Introduction
This is my Fiat 850 coupe I bought new in 1970. I drove it for 4 years and did all the usual things like get married and had kids. Sold it when we needed more room for the kids. The car stayed local. About 23 years ago when I was towing home a car for my eldest son to rebuild there it was, parked on the side of the road with a for sale sign! Looked a bit sad with plenty of rust but I jumped at it and for $250 I had my old car back with a spare motor and gearbox, spare doors, glass etc.
A few months ago it was announced there will be a motor racing complex built within 20 kays of here! I had already been involved with a club doing hill climbing with a MX5 but now I had some serious motivation to do something with the Fiat. My Fiat was built in 1970 during a period of unrest at the factory and like all the cars built then had poor paint and rust proofing. I had a partial repaint during the warranty period. I decided that the car would not see road service again so I set about building a car for hill climbing using the original motor to ensure it will be Fiat car club friendly! The division I race my Mazda in is up to 1600cc and the Fiat will be doing the same. I have an AMR500 supercharger that will still allow me to race in the under 1600cc classes and my aim is to get the car down to minimum weight. 15 kilos is about 1 hp!
I have gone to a front alloy radiator, wishbone front end and I'm flop moulding epoxy 'glass bonnet, engine covers. Retaining the original windscreen and will have have the rest of the windows in plastic. Lightweight starter motor, Suzuki 750 brake calipers for the front. I have cut out some sheet metal that was not necessary. Weight I have added is the super charger and the half rollcage. The photo below is from a couple of weeks ago. Car is now off the rotisserie. I had to fabricate two new sills and the A pillars both needed some creative metal work and there were a lot of hours spent there!
I will stick up more pictures later.
A few months ago it was announced there will be a motor racing complex built within 20 kays of here! I had already been involved with a club doing hill climbing with a MX5 but now I had some serious motivation to do something with the Fiat. My Fiat was built in 1970 during a period of unrest at the factory and like all the cars built then had poor paint and rust proofing. I had a partial repaint during the warranty period. I decided that the car would not see road service again so I set about building a car for hill climbing using the original motor to ensure it will be Fiat car club friendly! The division I race my Mazda in is up to 1600cc and the Fiat will be doing the same. I have an AMR500 supercharger that will still allow me to race in the under 1600cc classes and my aim is to get the car down to minimum weight. 15 kilos is about 1 hp!
I have gone to a front alloy radiator, wishbone front end and I'm flop moulding epoxy 'glass bonnet, engine covers. Retaining the original windscreen and will have have the rest of the windows in plastic. Lightweight starter motor, Suzuki 750 brake calipers for the front. I have cut out some sheet metal that was not necessary. Weight I have added is the super charger and the half rollcage. The photo below is from a couple of weeks ago. Car is now off the rotisserie. I had to fabricate two new sills and the A pillars both needed some creative metal work and there were a lot of hours spent there!
I will stick up more pictures later.
