A Tale of Two Fiats

Zulu · Post by **Zulu** » Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:12 am

I've been working on the wiring this week. My first goal with it was to remove all of the "fixes" done by the previous owners of the last 30 years, and then to fix the couple of Fiat logical fallacies.

My best discovery was the three wires going to the starter: the red, the black, and the infamous brown, had all been cut by the previous owner who'd put spade connectors and wrapped them in electrical tape. The tape had melted and fused to the joint, which took forever to free, and the connectors were rusty and corroded. In some ways you're angry when you find these kinds of things... what were they thinking... but mostly it's good because now I can fix it properly and have better electricals to show for it.

As for Fiat's failings... There is a wire bundle on the 77 that runs down the outside of the driver's side to the back of the car. Halfway through the passenger compartment, one brown wire realizes that it needs to go to the handbrake switch and cuts right across under the seat... I rerouted this wire, pulling its connectors out of a plug and routing it logically through the harness, and it is now SIX feet too long. No exaggeration. I can't wait to cut that.

Zulu

Zulu · Post by **Zulu** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:44 pm

I moved my relays from the engine compartment to under the glove box. This was actually quite a bit easier than I had feared. Most of the wires going to relays head back under the dash anyway. The few that didn't I was able to replace with wires from a '78 wiring harness I had laying around. Fortunately that harness also included the under-box panel with relay spots. I also removed the charging light relay and the fuel pump relay, as I will be using an internally-regulated alternator and a mechanical fuel pump. The end result is much cleaner than stock.

I can totally see why Fiat moved the relays in late '77. In my driving car, I have the relays in the engine bay and they've got knocked around so much that the tabs have broken off and now they just hang loosely. Now they are out of the way and my engine bay has a little less stuff on the driver's side. Has anyone noticed that Fiat tended to move everything to the left side?

Zulu · Post by **Zulu** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 7:45 am

I've been painting some engine bay parts the past couple of days. Started with the valve colors, to the tune of the Italian flag.

Started with a bead blast to remove all grime and old paint:

Then a coat of self-etching primer:

Then a white base coat, followed by green on top:

And finally red:

I'm gonna let it sit and harden for quite awhile before I install on the car. Those pictures will follow.

124JOE · Post by **124JOE** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:43 am

cool nice job

jimmycakes401 · Post by **jimmycakes401** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:04 pm

Ha! Cool

Zulu · Post by **Zulu** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 2:34 pm

Thanks guys. I made up another set for my father and since he isn't running his car, I went ahead and put them on.

Now the rest of his engine looks like...

Zulu

Zulu · Post by **Zulu** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:43 am

My fuel pump failed two nights ago. Fortunately I was able to rob one off my dad's non-driver and get the car home. I installed the mechanical fuel pump this morning. Works great. I also put my new valve covers on. Take a look:

blurple124 · Post by **blurple124** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:51 am

Nice valve covers! Are you in want of a mechanical fuel pump for your Dad's car, now? Because a PO of my car installed an electric pump and the mechanical one is still sitting on the block, useless.

124JOE · Post by **124JOE** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:40 pm

blurple124 wrote:Nice valve covers! Are you in want of a mechanical fuel pump for your Dad's car, now? Because a PO of my car installed an electric pump and the mechanical one is still sitting on the block, useless.

well its plugging a hole

Zulu · Post by **Zulu** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 7:19 pm

blurple124 wrote:Nice valve covers! Are you in want of a mechanical fuel pump for your Dad's car, now? Because a PO of my car installed an electric pump and the mechanical one is still sitting on the block, useless.

Do you know if your pump is an original? I believe the originals had a line of bolts going around the outside so that it could be taken apart.

blurple124 · Post by **blurple124** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 2:24 am

Zulu wrote:Do you know if your pump is an original? I believe the originals had a line of bolts going around the outside so that it could be taken apart.

It seems to me that it is original. I don't know for a fact that it works, but I would like to think that it does. Is there a good way to check this? Maybe the PO who put it on just wanted to add one more electrical item to the FIAT wiring job...

This is the best picture I accidentally took of the pump as it is. The engine is really grimy and I haven't had a chance to clean things up yet (just bought the car in August), but everything seems to be there.

Zulu · Post by **Zulu** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 7:34 pm

I think that is the original one. The only way to really test it is to hook it up and unplug the electric bump and see if it works. If you're interested, I have a stock block-off plate that covers the hole on non-mechanical pump engines as well as the shorter bolts to mount it.

blurple124 · Post by **blurple124** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:38 pm

Well if you don't need it (and I'm not sure how to make you trust it, so I can't blame you for not wanting it) then I would just as soon leave it where it isn't doing any harm.

Thank you for the help though!

(Now back to your progress! I'm liking it so far.)

124JOE · Post by **124JOE** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:12 am

for a test you could gravity feed it with a pressure gauge on the out end

i dought it will work
but a new mecanical pump will

Zulu · Post by **Zulu** » Mon May 07, 2012 7:52 pm

BROWN CAR:
I've completed the rewire. Every thing's taped up and ready for components to be installed. I'm on my third roll of electrical tape.

I installed some early-model engine bay lights that I got from Csaba. Both because they might be useful and because they're cool.

I also moved the relays from the engine bay to under the glovebox, using a late model tray.

This makes the engine compartment much neater looking, they're out of the hot engine bay, and they won't get knocked around during maintenance. It's not like I'll be checking my relays all the time (knock on wood).

I've started rebuilding a heater system. So far all I've finished is the heater control assembly.

All blasted and painted.

Chromy goodness.

BLUE CAR:
My mechanical fuel pump failed, luckily I still had the electric in the trunk. It was used, so I'm not that surprised. I have a new one coming from IAP tomorrow. I'll be doing an oil change this week, so I ordered a "Clean" oil filter and bought some Shell Rotella T 15W 40, both at the recommendation of the forum. Finally, I'm going to flush the coolant at the same time. It's well past due, and I get to put on my yellow timing belt cover.

RED CAR:
The front suspension is completely disassembled, ready for media-blast and then paint. We ordered new bushings, ball joints, and tie rod bushings, and will be cutting the springs as per Mark's recommendation (two in the front, one in the back).

The engine is coming out again because two of the exhaust studs broke off in the block.

I'll end with a question, and hope some of you made it this far: I see that Csaba converted his car to an internal thermostat. I like the look of this and the price of new thermostats. Is there any downside to this conversion? And what all do I need to do it?

A Tale of Two Fiats

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