Making parts for a Fiat

The 901 box is strong , we had them in our old VW drag cars and they did not break , 

We also used 240Z half shafts that have Ujoints and also did not die , 

they also come in 4 speeds which is what we used for the shift pattern , 

Trent said:

Any thoughts on mounting the engine at the factory angle versus modding the oil pan and pickup? They both look to be the same amount of work. It sure looked great in Burrito's coupe with the cam gears sitting level but I can't imagine it wouldn't look equally cool at an angle. I obviously lose one of the 4 bellhousing bolts on the 901 in this position so I would have to weld the adapter plate on.

Any issues with oil draining back down into the crank case with the angle?

or oil puddling on the  edge of the valve cover with no place to drain to ?

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Considering that is how Suzuki mounted it in countless swift GTIs, I doubt there is a problem.

Trent, I dont have any insight on the angle of your engine's dangle, but is the Porsche transaxle to block bolt pattern the same as an air cooled VW?

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I will be using VW rabbit CV shafts. The 90mm inner joint bolts right up the 901 flanges. I am also using the front hubs and bearings from the rabbit in custom hub carriers I am currently machining. 

Space is incredibly tight in a car this small so U-joints are less than ideal. 

I have a Fiat 600 and the gearbox is tiny !

RossD said:

Trent, I dont have any insight on the angle of your engine's dangle, but is the Porsche transaxle to block bolt pattern the same as an air cooled VW?

I haven't had an aircooled VW engine in my hands in a decade or so.

In reply to RossD :

if you are asking if the 4 bolts ( 2  bottom studs + 2 top thru bolts)  are the same pattern on an aircooled VW  and the Porsche 901 -915-930 gearbox the answer is YES

and you can put a 911 motor up to a bug / bus gearbox.......

What did you guys source the steering rack from on the fiat 600 suspension? Looks like its been shortened? Im running into a similar issue on my 1969 simca 1000(almost the same chassis as the fiat 850). The 68-on simcas have a rack & pinion, but the rack is quite long for the a-arm length I want. Im so excited to see this car on this forum again

In reply to MarshHoltRacing :

That is a Triumph spitfire rack that had to be shortened.

Detailed here

Cool! Yeah that rack really lends itself well to being shortened. Thanks for the hot tip

Scrolling through my watchlist, hoping for an update. I love this car, as well as your ability to solve problems and describe the solutions.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Uh, yes and no? I have come to terms with myself that this project might make Binky seem like an Overhaulin' build as far as time frames go. I fabricate little things here and there, then place them in my toolbox drawer only to proudly show them off to anyone who has the misfortune of asking what's up with the Fiat.

I have recently decided on a total redesign of the rear suspension and subsequently the whole back end of the car which has me itching to tear back into it. 

You see I have recently been having the pleasure of modifying one of my favorite cars of all time

Seeing how Renault did the rear suspension on these R5 Turbos gave me lots of inspiration. 

Acquiring the sexy alloy rear uprights and fittiing some VW hubs into them gets me started.

Anyway, I have 6-7 hours a week for my projects and the last 100 of those have been me moving goalposts around with the mini. That reminds me, I should update that thread. 

Last week I did pick up a disaster of a homemade engine stand based rotisserie to repurpose for the Fiat as soon as the mini is back on the road. 

I'd say "Watch this space" but I don't want to string anyone along. 

R5 Turbo rear suspension was parts binned from the Alpine A310 wasn't it?

I'm looking forward to seeing this progress, I'm kind of contemplating a hotrod 850 coupe in the next few years... Abarth OT style but with something different engine wise (Fiat 1600 twin cam maybe, maybe a Honda K, maybe something completely different...)

In reply to Gammaboy :

It seems they did. The inspiration came more from the rear frame rails and shock towers they grafted in. The R5 turbo and the Ferrari F40 I did some work on were both very similar in the rear suspension department but the Renault was done in a retrofit manner that seemed more achievable. 

Trent said:

In reply to Gammaboy :

It seems they did. The inspiration came more from the rear frame rails and shock towers they grafted in. The R5 turbo and the Ferrari F40 I did some work on were both very similar in the rear suspension department but the Renault was done in a retrofit manner that seemed more achievable. 

I really wanted to build a R5 Turbo replica a while back, originals being unobtainably priced... Turned out that R5s of any flavour don't exist in Oz anyway. Would be interesting to see some pics of the R5 Turbo setup though. Those uprights are lovely parts.

I don't want to be an armchair critic (My own projects seem to be going back in time), but I stumbled across this looking for screw type compressor info, so:

Any updates?

Man, that feels douchie, but I do love the work you do.

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :

Thanks for the reminder. I often get so caught up in the minutiae that I forget that anyone might care what I am doing, or I make such small steps I don't think to update.

Give me a minute to catch up.

Trent said:

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :

Thanks for the reminder. I often get so caught up in the minutiae that I forget that anyone might care what I am doing, or I make such small steps I don't think to update.

Give me a minute to catch up.

Dude. We care. At least as much as Faith No More.

I like watching the minutiae. Its how I learn to do new stuff, or old stuff better. 

OK. The rear uprights. 

I forget what I was looking for but google kept including an image in my search results that I assumed was a race car part from Pegasus. It turned out to be from one of the big Polaris side by sides. I bought a pair and it turned out that they use a wheel bearing that accepted an A1 VW rabbit hub.

But that caliper mount wasn't going to work with the fiat rotor/Gixxer caliper.

So I cut that off, machined a slot and machined a carrier for the radial mount. 

The same thing for the parking caliper. Then welded them together.

And then I finished all 4 wheels...... or so I thought.

Somehow I wound up with one 7", two 6.5" and a 6" wide wheel. I'm not sure what happened other than there might have been a mix of 124 and 850 wheels in my collection. I need to dig up and clean up at least one more wheel to finish the set.

My real issue is tires. Tire availability to be accurate. I have built this car in my head with 175/60 up front and 185/60 out back. You can no longer get the Yokohamas in those sizes in the US. I haven't figured out a solution for this problem yet. 

More in a bit.

Mating the engine to the Transaxle

The flywheel and clutch was easy. A Samurai flywheel and pressure plate were a perfect match for a 190mm VW rabbit clutch disc that just so happened to be an exact match for the spline on the Porsche transmission. Even the pilot bearing was a match. 

I made the decision to match the FWD lean. 

Hmm. an issue here

and here

Wait... There is a chance this case is magnesium isn't there?

Nope, Aluminum. Takes a bead like a champ

So ....

And I just kept going

And then deleted the Porsche starter mount

And then made sure the starter did its thing without drama

Which it did!

So I did some mockup for some thirst trap photos

I knew that turbo manifold would need modifications but it wasn't until the mockup that I realized how much. This GT1446 wants to be inverted. I think that will be easy enough. Just cut the runners off the flange and invert it

And then change the turbo flange obviously.

Anyway, this morning after satisfying myself that the bellhousing mods were done I decided to tear into this completely unknown gear box. I got it from Ethnic foodwrap afficianodo who got it from Nashco so it is staying in the GRM family.

Well, the diff carrier bearings are gonna need replacing.

This is really cool how the entire gearset is contained by the midplate. I am used to Fiat transaxles where you pull the bellhousing and to get everything out you shake them like an acoustic guitar your dropped your pick in the soundhole.

This synchro is the only one with signs of wear, and it is minor. They are expensive, but I don't want to do this again........ grrrr......  decisions!!!

So I started vapor blasting the main part of the case. It will take several more hours to get it nice.

I am looking for the necessary bearings tomorrow

What else?

The GT1446 came off a Multiair Abarth which uses an electronic diverter valve. Makes sense for multiair but not for this mess. 

A bit of evening searching and I learn that the Chevy Cruz uses the same model with a basic vacuum operated diverter.

That was way too easy.

I am operating on the "Do one thing a day, no matter how small" project principle.

I have also been collecting parts when they appear.

A NOS original Fiat Ricambi front panel was delivered from Greece

And last summer a set of NOS Procar seats popped up on CL in the color I want so they were acquired

I will need to go through my project box to see what I am missing. I really do try to do one thing a day. It might just be 15 minutes but anything is forward progress. I have also been working on the mini and the Caddy.

And another thirst trap shot of a car for sale in Germany right now

Man that thing sits just right