and new bushings for the schackles...greaseable ones...didn't exisit when i put the 23 year old new ones in...just worn out, i been doing the cincy thing every weekend for the last 3 1/ months....

 

Thats brutal bud...I hope it works out, let me know if you need help.
take a break on the 17th and come to a show..or gimme a shout

 

Just spent the morning reading all 13 pages of your build! Admire your tenacity, and the Fiat is going to be an awesome car when completed. Hope you can get back on it soon!

 

well Randy, i'm only here this weekend after spending last weekend and the whole week down there..had a meeting with the planing and zoning committe this past thur nite...there's one member there (who i never met before last year) who has been screaming to tear the house down.... 2 different building inspectors since i started the remodleing and they both said this is basicly bull crap from the village where the house is....long story short, they voted against me and now i have my lil brother filing the appeal ...the chairperson for the P&Z committe is behind me 100%....she told me it is just basicly the way they vote to push ya to getting it done..hopefully she's right.. .the current inspector told me to keep working on it...hell i was looking at having the wiring inspected tues or wen coming....water pipes to replace, and paint the exterior....it would be done...so hopefully i'll be back down there next weekend..so that lives the 17th iffy.......

thanks for the support!!!!!!! guys like you and posting as you have really help keep many of the projects here going ....even thru all the crap life throws in our paths to try and beat us down into submission......

been so tired of having to go into the garage and see Lil Beast just waiting...............but on the up side, i generally get more done in the fall...and it's pretty much just about here....

 

Yup the winter is where the building really takes shape up here, sorry to hear your having such a time with the local tax paid bafoons..they forgot who cuts their checks, typical they couldnt find their ass with both hands tied behind their backs, oh hey that gives me an idea

 

i'm likin the way you're thinkin,,,,,,,,


last nite i bent some scrape tin and started looking at the trans tunnel on Lil Beast,,,,now all i need to do is figure out what the min amount of clearance is needed between it and the trans,,,,topo's are small cars on the outside,,,,,but when ya start stuffin that third pedal in there..........
hopefully about 1/2" is enough???????

 

1/2" is close bud , but if the Hemi dont move much you might be alright..nothin' worse than running down the road hearing your trans tunnel hit your trans case on every dam bump

 

been playin with trying to get the trans tunnel tin worked out...seemed tighter then it did months back when i last looked at it....that was when i swaped tail shafts on the WC T-5 to get my shifter out from under the seat.....

i had cut a wedge to compensate for the rotated bellhousing i'm using ...(gives me an extra bit of toe room on the driver's side....3 pedals gets tight)..........as the trans still had the flat trans mount when the frame was fabbed.....

well tonite i remembered i never got around to drilling the hole for the mount stud and welding the wedge in place, causing everything to set a good 1"+ higher then it should........guess that's what happens when ya have to put a project on hold.....made me feel like an idiot.....but a happy one once i got the trans down and gained enough room to make a good inch at the tightest spots along the trans tunnel...i'll get the wedge welded into place in the morning.......

 

Gonna have her on the road by spring?
or driver by autorama?

 

shot at the first pattern of tin for Ll Beast....figured 'ld try a peice of the 16 ga stock i plan on doing the floors in....would have been good enough for an actual floor section...if it hadn't been about 3 am when i hacked it down to size

 

well randy, that will depend on the cincy house....i've said it 2 years n a row now, but i will bring it to autorama this year....even if i have to stuff it under my shirt to get it in....anyone have a 3x lg tee shirt i can borrow???

unless ya got a clutch setup i can steal...eerrrrr borrow

 

Glad to see you back working on it. Did you get rid of that A stuff? I've sent a few folks your way trying to help you and them out.

 

Dan, the 30-31 model A stuff is still here....had a local Hamber ask about some stuff...

yeah it feels good to be wirkin on the topo....but at this time it's more figureing then it is assembling........i talked to a local place about sandblasting the frame a few months back....but i.m not ready to tear it all apart just yet.....trying to focus on the tin work...and trying to get some of lifes issues out of the way to buy the clutch stuff....be nice to rumble down thru the alley.

 

Wish I had a clutch set up for ya..but no luck
will keep my ears and eyes open, is there something particular your looking for?