Confessions

[Danno]

The "Custom Stuff" forum seems like a good place for this thread, so here it goes:

What customizations have you done to your car that you are less than proud of. I'm talking about those things that you might just keep to yourself if you were trading a car in. Those things that if you were working at your car, and you just bought it from somebody, you would cuss him under your breath upon discovery. I'll lead off to give you an idea of what I'm looking for.

Knowing you guys I'm worried this will be an awkward experience, because everyone will laugh and point like the time in Jr. High school when Johnny (name changed to protect him, of course) said to us "C'mon, I can't be the only one who thinks Mrs. Smith is Hot?!?!" The truth is, that Mrs. Smith wasn't hot and Johnny WAS the only one to think so.

Anyway: Bless me Father, for I have sinned...
...My cyclone trap has no screen on the end, it just flops around the engine bay, I might fix it someday.
...I used a temporary solution from Mike as a permanent fix (see carburetor linkage clip replacement)
...My tires and brakes need replaced (badly)
...The underneath view of rubber bushings that have severely dried out made me cringe.
...There are multiple vacuum ports on my carb that are plugged using 1-2" of hose with a screw in the end.
...I have NO turn signals or tail-lights - only brakelights
...My muffler is clamped on, is side exit, held on by a hanger (no joke) and I don't know that it's a priority to fix it anytime soon.
...My car body is almost 50 percent bondo, 20 percent fiberglass matte, and 10 percent steel.
...My top is installed incorrectly and still needs to be riveted on, I might never get it done.
...My rear license plate is zip tied on. I might put it on right when I paint the car

My greatest sin is perhaps that in spite of all of these things I drive the car weekly, I enjoy driving it, I don't plan to ever stop driving it, and not a one of those things keeps me from taking it out on the road.

PS, i'm not stupid, I plan on making MOST of these things right, especially the things most associated with safety.

[radiopilot]

Dan... You've made my day and although it's not meant to be funny your post is just one of those classics!

That's pretty honest of you to tell us all the misfortunes of your spider, but I believe that in time you'll get her fit and pretty.

Alot of what you've divulged are not that bad and can be cured if you take the time, although I don't pretend to feel what your financial situation is (some parts can be costly) but have you tried bartering some items to get her current?

I have to admit that I've made my own parts that were missing ( made my own molds ) by taking one side and reversing it to make the left hand door jam.. in fact it's made from 1 plastic clothes hanger.. but looks original, stronger and solid!

My new fiat is in need of some items and although it looks good in the pics, it doesn't do it justice.. I don't know about anyone here but do the pictures we post actually look like the real car up close?

Nick

[manoa matt]

Well,

I got a fairly large crack in my windshield on the passenger side that I've been driving around with for two months. I was the one who made the crack. And to top it off that was the second piece of glass that I cracked IN ONE DAY, the other piece was on the 6th floor of a condo building that I was inspecting.

My front license plate is also zip tied to the bracket. Come to think of it, I've got a few other zip ties at various locations.

Matt

[CompJock]

...My car body is almost 50 percent bondo, 20 percent fiberglass matte, and 10 percent steel.

What's the other 20 percent? The obligitory rust?

[rlux4]

Danno, man do you have guts! I take my hat off to you. In the spirit you've displayed, I'll confess. When I changed out my heater core and control valve the angle of the new valve outlet was different than original. I heard that the thing to do was bend the pipe coming through the firewall to get a connection. I got impatient, not having a tubing bender that would work on that size pipe (never mind the small area of the pipe you'd have to work on) I drilled out a bigger hole in the firewall. It no longer has the nice rubber grommeted plate that was originally there. Right now it's a hole thats a lillte bigger than the two heater hoses going though it. "Someday" I'll fab a nice plate to clean it up. At least it's in a location that isn't visible.

[Danno]

...My car body is almost 50 percent bondo, 20 percent fiberglass matte, and 10 percent steel.

What's the other 20 percent? The obligitory rust?

Ha, that's hilarious. I've always considered myself to be something of a math wiz. that was a complete accident. Let's go with rust for the other 20, like you suggest.

And Nick, It is meant to be at least a little humorous, glad you got a kick out of it.

Did I mention that my driver's side door handle on the inside is a pair of vise-grips? I have the handles, but I couldn't bend the door panel I made to get the proper handle back on, so it's the vise-grips until I fab up a new door panel, lol. I shut the door by opening up the latchless vent window and grabbing on. (I actually have a replacement window with latch already attached, but I haven't installed it yet, ONLY because it's how I shut the door, lol.

[Danno]

oh, and another one: I don't have a washer bag anymore. I fixed it with Duct tape, but the pump went bad too, so I bought a new replacement that is sold for (brace yourselves) an MG. Haven't got around to putting that in yet.

[perthling]

I drilled out a bigger hole in the firewall. It no longer has the nice rubber grommeted plate that was originally there. Right now it's a hole thats a lillte bigger than the two heater hoses going though it.

I had the same problem, but just cut the outlet pipe shorter and ran the hose from the engine bay through the firewall and clamped it inside the cabin rather than in the engine bay. It hasn't worn through yet...

[greggl]

I drove without 2nd or 4th for SEVEN years! I still catch myself wanting to go with a 1-3-5 shift pattern

[Curly]

Great post, you've gotta love the lighter side of classic car ownership
SPYDUH is of course PERFECT
but its stable mate was thrown together in 10 weeks by cutting corners and using some 'inventive' engineering.
It's a competition car however, and really wasn't expected to last as long as it has.
From this:



........ to this in 10 weeks means cutting corners:



* Lower rear quarters and lower rear valence are now totally fibreglass and made by forming cardoard and tape to the right shape then fibre-glassing up behind it.
* Interior trim was found in a wreck.
* Cracked dashboard covered in stretchy black velour material to hide the cracks.
* Rust still blows out of the fresh air vents if opened at speed.
* Wiring is very ideosyncratic - couldn't find correct colours so much of it is the one colour.

Thankfully, lots of other little things have been progressively fixed up since it was thrown together in '98

EDIT - Oh !! And the wind-up door windows are badly scratched by the hard plastic scraper seals Fiat used on the AC. The seals have been changed to the later model's softer units, but all the AC windows I've ever seen have the same problem. If anybody has for sale, a set of unscratched door windows for an AC Coupe (or even knows where I can get some new ones) I would be most appreciative. BC & CC windows are the same size but ACs were smaller due to having a larger vent window.

[rlux4]

Perthling: That solution occured to me also. AFTER I cut the bigger hole. Duh.

[mdrburchette]

Good thread, Danno! Sorry to bring this up, but I get a chuckle every time I think of you bending the wood for you door panels...only because I fought with the same problem making door panels out of too thick of board and ended up starting all over again.
I don't have much to add since I've got such a good teacher at my beck and call that makes sure I do things right, but I do have a motorcycle cable for a acc linkage on my 71 Spider with various local hardware pieces to make it work. I proudly did all this myself and it really looks shadetree. The left rear bumper flops up and down because the side bolt is missing and the heater fan screeches when I turn it on, so I just don't turn it on. I've pulled the cowl to lube the wiper linkage and cleaned all the connectors, but they still don't work. There are connectors under the hood just dangling, but since it runs, I let them dangle.
The X is a different story. If I could just get in it and drive it once without something breaking, I might be okay. I won't even get into what that car needs!

[Danno]

Good thread, Danno! Sorry to bring this up, but I get a chuckle every time I think of you bending the wood for you door panels...only because I fought with the same problem making door panels out of too thick of board and ended up starting all over again.

Gee, Denise, thanks. If you had caught my original panel thread you could have helped! Here's a repost of what I just posted on Mira (for continuity sake)

I tried everything to mount that stupid door panel and it didn't work. I am currently thinking of steaming it and trying to bend it manually, lol (or redo in thinner). I'm glad you waited until I was done with it before you mentioned you'd BTDT. Anyway, point of post:

What thickness of wood did you use for the dash, same as original? Also, what thickness for the door panel? I think the wood I tried was only 1/4 inch! does it need to be less???

oh, and one more thing. has anyone tried to make a "one piece" center wood square to replace the 2 piece part that houses the seatbelt light, hazard switch , etc? I've never removed that piece of the dash, so I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get it to mount back up there. (better yet would be a ONE piece entire dash, who needs a glovebox anyway?)

[radiopilot]

Danno...

For the door panels I used 1/4 inch panel board (same as original) for my son's spider, it will form easily and the vinyl will adhere to it nicely.

I was thinking about doing just that with the console wood, one piece with a slide down (scissors mechanism) glove compartment... if it looks good in concept (locks, etc.) then I'll be going with a one piece 'cherry wood veneer on 3/8" hardwood aircraft ply'.

Nick

[mdrburchette]

Danno baby, I did ask you about how you were going to contour that plywood to fit the door, but you must have missed it! Have you tried 1/8" plywood? In my business, we use the 1/8" birch and are able to make bends in it without too many problems.