#515 FIAT 124 Spider Vintage Racer

I figured I'd move my race car over to the Builds and Project Cars section.

First the quick readers digest history lesson on how I started racing and switched to the dark side.

2005 - My first vintage race as a spectator at Mosport. Hopeless hooked.

2006 - The 5 year GT6 restoration is done.

2007 - A little auto cross action confirms I like to drive cars hard.

2008 - Watkins Glen. I get to ride in a TR6 through the town on the old track. The trill of a race car sends me into a hopeless downward spiral.

2009 - I start trying to see if I can convert my GT6 into a race but have a friend with one waiting for me. Only to discover a horrible thing. I'm too tall and with a full cage and race I can't get into the car.

2009 - Then one day a FIAT follows me home. For 18 hours.

2010 Feb - Custom cage

2010 Mar - Fuel cell

2010 June - 1 year later ready to go racing at Mosport.

2010 June - Race #1 Mosport. So much fun. Learned so much.

2010 Sept - Race #2 Mont Tremblant. Another great weekend.

2011 Apr - Some refinement. A new exhaust.

2011 May - Oil system upgrade. Accsump, gauges and warning light.

2011 June - Race weekend at Mosport. - Suspension issues show them self.

2011 Aug - Koni's readjusted. Race springs added. I think she's lower :)

2011 Sept - Mont Tremblant. Car handles well but alt mount breaks causing big issues.

2012 Jan - Full suspension rebuild. New ball joints, bushings and tie rod ends.

2012 Mar - Rear suspension upgrades

2012 June - Race ready

2012 June - Mosport. She handles amazing. New suspension, lower seat position, balanced tires but hurt the engine.

2012 Aug - Spun #4. Engine comes out and I have to clean a lot of stuff.

2012 Sept - Back up engine goes in.

2012 Sept - Mont Tremblant. Back up engine has issues. Race weekend ends to soon but no lack of effort from the team.

2012 Oct - A little eye candy

2012 Oct - New to me block. Very low milage engine.

2012 Nov - Cleaned. Off to be bored.

2012 Nov - Engine internal parts prep.

Onto 2013...

Looking good!

Some rule changes for 2013. The tow hooks have to all be flushed to the body work.

Front set will simply be pushed back in.

Back is another story.

I ended up removing the metal and welding a nut into the bumper support structure.

Adjusted the rear plate to cover the hole. One day I will have to strip the body down a do a really clean job but it is a race car. Looks good from far but far from good.

Engine #2 is home after being bored out to work with my pistons.

Yes I know wrong way :) After almost killing myself lifting the block onto the bench I opted not to mess around with it... Not as heavy as a GT6 block but still.

I need to clean the galleries and so on out. Pick up some plastic gauge and then I can start the build...

One of my fav races. I get hung up behind a mini in distress. Whole pack goes by me...

http://youtu.be/gWlLOQ40Sqw

But I manage to get the car back into the fight. That Jag was so much fun to play with.

All of this on 10 year old RA1 tires. Which after 15mins really start to overheat and get greasy pretty well ending my attack.

I was on my final "observation" race weekend so I wanted to make sure I finished every race.

I didn't see if you mentioned it, but what year is your Fiat. Are you running in the historic category?

Anyways, I love those Fiat's. I don't understand why we don't see more of those racing.

It is a 1972 model. I race with VARAC in the vintage/historic small bore class.

Http://www.varac.ca

This weeks work plan. - Princess Auto for a ring install tool and piston ring compressor. - Clean block up a touch. Covered in machining lube. Blow out all the oil paths and clean the cylinder walls 1 more time. - Mount on the engine stand. - Prep and assemble all pieces needed for the job.

By the weekend I should ready to build it up.

124 Spider is a great historic race car! I had one of the quickest cars in historic racing from 1997 to 2002. John Baucom and I had a lot of fun with those cars.

This winter has really been hard on me so getting back in the garage is nice.

Here we go. I moved engine 2 onto the stand. Freeing up bench space. I need to clean and degrease it before starting the build.

Moving the pistons from the old con rod over to the ones that came with engine 2.

The block was bored out to these pistons. Con rod #4 was damaged when the bearing got chewed. Engine 2 was very low milage so opted to use the crank and rods. The crank from engine 1 is going to be repaired and then race prepped for a later rebuild.

Made sure to match the setup. The rods are stamped and the circled number are on the same side.

Pins look very healthy. I did have to reuse the clips. The new ones I bought were to thick.

Job done.

Read 3 times, measure 2 times and cut ones. Made a $75 error the other night. Over gap'd a brand new set of rings.

Manufacturer wanted way to much for a new set. Turns out 84.4 mm rings are hard to find, but found a supplier with a chrome set in stock and he cut me a nice deal.

So on the upswing I went from cast rings to chrome but it cost me $75 grrr.

And I ordered my Christmas gift finally. This year the car will be running on brand new race tires and not 10 year old RA1's.

Cool racer! Looks like a blast to drive. Too bad about the rings... but there are worse mistakes to make than ones that cost $75!

Please post more videos when you get her back out on track this season

P.S. Those two crush bends in your exhaust look like they might be pretty restrictive. Any future plans to replace those sections with mandrel-bent tube? I know, I know... if it ain't broke...

Exhaust is in the works. I'm trying to reduce the issues without buying a $400 header.

Remove the narrow collector and put in a wider bend but it is a tough job without an engine in the car and working around the cross member and steering rack.

My videos are here. http://www.youtube.com/slippingclutch

and here

http://vimeo.com/user2376314

Enjoy the learning curve.

Thanks!

Looks like you've already been improving the exhaust. Wow, that original diameter was tiny!

Yes.

I opened up the exhaust and had to buy custom ear plugs.

She's loud now :)

I bribe my neighbours in the spring when it is tuning time

Engine crank spec check today.

Looks good.

Update new 84.4mm rings have shipped.

Lesson here.

Read instructions 4 times. Verify mm vs inches 3 times. Measure 2 times and Cut once.

Sigh.

Long story but I over gaped the first set of rings. Ordered another set but the supplier send me 84.00mm rings. So I'm out $75 ($50 for the rings + $25 for shipping) I could return them but I'd only be credited $50 so I'll hold on to the rings can cut my loses. That supplier is on my bad list.

Some good friends from the US called around and found me another set. Turns out 1800cc FIAT rings in the 84.4mm size are hard to find.

Once I get these new ones in I'll gap them very very carefully and move on.

Side note I had considered reusing my old rings but was very surprised how brittle the 2nd layer rings were. I broke 2 of them with my hands trying to gently remove them.

Waiting for a little love.

Oh I ordered my R888's as well.

Looking forward to retiring my 2003 RA1's.

Really having a header clearance issues. Last night I dropped in a stripped down block and the head so I could start working on the header.

Mine is a custom POS but I can't afford something new right now. It is on my XMAS list however :)

At issue is the down pipe section and the fact that I'm trying to deal with a 4-1 system.

I'm working to fix the space to allow for a 2 1/4" pipe vs the 2" I pulled off.

I'm wondering if I should try and alter the header into a 4-2-1 setup giving me 2 smaller down pipes.

Hey Andre,

I've rebuilt 11 or 12 of these motors. Your bearing clearances look good (a little less than .002), the used pin clips should be no problem, and, despite anything anyone tells you, the chrome rings are not hard to break in. Just jump in the car with a passenger and all the tools you can cram in it and drive up a long hill with a good pitch repeatedly at 3/4 throttle. Drive back down again with your foot off the throttle working against the tranny. The chrome rings just need to be pressed harder into the cylinder walls than iron rings. Once broken in, enjoy the greater ring life, not to mention superior sealing.

Header Before

Header After

Downpipe Before

Downpipe After

Difference

I still will clean up the end of the header. Adjust the how low the down pipe fits under the car.

And yes. New item added to the Christmas list. 4-2-1 header.

But this will do for the 2013 season.

Opened the down pipe and header up big time. Well up to a 2 1/4" pipe.

A.

New rules for 2013 require a FIA approved rain light. $80 later...

Silly bright and water proof.

Normal LED light VS the Afterburner. No HP gain. Sorry guys ;)

I drilled a small hole, used a grommet and modified the wiring.

Burner on.

Rather then not use the old rain lights I hooked them into the brakes so now its even brighter.

Another requirement met.

Was asked about the rules for this puppy.

Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs Ontario Region 2013 Race Regulations

12.0 LIGHTS

12.1 Brake Lights GT Cars and Sports Racing Cars shall have two operating red brake lights which shall be functional and operational at all times and actuated only by application of the brake pedal. A minimum of 50 percent of the brake light area shall be exposed.

12.2 Rain Light All cars shall have an FIA approved rain light. Notwithstanding this requirement, any car without this rain light may be approved if the light meets or exceeds the FIA standard as determined by the chief Scrutineer.

This light shall be illuminated when ordered by the Clerk of the Course.RACE REGULATIONS 2013 APPENDIX ‘P’ : REGULATIONS AND SPECIFICATIONS

12.3 Formula Cars Formula Cars shall be equipped with a rain light as described in 12.2 above. This light shall be mounted on the centerline of the Car and be clearly visible from the rear. The light shall be illuminated when ordered by the Clerk of the Course.