bomb factory Faza Fiat 128 purchased 1995 - now sadly missed - it is the genuine article!
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday May 29 2005
Seemingly Obvious
Another day of fusing metal - got the welder dialled in a bit better and it lays some good beads - engine bay is 95% - just need to get rid of the tower bars and seam the back of the towers and fill a few holes (from drilled out spot welds etc.) Cabin is 70% - ran out of abrasives... burnt a couple of new holes - and filled half the holes from the cross member - once I dialled the amps back a bit this bit of the operation went smoothly enough, no majors and nothing an angle grinder wont fix anyway! long weekend coming up and I have booked three days on the car - fun and games!
w
Monday, May 23, 2005
Saturday 21 May
seems like a long time:
The new welder welds - yeah! first day of seam welding the chassis - some nice welds some not so nice - only one additional hole in car - hit some rust down on the off -side inner wing....probably another day - day and a half on the top side of the car including the inside - then we have to go underneath - I think I will tip the whole thing on its side to do this, including stripping the blasted underseal.... I am not looking forward to this - mega headache from the burning underseal today although the New auto welding helmet works a charm.
need to get some 3m rust and paint removing discs to clear the seams out - Fiat used a nasty seam sealer on these bodies and it screws up the welds no end (blobby blob)- Next time I am getting the shell dipped! (next time - madness - must be the fumes)
w
The new welder welds - yeah! first day of seam welding the chassis - some nice welds some not so nice - only one additional hole in car - hit some rust down on the off -side inner wing....probably another day - day and a half on the top side of the car including the inside - then we have to go underneath - I think I will tip the whole thing on its side to do this, including stripping the blasted underseal.... I am not looking forward to this - mega headache from the burning underseal today although the New auto welding helmet works a charm.
need to get some 3m rust and paint removing discs to clear the seams out - Fiat used a nasty seam sealer on these bodies and it screws up the welds no end (blobby blob)- Next time I am getting the shell dipped! (next time - madness - must be the fumes)
w
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
18 May 2005
raining again - just what you need when you have a bunch of expensive race car parts in "almost" dry storage. Bitten the bullet and carried out major surgery to the interior - shifter platform and cross member have been removed - 150 small holes to weld up and a new floor pan tub to fabricate - driving position will be right of centre with the left hand seat rail 10 mm to the right of the centre line - almost central seat - tub will lower the seating position 120mm from standard (about 5 inches) should just be able to see over the dash....
Welding the shell this weekend - new welder as yet un-tested - so may just end up swearing at the car
w
Monday, May 16, 2005
day one
well finally the sound of fingers being pulled - welcome to the brain dump of one very confused bureaucrat with an abideing fixation with motorsport and the ability to weld - just...
random thoughts to follow
bomb factory - I race old Fiats generally - namely Fiat 128's and old Fiats fall into the category of bombs.... known as bangers in the UK and probably something else in the Americas - cheap and one step away from mechanical destruction (and rust) - of course the race car is none of these things hence the witty name... oh well
I have been asked by friends so many times to get the car finished that this is away of explaining the progress - distractions and generally bloody confusion that has surrounded this build -
i.e. I am not Jessie James - okay and I don't have the resources of Prodrive either, so these things take time...
Work is progressing to date I have (among other things - I do have a life...);
-had the roll cage compleated and homologated and am now contemplating cutting the whole thing out-
- Stripped the car down to a shell
- cut out large portions of fiats finest steel
- purchased - shocks - springs - seats - steering wheel - camber plates - carbs etc
so whats the idea?
easy - take a 1971 Fiat 128 4 door sedan and spend light years turning it into a FIA group 5 wanna be
.... why not?
random thoughts to follow
bomb factory - I race old Fiats generally - namely Fiat 128's and old Fiats fall into the category of bombs.... known as bangers in the UK and probably something else in the Americas - cheap and one step away from mechanical destruction (and rust) - of course the race car is none of these things hence the witty name... oh well
I have been asked by friends so many times to get the car finished that this is away of explaining the progress - distractions and generally bloody confusion that has surrounded this build -
i.e. I am not Jessie James - okay and I don't have the resources of Prodrive either, so these things take time...
Work is progressing to date I have (among other things - I do have a life...);
-had the roll cage compleated and homologated and am now contemplating cutting the whole thing out-
- Stripped the car down to a shell
- cut out large portions of fiats finest steel
- purchased - shocks - springs - seats - steering wheel - camber plates - carbs etc
so whats the idea?
easy - take a 1971 Fiat 128 4 door sedan and spend light years turning it into a FIA group 5 wanna be
.... why not?
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