850 Sport Coupe series 2 track car.

This is how she looks at the moment. Wishbone lowers mounted. Front fuel tank and radiator etc. "plastic panels" finished and stored away. Supercharger manifolds etc done.
 
Very cool. Looking forward to seeing the future installments.

Nice fiberglass work.
 
loving this

Awesome work there, great color choice too. Needs more pics and videos after you get it running!
 
Awesome work there, great color choice too. Needs more pics and videos after you get it running!

The paint is actually the original colour, Fiat Monza 113 in acrylic. We only got Fiat coupes in 4 colours in Australia at this time where as in other markets they got a brighter red as well.
 
I agree with the color choice :heart::heart::heart: Looks good on your car.
Would like to see more on how and why and the sheet metal in the trunk was cut and how everything will fit when your done.
Also your seat mounts are changed? Did they rustout or just installing aftermarket seats?
Nice work and share more details, like the plexiglass install :):)
 
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I agree with the color choice :heart::heart::heart: Looks good on your car.
Would like to see more on how and why and the sheet metal in the trunk was cut and how everything with fit when your done.
Also your seat mounts are changed? Did they rustout or just installing aftermarket seats?
Nice work and share more details, like the plexiglass install :):)
I guess by trunk you mean the plenium chamber in the front compartment. This is a hill climb car and all items not needed are being removed. The heater and fan has gone so there was no need for the extra sheet metal. The bulkhead behind the engine and the door inner skin has gone along with the unnecessary hardware. The door is opened in the inside by a light piece of cord. There is only one seat and all the old sheet metal for the seats has gone. There was rust under there too in the usual places. The whole idea is to lose weight and I'm aiming for under 600 kilos. 15 kilos equates to about 1 hp so performance is very dependent on weight in the car and me! I have a board in the garage where I list the weight out on one side and weight in on the other. Some weight can not be avoided like the rollcage and fire extinguisher etc.
The "plastic panels" are held in with the usual pins and fit fine because the original panel fit was fairly poor. Even with flop molding off the original panels means they are slightly larger by 2 or 3mm, it just means the gaps are slightly less. Except the rear panel that holds the lights needed some creative sculpting.


 
Graham,
Are you going to seal the plenum so air exiting the radiator funnels to the new scoop on hood :confused:
How will you accomplish that with all the sheet metal cut away in the battery box and spare tire area :confused:
Are you running radiator pipes through the interior of the car ?
What engine and transmission are you planning to use :excited: Can we See :)
I like how serious you are about losing unwanted weight. I assume you will no longer have hinges on your hoods, so you will use pins of some kind to hold them in place ?
You were very ruthless with the elimination of the inner door structure/panel's. I like it :clap: Very bold :clap::clap:
 
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John,
There is a small piece of aluminium across the hole left from the heater box. Most of the air will exit under the car. The scoop at the rear of the panel is there primarily to give me some method of lifting the panel up! It also doubles as a deflector for the battery switch and single windscreen wiper.
I have welded up alloy tubes to carry coolant through the car.
The engine and gearbox is the original. I am doing the new rings at the moment and should have it all back together this week. The head I got a bit carried away with porting and polishing and the piston tops I have polished as well. I have an AMR 500 supercharger sucking through a 1 1/2 SU. The engine is basically stock internally and I have probably reduced the compression ratio slightly. I am aiming for about 70 hp which will give a similar power to weight ratio as my MX5 which is fast enough!
 
3 photos to show how the bonnet fits. It's just sitting there in this photo with out the height adjusting pads.Only running turning indicators and brake lights. The driving light buckets have been reduced and I have made plastic "lights".


 
Interesting supercharger set up. How much power do believe it makes?
Engine is basically stock with a heavily ported and polished head. Lightened flywheel. I calculate 10psi and running on E85 I think I can expect 70hp with a fair bit of torque increase. Most of the performance increase will be from lightening the car.
 
Graham,
Thanks for sharing your latest work. I like all the progress you made and should be inspiring for many who those working on there own 850 projects.
I see you found some "GT Gas" shocks. :thumbsup: Never heard of such things in the USA. :huh: Guess they might be from another car given I see some extensions on the top.
I'm going over some the the work you posted on this website too. :)
http://www.fiatforum.com/other-fiats/355711-fiat-850-coupe-hill-climb-sprint-car.html
 
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The GT gas shocks are just Monroe shock absorbers made locally for an Australian GM car from the sixties. They are new and I raised the height of the tops so they are operating mid range. No idea if that's important. The strops are Kevlar rope to stop the trailing arms tucking in and also keep the shortened coils in!

 
Finally have the engine running. Loud but a good loud. Fuel is E-Flex or E85 which is an ethanol based fuel with a RON of about 105. The lightened flywheel is very noticeable. Have not been able to adjust timing yet or tune the SU carburetor because the cooling system gets hot too quick. I have serious air lock problems with the front mounted radiator. I have an expansion tank above the radiator but it looks like I need a bleed valve on the top radiator hose. I have removed the thermostat and the bypass line and have a hose from the top bypass position up to the rear of the engine bay that I have used to top up the system. I may have to make a small expansion tank for the end of this hose or just fit a ball valve. Any thoughts?
 
Busy day today and now have a ball valve fitted to the top radiator hose.

Have installed an expansion tank where the fuel filler used to be. Will run the hose to the bottom bypass fitting which is blocked off in this photo. The coolant should force the air up!
 
Have the cooling problem sorted now I think. New pump installed today as low down as possible and on it's side at about 45 degrees so air does not get trapped. Its probably lower than the bottom of the front mounted radiator. I simply followed the Davis Craig instructions to the letter. Ran the pump with out the engine and cleared a lot of air out the front vent and out the temperature probe near the thermostat housing. Ran the engine a couple of times and bled some more air out the front. Engine warmed up quickly and all the pipes and radiator were at the appropriate temperatures, I checked the system with a laser temperature probe and was very happy with the outcome. I have a fairly large electric fan I will be switching manually to control the temperature when stationary in the pits etc.
 
This is a video of the engine running. Not the first start but the first after curing the cooling problem I had. Solved by fitting a larger electric pump and a vent at the front mounted radiator. Engine is slightly retarded at the moment and the SU has to have the mixture set. In reality the sound is totally different than what is on the video. Can not hear the induction noise over the exhaust when standing behind the car. Yes there is some whine when the throttle is blipped! Will add some extra exhaust pipe across the back of the car to give a bit of back pressure. Muffler is a Hooker Aerochamber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKDGXT1HSj8
 
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