1967 Fiat 850 Spider restoration - Show and Tell

Frank L. Di Gioia

Frank L. Di Gioia

True Classic
Having been away from Fiats for a little over a decade I came home to find a 1967 Fiat 850 SCCA road race veteran in my garage. It had been sitting in the desert for about 12 years semi-covered with the usual "spare parts." Since it wouldn't leave I told my wife that if I got it running I could then drive it away or sell it for big bucks. I don't think she bought it but I reminded of her having stated she could make money on show horses. That was about 6 months ago and the marriage counselor says things are progressing toward an understanding. That covered, the car was a little worse for wear than originally thought. Seeing a rust free battery tray caused me to not examine the floors very well. Mistake. Also it seems the Parumph Nevada race course has great sand filled run off areas backed up by 10" diameter rocks. The Spider was capable of avoiding the sand but not the rocks. The car was converted to racing in 1968 so actually had few miles on it. I followed the standard route of pulling everything off and cleaning, painting, and bolting back on. It's at the stage of clean underside, brakes rebuilt, everything stripped replaced. Goal is a track day car, street legal (counting on Dr. Jeff here) with vintage plates.
It's not destined to be a trailer Queen. The goal is every nut, bolt, adjustment will be clean, functioning, correctly installed. Best thing is it came with BOTH COVERED HEADLIGHT LENS!!!
All I have to do is remove the cute "moon eyes" painted on them.... The A112 valve cover/intake and just about everything else I've sourced as the original owner wasn't too oriented toward "looks" as to driving and having fun. Basis tool kit was hack saw, pop gun (over 100 holes in engine bay needing filling) and bailing wire instead of cotter pins. Oh, I forgot the duct tape.
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I had a light blue 72' 850 Sport Spider back in high school... Was out running the roads one hot Texas afternoon when I took a 15mph "S" curve at roughly 55mph. Needless to say, when the that right front slot mag decided to divorce from the rest of the car, the front disc rotor dug in hard and flipped me three times. The first flip was end over end. The second and third were side over side. It came to rest in a ditch with the car totaled but me still intact. Bout the only thing kept me from flyin out was my long legs wedged underneath the dash.

Ahhhhhh, the good ol days...........
 
Looks like a Plex distributor and generally a bit more polish on the aluminum parts than normal :)

Definitely looks like its on the up and up.

Have you had issues in the past with the early radiator getting air out of the system with the high curved neck versus the later more horizontal approach?

Great work.
 
kmead said:
Looks like a Plex distributor and generally a bit more polish on the aluminum parts than normal :)

Definitely looks like its on the up and up.

Have you had issues in the past with the early radiator getting air out of the system with the high curved neck versus the later more horizontal approach?

Great work.
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Hi Karl,
It's a point distributor to get it running and then I'm going to the Plex system. Figured I'd get it bolted in in the meantime. The only time I've used the old style high radiator entry was in a 750GT and I didn't have any problems. The radiator was actually from the Multipla and was about 2" taller than the 600 radiator. Come to think of it there was also an undermounted transverse radiator. I'll find out as I expect to have it running (but not complete) in January it says here. I hate chrome but love polished aluminum and nickle. If it don't go "chrome it." Thanks.
 
stingray250 said:
I had a light blue 72' 850 Sport Spider back in high school... Was out running the roads one hot Texas afternoon when I took a 15mph "S" curve at roughly 55mph. Needless to say, when the that right front slot mag decided to divorce from the rest of the car, the front disc rotor dug in hard and flipped me three times. The first flip was end over end. The second and third were side over side. It came to rest in a ditch with the car totaled but me still intact. Bout the only thing kept me from flyin out was my long legs wedged underneath the dash.

Ahhhhhh, the good ol days...........
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Glad to see you're still with us! Was the 850 salvageable? (kidding) My Ex was actually in Texas!
 
Mechanogeek said:
Mr. Ignorance here... By 'Pop Gun', do you mean a pop-rivet tool?

BTW - You have a beautiful object here. A thing of beauty is a joy forever!
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"Pop gun" is the term used in the sheet metal trade for what's properly called a pop-rivet tool, yes. Before that they actually made "explosive rivets" for blind riveting. They were a normal looking steel rivet with an explosive charge in them. You drilled your holes, inserted the rivet, and applied a hot soldering iron (actually copper) till it went off. My Dad had some left over from WW2 and they were fun to play with...
 
NM850 said:
What are your plans for a windshield?
Also interested in what you used on that rear engine mount.
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Windscreen will be 4" high plexiglass matching posts. Originaly cut off with owners #1 tool, the hacksaw, and left raw. I cut myself first day of ownership. I've welded end plates on with threaded holes for mirror mounting now. The rear motor mounting material is made from the white carving boards your wife keeps in the kitchen...I borrowed one and on a drill press cut "washers" out and stacked them. Almost solid but does give a microscopic amount.
As Dr. Jeff says some of us have very understanding spouses.
Jeff Stich said:
Nice job on venting the rear panel (ala Abarth OT1000). ;)
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Hi Jeff,
The rear panel was already cut ala OT1000 so I don't get credit there. I just cleaned up what are called "meat hooks" in the sheet metal trade. If you look at the holed brace from the valve cover to the crankcase vent extending toward the taillight area you'll see the WW2 B-29 bomber wiring clamp I talked to you about.
 
kmead said:
Looks like a Plex distributor and generally a bit more polish on the aluminum parts than normal :)

Definitely looks like its on the up and up.

Have you had issues in the past with the early radiator getting air out of the system with the high curved neck versus the later more horizontal approach?

Great work.
Click to expand...
I've thought about the possible air pocket and see it as a possible problem also. I'll solder a small bleeder on the top which should cure that issue. Good point! Thanks
 
Frank L. Di Gioia said:
I've thought about the possible air pocket and see it as a possible problem also. I'll solder a small bleeder on the top which should cure that issue. Good point! Thanks
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Since the upper radiator connection sees pressure from the pump there shouldn't be any problem with an air pocket. If that was the pump suction side I could see a problem, but you should have a full radiator for the pump to pull from.
 
That arc was an issue on early 850s and 600s as it allowed the air pocket. Which is why they went to the later cap for the thermostat housing which directed the coolant a bit towards the back of the car and the radiator has the hot supply horizontal facing the back of the car with the cap in the radiator being the highest point in the system.

Anyhoo, the small bleeder would be a good way to deal with the issue.
 
Very much looking forward to seeing the windshield. I’ve studied pictures of the old race cars and I like the idea of a cut down windscreen but have been hesitant to cut my windshield frame. There is always a question of how low to go and of course there is no going back. Then there is the option of glass. I’ve read the old hot rod chops wet sanded the glass down, I have several windshields I could try that on.
 
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Nice work Frank! I bought a 67 H prod spider a few years ago. It was built by Krause and England in 92. I’ll post some pics of the windshield etc since I think they did a nice job.

I’ll take better pics of the windshield but here are a couple of the car. I’ve been working on it for a few years and finally have it where I should be on the track this year.
 
Hi Bob!
I don't feel so all alone anymore in the '67 Fiat 850 world!!! BTY if your rear panel with the slots in it is rather heavy gauge it's one of a group I made for Greg Schmidt years ago. It started life as one of 3 corner braces on a YORK air conditioning outdoor condensing unit.
I was a dealer and noticed how similar they looked to the OT rear panel. Yours would have been from a 5 ton unit as it's wider than the 70-73 ones with back up lights. They used a 3 ton unit corner piece. I got really fired up and ordered maybe a dozen direct from the company. On arrival I had a heart attack! The "new" version had "YORK" punched in rather than the slots. So much for the plans of men and mice.
I hope to get mine looking half as nice as yours one of these days. Shooting for drivable this June or so less painting. I'll get my act in gear and post some pics of my 1930's style dash solution soon.
 
I was wondering who made it and where it came from...it is a heavier gauge and it fits great! Mine was in pretty rough shape mechanically and has taken a long time to sort...hope to have it at the track this spring and we’ll see how I’ve done. John built the first engine but it only lasted 2 laps at sears point...Les Burd built a new one and it is sweet. I have extra headlight buckets and lenses if you need any at some point.
 
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