Great video Pat!
Keep it up!

You would think that after all this time I would have the bugs figured out....wrong! I installed my drive shaft and just as I finished I shined my light on the center support and saw that the rubber doughnut was deteriorating, luckily Autoricambi has a kit for that! I figured I may as well replace all the moving parts.

I found that there were several threads covering this fix however there were very few photos.....so.....

The kit


Drive shaft...note yellow paint lines to align the re assembled parts...very important!



picture of weights on the shaft...why alignment is important





Puller to remove u joint carriage Harbor Freight cheap tool, but it works!



Dust cap under carriage, there is one under the doughnut also.....



Shaft with doughnut removed



Set new doughnut on top and push down, will only go down a little bit



Use an oversized socket and a large hammer to reseat bearing and doughnut onto shaft, torque bolt to 68ft/lbs.



It got to dang hot out so this is as far as I got today, more tomorrow

Ok so I finished rebuilding the drive shaft...after putting in the center bushing you "simply" have to replace the u joints. If you have not done this recently I recommend that you search online for a good utube how to video. It is fairly straight forward BUT don't think that more hammer will force the caps to fit....trust me I tried!! The problem is 99.99% going to be a tipped over roller bearing in the cap...see picture. Simply stand the wayward bearing up and push it back in line make sure the rubber retainer is fully seated and try again.



Ps the grease fitting goes in last, use a 7mm deep well socket

This is not intended to be a step by step tutorial please read your tech manual if you have questions, this took me about an hour of actual work with several frustration breaks thrown in....if you are getting mad walk away and come back!!

Your really not supposed to hammer in u-joints since you are more likely to flip one of the needle bearings over on its side and potentially make a slight flat spot on it which can greatly reduce the bearings life. Large C-Clamp or Bench Vice is the correct tool for the job if you do not have a dedicated press.

I would have to agree with you but my cheap 6inch harbor freight c clamp cracked mid way. This is actually the first time I have done u joints all by myself.

All right so I have been making progress fixing little things...heater hoses put back in, installed expansion tank ended up going with the one Mark sells. I really liked the one I had however it really interfered with the transmission dip stick.



I powered up my ESTOP power emergency brake and adjusted the pull see the attached video link to see it in action.

https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share ... p53ycL8Dfk

I am slowly but surely powering up the electronics I am doing one system at a time then when they all work I will tie them together and clean up all the wiring.

I finally got the automatic transmission cooler plumbed in so it was time to finally unwrap the stainless grill I ordered from Spider Point. I could not be happier it looks better than I was thinking!! The ONLY small gripe was that it not curved like the OEM but I was able to put a slight curve to it.

Wow, it's been a whole year since I have updated the progress on my car....the sad part is that there has not been much. I am currently recovering from shoulder surgery and am looking to retire from police work. I am hoping that I will get back to the car in the next several weeks!

Thanks,

Pat

Ok ...well shoulder surgery was a good time...NOT..both shoulders but they do feel better. I officially retire from the Tacoma Police Department on 05/01/18, it’s been a blast but time to move on. I start a new job in Las Vegas on 05/01/18.......note the date is the same as my retirement.....no one said I was smart.

So moving to Vegas....what a PITA!! But it does put me within 4 hours of Marks shop so I think the Fiat is getting a road trip to CA in the near future to get the carb swap working!

Got the twin tip ANSA muffler installed along with the windshield. P.S. the windshield install is definitely a two person ordeal although we got real good at it after screwing it up several times!

Got to get this car done now that I am going to be living in car heaven!

Got the little car to Vegas and it is currently buried in a 30 ft storage unit...bummer!



This was the truck and trailer I used from Penske, great rig, loved the trailer it tracked like a dream no issues at all on the trip.

Ok folks I hate to say it but I have seriously hit a wall with this car. I retired from the police department and went to work for a national collision reconstruction consulting company and just don’t have time to finish the car .. I am looking to possibly sell the car with all the parts and high end add ones that I have added...l, I probably have more than 30k invested...11k just in just the body......anyone interested?

Sorry your at this stage of wanting to give up and sell it off. This is a normal phase of frustration that everyone usually hits at some point during a major restoration. Sadly you will never recoup your investment in this current state so my suggestion is to just shelve it for now and come back at it later when you have had time to let these feelings pass. I don't know anyone who has regretted this option whereas selling it off for pennies on the dollar may be one of the most regrettable decision you will ever make.

Ragno124 wrote:Sorry your at this stage of wanting to give up and sell it off. This is a normal phase of frustration that everyone usually hits at some point during a major restoration. Sadly you will never recoup your investment in this current state so my suggestion is to just shelve it for now and come back at it later when you have had time to let these feelings pass. I don't know anyone who has regretted this option whereas selling it off for pennies on the dollar may be one of the most regrettable decision you will ever make.

Steve,

I don't disagree with you, I just hate seeing it not being driven. I have talked with Allison's about towing it over and having them finish the mechanical to get her running good. But I would also like to see it in the hands of someone who would appreciate a highly customized car...although you are right that I would love to be the first one to fun through the gears using the paddle shifter! We'll see, I have not formally listed it yet just sampling the water. Thank you for your comment.

Ptoneill wrote: I just hate seeing it not being driven.

Chances are that's going to happen anyway. Your car is so highly customized that there are very few with the skillset and determination to finish it off (at least based on what state the car appears to be in from your most recent posts). Your car would have been challenging to sell for a decent price even if totally finished, as again, there aren't many people that could fix or troubleshoot it when something went wrong.

Unless you know deep down you'll never realistically finish it, I would agree with Steve to shelve it until you can get back to it.