What did you do to your 850 today?

Nice.

Looking to fire this thing over the weekend.

Looks good, but a note of caution on the alloy oil pan you're using:

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This pan was made for the Fiat 600/600D series of cars. While it will "fit" an 850 engine just fine, when you install the engine with this pan in the 850 chassis, you will find that the bottom surface of the pan will not sit level with the ground (as an 850 pan does). Instead, the bottom will tilt from the right (passenger side) downward to the left (driver side). This is because, while the 600/600D engine sat vertical in the 600/600D chassis, the 850 engine sits tilted slightly to the left (driver-side) in the 850 chassis.

Using this pan on your 850 may cause oil-starvation issues during hard cornering/braking maneuvers, since the pan bottom surface will not be level, nor parallel with the oil pump pickup bell.

This is similar to the oil pan/pump pickup angle issue when installing an X1/9 engine in a 128/Yugo/Strada (or vice versa) - but instead of being a forward/rear tilt issue, it's left/right in the 850/600 cars. Basically, the "new" parts being used need to match the original (parts) orientation of the chassis (car) they're being installed in. :)
 
Jeff

How can I persuade you to move to Cape Cod? We have miles of beaches, great restaurants and other 850 owners that barely know which end of the wrench to hold...plus cool tracks fairly close.

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Hi Jeff,
That's interesting. The story on this pan.... It's supposed to be a Giannini pan specifically for the 817 motor. My Dad purchased it from Greg Schmidt many years ago. That Nardi 817 exhaust runs so close to the block it's the only pan that fits (other than the OE tin pan).
I like the idea of the two period 817 hop up parts, as it fit's with the Otas but in reality, when I find how loud the Nardi will be, I will likely switch it all out for a Monza or OMP exhaust coupled with the Abarth 5qt sump I have on the shelf.
 
so today:

Installed (FINALLY!) all my new rubber mats, installed a brand new rear view mirror from Mr Fiat with courtesy light, and brand new sunvisors.

I drained the gas tank and refilled with new gas, the old was a mixture of old and very old.

Tomorrow I'm taking my seats, Racer console and door cards to an upholsterer in Plymouth, changing interior from black to brown. Will post pictures once done.

Also today started the 3M vinyl recovering of my passenger dash panel. I need to sand the panel down some more and tomorrow will apply. With all this interior work being done the car is not only looking radically different, but "restored".

I'm hopeful of having the new tan top put on my end of the month, as I choose to ignore Winter and prepare for spring!
 
Today

I completed my 3M vinyl install on the dash, came out pretty well. I'm much more leery of doing the driver's side and may make that next weekend's project.

I also had my seats sent out to a much cheaper installer. Apparently not only were the bottom springs completely rusted through, the seat frames themselves were either rusted through or paper thin.

So I am having them re-done with new metal and re-welded. They'll be repainted too of course, and re-bolstered before the covers are put on. Fortunately I found someone that can do it reasonably, can't afford to dump many dollars into the ca at present.
 
Pics ?

Hi Jim,
Any pics of your most recent interior additions ?

Many ways the X 1/9 is an easier build compared to the 850. Our seats DO need serious attention to bring them back up.

What do you think of the rubber matting that you installed ? Is it the same as the original micro-ribbed sheeting ? I am struggling with going original rubber or short knapped plastic carpet.

out for now
lezesig '72 850Sp
 
Seats are done!

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Love these seats, they came out nice and are rebuilt so should last for years. LOTS more support. I'm having the upholsterer look at the Racer console next, to see if he can match color. At this point I am thinking of a combo black/tan interior with only the seats, the console sides, and perhaps the armrests done in tan. The top is tan as well but is not yet mounted on the frame. With the new cherry 3M vinyl wrap (and thanks so much for the head's up on that product) the interior will just sing.

Lez: I'm not sure I like the rubber matting. While it's good quality, heavy rubber I have a couple of concerns on it. First it is difficult to install in my opinion, especially the holes that needed to be drilled for the rubber plugs. Second, I think having non breathable rubber over the metal may be a water trap and an overall bad idea...but I did it anyway to be more stock.

The rubber is also goddamn expensive. I was lucky, bought this cheaper several years ago when I was in better financial shape, at less than 600 bucks. Today I think a set goes for over 800 from Mr Fiat. BTW his visors are great, and I highly recommend them. I spent the extra $5.00 for the hinge sets too, which is a good deal. They are plastic, and I saved the originals, but the new look good. The mirror is a lightweight, fairly cheap one, but having the courtesy light will be a good thing once done. Not entirely sure how I will accomplish...perhaps running a power line around the windshield trim, down the passenger door trim and into the dash that way. BTW they do NOT supply the power wires which require a special (but commonly found) power plug. I told them they should.

I'm actually focusing more on my X1/9, which I kept, lately as I prepare for the Tail of The Dragon trip...but I'm attacking the 850 with an absolute vengeance in March-April. I want this car on the road again so bad I can taste it.
 
The Racer & the Spider

After receiving my new-to-me 850 Racer nearly 2 weeks ago, I finally got a chance today to actually bring it into the shop to clean it up a bit & start work on it. Part of the deal with me obtaining this Racer from my friend was that I would trade him my '68 850 Spider project car that I'd been working on every now & then for quite a while now.

The Spider was about 75% disassembled, sitting on a chassis dolly. I had already rebuilt & reinstalled the front suspension, & was in the process of redoing the rear suspension. Engine, trans & radiator have already been done, just waiting for reassembly. So to save myself from having to rebuild everything all over again on the Racer, I opted to save all of my good/rebuilt stuff for my Racer, & just swap the complete original Racer front/rear suspension, 903cc engine, trans & radiator onto the Spider, in order to provide my friend with a complete rolling chassis, ready for him to either rebuild or sell off as a project car. So here we are today, with both cars side-by-side in the shop, the Spider on the dolly & the Racer up on jackstands:



First order of business was to vacuum up all of the dirt, leaves, grass, cobwebs, pebbles, mouse poop & whatever else from inside the trunk, all gutters, the engine bay & complete underside of the Racer. Second up was a strategic application of Raid (insect killer spray) to help eliminate any "surprises" later when disassembling the car & to keep any shop infestations to a minimum (Black/Brown Widow spiders are very common here). Next was prepping the car for engine/trans removal by disconnecting all cables/wires/hoses from the engine itself, removing all of the emissions equipment from the engine bay (too much clutter!), & removing the rear bumpers & rear body panel from the car. With the rear body panel out of the way, removing the alternator & starter motor was a snap. After that, I removed the Racer's engine, cleaned it up a bit & set it aside for the Spider. At this point, it was getting late & I was starving, so I cleaned up the day's mess & left the scene looking like this:



Hopefully to be continued tomorrow...:wink2:
 
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Racer to Spider - cont.

Ok, so fast-forward a few days later & the front/rear suspension swap from the 850 Racer to the 850 Spider is now complete, with the Spider now sitting on its wheels & the Racer now resting on the chassis dolly that the Spider used to be on:




The Cromodora CD-4 alloy wheels seen on the Spider are actually destined to go on the Racer, & will be swapped-out for stock steel wheels before the Spider gets shipped to its new owner. They're on the Spider for now simply because they're the only spare set of wheels/tires I have that I can use as "rollers" to wheel the Spider around the shop. :eek:

At this point, I also took the opportunity to go ahead & replace the original Racer rear body panel with one from an earlier model Spider. I'll also be retrofitting early style Spider taillights at a later date. These changes are both parts of my planned modification of this USA 850 Racer to more closely resemble its earlier European 850 Racer Berlinetta counterparts. The blue rear panel & engine bay decklid are both original items off of my old '69 850 Spider - sort of a continuation of good 850 Karma. :italia: Adding to that theme, the Racer's original yellow rear panel will be donated to one of my friends' late-model 850 Spiders that has a very damaged (torn) rear panel.



The original 903cc engine & transaxle assemblies from the Racer, to be shipped with the Spider when it goes to its new owner:




This is the complete front suspension assembly as removed from the 850 Spider. I'd already rebuilt/modified this assembly before installing it on the Spider a while back, it will be reinstalled on the 850 Racer at a later date.



Next up will be to put the Spiders' front bumper assembly back together & mount it on the car, reinstall the complete dashboard assembly & then reinstall the steering column unit (so I can actually steer the car when I'm loading it on the trailer later). After that, the Spider heads off to its new home! :)
 
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Jeff

looks like tons of work done, and much more to be done. Thanksfor sharing, had never seen a recent photo of the front end assembly, so these photos are a good learning experience for me. Keep 'em coming!
 
Paint work

Blasted and painted the Otas steel rims.





Went ahead and did a stock 903 pan as well. The stock Otas pan is a piece of junk.

 
Looking good.

Funny how we have moved so far away from deep dish steelies. They always looked good, from these little cars through all the GM cars of the sixties and early seventies.

Flat chrome disk hubcaps?
 
Well, I am afraid that my berlina has a blown headgasket. For a car magazine I put her on a rolling road. The car started to spit out cooling water. So I am afraid that she overheated and this started to kill the headgasket.
But I have a spare coupe engine on the shelf, So I opened this engine to see what the status of this engine is. But I am afraid it's no good and maybe beyond repair. The cilinderwall shows some serious pitting.
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So plan for now is to pull the head of the Original engine and hope that only putting a new headgasket will solve the problem. I also hope this engine is in better shape then the other one.
 
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