What projects are you planning for the winter?

[kristoj]

Those of us that live in the great white north generally keep our Fiats indoors and protected from the elements starting fairly soon. But don't call it "storage" -- there's always work to be done for next year's driving season. What are you guys planning? I have a close friend who owns a body shop and budget permitting, I will be stripping my car down to the bare metal and respraying. I also have a leaky tranny, so I may get around to pulling it out of the car and changing out the seals and do the clutch while I am in there. But depending on how much time, effort and money goes into the paint job, I may have to go one more summer with the leaky transmission.

There is one other pesky problem that I don't know how to fix -- my wipers. When I first got the car, they worked on low speed and intermittent, but not on high speed. Now, they don't work on high speed OR intermittent (still work on low speed). I have only been caught in the rain once, so it isn't a big deal. But I would like to fix it nonetheless. The low/high wiper speed switch in the center of the dash is good -- I tested it. Any ideas?

[mbouse]

be sure that steel shaft protruding thru the cowl is well lubricated in its aluminum housing, John. window wipers are a PITA.


i am planning steel brake line replacement on the '78, as well as a gas tank flush and possible coating. too much red stuff visible in the fuel filter at the carburetor.

the '80 will see some cobra style bumperettes replacing the front and rear bumpers; which will necessitate some new turn signals and quite possibly a new muffler with a shorter exhaust tip.

then, the '80 gets one or more carb spacers fabricated and installed. I have a 10mm phenolic spacer prepared, but am considering also machining a 1 1/2" aluminum spacer to test as well. at the same time, i have a ground and polished, gasket matched intake manifold ready to be installed on this engine.

after that, then the '78 gets its own ground and polished gasket matching intake manifold.

[jfrawley]

Two projects for me. Complete front end re-build as well as bumper removal. But a bigger issue for me is finding a place to store it where I can still work on it. I'm too used to having my main ride warm and dry during the winter.

John

[Leesfer]

I just sent my car in to get the interior redone just yesterday, so that is my start. Not much for the winter besides fixing the heater I hope and cleaning up the engine bay, polishing and whatnot

[Hutch]

Total front end rebuild for me as well. Maybe brake line replacement while I'm at it. Engine bay cosmetic refurbish is on the list too. Maybe carpet also....

[manoa matt]

Mike,

Did you see the latest IAP catalog? They have those spacers now, I think they have 7mm and 12mm.

[mdrburchette]

Well, the great Southeast doesn't necessitate parking my Fiats for a long period of time, but I do have several projects. First is the 72 Spider I stripped down is getting loaded on a trailer this week and getting sandblasted. We'll be building a roll cage and doing the bodywork on it this winter. We'll also be pulling an 1800 out of one of my parts cars to build a race engine. Along with the 72 racer, we'll be pulling in my free 78 Spider and gutting it out to make a racecar for the 24 hour Le-Mons race that will be in South Carolina next July. Oh, and I almost forgot! I'm having a tech session in December at my house and Ron will be teaching us how to do a valve job on a 1608 head that will eventually go on a rebuilt engine for my 71. That oughta keep me out of trouble, don't you think?

[Danno]

I'll be driving mine through the salt and snow. that's about all i have planned. It'd be nice to get some different front signals, but what i have is working and doesn't look half bad. I also need to retry the rear light setup that i bailed on when i realized I needed to get some resistors hooked up.

[Gunsmith]

I will be finding a safe parking space at the beach.

[sjmst]

Having owned my car since new (26 years), I have recently started to spruce it up. New front end, misc body and interior parts, major service, new tires, detailing, etc.
A few things left to do. Address some clouded gauges, and detail the engine bay.
That will be a bit of work as I need to repaint the radiator , air box and a few other items.

[sjmst]

....I have a close friend who owns a body shop and budget permitting, I will be stripping my car down to the bare metal and respraying. ...

John, what about the turbo decals? Can you replace them after repaint?

[mbouse]

you are correct Matt. hmm.. those 5mm spacers that i goo'd together fit right between the sizes IAP is offering.

hmm.. would 2-3mm make that big of a difference?

[baltobernie]

• ∙ rebuild engine and transmission
  ∙ replace brakes, exhaust and front suspension bushings
  ∙ make some Philadelphia road maps for Ventura Ace

[ROOK1]

Remove and replace tranny. Locate and install seats, carpet and top. Buy and install new tires and align front end. Install little thing-a-ma-jigger Denise sent me.(Thanks Denise) If money and time permit sand and repaint, but this is not looking good. (DOW down 730 today) Replace windshield. Does anyone have pictures of the differences between early and late windshield frames?

[kristoj]

....I have a close friend who owns a body shop and budget permitting, I will be stripping my car down to the bare metal and respraying. ...

John, what about the turbo decals? Can you replace them after repaint?

Yes. Chris Obert sells the Turbo decals (you have buy the stripes from 3M), and Bruce Mathews supplies a complete turbo decal kit complete with stripes.