Preparing for Cars in the Park

While I am not a stranger to preparing cars for show, this one has been a real challenge.  It has been under construction for a year now.  I bought a 1980 FIAT X 1/9 from a friend for the price of the windshield installation he had done before he parked it for a year in a field.  It came equipped with a black widow, french fries, mummified oranges in the trunk, and most of the owner's manual.  Missing was the glove box and the stitching for the seat bottoms.  It seemed to have a bad clutch, but it turns out the pressure plate fingers were bent and wouldn't hold the clutch at higher rpms.  Somehow I drove it home despite almost all of the engine bolts being loose and the fuel lines dry-rotted.

 

I tackled some small stuff like the cables that open the hatches, windshield wipers, blower motor, and rearview mirror, then finally got around to doing the clutch.  After the transmission refused to be rejoined to the motor, I just pulled the whole thing out and decided it needed rebuilding.  Oil leaked from every gasket and seal, and the fuel lines were a fire hazard.  Turns out a lot of people I know owned an X 1/9 at some point, and all of them met a firey death!  Hey, what more incentive do you need?

 

The head was very attached to the block, and I ended up using "Coke and a rope" to free it.  FIAT owners are pretty resourceful, as I found this trick on the XWeb forum.   Being pretty resourceful myself, I removed the motor without a cherry picker by dropping it out the bottom.  Of course, this is rapidly turning into a money pit, as I felt the need to add some stuff while the motor was out; namely a lightened flywheel, hot cam, Isky valve springs, and new fuel injectors.  My attempt to remove the valve springs led me to the decision that a professional should do the headwork.

I found a guy named Dave at Precision Machine in Huachuca City [sic].  I could tell by our conversation that it was in good hands, and I was getting a great deal.  A 3 angle valve job, decking, leak testing, bowl work, and mild porting was done, plus he assembled the head and set up the valve shims.  I replaced all the gaskets and seals and got even got the transmission mated to the motor.  After a few false starts and some help from a timing light, she fired up and has gradually been running better and better.  Here she is all cleaned up for the show.

I put a lot of time into rebuilding the brakes, front end, and getting all the lights to work.  The body is really all that's left.  The paint job was done by someone whose application for employment was refused by Earl Shieb.  Overspray, sags, poor prep, just depressing.  So I focused on the wheels, interior, anything I could refurbish with a rattle can.  The door seals have been replaced, the carpet cleaned/painted, and the seat bottoms reupholstered by Dadd's in Sierra Vista.  The goal this year was to show the car.  That was done to prevent me from blowing all my cash on racing parts.  Next year may be more of the same.  She looks so nice with the exception of the paint and body.  It would be a shame to stop now.  I will take some photos at the car show and add them.