azzurro's 1969 FIAT 125 Berlina

[azzurro]

o hai,

long time reader, first time caller. thought id better put some detials of my current project etc.

i already have a thread on this car here where you can follow the detail of my trails and tribulations to date:

http://www.turbo124.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8003

but this forum is more local, active and wide ranging, so better introduce my self proper like.

2009 was a crappy year, upshot = tax refund. was looking for a datsun 1600, but came accross this beastie.

Has same 1.6l engine capacity, twin headlights, rwd, & 4 box family 'sport sedan' underpinnings, and more or less same propensity for tinworm

differences are many, but mainly rarity, italian style/quirks, extra cam, 4 wheel discs, solid axle w/ leaf sprung rear, and factory air horns

runs the 1608cc version (80x80 = perfect square) of aurelio lampredi's famous FIAT twin cam, but is NZ assembled (CKD) early base model, so only 4 speed, big clock in the dash where tacho should be, and a solex twin throat carb. The Special had 5 speed and Weber carb, tach, air con, more chrome, nicer/black interior etc etc.

Much of the engine & etc is common with the 124, and later 131, 132 and Argentas, so these bits incl performance mods are relatively easy to find - body parts are another story tho.

Many of you will also know of the 125T, a NZ dealer developed version for the B&H race series. Yellow & black, Hi-comp pistons, hot cams, twin 40 sidedrafts, 5 speed, large capacity tank, lower/stiffer susp etc. They were supposed to sell 200 to homologate them, but only 70ish ever got made, apparrently FIAT found out and stopped it, but who knows.

Plans are to

- restore/upgrade (body, brakes, interior etc)

- improve the engines performance - this base version produces 90HP (DIN) - the same capacity engine in the 124 sport (w/ twin sideys etc) came from the factory with 145HP

- lower as per 125T

- for the purpose of classic family 'goon (massive boot + roofies) and/or weekend cruiser

Anyway, this was as purchased off t-me in April 2010.

Had $500 worthof head work, new ball joints and some bodywork done and then has been shed stored since 1993. 135,000 miles. Still registered tho.

getting it home from palmy:

And have spent the last 9 months, on weekends etc getting it from this:

to this:

So i can start on the real work of chopping out the FIAT dust (those pesky russians!) and replacing it with shiny new stuff.

The car is remarkably original and pretty solid, apart from the 20 year old body work 'repairs' which involved wire brushing the rusty bits, a bit of hammer work, brazing some metal on the underside and covering with copius amounts of filler. The car would be in far better condition if they had have just left it alone

Work so far has included

- sourcing 3 sets of rims (hey first things first!)

- cleaning 40 years of grime off.

- conversion to electric fan from belt driven (good for a few HP at least)

- plugs/points/leads

- cam belt/tensioner/timing/alt belt

- new water pump

- all oil and fluids

- new brake pads, flex hoses, resovoirs, refurb calipers

- new speedo/tacho, recover dash face from faux woodgrain to black vinyl, steering wheel

- chasing down various missing trims and etc.

Basically i wanted to get the car all together so i knew what it would be like (as it looks ok in teh photos aye), before concentrating on getting the rust out. Car now runs/stops and drives very nicely and Im looking forward very much to going further than the end of my road in it.

Rust is all cut out now and i have been folding up repair panels, but have managed to get a parts car - a shell i had got some trims etc off previously, which is solid in a few of the critical areas that mine is fucked, so i will be using as much of that as i can.

Will be purchasing a wee MIG welder and getting stuck in real soon...

EDIT - discusst viewtopic.php?f=18&t=25706

EDIT2 - not thumbs, chrono order, moar photos

[azzurro]

got this for patch panels and what nots - had previously scored most of the removable trims and etc for free, so i have kinda just got the rest of it.

importantly it has metal where little blu now has no rust (in fact now has nothing at all)

its a 1971 italian assembled model so it has a couple of improvements over my 69 nz (otahuhu) assembled CKD version including rear seatbelt mounts, ventilated front apron, as well as recently replaced front guards (a common rust problem area), as well as stuff ive previously raped such as tacho dash, under sill chrome strips etc etc

it has an anti-tramp bar in the rear, so this will also be moved over, probably later on when the rear springs are reset. the tunnel has been modified most likley for a 5 speed, but motor and box are long gone. it also had konis all round, but those have been installed in to the PO's 125T replical race project, which hes just sold, and in retrospect should have put a bid on. anyway, want mine to sit like that one in the rear, in the top photo its sitting on the front bumpstops (no springs), so this is as low as they go - so will need to be at least a couple of inches higher

all in all its a solid shell, probably more so than mine, but not registered and is cometically far worse, along with having its own other/different issues.

anyway, super stoked as saves heaps of time folding up sheet steel, as well as having heaps of improved bits, and looking forward to turning the driveway into a wreckers yard, and getting into welding bits into little blue.

this however requires the purchase of a welder, but this and any other car related toys, needs to wait till after the mrs's birthday on 13th, and valentines on the 14th...

[azzurro]

so parts car is no longer a potential candidate for another 125 project

only a couple of bits to go and i should just about be able to fold it into a ball and roll it out of the back of the van to recycle whats left

after i cut/drilled/yanked/chiselled/bent/kicked the guards off i realised i should have test fitted my various rims to check how low i could i go/how they looked on the car with no springs.

have got all patch panels needed to complete little blue, and i have also got at least one of everything except engine.

meanwhile have also been collecting bits and pieces for sticking on pre/post/during body work

welder:

next week me and my other new blue friend will start 'hot metal gunning' bits into little blue. im reaaaaly looking forward to making progress on this

sounds:

will run i-pod direct to this (under the seat) for running some box speakers in the under dash parcel tray/ 6's in the rear (or maybe the other way around). anyway, saves having a modern head unit in the dash or glove box, and potentially allows the guages to go in the dash inline with the clock and speedo/tacho

seats:

purchased on a whim while getting bits for the mrs corolla at pickapart - mmm blue veluer from a late 70s/early 80s corona gt coupe.

very comfy, but rails dont quite line up... will worry about them at a later date, unless someone has some blue buckets + rails or similar style early honda seats in blue (holes are very close aparently) and wants to swap?...

springs:

ex rear 124 coupe - also have internal spring compressor from EURON8 (what a total GC lending strangers his shit - i <3 OS!) to try and get my other ones out. this saves me cutting the 125 ones in case i mess it up, but would have to go mad and cut about 4 1/2 coils for it not to be captive (this compressed energy is why its so f*&^kn hard to get them out).

intake:

125T sidedraft manifold (note funky cutout for dizzy) and rams - just need the expensive bits to got in the middle (2x 40 Weber DHLA or 40 Dell'orto DCNF)

Some actual progress on my actual project car should now actually proceed

lil'blu is looking excited about being welded i think

[azzurro]

so went and picked up this the other weekend, bid on a whim, mainly for the 125T bits it was rocking, being the 13x6 nz made ward mags and the black tombstone seats:

i got out bid, oh well whatevs, then other bid was removed - i ended up as the winna!

shitbags, cause gotta drive all the way to pn to pick it up (ironically where the other 2 were from as well - and me too! )

Get it home for a good looky:

Wards are held on with proper flat bolts - win! (i have double ended bolt/stud converters to hold on my meshies and cheviots which is a super dodgy set up - can now run the wards, cheviots and meshies without freaking out - i do like the 131R steelies tho)

Seats are comfy - score! (drivers will need a recover at some point)

wards will shine up good, have tyres already to go on - ace!

Front springs look lower and stiffer than standard - yes!

Rear Leaves also sit nice and low - ooosh!

Shame the body is 40% fibreglass, but it can sit in my lock up till i decide what to do with it - its not worth restoring, but i do have the missing glass and bonnet...

[azzurro]

and when i havnt been getting cars i dont really want, with bits i dont really need, have been doing this:

this is without any filler and still some tidying up to do with the fine flapdisc (those are sooo awesome) - pretty stoked with my first timer efforts actually, but did get some warping - its hard to be patient!

have pretty much done the passenger side now, except for the front fender, which im putting off removing (have to drill/cut them off) to put the spares i got off the blue one on - the drivers side also needs doing in pretty much exactly the same places but this is nothing for an old fiat!

after that just a skim of filler, primer, a quick paint with some colour match rattle cans and fix the exhaust and should be wof time (sounds easy when you say it fast )

then hope to have it sitting like this:

oh yeah

[azzurro]

its a year to the day today since i started my fiat journey - i picked this up from my father-in-laws on anzac day last year - blessed we are to live in interesting times!

i re-read this topic to see where ive got to in that time and it seems not very far! at the same time it seems ive been spending way too much time in the mankave

have leaned a lot tho - for example, see those little bubbles?, thats not just the paint lifting, no.

also, you just cant weld to rust.

long weeekend thanks to the easter bunny and the anzacs. anyways, with all this time avaliable for fiating, plan was to finish off the drivers side C-pillar, hopefully making a better job of the exterior panel than i did on the other side.

started to tidy up my initial rust removal cutting and found - wait for it - more rust

boring!

surf this weekend has also been very very very good, so dealing the rust took a bit of a back seat.

decided to polish the wards from red oxide instead.

determined that my 90HP wheel polisher would be both deafening and potentially asphyxiating with only headers, so decided to fix that first, making one functional exhaust from the previous one on lil blue, and some random bits and peices left over from old blue and red oxide.

this is a surprisingly fiddly and frustrating job but it all fits and only rattles a little bit. after the 'no exhaust' sound, im a bit underwhelmed by the sound of a 1 1/2" non-mandrel bent exhaust fitted with not-perfomance mufflers (even with a few leaky welds for added pops and chuffs).

it will do for now untill wof time tho, and i similar to the style i would like. after my experience i will probably be getting a pro to fabricate this. im thinking 1 3/4" all the way through as being ideal for the 1608, but 2" will be easier to get pipe and performance mufflers, and will have the flexibility for future engine upgrades, but might be a bit low in the back pressure for the smaller engine. comments??

wards came up a treat too:

before

during

after

ill pick up a polishing head for my drill to finish off the centres properly.

i also found 2x cromodora cd-5s (125 special factory rims - magnesium!) at pick-a-part of all places the other day! will use the best one as the spare to save a few kg's on the steelie. (like these but without the hub cap)

have a set of 195/60 r13 goodyears to go on the wards (no stretch \_/ just phat (_) )

so im looking forward to being visually motivated to address the rust - will get them fitted this week hopefully. i really like the 131R steelies tho...the flat wheel bolts also mean the gold meshies are a feasable option too, as are the cheviots, or of course the pizza cutters.

i just now realised I have 6 sets (x4) of rims for this car with only the cromodoras as odds. is this wrong when ive only driven it 30 miles tops, and is unlikley to go very far even when done?

also removed 125T seats from red oxide - drivers lower pad will obviously need some work, but both are very comfy and surprisingly supportive (compared to the low back blue ones anyway!), and tilt and etc without trouble. they are totally useable with a seat cover (blue sheepskin? )

there is only going to be rust-fixing action over the next few months, so am unlikley to have much to report for a while

[azzurro]

done heaps since last update - well not really heaps of progress, but definitly heaps of fiddly spot weld drilling and seam seperating de-bending and measuring cut, measure, cut, weld, gring, weld, grind...

i thought i had all the bits i needed from the parts car but have had to fabricate heaps of bits which takes fricken aaages especially with only a tiny vice and a bit of I-beam as forming tools.

i want a big garage with heaps of tools and a hoist for next time!

the m.f. weldathon progresses -

Right C-Pillar

Right rear quarter:

left front inner wing:

indicator assembly:

left rear quarter:

sill end:

boot end:

lines up pretty well with the 1/4 panel

gotta make the inner arch section now which is gonna be a mission - have only the rear half as repail panel to turn this into not a lace doilie:

after that, only front right corner to go which will pretty much as per the left side and that should be all the welding done apart from a few touch ups.

then onto the filler and paint prep.

[azzurro]

made a bit more progress on the rear 1/4

1/4 panel patch repairs

1/4 panel fit check - nice one!

but now im kinda stuck on the inner arch panel at the mo,

hmm - now what?

ive called gee motors to see if they can get 210X lada sedan repair panels - or if anyone has a lada parts car...

which is kinda demotivating so thinking i might focus on something else for a while,

Like fitting tyres onto rims! and seeing what they might look like with imaginary lowerage!

125T: NZ made Ward 13x6 185/70 13

125 Special: Cromodora CD-5s 13x5 w 185-65 13 - Magnesium! From Pick-a-Part!

lame, but it got me going again so thats what counts at the mo.

I also realised i dont actually have to wait till ive finished the rust work to lower it, and this would also be smile inducing

so ive got a set of leafs (leaves?), and a spare sample spring and some spring specs (125T) to take to a spring shop.

i want the rears reset 2" lower and the springs made to spec and a set of shocks (which would need to be a catalogue job as replacements are NLA)

- who should i go see? snells? how much should i be looking to pay?

also somebody has somehow (feckn dino riders!) managed to scan and copy my basic mental image of a finished little blue onto a 125p for my inspirational pleasure:

[azzurro]

made some progress on the wheel arch too - just doing a couple hours after work on the car instead of watching tv adds up!

its a patchwork quilt (from R-L) of 1/2 a rear inner arch, part of the front fender, a bit from the inner-inner arch that was on the good replacement half, the only solid remnants of the original parts, but flipped over, and patched between that using parts of our old gas heater (it was a de'longhi ) which was made from nice thin and bendy metal which helps dealing with all the curves.

making this took feckn aaages, but has came out well enough i think, as even the ribs ended up in the right place, and its not exactly on show

it was a nice tight fit when offering up, but now that i have been spotting it in its a bit gappy (but of course only on the bit i made )

however nothing a bit of BFH (and maybe a little more heater) cant fix

have a couple of weeks off (tfgif!) so going to finish this side and drop leaves and springs off at snells, so i can finally give EURON8 his spring compressors back

have also found out that 124 shocks bolt up and are shorter, and are also avaliable new which is a bonus

with the NZ $ so good i think im going to order some 124 shizzl from teh states for cheaps (+shipping lol)

[azzurro]

well got the rear quarter on finally, all the outer access cuts/seams are now welded up, just need to spot the inside seams.

to access this easily (ie lying in the boot) it needed to come off the stands, so i thought id turn it around ready to get cracking on the last bit of body work, the drivers front wing.

i also wanted to see how the ward rims looked on the ground as they wernt working for me on the stands - while the tyres are the same diameter as the 14" steelies, they sit about an inch further out towards the guard, which you think would be good, but meh

I think i prefer the 131R steelies and/or needs more low

with these wards and stance it just looks like a gasser! (maybe I should paint my tyre lettering )

gave it a burn up the road (as i had to turn it around anywho) and my boy videoed it on his i-pod

! not sure if the car or dog is quicker off the mark (shes part whippet and a bit of everything else too)

sounds the biz aye!

I have ordered a box of goodies from the states which should be here soon and im expecting a tax refund (yus!) so when this comes though ill be straight to the spring shop with my spare leaves and springs for a wee bit of low. there is literally 5" of space between the front guards and tyre which is now starting to bug me.

also, cant wait to drive it with doors on

[azzurro]

been a while since ive checked in, but progress is continuing at la grotta azzurra

ordered some bits from autoricambi.us, got some 124 KYB G2 shocks for the front, lower ball joints, some blue brake booster hose, some bushes and and heaps of other little bits & bobs as well all landed for less than a set of KYBs retail here - loving the us debt ceiling debate

finally got around to picking off the right front wing as well, which is the last corner to be done. (homeward bound...)

as I suspected, second verse, same as the first, a little bit faster, but a little bit worse...

decided i should stiffen up the body as much as possible before attacking the main area of the inner wing at the base of the a-pillar - not sure if this would make much difference as a previous repair is just riveted on over the old rusty panel! impressive work tho, as theyve somehow managed to remove the old wing suppport, make some repair(cover?) panels, rivit the main bit onto the body, and only then 'weld' up the outer seams of the box section all without removing the wing (i drilled out the factory spot welds to get it off)

so i started on the sill, and decided to pop the outer sill sill off to fix some jacking/off roading booboos that had bent the inner sill as well as fix the inevitable rust which was a result of the original rust trap design exacerbated by poor repairs

you cant really tell in the pick above ^, cause ive fish oiled it, but parts of the inner sill had never been painted, and were still shiny bare metal fresh from the factory - right next to utterly rusted out parts that cruble in your fingers in the same panel! the whole car is wierdly contrasting like this

the top of the inner sill was much the same as the outer sill which im holding, and I had to remake the top join where the door rubbers sit, which were pretty shot. i didnt take any before shots, and my flap discing is good , so you cant really tell what it was like before, but very happy with how this has turned out, and the car just feels much more solid now

remaking the front indicator was a bit trickier than the other side, as the replacement bits from my parts car werent too hot either, but we got there in the end:

^eeeewww!

all gone

^hmmm - krypton factor puzzle - had to unpick, repair and remake

^done

next and more or less final step (barring redoing some of my first lot of welding , and some wee bits ive missed etc) in rust work is the base of the a-pillar, which has been 'fixed' before, but this will be (relatively) easy as ive kept my C.A.D templates from the other side, just hope ive enough sheet left to finish it off!

fixing structural repairs by riveting over rust

the ratsun from the random piccy thread has motivated me decide to drop my spare leaves and springs in to Snells to get reset this week too, so im looking forward to seeing lil blue closer to the ground with matching mis-matching blue panels, 'patina', and slot mags

i also had the day of work today (yay) cause i got some grinder shit in my eye (boo) on sunday and finally went to the doctor yesterday. big needles in eye are not cool (but neither is grinder stuff) - always wear eye protection folks, youve only got two

[azzurro]

picked these cart springs up from snell springs on friday,

less 2 inches in the rear, and asked for 2 1/2 inches less in the front (which would have been ~ 1 1/4 inches shorter in the spring) but it looks to me like it might end up sitting a little more than that in the front (the spings i got compressed were from the red parts car) so i hope it doesnt end up toooo low - will look cool for sure, but the suspension geometry/feel in these is adversley impacted by too much drop

pretty keen to get all them in for a gork, but gotta finish the a-pillar first, which will take another couple weekends i think. (hurry up, hurry up!)

this is how they size up with my new shocks (shorter ones for a 124 coupe)

according to the manual, standard springs are ~415mm free length, these are now ~315mm but they will still be captive

[azzurro]

cracking on so i can get this off the stands and put the new suspension in

popped the rivets and cut the underseal holding the repair on to reveal this tasty sight

nice solid steel to rivet to!

which quickly became this

chopchop

which then has taken bloody ages to become this

weldweld

bangbang

grindgrind

take that you rusty fucker!

still got plenty to do, like:

- finish scuttle/windscreen surround and the wing support flange type bit

- repair & attach sill

- finish the a-pillar second skin

- close off sill/a-pillar base

- chassis repair below front bumper bolts

- tidy up/patch replacement wing

- front valance patch/tidy and maybe insert later model one with air inlets - in two minds about this (better cooling or more cool? tough choice!)

- plus assorted do-overs and missed bits

wierd how this just seems like a small list of minor cosmetic tickles after getting this far!

the end is (nearly) nigh!

[azzurro]

still plugging away at this.

however my fiat time has been interrupted by servicing the rest of the fleet - the mrs corolla (oil/filter, pads all round, alt belt, wipers, rear wheel bearings), my suzuki (oil/filters), and the van (oil/filter).

after doing all this, my suzi took itself for a roll down our driveway across the road and down the neighbours driveway, ending up stuck on the level difference between that drive and the other neighbours (mean grind bro!).

amazingly no damage to the neighbours property at all, but suzi needed a new rear subframe and exhaust unbent - sooo lucky, if my other neighbours boat had been touched i would be in traction!

$100 at pickapart + some quality under car time and we are rolling again, better than before

anyway, enough with the cheap dailys already, on to the garage-queen folly:

scuttle panel repair panel repairs

then on

then outer a-pillar skin made and on

so the inner arch is all now painted up and seam sealed and (hopefully) water proof for probably the first time ever

im currently working patching the outer sill and forming an end cap, and once thats on & primered she'll be coming off the stands for the first time in ages for some lowering (and a vacuum)

list of welding related stuff to do is getting pretty short now!

[azzurro]

EURON8 who i borrowed special internal spring compressors off wants them back (fair enough!) for his/Chickity's Humber project, so that was all the motivation i needed to give up welding for a while to slap in my new setup - his timing is good as the wing/a-pillar/outrigger is all stonger than ever now.

Got the fronts in first - as i suspected the springs have ended up a bit too low (is such a thing even possible?!? ) - the lowest point of car (exhaust mainfold below drivers feet) is exactly 100mm above the ground, sump is about 130mm so is border line legal.

OEM v Compressed

KYB to suit 124 vs OEM 125 shocks

@ full droop with top hat inverted

the lower wishbones are parallel, but appear to be resting on the bump stops - i hanvt investigated fully if they are just 'touching' or they are carrying some weight - hopefull the former as there is still some give in the suspension, and in the shot they dont appear to be squished - fingers crossed, however i was hoping for about a half inch higher at the bump:

However, rear has turned out pretty much exacly as i wanted, after a bit of cursing and a lot of strainaing to get the centre retainaing bolt in (calmly loosening u-bolts and adjusting did work better tho)

reset leaves on bottom

14" 131R steelies fit well (my gold meshies are exact same offset, width & tyre size ):

My 13" Wards have a lower offset and the tyres are a wee bit too wide/baloony and will rub (185/65R13) so will need to change the tyres to run them. Suggestions on tyre size welcomed!.

Ive also realised these are not the actual 125T style ones which are a bit more angular/flat faced and have more ribs on the rim, like this:

moar photos when its not raining

[azzurro]

looking good but:

- the front springs are too short want it to sit about an inch higher at the arch to be even with the rear - you can see there is a bit of rake, but it could be my driveway - perhaps an 1/2inch ally spacer between the rubber spring top thing and the strut top? i am really gonna need to replace them tho as they will continue to settle even more they can stay in there for a while tho - the driving position/visiblity seems much better with the bonnet a bit lower!

- want meshies to be silver - they also need drilling for the wheel posts, and the shank on the piece flat bolts that came on red oxide/wards is too small - will have to run them (if i do) with double ended bolt and shank nuts which i have, but i just dont trust them

- wards are growing on me too, but they will rub on the rear arch with the tyres that are on them but running no spacer might give enough clearance

however, the 131 steelies are still my faves and require no mucking about with special nuts, (re)painting, new tyres or spigot rings...

[azzurro]

go the ABs!

a great long weekend, used to full effect.

repaired and attached my left front wing and front valance which was the last major panel repair. only a few tidy ups to go now.

i wish i'd waited at this step till after id collected my doors to check for fitment as there is now a 10mm gap at the front of the door , and a 4mm one at teh back. splitting the difference the whole door needs to move forward 3mm, oar the wing panel back 6mm. but then it woundnt fit at the front cant really fill it with bog either as it would always crack off.

this is a tricky bit as the panel has lots of reverse curves to create the recess for the door to swing into (which is why they also rust so bad i suppose)

went and got all my front doors, left side fits ok, right not so much with hinge scraping the b-pillar and a massive gap by the wing.

bent hinge? no. tried my two other spare drivers doors but they are the same and have a later style door swing catch which would require more cutting and welding, as well as a heap more tidying than the originals.

tried carefully adjucting the hinge points with w BFH which didnt achieve much as this is one of the most solid parts of the car now.

also, silly 125 hinges only adjust on the pillar (in out towards the centre only not forward and back) and are somehow spotted inside the door with no inspection holes - cant even replace the pins - gah

best thing to do is drill my recently ground back plug welds in the wing recess push/pull this panel out/back a bit and reattach, plug, grind yadda yadda but i CBF at the mo. im spent...

so fitted the and lights to test this ends fitment too, bit of fettling theyll be fine, bonnet will need spacing up. anyway, looks much more like a car without a void where the doors should be.

and all icy up in yo grill.

the matt finish on the front panels also seems to highlight the 'hammer head' front design which ive always liked about these cars

gave it a vacuum and a wipe down, and put it away. started and ran nice too, so im quietely chuffed.

defintley need to fill a few lumps and hollows which seem more aparrent with all the panels on! will proably pick up some bog and hi fill primer this week some time from autocolour, and will get a panel colour match from them in due course for the top coat.

my neighbour is lending me his compressor so will get some air sanding tools on the job and maybe some paint ones eventually. liking the rat look for now, but the front and rear halves look disconnecedd they are so different in shineyness.

[azzurro]

pictureless update, but a big milestone

finished a couple tidyups under the rear half of the sill including replaceing the jacking point and some ginding id been putting off in the rear arch. Ive primered and painted, just seam sealer to go on one day after work then its off the stands. That is ALL the rust gone ad replaced with new metal, and 98% of the welding and grinding done so im pretty stoked with that, and hasnt turned out too bad, underneath anyway.

Only thing to do after that underneath is re-underseal, but ill do the whole car in one go one sunny day, outside. Anyway, point is once i put the seam sealer on, and take it off the stands it wont have to go up on them again other than for service or mechainal repair

However, to hide where ive been up top, ive bought a supercheap compressor and some spayguns etc on special (as well as a wizz gun yeah!) and an air sander and some other air stuff, so im gonna get craking slapping on the putty, sanding and giving spraying a go in the next month or so.

[azzurro]

I have been busy finishing off/redoing some of my earliest work, and have now undersealed all the arches and sills, wont be under there again for some time

Also went and picked up this 1608cc (125A***) engine yesterday expecting maybe a few useful spare parts and perhaps use as a dummy block. Current engine runs like a dream but can never have too many spare parts, especially for the 1608, which is the perhaps the sweetest but also one of the rarest/oldest versions of the fiat twink:

However, to my pleasant surprise,

It was a project powerplant for a ford popular rod, and has been tidied up about 20 years ago and hardly run since (as you can tell from how clean it is - this is as picked up still sitting in my van).

It has been fitted with "High Performance Road" cams, a Weber DCD with a nice custom stainless air cleaner, new fuel pump, painted block, new frost plugs, cool purple leads etc and aparrently also new oversized pistons (have the OEM ones in the box, and they look ok too) valve grind etc and a general clean up.

Also came with 2 sets of big end beranings as well so i should probably have a stripdown, or at least have a look at the bottom end suppose.

Cam lobes and etc look clean enough, and dont look like the ones in my current engine so i suppose they are what the guy said they where (not that i was complaining)

Came with the original cam spec sheet and etc as well, can anyone translate this into words?:

So pretty chuffed about all that, so change of plans for the new engine to be put aside as a wee performance project, insted of a boat anchor

Im also going to perhaps ask santa for an engine stand for xmas.

was someone selling some stuff that sold, as well as both a stand and a crane for a sweet price on here a wee while ago? couldnt find the thread again, but keen...

Also, finished of a couple of holes in the top corner of the windscreen surround:

The screen could theoretically go back in now - i wont, but its satisfying knowing it could go in

Finished stitching the rear quarter back on as well, which came out pretty good:

And then run out of gas, bugger. Only a few fiddly little bits to go (like that ^ little missing triangle ) and i'd have been done with the welder so ill probably just get a little disposable bottle and take my hire one back to BoC.

Now have a bit of a target date for (semi-) completion now - me and the mrs will be running a coffee caravan at the Kumeu Hot Rod Show so im pretty keen to roll old school

I will maybe start slapping bog on one day after work this week sometime for a bit of a change.

[azzurro]

Been getting into the filler this week after work and a full day today, ive pretty much done the passenger side and front to first coat of primer stage.

Im surprised how quick this is progressing, but as most of the car other than where ive been is very striaght so that might make it a bit easier than a full bare metal job i suppose.

Been a while (10 years?) since ive had to bog a car and it sure makes a difference to the finish having the right tools (and taking the time to use them) over a solid base. Power sanders make a big difference too!

ive used nutech over the welds (if any) and then 3m lightwieght filler over that (layer upon layer upon layer...), and it seems to be coming out ok.

excuse the grey, then white then matty b rattle can primer - it will all disappear soon. Ive got a compressor so once ive fillered the other side i'll give the air spray gun a go at spitting some primer at it to see if i should give top coating a crack. Cant wait.

Lost ount of the number of layers ive put on the c-pillar to get it 'just right', but its only about 3mm at the most

for a 'square' car its sure got a lot of fiddly curves.