New member, with a custom V8 Fiat Spider...

[V8 Spider]

Hi, I am new here. A couple of months ago I would have never dreamed I would own a Fiat. I come from a family of mainly muscle car owners (Mustangs, Corvettes, things of that sort) and probably would have laughed at the thought of owning a Fiat (no offense to anyone). I recently came across an add on the internet for a '75 Fiat 124 Spider with a 5.0 Ford V8 installed. I thought what the hell, and went to look at it. I found a decent, rust free little car that just needs attention to some details. After driving it, I was sold. The horsepower to weight ratio is simply awesome, the car acclerates very well. I drove the car home for $1,400.

The engine is from a '94 Mustang Cobra and has Edlebrock aluminum heads, Performer RPM intake, and a 650 Holley carb. It has Hooker headers which dump into glass packs which exit just in front of the rear wheels. It currently has an older three speed manual transmission, but I am rebuilding a 5 speed overdrive transmission for it right now. It has a 4.56 rear gear in the stock Fiat rear axel, which is holding up surprisingly well behind the V8.

The car is totally stock appearing from the outside, down to the original 13 inch wheels. It is an excellent sleeper. You should see the look on an unsuspecting Mustang owner's face when I blow his doors off with this little Fiat.

Right now I have a whole list of modifications on the way. I am going to mini tub the car and install a 9 inch Ford rear axle with a locker and 4.11 gear in it and at least 12 inch wide rear tires. I am rebuilding a 5 speed overdrive transmission which should help greatly with both acceleration and highway driveability. Plans are also in the works to stroke the 302 up to a 347, at which point it should be around 400 horsepower and 400+ ft. lbs of torque. :slayer:

Well, that is me. I live in the state of Georgia in the United States. I do metal fabrication for a small performance shop for a living. Glad to be here!

 

[PNL]

Welcome to here how the chassis holding up with all that power

 

[V8 Spider]

The chassis seems to be holding up OK. It has sub frame connectors installed which should prevent it from twisting into a pretzel. So far, so good. The car still has the stock Fiat suspension, and handles amazingly well to have the V8 up front. The brakes are another story. The brake pads have to be replaced about every 4,500 miles, and they are a special order item at the auto parts store. So the brakes will definately have to be upgraded in the near future.

The totally stock Fiat rear axle is what amazes me. It is holding up very well behind the V8.

 

[Venters]

You should see the look on an unsuspecting Mustang owner's face when I blow his doors off with this little Fiat.

Howdy!

I've blown away fords in my Fiat too!
Not quite as interesting a story as yours tho.

 

[toad101]

hi! welcome to the forum,
you'll have to get some pics up

 

[jamesgamby1989]

welcome

yeah some pictures would be great!

 

[The Beard]

400hp in a FIAT Spider with standard brakes? Have you considered making a will yet? With that sort of power to weight ratio you only need to point it towards the East and put your foot down, by the time you get to Savannah you should have enough speed to make it all the way to Britain. We could definitley do with some pics.

 

[V8 Spider]

The car will not have the stock brakes by then. The brakes will be upgraded soon, I just have to figgure out how to go about it. I will probably have to have a local machine shop make the hubs for me, so that I will be able to use Mustang rotors, and then make brackets to allow the use of Mustang calipers. I haven't really done much research into it yet, though.

Here are a few pictures of the car. It is a blast to drive. It is definately an attention getter.

 

[V8 Spider]

Today I took down a modified SS Camaro with the car. Man this car is fun.

 

[Venters]

Not too hot on american models but a SS?
So a bit more power but about 4 times the weight? Bet he didn't know what hit him!

 

[V8 Spider]

The SS was the top of the line Camaro from the late 90's up until 2002 when Camaro production ceased. They had the LS1 Corvette engine rated at 325 horsepower. The car I raced was modified, and the owner claimed it be putting out about 375 horsepower. Needless to say, he was very surprised to get outran by a Fiat.

On another note, I just closed a deal with a guy on the engine out of his wrecked Mustang drag car. It is a 306, which he has dyno sheets that show it putting out 410 horsepower at the flywheel, and almost the same amount of torque. I will pick that engine up in a couple of weeks. It will go in the car after I do a few other things first, like upgrade the brakes. We will see just how much that stock Fiat rearend can take, before the input shaft shears off. Good thing the car has a driveshaft safety loop.

 

[alsaleen]

Hi i have been wondering about this conversion my grandpas has a fiat i helped him restore and its a nice car but i am too an american muscle guy...but i do love the fiat and other non american cars. i have a 302 from my mustang i sold after i got a 351 into it i am currently looking for a cheap spider body to get a hold of to put my 302 into and then restore her/modify from there. would you be able to take more pics maybe of engine mounts? id do measurements but my grandpa now lives almost 300 miles away. any pics or description would help thanks.

 

[a73uk]

Very nice! you only need 1 gear with all that torque in such a light body too!

Makes me wonder about that bare shell thats for sale near me & the jag engine & box I`ve got sitting in the garage... :idea:

 

[hueydriver20]

I live in Savannah and would love to come check out your car. I have a 78 Spider that I restored about 7 years ago and now I want to make it into a monster with a 5.0. Would you mind sending me an email at [email protected]? Thanks, KP