AZ Drifter's '80 FI Project Log

Sounds like fun.

My one and only non-Mirafiori auto-X I did in my 850, with the top down, in the rain, it was fun. I think Ulix rode along. I thought of it because they were quite behind schedule and my last run was with headlights on. Not sure it made too much difference.
 
Brown Wire Mod

I finally got around to doing the brown wire mod, so here are some pics.

The spaghetti monster:


Here's the little bugger we are connecting to.


This guy comes out.


It's hard to remove the connector, but with an icepick and a utility knife, it will yield.


Soldering/wrapping this rascal to a piece of 10 gauge wire threaded through the firewall to the battery.


And now I have much better readings from the ammeter, even with the lights on and the fan running. :headbang: Thank you XWeb members.

I have also been working on painting the wheels. Here's the black accents going on.


I will have to post a pic of the finished wheel.
Meanwhile, we took a camping vacation in Utah with my project '96 Ford Explorer. This is Bryce Canyon. Highly recommended!



 
Latest on the to-do list is getting the interior ready for the car show in October. The seats bottoms are falling apart, so I sent them off to be renewed. Once I cut the springs underneath, the seats slid out pretty easily. I was greeted by french fries from the previous owner...


Once the carpet was out, I gave it a bath with laundry soap and a hose. After it dried, I hit the faded spots with some fabric paint. Aside from a couple holes in the driver's footwell, it looks like new!


The carpet on the door cards needed blackening also


Last weekend I set up a radio in the dashboard, though I haven't hooked it up. It's just making the dash look cleaner for now. I also found a heater control cover on Ebay. The glove box cover I got from Midwest-Bayless had no mounting hardware, so I made a piano hinge from 2" wide Velcro. The door is attached now, and the hinge works great. WIth lots of elbow grease and Mothers "Back to Black" vinyl treatment, everything looks great! Can't wait to get the seats back.

 
Wow John -- nice work

Kinda funny but I'm going thru a similar rehab of carpet. Like yours, mine is still in very good condition but needed a scrub and is faded is areas.

I removed it (no frenchfries thankfully in my case) and took it to the local car wash to suds it up real good, power wash, and rinse it.

Was hoping to dye it but tested the fibers by clipping a few and soaking them in bleach. The bleach did not remove the color which means dye will not penetrate either. So I will spray and brush with some duplicolor carpet paint. Your carpet looks fantastic -- hope mine comes out that well!
 
Good thing I didn't try to do it then. Good luck with the paint. I had trouble finding some, but the hobby shop had a little.
 
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Nice work John

You are really making great progress with your X. Keep us updates as you complete your projects. Looking good! :geek: :laugh:
 
john, I used duplicolor vinyl and fabric paint after reading several online reviews. Most auto stores carry it. I purchased two cans of flat black for $15 total. The reviews were mixed, but the positive reviews all indicated that several very light coats while brushing with a nylon brush inbetween was the preferred technique.

I'm pleased with the end result. My carpet is a bit worn and fuzzed in a few places but overall in good condition and now has a very even, consistent black appearance. The original color was nearly black, but more like charcol and faded along the tunnel and door sills. Assuming the paint wears well, I can put off the expense of carpet for a years :)

Carpe
AZDrifter said:
Good thing I didn't try to due it then. Good luck with the paint. I had trouble finding some, but the hobby shop had a little.
Click to expand...
 
O'Reilly's, Auto Zone and Pep Boys all carry...

Duplicolor and my friendly O'Reillys will even order colors not stocked for next day delivery!

Here is my best use and cost savings... the BLUE was just not right for my car...










p.s. The door cards were once a BLUE as well. I really wanted to keep it BLUE but there were some horrid stains that were deep in the material (from heat?) that just would not come out.
 
Looks real nice, Tony. I am getting perforated vinyl on the seat bottoms. Does it help?

Unfortunately there was a big storm at my place yesterday, and my carport/tent lifted up off the FIAT. The feet of the tent ripped paint off the door and fender. Feels like a punch in the gut. Luckily I hadn't repainted her yet, but it will look awful for the car show.
 
Gotta watch for those micro bursts in the summer

I had something similar happen to me a few years back. My DD still has the scars. I tore mine down and gave it away...what's the point if it can come unanchored and tear up your car and destroy itself?

Sorry this happened to you.

Any bright side? Can you get insurance to pay for some of the repaint costs?
 
Ha!
We asked for a quote for collision coverage and it was well north of $1000 a year since the car is so long out of production. Will have to call Hagerty someday. For now it's liability only. I have to get the car painted anyway. Just a shame it knicked up the clean side of the car.
 
Here's the damage:


As a result of this:


On the plus side, I got the seats back from the upholsterer. Awesome job, and much better looking now:




Compared to how I got it.


Yesterday I logged into Onlinecarstereo.com and found some 4" Kenwood speakers on clearance. 91db sensitivity, RMS 2-20 watts, so I won't need an amp to power them. They are on the way. I pulled out the multimeter and figured out how to wire it up this afternoon. Should be painless, except for the dimmer wire. That whole circuit is messed up, so it will need to be fixed also.

The stereo I'm using is a trip. It was a top of the line model from 2005 or so when NOPI/HIN/F&F was all the rage, so it can control a ridiculous number of amps, sat radio, TV/DVD, etc. 5.1 Dolby surround with a center channel and sub outputs, touch screen, time alignment, just silly. The important part is the 24 bit D/A converter and 18 watts per channel RMS. It has an aux output for my iPhone for MP3's. Most important, it was just sitting in a box in my garage so IT'S FREE! Of course, all of these menus are controlled with about four buttons, so you need a engineer to go through the manual if you want to figure out how to set the clock. :nuts: Hopefully it will be rocking next weekend.
 
Oh boy, it's been awhile. Lots going on though. I chickened out on buying the Koni coilover set and got some cheap KYB's for the rear instead. To match the front end, I threw together a coilover set using parts laying around the garage. I had some 220# springs that were just about the right length and hopefully not too much for the soft dampers. With some bottoms, hats, and bump stops, I got them together and installed.



Once again, Rock Auto was worthless in providing cam bolts to adjust the camber. They don't fit. This is the third time they have screwed up my order :hrmph:

Anyway, I also went to the car show that I set as my goal back when the project started.






Looks pretty good in photos. The kids loved it, maybe because it is "kid-sized". A young judge asked me to lift the hood so she could judge the engine. She was a little embarrassed when I showed it to her, but it was a good laugh for everyone.

I dynoed at 74 whp and 84 wtq. Chart to follow once I get it uploaded. I am still using the stock exhaust, so the HP falls off early.
 
From the photos it looks like you have not got some caps for the wheels yet. Unless you are a stickler for original an inexpressive way fill the hole up is PVC caps for one and a half inch PVC pipe. You have to do a little trimming but for the price they don’t look half bad and you can paint them any color you want.
 
That was a great idea, and for about $10 in materials, definitely worth doing!

In case others are curious, here's what was involved.


The pipe was cut down to fit in the wheel without interfering with the hub, and the lettering was sanded off the top.


After paining, I put some contact cement around the edge to allow the cap to be water resistant but still removed easily. The ones at the local hardware store were dome shaped, which still looks ok.


Thanks again for the idea. :)
 
John,

Looks like the caps came with the wheels. Great job. Chalk up another on to Papa Tony's Frugality 101.

Mike
 
Today began the bumper-ectomy. The grille was supplied by Midwest-Bayless, and Ricardo hooked me up with some turn signals and gap covers. As a bonus, I got to practice my Spanish throughout the PM's for the transaction.:grin: The parts look really nice.


Turns out it is easy to remove the front bumper bolts by loosening the two radiator bracket mounts and pulling off the grille. The whole radiator dropped nicely to reveal the bumper bolts, and I didn't have to drain the radiator!


Here's the thermostat and the purge valve.


Removing the plastic bits is proving to be a little challenging due to rust and some tricky locations, but it is coming along.


The holes will be filled with fiberglass, hopefully next weekend. I am having some trouble with the engine getting hot while the car is sitting still, so I checked to make sure the fan works. It is fine, but I'm not sure how to test the thermostat other than warming up the engine.
 
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