bomb factory

We are Back - and racing - Hampton Downs 04 September 2011

2011-09-08T19:52:00.000+12:00

Massive Thanks to the Fiat Club Waikato - for a VERY well organised and relaxed days racing - and to Mike Lowe for helping out - Malcom Simmonds for letting me sleep on his spare floor and to Mr G Sutton for building a very sweet drive line for the fiat....

A few changes for this outing - new wheels (Compomotive CXR's - 8 x 13 in satin Black) new tyres (Kumho V70a 215 -50-13)

Reverse!!!

and a few other tweeks here and there.

The bad news is the incar video failed and I didnt take any photos! so the following photos and links are as credited

http://www.shutterspeed.co.nz/Public-Events/FIAT-CLUB-Hampton-1/i-QVJwQfb/1/M/FIAT-Waikato-HD0116-M.jpg

All in all a good day - chain life was perfect - 54 links and now on its second event (12 standing starts and counting) and looking fine - finished the day with a 1:25 flat. The handling is interesting - snap wander on partial throttle being the highlight - closely followed by wheel vibration so bad that the diff bolts all backed out - eventually got the car settled down by taking the rear toe back to factory specs (ish) so I was able to get the gas down - gearing for 126mph and I saw 11400 in 6th at the end of the straight.... so if I can get to go straight it will be flying :-) it hooks up the power nicely and goes where you point it flat and hard - brakes were good once hot... oh and the torque steer is gone - just weaves all over the straight bits of teh track!

will be getting all the caster I can in the front and treating the whole thing to a full wheel computerised wheel alignement... Next event Fiat Nationals - Taupo Novemebr.....

sweet.

Rear Hangers

2011-03-23T18:08:00.001+13:00

The one item that came close to failing on the 13th of March were the rear arm hangers.... I made them in a hurry out of some 5/8" free machining hex stock ages ago - predictably they were a little on the frail side... they were never meant to be a long term item and the replacements were designed already - it took about three hours to have a new stronger (over designed) solution ready to be welded and bolted on...

the new and old are seen below clearly showing the "almost disaster" bend in the weedy looking bars and the "we wont be bending this - we hope" replacement units

First Outing - Paritutu 13 March 2011

2011-03-20T22:19:00.002+13:00

Well we decided to go racing.

bit of a mad rush but I got the car ready to run and gave it a wheel alignment and it passed its Cage Audit.

There is a rough edit video on you tube

In short we drove it on to the trailer at the end of the day - and drove it into the shed after that.... It ran and stopped okay - nothing really broke and the water temps were 85 degrees centegtrade all day only getting over 100 when coming in after a run.

The handling was teriffic (terriable and horific!) the tyres were only there to hold the rims off teh ground which they did okay.... they just did nothing else! - that plus bliblical levels of torque steer -
In the 7 days since then I have bought new tyres (215/50/13 kuhmo V70a) and am fixing a few of the obvious faults...

Track arms are now 10mm shorter - wheel spacers are now 5mm on the front... and the rear arm securing "hangers" are now 25.4 mm 3mm wall seamless tube rather than 5/8" hex stock (dumb - dumb - dumb idea that looked okay at the time)

When checking the rims I have found I have the widest 13x7JJ -7 ET superlights on the planet - they measure at 210mm - 8" which explains why the tyres have always been a hassle to fit...

My plan is to do two events in May and then park it for the winter and probably buy a set of 13x8's either Compomotive CXR's in satin black with some decent ET numbers - I think I have pleanty of room inboard of the current wheel package for an ET of anything up to 40mm but looks can be deceiving and wil depend on how the new tyres go on I may end up with some more performance Superlights with 6mm ET in Black to complement the rears better

Will really need to concentrate on the handling now - Chain life after the weekend looks like it might be okay... have also changed the shocks to full hard on rebound to see what that does...

Other stuff to fiddle with will be the CV boots (grease leaking under pressure) ducting some clod air to the chain... getting a heap more rear camber (which is how I found that the 5/8" hex rear hangers were not far away from making the debut a disaster of large and ugly proportions - will take a pic of those this week...

January 2011

2011-02-03T20:31:00.001+13:00

As you will be able to see from the Video uploaded in late December - the thing runs - you wont be able to hear that on the video but trust me it does! I have since managed to get a new camera so next run will be with screaming sound!

This post updates on the work done to date.

Headers were finished and given the space and packaging issues they are about as good as they are going to get. Obviously the wiring went okay and the fuel system worked. The radiator plumbing involved a bit of nutting out but thanks to some scrap stainless tube and great deal on silicone hose its worked out. you will see the bottom radiator hose goes through the header pile.... I have since lagged the whole lot and added some ACL heat barrier.

And due to the carbs hanging open at 5000rpm on the first test run I ended up striping them and giving them a birthday and a new factory return spring - plus an additional return spring mounted in true shed fashion of a handy bit of bracket....

So on to the photos.

This pipe will fit - eventually

And yes I know one is longer than the other.... its not optimum but then sticking this whole thing together has been a bit of a compromise

I call it "functional"

Snug fit with snakes and heat...

Strip and clean and reassemble the FCR's

Note the difference in return spring - new one on right....

Temperature Control V1 - Lagg yah pipes

Add thermal barrier

Pray...

Now the Stills from the test run 27 December 2010 - merry Christmas! I will be removing the front wheel spacers as the scrub radius is truly scary - that and an bit more work on the brakes and a long list of "little" prep jobs and it will be close to testing time. that and the small matter of reverse.....

next project is waiting....

It Runs and Drives

2010-12-28T13:15:00.000+13:00

After spending a few days over the last couple of months the Fiat 128 runs and drive - it has headers but no exhaust - the carbs stick but it goes - the video below covers the driving bit - and once I get the start up video (complete with narritive and engine noises I will post that....

enjoy

Wired and plumbing underway

2010-10-10T20:23:00.000+13:00

Honestly things have been going on

This last month has seen the wiring completed to the stage where it would appear the engine might actually run - various warning lights illuminate and the fuel pump makes fuel pump sounds..... also the fuel line is in and the clutch line is done.

From This (Fuel cells make great spot to hold all those little connectors)

To This - Deutsch Connectors used throughout

DIY Swtch Panel v1 wiring lay out - v2 is much nicer!

20 A/H Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM) Battery

And stuff working (Neutral Light - Green and low Oil Red)

Clutch Line installed and the starter solinoid at home in a chassis leg bracket

Fuel Line - tank end - this bracket will remain in place when the shroud goes on

Runs through car on drivers side cage members

And ending up under the dash

Throttle pedal and cable also installed and finished

Koso 0 - 13000 RPM stepper motor Tach

Regina O-Ring Chain - 54 Links - 12 tooth front 43 tooth rear 3.58 ratio - geared for 165 kmh at peak tourque and 190 at redline.... a little tall put its what we could squeeze in! have an 11 tooth to try as well for a 3.9 ratio

Wilwood/Whoa 4 Pot brakes (Smart Pads) on Front 2 Pots on Rear (Performance Friction Pads) braided lines to calipers hard line through car - should stop okay I think

I will be aiming for water pipes and headers over the next few weeks.

History Lesson #2 (for those who dont want to hear about the wiring dramas)

2010-09-28T21:11:00.000+13:00

Old Stuff FAZA/Filipinetti/Trevilatto 128

2010-09-08T20:49:00.000+12:00

its back......!

2010-05-15T22:41:00.000+12:00

Okay well here we go - as promised the Tripoid Joints

Blank Cut from 75mm bar stock 6061 alloy

Machine Toyota GT4 output shafts to suit (shorten oilseal collar and polish and reduce the flange) add three 5/16 bolts and bobs your aunties live in lover

Cool very cool

Next the main bits come together and stay that way!

Old

NEW - extra spacers hold the plates exactly where the need to be no flex and the diff muff is on

Final Assembly with engine mounts

Complete Fiat 128 engine Kit with Diff and mounts note unmachined output shaft

Home sweet home

you just sneak down the middle here to adjust the chain tension... yes really

Dummy #3

2010-04-12T22:04:00.000+12:00

assembly in car for a test fit....... yeah baby

Just sitting in there at the mo to make sure it still goes in note cunning use of rack mount as a chain guard

progress that is !

Are we Bored yet????

2010-04-11T22:26:00.002+12:00

Okay at the risk of sending my dwindling readership to sleep - especially those who actually like to see pictures of whole complete racing cars - we have been busy FINSHING something - well almost....

So just for the hell of it lets step through April as seen by looking at the same bunch of parts we looked at in February - but now with added stuff - actually mostly removed stuff.. as its machined, bored, drilled, turned, faced and whacked with jolly large hammers....

Pinch ring being drilled to hold the eccentrics which were mentioned ages ago

Thats the drive side bearing hiding in there - scary and expensive!

Sprocket carrier with bronze bush

Dont kink your neck - but that is an indexed eccentric bearing carrier - lines every 2 degrees

Eccentric left and right at full "soft" at front of plate

Eccentric adjuster holes 5mm - one every 20 degrees - both sides

No room for bolts on the drive side - countersunk screws instead

Dummy Assembly #2 its almost there

Note clearance chamfer - it now dosent hit the bottom engine mount!

Its all together and being beaten into submission - remember kids do not try this at home - do it in a shed where nobody can see

Money Shot - note the factory forged half shafts - with the level of planning and design that has gone into this unit there was a moment of stark panic when these were found to fit - perfectly - on both sides of the diff assembly - as you all know by now this must of course be a mistake and our engineering department is rectifying this as I type, probably with a large hammer...

But you just wait till you see the tripod housings :-)

And here you can see the spilt retaining rings - also note the traditional engineering safety footwear and precision chain tension adjuster

WAKE UP! -

I HAVE A DIFF AND I ALMOST KNOW HOW TO USE IT....

just need to make an oil tight cover and do some final adjustments.... then some drive shafts and then you can get back to looking at a race car again...

Diffs are us

2010-02-27T22:17:00.000+13:00

When is a FIAT not a FIAT any more?

Probably when you do this... but I like to think of it as a refinement...

So here we go again - we have the diff rotating now - thanks to the RHS bearing block and eccentric being machined. The Pictures below are of teh second dummy assembly - not much to do now - bushings and oil seals, diff "muff" , and shim spacers plus some bolt holes and a pinch bolt on each side. But most importans you now get to see the drive side more or less how it should look. I ended up using the evo 1 lower mounting cradle as a spacer in teh dummy assembly hence the odd bits of tube getting in to shot.

For those who havent twigged yet - thats not a Fiat engine in there ..... and last I checked the other two 128s I raced never had this drive arrangement :-)

Still you should have a good idea by now this is a Yamaha powered Fiat hybrid running chain drive and 6 speed sequential gears and about 155 bhp in a package that weighs in at under 80kgs with the same tourque as my old 1300 FAZA 128 - but in a car weighing 300kg LESS. I havent cut the car and a good 1600 SOHC iron block fiat and 4 speed can be dropped back in the whole in an afternoon and be running by morning a few hours later.....

The precsion maching and welding on this engine install is the work of Graeme Sutton - with me in support doing the time consuming roughing out and drilling/tapping/fabrication tube notching layout stuff - time consuming for me that is!

Neat little package eh!

So there you have it - full exploded view next time - plus throttle cable and pedal and either wiring or headers....

So whats the Plan....

2010-02-14T20:10:00.001+13:00

Well - since I have been just uploading a bunch of photos of late perhaps some explanations of progress are in order:

So here we go - The diff build is consuming a mammoth amount of time - to get from raw billets to the drive stack seen in the photos has taken 4 months of sparodic effort and a machine shop with enough kit to make your eyes water - do not try this at home! Unfortunately I lost the shots of the raw material stage...

So we stareted with a Toyota Celica Torsen diff - machined the ring gear mounting circle down and sliced off one bearing snout - then took the drive outboard with a couple of big billets of 1045 steel. The drive side bearing runs on these held in an eccentric mount on the side plates - the alloy bits below are the start of the eccentrics - and on the right a hairy arm and teh eccentric in place - 0.300 or 7.8mm of tensioning for the chain

Diff

Inital stack

Sprocket drive flange

Final stack eccentric is the lighter colured piece

All pretty simple really - I will take some detail shots of the whole exploded unit prior to final assembly!

Update photos - Interior panels/gear shift/Diff

2010-02-14T18:03:00.006+13:00

lots and lots of stuff going on Interior panels and bias adjuster plus the diff coming together

Gear Shift

Bias Adjuster

Door Panels

Photo Essay 31 January

2010-01-31T14:20:00.007+13:00

Okay - as of today

Doors are light - because.....

Sequential shift - cockpit side - with hot rod knob

The fiat inside door handles were way to heavy

Bonnet fits over carbs.... just

funnily enough the shut lines were fine last weekend

She who knows everything

Race engine and painted mounts plus shift Linkage (Mocked up only)

Headers Half finished - next big project

Radiator and sealed cold air box - ram air from head light aperture

Keihen FCR 41 Flatslides

Nothing to see move on

It fitted last week honest

Pedals with V2 throttle (not quite finished)

Picture of the artist in his studio (Pi$$ Artist that is)

Plans for the next month is to finish the diff and drive shafts finish the headers and wiring run the fuel lines and shroud the cell - finalise the reverse gear arrangements put the front suspension back in assemble the brakes run the clutch

feck thats way to much work...

Public Health Warning

2010-01-31T10:58:00.001+13:00

Summer Work

2010-01-30T22:19:00.003+13:00

Really need to keep on top of all this... and some of these are a month old...
radiator is in

headers are 1/2 in

Race engine is in

Wiring is - well lets not discuss that

diff is coming along

Now these are VERY special 11 and 12 Tooth Front Yamaha r1 Sprocket anyone??

Engine mounts

2009-11-28T20:12:00.006+13:00

First up this is a boring post - my apologies - most race car fabrication looks pretty damn boring.... but there you go - so for a quick blast of something dynamic - here is me driving a race car up a hill last weekend - slightly above walking pace

There that should take care of the boredom - now on to the important stuff - we now have engine mounts - even with some less than wonderfull tube joints... yay! Nice welding too - Thanks Guru

These mounts are the ones that keep the engine really solid

while this ones ties it all together - and along with the bottom mounts mean taht this thing is tied in very tight - my fillings will suffer!

Mounted

2009-11-08T10:52:00.003+13:00

Well then meet my new best friend - mr Tube Notcher - plus a REALL big drill - its a great partnership!

Oh yeah we were making engine mounts!!!! See - I may actually weld these rather than retain the masking tape and gravity clamps

lurve that drill.... its a loaner but its lovely

funnily enough I usually hate this part - the firts notch is ALWAYS right the decond one is the killer

This install uses the Fiat engine mounts all round - the car has not been cut at all

more later

coming off life support

2009-11-01T14:44:00.006+13:00

So almost a year - whats the bloody bomb maker been doing then? lots!
the orange thing in the corner is coming back to life

it has fluid lines and brakes, glazing and mirrors, belts and switch panels it has an engine and box waiting to go in and a dummy unit in the hole.

tyres are stacked waiting for mounting

almost there family almost there - just waiting on the final maching of the diff and drive unit ... mind you I have been saying that since MARCH....

and for the first time a look at the home for this thing - its okay - you have to step out to change your mind but its okay.....

Stoppers

2008-10-25T17:47:00.005+13:00

Okay - piccies of the car on its feet - all pretty much ready on the suspension front - RF wheel bearing is poked though!

also pics of of the brake packages
willwood twin pots on the back - willwood four pots on the front... hopefull y this will stop everyone doubting what I was saying - wheel spacers are 15mm all round and are hubcentric to the performance minilites - thanks Millers Mule in Texas the front brake Kit is from whoa Brakes also in the USA - the rear kit I developed my self - real simple actually!
Also note the radical castor angles on the car - i fixed that later :-)
Camber needs to come back a bit as well...
next step... lots!

Shifty

2008-09-11T21:11:00.004+12:00

Work is progressing on the assembly of the car - at last.
Fabricated a new internal/external shift linkage ( which looks suspiciously like a bent piece of tube) and started hanging the flares. Doors are ready to go on as is the front and rear suspension just waiting on Koni to send my rear shockers back.

yay

OHMYGODITSORANAGE!!!! now how did that happen?

2008-07-22T21:08:00.004+12:00

Well quite apart from anything else I am well pleased... the car is ready for assembly - and at the last moment at the paint shop I decided that instead of balck it would become - well - orange - really - its a PPG colour in commercial transport grade paint... no particular reason other than I drove past a VW Polo that was a nice shade of orange on the way to the painters... duh
the paint crew at New Zealand Panel and Paint in New Plymouth did a very nice job... I spent four days on the sanding blocks and they only managed to tell me "its not worth the effort your just going to bend it anyway" about five times each day....

Overall it took 40 hours of sanding prep and 30 hours of painter time..... now thats alot - 8.5 litres of material on the car - end result there is no trace of the previous Fiat blue - anywhere - and I am broke - again!

so there you have it - check the pictures while I go and get a roll of bubble wrap so I can wrap the car up so it dont get scracthed.

So now its assembly time... with a stack of moinor fabrication - fitting up and general mucking around to do... little stuff like the fluid lines and the wiring loom... dash and switch panels finish the gear shift linkage glaze the car.... did I mention that I am broke? The engine is doing my head in - I have a 1600 Tempra that is only just run in at 440,000 km that I can pinch the engine out of - chuck in the FT7 cam and adjustable pully - scab a set of headers from somewhere and a set of bearings and rings - flywheel and clutch off the 1500 in the parents in laws shed and Bobs your Aunties live in lover! Sticking with the four speed as long as its still okay... if I can beg and borrow there is still an outside chance of running at DeHav drive in October - I really should start hitting up some sponsors... which could be a bit of a laugh :-) Starting from this...

Yes it looks pink!

But pink sands off to be orange...
Then it was masked (about four times!)
And - yes that is a bloody great dent in the left front guard.... heavy handed handling - fixed straight away

Ending like this - you can just make out the panels tucked in behind the car....

Yes it still exists

2008-03-30T11:56:00.003+13:00

Some evidence of the summers activities

- Fabricated rear arm - yes there are two (still one tab to add) on the dummy jig and a range of suspension parts - from left to right- front tension struts and brackets - delrin bushes - rose jointed main arms - (top) gear shift tower- solid engine mounts [RH - Top (temporay fix - evo version coming)- bootom]- Delrin bushed rear arms.

Not shown but also done are the rear brack caliper mounts, internal gear shift tower mount, delrin rear upper bushes.

Still waiting on the paint job - then I can start some reassembly.

Cheers

warwick

Rollin

2007-09-02T19:20:00.000+12:00

Okay wheels on - guards massaged - lookin wide and low - thats a Fiat Tempra sedan in the background the 128 door tops are just above its bumper line... ground clearance is 110mm at the front Jack point and 80mm on the sill jack points.... I will take iyt all aprat again next week for final paint prep... oh and a pic of the top secret instiu adjusted swaybarless front arms

More Cage Pics

2007-07-16T19:48:00.000+12:00

Some more of the cage

Roll Cage Central

2007-07-15T21:06:00.001+12:00

FInally! its looking like a race car.... and now weighs about 80kg more than it did when it left... 30 metres of 1.5" roll cage tube - another 3.5 meteres of smaller tube and sundry bits - so the following are all hanging of the cage;
seat mounts
belt mounts
steering mounts
front bracing
I am Now Broke - oh also have some VERY nice willwood four pots and mounts as well... REALLY broke :-)

Anyone Still care?

2007-05-24T20:30:00.000+12:00

Wow

six months have gone by pretty quick - oh well there you go

Progress - photos of the car in day light - note its in etch prime and is ready for the cgae builder - only a year late.... Its funny how when you see the photo of something you have been working on for four years it can look really crap but it isnt - its just not freakin well finished yet....

note also that the guards have been trial fitted and shaped - the rears require a section to be taken out of the bottom on the front the guard and this moved up - which is no big deal and something that will only take a weekend to sort out - otherwise they were a surprisingly easy adaption the front left guard also needs a bit of shaping on its front edge as well - needs to be a touch more verticle. I will do these when the car is painted and the doors hung.

cage is going to be a monster and will take the cage bloke a bit to finish as he has shut his shop and is doing my cage from his shed at home - inbetween rallies.... my timing - as ever - is off! I am building some tubular rear arms and have some machine time booked at work - all good.

enjoy the pics
w

Swiss Cheese

2006-11-13T10:15:00.000+13:00

Doors - doors - doors - spent a few hours making swiss cheese out of the doors - 1 1/4" hole saw and a whole lot cutting fluid. About 100 holes per door into the frames - managed not to stuff the outer skins... I still have one frame to do then its about a days worth of finishing per door to get them ready for paint.... also removed the side intrusion bars from all the doors. Not sure of the wieght saving but I cant take much more out of the doors and have them still able to function as doors (and comply with the rule book - they must have a finished door card on them )-

nothing happens fast - but fast things do happen
w

Progress?!

2006-11-10T15:11:00.000+13:00

Stunned! - Well I am tired out anyway - I spent all last week working on the car - The body shell has been sanded ready for paint - inside and out - engine bay and boot - awful nasty horrible job - I ended up with the compressors linked together giving 65 litres and 4.5 horsepower of pure puff.... enough to run a DA orbital sander and create much dust... the darn thing is ready for undercoat/primer... yay ( I also have no finger prints left)

Managed to take the beast outside lift it up on to its side (yes by my self - it weighs almost nothing now!) and finish the underside - seam welded and undersealed - its black and ready for a top coat of gloss black when the time comes - that has been on my list to do since I picked up the car four years ago! I even have photos to prove this effort of strength and application of black sticky stuff

The flares have landed - and the only need a little trim up to fit - and will be bolt on rather then be moulded on - much better for servicing and replacement....

Have the alloy sheet for the door cards and firewall sealing - fuel cell brackets are ready to be fitted along with the fuel pump - just need to cover them now!

all in all a good week - photos to follow - really...

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Picture Update

2006-08-24T19:06:00.000+12:00

Finished and Painted Throttle assembly - Pedal tray with the newly fabricated throttle pedal - dont these old cars look ugly stripped back and being worked on - the flash dosent make it look any better either...
fuel cell tray - in steel - I couldnt be bothered with alloy for this - I dont want the cell moving around and this will be plenty strong
Seat in position - note parcel tray is gone
Front of drivers compartment and pedal tray
Boot Well showing tubbing and fuel cell tray the other side is the same!
Strut Top Mount - 8mm Steel and AN bolts!

update - progress or lack of it

2006-08-14T12:04:00.000+12:00

Another week has dragged past and the 128 has had a bit more done on it - the Throttle pedal is finished - painted in black Hammerite it looks pretty okay actually - photos were taken I just need to get them from the camera to the blogg.

I will need to fabricate a mount for the cable but that will have to wait until the engine is in and I can work out what it is we are going to use. Ditto the return springs.

Spent some time with the sand paper and a bit of newtech body filler sorting out a few bits and pieces in the engine bay and boot wells - will continue on body prep for now as no money for the roll cage - doors are now back on the to-do list - as are a fire wall patches and fuel cell mounts/straps

All in all a weekend of pottering without much direction.... the more I do the more there is to do...

fun fun fun

ignore me I am rambling again......

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throttled

2006-06-19T12:01:00.000+12:00

so what do you do when your budget temporarily goes on a sabbatical? (also known as a kitchen) - keep doin stuff..... I am too far down this track to back off now....

so for this weekends fun I finished the camber plate mounts with some nice AN series bolts.... these are welded to the bottom of the mounts (cringe) I could have left them float but that would have made camber changes a real pain... as previously noted these camber plates are not the optimal in elegant solutions but we shall see - they do buy any additional 25mm or so of lowering by moving the attachment point above the original height of the tower mounts...

I also solved the small issue of the throttle pedal for the floor mounted pedal box.... take one uno turbo gear shifter (nice single plane bearing attached) apply a 1.5 meter length of roll cage tube and lean on it.... this gives a nice even curve.... chop the shift lever at the pivot bearing and shorten the free length chop the clevis off the top shifter linkage tube - linish flat and there you have the key component of the throttle pedal.... not as light is optimal but it was free!

next week - finish the throttle pedal with cable bell crank and base mount

I will also update the photos.... really

still following up on the blasted flares

later

Mission Creep

2006-05-29T09:22:00.000+12:00

The camber plates are shaping up - they are not the smartest design in terms of bolt loadings - they sit on top of the towers and all the tension loads for the front struts to the body go through the nuts and thread lands (i.e. bolt is in tension - with reversing loads) so the holes are being reamed 5/16 and and close tolerance AN5-10 bolts being used with aircraft lock nuts and nordlock washers. I will lock the bolt heads in place - somehow

that's the good bit - the bad bit is that due to some project cost overruns in real life the roll cage is back on the deferred list - if I can sell a spare Volvo and probably my Mi16 Peugeot I f can get back into things but not right at the moment

work will continue on body prep - throttle pedal fabrication - steering shaft fabrication fuel tank location and set up plus resolving the flare issue. I will also need wheel studs and wheel bearings solid suspension bushes - steering pinion machining and brake calliper tidy up etc.....

T minus 3 weeks and holding

blast

concrete dust

2006-05-25T10:09:00.000+12:00

no real progress on the car - apart from finally getting the tie rod ends off the steering rack.... woohoo
I did however get my machine room linked to my vehicle bay (garage) via a nifty piece of controlled violence and a big hammer via the use of an even bigger grinder....
NB - for anyone contemplating cutting concrete without a water cooled blade - don't

it took 3 hours to clean the dust and rubble out of the sheds - the stuff gets every where..... abrasive crap

now have enough room and work flow to do things like fabricate parts without going outside to change my mind... this is important as it hasn't stopped raining since then! (5 days)

finished the cage concept drawings - this is not a simple one and will require a serious reality check by the cage builder - but once you start hanging the seat mounts off the cage tubes and then triangulate stuff to induce the stiffest and safest structure then things tend to get a bit complex - add steering column mounts and stuff like that and its a bit of mish...

next week - more sanding and seam sealing

3 weeks

Update - 12 months and counting

2006-05-15T10:13:00.000+12:00

well it has been a year - one year since I said it would be 3 - 6 months until the car would be ready
one year - and its still not done
hmmmmmm

so - warwick - what has happened this week? I hear my loyal readers ask.......
Strut tops made - 8mm mild steel - now drilled ready for bolt fitting - just gotta work out what bolts are going into them - and I am really glad I am not welding the suckers on
Steering column extended - but not welded yet - will finalise that when we do the seat fitting part - thick walled 4130 with the std shite mild steel Fiat shaft machined down to fit its about 400mm longer then it was but that will reduce once we see where things sit

Stuff to do prior to cage
sand and seam seal the bits that will be impossible to get to once there is a jungle gym in place
find some tube to fit the Fiat Nydella rubberised bearings for the steering shaft and come up with picture to give the cage builder for the struts to mount it to the das bar of the new cage
Give the car a complete clean and blow off and send it on its way...

4 weeks to go

w

sticky

2006-05-08T11:45:00.000+12:00

so how do you remove 30 year old glue from the cabin roof of a Fiat 128?

1 x angle grinder

1 x twisted wire cup brush (the real heavy duty ones)

1 x idiot

The idiot then dresses in full environmental exclusion clothing including woollen beanie and proceeds to spend an hour on a hot autumn day holding the angle grinder above his head and aersoling copious amounts of (probably) toxic crud - again - moron

Cabin roof is now pretty clever and ready for paint - yay

spent a bit more time sanding the interior and acid etching minor surface corrosion patches

Made templates of the front and rear quarters/wheel arch areas so I send them off to some fibreglass guys to find some flares that work... thinking Toyota TRD KP60/61 Starlet wide body ones - available and they are from the correct period.

Just need to sort out the camber plate/strut tower plates now...

Next week more sanding and then some seam sealing

booked in for the roll cage in 5 weeks (count them)

progress skewed

2006-04-21T09:53:00.000+12:00

Well - things are happening slowly... but happening none the less.

Pedal box tray welded in
Fuel cell tray welded in
patch in floor welded in
started sanding the engine bay with the aim of prep sanding all the interior to the cage going in
massaged left rear turret for coil-over install - right rear still to do

The pedal box tray got installed slightly off centre...by about 5mm (at the most) pure un-mitigated operator error - this will annoy me but will have no functional impact. Installed M8 Rivnuts for the willwoods to bolt up to.... had to fab up a tool as I was not going to pay $170 for a proper installer - mine was free.... and pulled the inserts up perfectly...

I will plod on with the various finishing - sanding - grinding - seam sealing and bashing things with a large hammer tasks (racing is such a precision sport) I *think* I have finished welding for now - yeah right

new email address for those who care - god does anyone read this stuff???

warwick dot gilchrist at xtra dot co dot nz

Smoke and Flames

2006-04-03T14:12:00.000+12:00

Spent a Saturday afternoon creating dust and smoke - welded in a patch in the left front dash panel area and ground flat - removed the last roll cage footing from the old main hoop - need to patch a couple of holes from the previous welding efforts in this area.

Cut the boot floor out completely to allow the fitting of an 8 gallon fuel cell (small - but we only plan to run sprints/hill climbs and sprint circuit stuff - if we run enduros we just get to fill up lots!)

Chucked some zinc based primer on the front floor area and generally measured up for the pedal box mounts and fuel cell tray....

played chief timing manager for the Taranaki rally - lost a days fabrication and gained some good contacts - not a bad deal... good rally too

laters

oh

2006-03-23T13:42:00.000+12:00

you know, if you looked really carefully you could say something might have happened..... maybe.....

okay I welded a wee patch into the dash area on the left hand side (its on the lis, so tick one more thing off)

then burnt a hole in my hand

and kicked the sharp end of the trolley

- while not wearing gloves but while wearing my best safety jandals

so one hole patched on the car and two patched on me....

more this weekend - hopefully no blood this time

super-market-fiat-trolley

2006-01-16T13:26:00.000+13:00

isn't summer nice? (or winter for those north of the date line) - tore myself away from the sun shine for few hours to fab up a little car trolley so that the Fiat can be moved around and loaded up to come home....

four caster wheels - a couple of lengths of tube and there you go (attached to the suspension pickups - nifty)

that's it

later

nothing to see here - move along.......

2005-12-14T11:06:00.000+13:00

notes -

Garage is painted

spares are being unpacked - junk tossed out....

new baffled windage trayed sump purchased via trademe - thanks Paul http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~pcia/index.html

the ignition controller from the 128 is the same as on the Peugeot 405 Mi16..... (ask me how I know)

Price for a flowed big valve head with cam to suit is $1300 +gst from kelfords in Christchurch or $4500 from the guy in New Plymouth... hmmm choices - choices

I still don't have a roll cage

I will no longer be predicting a completion date

that's it - see you next year

more of the same

2005-11-28T13:43:00.000+13:00

Spent a bit of Sunday afternoon grinding the last of the roll cage stubs out - in total its taken 7ish hours to get the old cage totally out - which is about half as long as it takes to put one in.... do not try this at home!

(do what I did - use someone else's garage - its a messy job!)

Pulled the head of the Super Ritmo Cabrio engine - these were the hottest SOHC available to the public - 1600cc and rated at 100hp as apposed to the super 90 Strada - head is dated 1983 and has bigger everything compared to my the 1500 head... off to the engine doctor to get a diagnosis - I just hope he can do something for this patient.

applied paint to the garage at home - hmmm patchy white is much better than black and gray timber....

make haste slowly

2005-11-21T10:43:00.000+13:00

No much going on in the lair of the #67 Fiat at the moment -

cut the roll cage stubs down for final grinding (nasty horrible job) seam welded the wheel tubs where they failed when the old roll cage came out.... came up nice.

Threw a bunch of nasty little dabs of weld in the corner of the left A pillar - and then ground it back to look almost kinda just about not quite sick making.... its going to get a skim of filler to make it smooth - I just cant get a weld bead to come out good there - too much braze and seam sealer close to the joins... oh well! add in another 3.5 hours

Another two weekends should see it ready to slide back to my own garage - yay!

From the other weekend I have a bunch of photos from my trip to Auckland plus a very gratefully received 1500 ported and milled head many thanks to Carl and Bob Hayman - the photo below is of Carls 1500 block with 88mm bore for 1560cc and IAPEL Pistons - looking forward to seeing this back in the #888 car along with the big and beautiful Lynn Rogers Tipo Head for the Leisure Time series next year. Just hope the gear box hangs in there! on a personal note I am sorting out the cost of the engine for next year just so I have a total to aim for.

Cleaned out the garage at home ready for painting the walls and running the lights hopefully will be done by Christmas.

So empty it echoes

2005-10-31T11:55:00.000+13:00

friggen roll cage - did you know that it takes one bloke 3.5 hours armed with an angle grinder a hacksaw and a big hammer to remove one fiat 128 roll cage - and not completely f*%k the rest o the car.....? and its not and easy 3.5 hours either - its hot - dirty - smoky - loud and generally antisocial. In fact it sucks.

but the cage is out - the rear section was 48mm steam pipe and must weigh about 30 kg plus on its own - to big too heavy and really ugly - the front section weighed less than half that and it had more tubes.... removing the cage also meant a few wee welds on the right rear wheel tub went ping - so a bit of welding is in order... see below

now for the bad news - due to the fact the new house needs a new kitchen - and that needs $$$ the car budget has been frozen while management decides *when* we can logically chuck 2.2k at the 128 for a jungle gym... but that just means I get to drag the thing into the new shed at home base and sort out all the inside mods that I was going to do after the cage went - plus a few I just thought up - since its going to be easier now to do that. so basically the list looks like this:

make transport frame
Pedal box and drivers floor area - new panel
Exhaust tunnel (rear passengers floor area) - new panel (and if you have been keeping up that leaves the front passengers foot well and a tee shape in the middle of the car as the only Fiat floor left!)
windscreen pillar - finish off nasty little patch
various cracks - weld
remove all extraneous bolts and brackets - more sparks
patch firewall - brake booster hole etc etc
tidy parcel tray remains - (did I mention I cut that out as well?)
fuel cell frame
beat out rear towers for shocks
tidy engine bay and boot
new front strut mounting plates
Finish the seam welding in couple of hard to reach places
wire brush underside and arches - seam seal and underseal including wheel arches
prep for paint - and prime/seam seal etc
paint interior and inside roof
fabricate a throttle pedal

plus a bunch of stuff I haven't thought of but not much that costs real money.... i.e. a good few weeks of solid work - so say about 5 months at warwick speed?

later

lazy sunday afternoon

2005-10-17T09:08:00.000+13:00

been selling surplus stuff on trademe the last couple of weeks - amazingly have managed to pay for the new shocks - wonders will never cease! still have a bit left over just rats and mice...

Spent a happy afternoon on the 67 car fizzing some patches on to the front valance - in the vain hope that it adds some support and helps the front suspension mounts hang together. - applied some filler - and bobs your aunties live in lover - Just bear in mind this is *not* a restoration project, its just a rebuild of an old race car that was once an even older road car assembled by people ho saved money by *not* painting the backside of any panel!! - I also used the opportunity to measure up the car for its new cage - the original concept has to be revised per new Motorsport Manual 33 - i.e. no Larry and Garry bars (windscreen X bars) and for some reason there has to be a gap in the door opening - go figure! will draw that up this week.

that's it really - will shoot out to the shed after work on Tuesday to sand the panel filler while its still kinda fresh.

add another four hours

latter

2005-10-13T20:11:00.001+13:00

Left wheel tub - prior to uderseal and painting

2005-10-13T20:11:00.000+13:00

right wheel tub - the flash makes it look untidy

2005-10-13T20:09:00.000+13:00

Left and Right wheel tubs and new drivers seat tray - if you look closely you can spot the odd hole in the floor pan from the spot weld removal - I didnt dust that day!!

2005-10-13T20:07:00.000+13:00

October 2005 - The Bomb Factory #67 Fiat in fully stripped mode - note rear wheel tubs

Other Peoples Race Cars

2005-09-26T09:20:00.000+12:00

Just for fun the bomb factory went for a nice relaxing weekend of visiting with Team Enzed Abarth in sunny Rota-vegas - the plan - shift some stuff in the toyshed - go for a test drive in the Abarth (fresh(ish) engine for this years Targa (3 weeks away)- apparently it feels a little *tight*.....) move the Chinese Peoples Army bmw side car combination out of the way - chuck the spare Fiat Dino on the trailer and have a bit of a general tidy up.

That was the plan

first job - after measuring some spare 600 parts cars up - start up 'Barty (Team Abarths F-Abarth 1000tc Berlina Corsa) and warm up prior to giving it a bit of a run around the lake.... starts - idles - miss - fart - miss - clunk..... dead - loud swearing noises.....

long story short - brand new oil pump drive ate itself - mangled - ripped to shreds even - but the break away shear pin did not shear - the clunk was the disturber shaft finally locking solid stoping the engine - looks like the shear pin was responsible by being a little too long - causing the gear to drag and eat itself - no wonder it felt TIGHT!

Targa now looking very unlikely

6 working hours later we had stripped rebuilt and reinstalled various oil pump combination 4 times - replaced two oil filters and one oil gauge (wrecked when one combination didn't do *any* oil pressure relieving at all......) used 8 litres of castol RS - and took some lengthy breaks to evaluated progress - note we are not really engine guys and are consequently suspicious - until we restored normal oil pressure service.....

Targa was looking more likely.

The only thing left to do was to find out how the car went -

noisy

fast (down hill anyway - Team Abarth just loves going down)

scary

or more succinctly - 'Barty? well him, he was back........

the last five minutes felt like being an ice cube stuck to the side of a cocktail shaker powered by DC 10 jet engine.... while playing in traffic -

Dr. Phil you have all my sympathy....

Targa will be happening - this will make 11 years straight - same car - same engine - same driver (and the same sponsor...)

oh and the side car combination went away - so that makes two things done.....

The Bomb Factory also used the opportunity to up-lift the rear wing for the 128 - ah yes - if nothing else it will give us something to put the beers on.....

All in all a Great weekend - its always better to break in the shop with somebody around and no deadline, than to do it - Day One - Stage One in the middle of somewhere rural - see I can be positive....

Raining

2005-09-19T09:40:00.000+12:00

sanded some bog - smoothed some welds - ran out of primer - marked out the rear parcel tray for amputation, I am not sure it that's a smart idea or not but it will be in the way and I want the damn thing gone.... had a close look at the front valance, gonna be an icky job that one - pouring with rain - went home.

2 hours added to the tally

need to add a another smoothing coat of panel filler to the rear quarter, smooth and prime then fix the valance - it was too wet for that this weekend - then the cage is coming out - then another weekend dicking about patching anything that will be masked by the *new* cage then make a dolley to transport it on - then its gone.... end of October at the earliest is my bet!

off to Rotavegas this coming weekend to play cars with Team Enzed Abarth (TEA) principle Ing.Mike Lowe and to pick up a few Bomb Factory Parts that have been hanging out in the care of TEA....

ciao

Bogged

2005-09-12T10:05:00.000+12:00

Another five hours on a beautiful day and the back end looks like its part of the 128 again - ground back the wheel tubs flush with the side panels - resulting in a lot of popped tack welds - finish welded the resulting gaps - and the welder is running really well - even I was impressed with the results... hit the welds inside the wheel tubs with the flap wheel (I love this things... expensive but they last forever) and applied some very sticky polyurethane gap sealant...... and lastly did the the bog thing - some nice newtech aluminium filled stuff to start with - which I will go over next week with the standard issue pink putty....

I couldn't bear the thought of the car going into some one else's workshop for the cage work looking like a stockcar refugee

There is always more work to do - found some very interesting rust in the front valance - both left and right corners which back on to the front cross member i.e. exactly where the front pickups are sighted (its a natural water collection point) - after considering this for a while I have decided to let in a patch panel to assist the rigidity of these points a little and to to at least let the car look somewhat solid

The "spare" 128 arrived in my drive way this week - after sitting around at the local transport yard for a few months (unde a tarp) along with the rolling (just) shell was supposed to be a 1500 'short block' - what I got was a block - crank and pistons - nothing else - my definition of a short block is obviously different to that of my vendor.... still you get that when you don't apply the "bull shite" filter to deals.... I wont be taken for a ride again!

comments section is now open for use - go for it!

Later

2005-09-06T20:37:00.001+12:00

Front Shocks

2005-09-06T20:37:00.000+12:00

Quick Rack

2005-09-06T20:36:00.000+12:00

Quick rack and Shocks

Shiny Bits

2005-09-06T20:18:00.000+12:00

The photos above are some new toys for the bomb factory 128 - Coil Over Konis and Quick Rack and Pinion

The Konis are freshly rebuilt items that have had a previous life in a hot rod SCCA Autocross Yugo - as full coilovers they eliminate the rear transverse spring - spring rates are in the filling shaker catagory - 650# rear 400# or 500# front - the camber plates are custom jobbies and there are some very simple but very trick thrust bearings inbetween which will help my puny arms somewhat!

The Rack asembly is compliments of the White Horse Blitz racing club founder in the UK (Blitz are a 126 based off-road racer) and is probably the last one in captivity (maybe) it features a 6 tooth pinion which gives 20% or so faster ratio -

The whole project is taking on a UN flavour.... wonder if I can get any french bits in the car -anyway - the budget got a hammering and consequently completion is either a way off or closer depending on how I look at things

Next item on the list is the roll cage... after I have done some bogging :-)

...and on the seventh day he did weld

2005-08-29T11:23:00.000+12:00

well I did anyway -
Sooooo I have now reduced the free flow boot ventilation to zero(ish) - i.e. the back end is all welded up now....
Fixed the right-hand A pillar lower hinge plate with a rather nifty butt welded repair section - even she who ignores the car thought it looked good...
Finally - three years after finding the left-hand wind screen corner was a bit dodgy it is now patched (still a little dodgy - but its 99% solid zinc coated metal and the odd spotty weld)
ummm that's it really - another five hours in the shed and my list of things to patch prior to the rollcage getting done is down to one little bit of the dash panel that is currently hiding behind the dash tube... will get at that when the current roll structure is out (hopefully the car does not bend in half.....!)

Next mission is to get the welds all finished and filled/primed - the old cage out and dolly made to trundle the little pest around on (the car......) so its going to be noisy for a while - my in-laws will be happy to se the back of me after that....

Oh and the quick rack arrived - 6 tooth pinion vs. the std 5 tooth = @ 20% reduction or there abouts (half a turn)

New Shocks are in Transit - watch this space

Onwards

2005-08-15T09:39:00.000+12:00

the bomb Factory is Back in the game this weekend - progress is seen to be made - and I even took photos (now just have to develop the film - see previous comments re - luddite.) All this took 8 hours to do.... and it looks so easy in the books!

Rear wheel tubs - both are now in and welded - I also hacked them back a bit - still need final trimming and a bit of panel cream (delicate way of say ing they need bogging) looking at them there will be ZERO chance of fouling the metal work when the car is at full bump - just need to find a flare big enough to cover them as I do not want people slagging off my fabricating skills and clunky welding - rust is all repaired on the right boot well and the left boot well needs one panel folded up and welding on.

Made a patch for the left front corner of the windscreen opening - now I bet all you Fiat owners are wondering why that rusted out..... nope didn't think so - need to now remake the lip to support the windscreen and finish the welds etc etc.

After reading a number of comments on the inherent weakness of the front sway bar pick ups - I had another look at that area - sure enough there were more cracks in evidence - weld em up - now that should be okay for a bit - I can see that the front of the chassis is going to be an issue over time - the roll cage will help but the suspension loads are hanging out in the breeze - with the change to track rods at the front the cross car twisting load will be taken off the mounts so that may help a bit but who knows.

NEWS ITEMS

I have also paid for a quick rack for the car - watch this space for a monologue on fitting this item

Also in process are a complete set of Koni Coil overs - custom items - I will update when these hit the factory floor as well.

Ran out of welding gas so only got the one day in - good job to as I am obviously out of shape. The welding is still a bit off and on but I think its getting better - although the tin foil Fiat built the 128 outer skins with is a bit of a trial.

The bomb factories new home is coming along need to put in some lights and paint the inside and we can drag the old tart home (the car.....)

My estimate of having the cage in by September is looking a bit on the hopeful side of hopeful - October is more likely as it seems to take me 3 times as long to do a job as I guesstimate and the family are still apparently quite fond of seeing me - or least having me do stuff around the place anyway.

Okay back to the real world...

Update

2005-08-08T09:18:00.000+12:00

In answer to fiatracer's subtle hint below - it is beyond time for an update:

There is nothing new to report on the body work front - no time due to reality intruding into the weekends. butttttt I will back in the in-laws shed this coming weekend to get into the little monster again.... I cant hardly wait.

On the mechanical front there is a bit to report - yay!

Shock absorbers - watch this space for a serious surprise (okay its about four weeks away but trust me it will be worth the wait.)
Big (valve) Head - yup its a happening thing - the key to making these non cross flow heads produce more than their share of bhp is the head - so the bombfactory has made a deal on one - now that's worth writing here about!
Header - no comment but we will make the stainless thing in the shed fit if it takes a month....

But the big news is the forthcoming bombfactory clearance sale of (mostly) Fiat 128 race related bits. Everything from Bilstein and KYB Shocks, camber plates, Kent Cams, coil over kits and springs plus some Honda and Ford escort rally bits - I need the space and the dollars so there will be some bargains for those in need.... I though I might pop them on TradeMe so keep an eye out of email me or whatever...

nuff for now - back to the paying job!

Heads up

2005-06-29T14:21:00.000+12:00

bOmB FacToRy

Random 128 Pictures

2005-06-29T13:37:00.000+12:00

I have rummaged around and found some photos - nothing to do with the Bomb Factory car - but anyway...
Here is a shot of fellow fiat fan Phil Greys 128 SL coupe - freshly painted and just prior to a physics lesson at Pukekohe's castrol corner - havent seen the *after* shots yet - I hope the damage is minor....

The car above is a South American 4 door in Orange - the Bomb Factory likes this car very much and it mimics our proposed ride height and front roll cage concepts

Patch Work

2005-06-27T09:30:00.000+12:00

Been a hectic couple of weeks - family has all been down with the flu.... no car time ( walking dead might be a better descriptor) anyways - welded in some the right hand side patch panel in the boot well and completed the wheel tub - needs a bit of trimming and a good skim of filler but its in - amazing how much that tightens up the unibody.... some small patches to finish on that side and then repeat on the left... take a full day for me to do a side.

Just bought a new house - so the car will hibernate for a while (about 6 weeks I am betting) then another three days of work should see the shell ready for its new roll cage......

I have decided against a steering quickener at this stage - the jury was out on whether it would add to the package so I will do some empirical testing and try the std setup first - with the 12inch wheel I have it should be okay.

later

Reconstruction

2005-06-14T09:15:00.000+12:00

<news flash> The 128 now has a drivers floor tray..... all welded in and fitting okay.... next stop the wheel tubs hopefully in by this time next week. - will take the camera along next time and do some updated shots - as a confirmed luddite I don't own a digital camera.... they cost as much as a set of shocks - which I do own... simple really

later

2005-06-09T19:58:00.000+12:00

Evo 2 Stripped out and looking ugly - note the cross member visable in this shot is the one that is no longer there - 2004 (progress was slow - okay?)

2005-06-09T19:55:00.000+12:00

Evo 2 - stripped and caged 2003

2005-06-09T19:54:00.001+12:00

ibid

2005-06-09T19:54:00.000+12:00

EVO 1 - the day the bomb factory took ownership

me an' fred

2005-06-08T16:55:00.000+12:00

flintstone that is - major three day session on the body shell -

seam welding complete on main frame rails (I can now weld upside down....) big hole in the drivers floor area (650x520) - wheel wells cut out and finished ready for welding. I haven't decided on how much more seaming I will do.... Also the car has had a bit of a seam up previously? (Mal?) probably look at doing the rear shock towers and leave it at that...

I hate Fiat underseal.... it stays in seams and causes major weld splatter resulting in bird shite welds - 30% of the underside welds are ugly and I have some additional holes in my hands as a result....

Ordered the new floor tray and wheel tubs.... will pick up this stuff on Friday....

later

mid week musing

2005-06-01T15:34:00.000+12:00

Quick update on thoughts and plans

This car is an opportunity to try out some ideas that have been hanging around in the back of my mind for a while now. So I thought it was timely to put some of this stuff down on paper (bytes?)

My idea is to have a bit of fun building the thing with my own hands (the therapy bit) - and then go out and have some fun racing the car - as it is the car has sat around so long now that it is up to Evolution 3 status without having turned a wheel in competition under my ownership - last event was as a half caged rally car in 2001 with Mal Simmonds www.fiatparts.co.nz (there is picture in the gallery) running around the Taupo race track - so that makes 4 years on ice, with at least another six months of fiddling to go. I could have just tarted the old thing up and had a skid - but I didn't, in hindsight I should have - but that's just life. So with all that in mind here is where I am at.

I have a thing for the 128 - boxy unloved and kinda funky. So I have an excuse for not building an Uno or a Golf or a mini... just don't like em
I have owned a factory Group 2 Fiat 128 (built by Trevialato Racing and campaigned by Scuderia Filipinetti in 1971/72) - see the photo from a few days back - so have had the opportunity to drive the best "classic" set up there was and its good... but....
I cant leave anything alone....
I don't actually like the ergonomics of a 128 - sad but true...
I have a thing about the BTCC, German Group 5 touring cars, American SCCA GT3, 4 and 5 cars and the Kiwi SS2000 / Shell Sport cars - fat flares, big slicks low low ride height - wings - anything to make it all work...
So taking some ideas from those who should know - I have settled on the following mods

Lower and centralise the seating position - means a new drivers floor tub (underway)
Use floor Mounted pedal box - in this case willwood - means a tub for these as well (underway)
move the seating position 250mm rearwards (underway)
extend the steering column and add quick release (done)
Add a steering quickener - 'cause I cant find a quick rack - still haven't confirmed this bit...
mount the seat to the roll cage - (next job)
Jungle Gym roll cage - I make it out to require 44 metres of 38mm Southward Tube... or 1/2 what an Aussie V8 Supercar has in it - only question is will the cage builder agree?
ditch the front anti roll bar and fit tension struts with insitu adjustors (done)
seam weld (underway)
fit coilovers front and rear (done)
Lexan glazing all round - including the windscreen (job for later)
Glass fibre Boot and Bonnet (done) and Front doors (later)
Weld rear door skins to shell (later)
Tub the rear wheel wells (Done)
13 x 7 wheels (done)
Disc brake rear, Vented Fronts (done)
Ditch the hand brake (done)
remove the parcel tray (underway)
Ditch the dash
run the exhaust inside the cabin (in a fabricated tunnel) exit out the lh rear door skin
plus all the Normal racing stuff - rewire/replumb/fuel cell/window neat/race seat etc etc oh and fix the rust in the boot wells
Big rear anti roll bar & small front anti roll bar - both to be sorted out in testing
Front air dam and splitter
Rear Wing - (done)

Plus it will need painting as is the worlds most awful shade of light blue (it was the 1970's after all) - I like the idea of a semi gloss black..... white doors and big skunk stripes...
Engine is a 1500 SOHC - 40mm delortos Alquatti Intake - Stainless Headers - Big valve head - Cam to suit etc all pretty average really (see previous note on resources)
Gear box is standard 4 speed - but there is a development plan for that...
Will it actually all work? - who knows - its all been done before just generally not on the same car... but I am sure that there is an almost identical spec 128 somewhere - I just haven't found it.
Will it be fast? - actually who really cares? I don't... my toy .

If anybody feels the need and has a set lying about I am looking for a set of 450# 2.5"x8" coil springs for the fronts....

email warwickg@inspire.net.nz

later

2005-05-30T21:36:00.000+12:00

bomb factory Faza Fiat 128 purchased 1995 - now sadly missed - it is the genuine article!

Sunday May 29 2005

2005-05-30T09:18:00.000+12:00

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!

Saturday 21 May

2005-05-23T09:33:00.000+12:00

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

18 May 2005

2005-05-18T09:44:00.000+12:00

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

day one

2005-05-16T09:07:00.000+12:00

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?