This morning i took the half finish car out to cruise the neighborhood. Had it out long enough to heat up the car and a half dozen young boys oggle at the car. maybe 20 plus blocks in total. Here is the results. Car hasnt run in a month and started immediately. the low speed thunk is gone now that i have the wheels mounted right. car pulled a little, no surprise as cc and a are way off. brakes are firm but need to be broken in. The car smell like a Fiat. This is a good thing. Generator light was on the whole time. measured 13.2 volts at the battery. The temp gage settled in at the hot side and then ran up close to the red. Fan didn't come on until the end of the trip. bottom of radiator was hot, but not too hot to touch. Wondering if the alt light meant the gage wasnt reading right. oil level up and clear with no water. no sign of oil in the coolant. brake fluid level holding steady. No signs of leak except a little trace oil on the bottom of the pan. looks like it is coming from the plug threads. Shut the car off and restarted 10 minutes later and it started right up. drove thru the dips in the road without caution and did not scrape the spoiler.

Nice tale !
I hope to experience the same in a few days (weeks).

im working at a ford dealership 19 miles from home and sat nights deliving pizza
last week i broke a spring on a rear strut
thursday it started to rub the end of the broken spring against the tire,i heard it and smelt rubber
fri i drove the fiat to work and it was raining and i almost lost a wipper,it fell off so i stoped and put it back on.
on my break i swiftly drove to the junk yard for a use strut
sat morning i pulled all the bolts for the strut all but the big one at the bottom "it broke"
so i started drilling"with the wrong size"all day sat and all sunday morning "it helps to have sharp bits"
i used a long grade 8 bolt with a nut,i replaced a wheel cylinder and a brake line.and the tire
but i had fun and looked good driving the fiat delivering pizza,she held up real nice.
in fact i think ill take a drive right now.bye joe