44 replies to this topic

[Soop]

That's an awesome looking little car.

I will rebuild it to original. It won't be as anal as original colours and drive line. The 318 and 3spd auto was available in the Valiant VIP. So it is still technically "Original".
But yes, I'm not going to go silly with it trying to make a autosalon slut or a 1/4 mile missile. It's just going to be a causal cruiser.

[twinturbosubaru]

Yep it is a great car, a Fiat 124 Coupe, 1969 model, amazing for it's time, 4 wheel disk brakes, twin cam engine, coil spring suspension, I have a couple of them actually, that's the one being rebuilt though, some others are beyond repair like your donor car, another is still good and was used as a daily driver up until a couple of years ago by my brother.

Keep us up to date with how you are going, it will be nice to see another classic on the road again.

Regards
Paul

[Soop]

Haha, make Chrysler makes your Fiat look like a rocket ship.

I've been at the bastard all day, but there's nothing worth taking photo's off yet. Might go an attack it with a wire wheel later tonight, after this big bastard storm goes away.

[RX25SE]

anybody can modify something, but to return a car of that age to it's original glory is an incredibly tricky process.

Regards
Paul

This!










Nice little Fiat Paul. I have a soft spot for these.

[XXB4XX]

All I have in my head is "fix it again Tony", everytime I hear or see FIAT

[Soop]

This!










Nice little Fiat Paul. I have a soft spot for these.

Yeah it will be Original to a point, I don't care for concourse accuracy though.

[DukeNik'em]

Yeah it will be Original to a point, I don't care for concourse accuracy though.

Original style interior. With a sensible paint job. And then whatever engine/driveline you want. That's close enough.

By the way, that CxC i was talking about, the guy is keeping it now, dropping in a 408 from the states. The guys also have two Valiant Chargers, so might have Chrysler parts hanging around if you're looking for something....

Nick

[Soop]

I'm pretty right for parts.

I'll be using factory engine and gearbox. Just bought a 318 bottom end for $100.
Will use 360heads if possible, from my reading they flow a bit better.

Settled on a colour scheme. cream/white external with black bumble bee stripes over the boot and a blood red vinyl interior.

[Soop]

Few more pictures. Little progress though. Had some big storms come through and the roof of the old shed couldn't hold back the onslaught for long. So I had to retreat inside.

I've given it a bit more of a tub. Still not great definatly no rust in the chassis behind the steering box though!

















I had to do a little panel beating behind the Fuel fillter, its been hit and pushed up and the Panels had seperated. Nothing a knacker meter couldn't fix!









I can't find anymore rust, I've looked pretty hard. But I'm always open to suprises!

[twinturbosubaru]

All I have in my head is "fix it again Tony", everytime I hear or see FIAT

LOL, yeh it is a good one, problem was in war time Italy had a bad deal for steel with Russia, it was full of rust before they even used it.
Some of the earlier Alfas are shockers, they rust before you eyes !

Regards
Paul

[twinturbosubaru]

That's pretty good if that's all the rust, it would be good to bead blast it before fixing anything, it will show up anything else, plus check inside the sills, there is often surprises waiting in there for you, just after you have fixed everything too !

Regards
Paul

[Soop]

I'm going to hit it with a stripper disk once I get the front and rear suspension out of it. Strip it right back to bare metal. I've got a portable sand blaster coming to do the internal parts and engine bay.
Nice little catch on E-bay for $140.

[twinturbosubaru]

mmm, problem with those disks is they take some metal off as well, bead blasting cleans everything up and gives you a nice undercoated body to start work on, but, you can only do what you can do, I'm sure if you are lighthanded you can achieve a good result, it's just when you get to edges and corners it's so easy to take an edge off, I know from personal experience

Good deal on the sand blaster, I have one of those and it's great for small work like parts, tell you a trick though, make yourself up some sort of booth which is sealed to some degree, then you can collect the sand and reuse it, it's not cheap stuff, well it wasn't when I bought my last 44 gallon drum of it anyway ! now I try and preserve it as much as I can, and make sure you order some spare tips for the sandblaster, they do go through them, like MIG tips more or less....

Wish I could come and help I don't even have a garage to keep working on mine, pretty sad....it's just sitting in a shed in the country at the moment contemplating life, or the lack of it !

Regards
Paul

[Soop]

I'm a spray painter by trade, Had my fair crack at using stripper disks. The valiant is made of good old fashioned steel, quiet hard to knock an edge off

I've heared that about the sand blasters. I will have to keep an eye out for replacement tips.
Whats a 44 of sand worth roughly?

[DukeNik'em]

I'm a spray painter by trade, Had my fair crack at using stripper disks. The valiant is made of good old fashioned steel, quiet hard to knock an edge off

I've heared that about the sand blasters. I will have to keep an eye out for replacement tips.
Whats a 44 of sand worth roughly?

Well while you have the sandblaster there, and if your 318 is lying around, you might want to try this : http://www.audiforum...ead.php?t=80267

Probs seen it before, but it makes me laugh everytime i see it.

Nick

[Soop]

Yeah seen that about 3 years ago.

[buzzda]

Nice project mate, sure got your work cut out for ya but will be worth it in the end. Reckon it would look nuts in "midnight blue" or something similar.

and congrats for yr baby girl.

[Soop]

Thought about blue, but dark colours need to be really straight.
Can't guarantee I can get it that straight with my forked up vision. It will be hard enough painting it like this lol.

[buzzda]

Hahaha, stop sniffin thinners and you'll be apples

[Soop]

No, I had a car accident and hit my head. Caused a stroke basically. Luckily it just screwed up my vision and nothing else.