FIAT TOPOLINO FIBERGLASS PART LAYUP--PART 2

 The rear license plate shroud is ready to be mounted on the car. This shows the license lights mounted, though I removed them for the bonding-in process. There is a stainless steel strip [with nuts welded to its back side] riveted to the light strip to receive the light mount bolts.

 AHA! The shroud is bonded in place on the spare tire cover of MR T. Final sanding and trimming is yet to be done.

 This is a good photo of the arse end of MR T. You can see a LOT of my fiberglass work, including the removable top, the rear fenders [with Triumph TR4 tail lamps], the fiberglass fuel tank filler door, the fiberglass bumper valence [bumpers not yet laid up], and the fiberglass spare tire cover, now with the license plate shroud bonded in place.

 A good rear view showing the 'glass parts. If you look carefully at the top area of the fiberglass top, you can see the "double bubble" I built into the top. If you look closely at the center of the bumper valence you will see a small square hole cut in the valence surface. Just inside the hole is a trailer hitch receiver. Just ahead of the right tail lamp assembly [sort of in the middle of the white bondo area] is the connector plug for the trailer lights wiring.  It's called "plan ahead".....  

 A low angle shot of the license plate shroud, showing the lights as well as the license plate location. The dark areas on the spare tire cover are where I added a ply of graphite cloth for extra strength.

The spare tire cover is hinged on the left and swings open as shown to remove the spare tire. You can see the wiring [with a disconnect plug] for the license lights and the cover prop. I used plug connectors throughout the car as I wired it. So far there are 68 plug connectors.....
I might have mentioned that I like working with fiberglass. Well, I also like working with auto electrical wiring. Heh heh heh....

FIAT TOPOLINO FIBERGLASS PART LAYUP--PART 1

 FIBERGLASS TIME!  I really LIKE working with fiberglass!These are carved and sanded urethane foam blocks, the basis for a rear license plate shroud for MR T, my '37 FIAT Topolino "EuroRod".  Also shown are multiple layers of 8-ounce bi-directional cloth. The foam blocks are stuck together with small dabs of "bondo", which I also used to stick the blocks down on an aluminum sheet that was covered with clear shipping tape.

 The layup is complete. The thin strip to the left is for a mount panel for the license plate lamps. I added a license plate to show the scale of the layups, which are ready to be trimmed. The dark areas of the layup show where I added a ply of graphite cloth, for extra strength.

 I used an air driven die grinder and cutter wheel [yes, I used eye protection] to cut the cured fiberglass. I used Fiberglast 2000 epoxy resin so the finished product is HARD, folks.

 Here are the finished, trimmed pieces, ready to be assembled.

This photo shows all the parts, with a South Dakota license plate for scale. The small strip is yet to be trimmed and fitted to the lamps, then bonded to the shroud. I use small dabs of "bondo" [catalyzed "hot"] to hold the light strip in place, then add narrow strips of cloth, with epoxy resin, to bond the strip into place.
Did I mention that I really like playing with fiberglass?

Next time: Bonding the shroud assembly to the spare tire cover of MR T.

VISE MOUNT SHEET METAL BREAK TOOL

 This is a very useful tool that I built, patterned after plans I found in an ancient POPULAR MECHANICS magazine. On the left, in red, are all the parts for this little metal bender that I clamp in my bench vise. On the right, in green, is the first one I built. I've used it for about 10 years. It will bend a 12" wide piece of 18 gauge steel, or smaller widths of 16 gauge. The "holder" piece--the middle angle in the red parts shown--is adjustable fore and aft to accommodate different bend angles, up to about 115 degrees.

The operation is straight forward--put in the piece to be bent, set the holder angle where you want it, tighten down the nut on each end of the holder and lift the handle. Bend the piece to the angle you want. You can see how a piece of metal can be bent into more than one angle and it produces a nice crisp bend every time.
I'm amazed at how often I use this critter--it works really well! Want one? Contact me.  

WEBER DCOE CARBURETORS AND PARTS

 Everybody with gasoline in their veins loves Weber DCOE carburetors. This is the setup on my 2-litre twin cam Fiat 124 Spider engine, shown with the 5 speed trans attached. This is the engine in MR T, my 1937 FIAT Topolino "EuroRod." I find that I have more DCOE's than I can use in my lifetime, so someone else who wants to GO FAST can own them.  DCOE's are great carburetors, and once you get them set right, you can forget about 'em and just go have fun.

 Here's a list of the carburetors and parts. Note that a Lynx intake manifold--to fit the carbs to twin cam FIAT or LANCIA engines is listed. The manifold, and most of the parts, are NEW. I prefer to let the whole lot go, and not sell bits here and there.

 These 40 DCOE 24's are a matched pair. That means they are all jetted the same inside. Shown are the new air filters and a set of four aluminum velocity stacks. You can see the new LYNX intake manifold to the left of the carbs.

This photo shows the other two DCOE's, some of the linkage parts, the four venturi's, and the other velocity stacks that I mention. The two flat gaskets fit behind the velocity stacks.

If "Mr GoFast" is your name and DCOE's are your game, give me a growl. Another 40 horsepower under the hood of your car--what can it hurt?  Heh heh heh.......

SONETT TRANSMISSION COFFEE TABLE?

 I completely reconditioned this Saab Sonett transmission and kept it as a spare for my last Sonett. Then I got soft in the head and sold the Sonett, and the new owner didn't think he needed a spare transmission. I discussed using it for a coffee table mount with my wife, which turned out to be a short discussion. So it is available for someone who needs it for his/her Sonett.

The trans has new bearings, seals, gaskets and a number of other internal parts. You can see the new clutch release bearing and rebuilt release arm in this photo. I made all the internal adjustments to Saab spec's. The freewheel has been "neutered", using one of my neuter kits. Its READY TO GO! But I still think it would make an interesting coffee table.... 
If you're interested, give me a growl.

SAAB SONETT III GLASS HATCH LATCH COVER

 These are NOT fiberglass bolt bins, though they ARE fiberglass. Each, except for the dark one in the center right, is the main body of a cover for a glass hatch latch, for a Saab Sonett III.  The dark one is the steel mould for these things that I built about 25 years ago. The ten bodies shown have been popped out of the mould and trimmed, at this point.

 Here is another view of the ten latch bodies [I believe in mass production, y'see...] and the steel mould. Each latch body has 8 plies of 8 ounce fiberglass cloth. The resin matrix is polyester. You know---that stinky boat resin stuff.

 You can see that I have added a flat fiberglass plate on what will be the TOP surface of each cover. I pre-drilled the holes in the plates before bonding them to the main cover bodies.  The rusty colored "thing" at the bottom is an original, factory plastic latch cover. The sun warps the plastic, makes it brittle and most of them found on Sonett III cars these days are complete junk. 

 Three further stages of assembly are shown here. On the left, the cover with plastic filler completely sanded, ready for paint. In the center, a cover in primer, wet sanded and ready for color. On the right a cover painted and ready for installation in a Sonett III.  There is a whole LOT of hand labor making these things look this good. Sand, fill, sand, fill, swear, sand, swear, fill, swear....

Another view of the last three stages. I supply new stainless steel 1/4-20 bolts and stainless washers with these completed latch covers. These critters won't warp or get brittle--they'll probably outlast the rest of the car. Pretty neat, eh?

SMITH'S MOTORCYCLE TACHOMETER--BRIT MONKEY-MOTION

 This is a study in contrasts. In a vertical row on the left, parts of a British Smith's tachometer. The vertical row on the right shows the similar parts of a U.S. Stewart-Warner tachometer. Both are cable driven. The Smith's unit used what was called a "chronometric" internal mechanism to motivate the needle around the dial. The S-W unit used a common, and very simple, rotating magnet to move the needle.  The Smith's tach was built around 1950, before the Brits had discovered magnetism, I think; the S-W unit around 1960. 

 You want contrasts, here's more. The Smith's tach [left] has a brass face and cast aluminum frame. The S-W tach a thin steel face and plastic frame. But the BIG contrast is in the internal gubbins. Just look at all that "stuff" in the Smith's unit. Levers and gears and balance arms and a couple of crude camshafts, and some other items identifiable only if you live in the outskirts of Coventry, England.  The S-W uses, simply, a rotating magnet in sort of a modified half cup shape that rotates around the round "can" that is connected to the speed needle. 

 There was at least SOME justification for Smith's use of the monkey-motion mechanism. First they used the chronometric jazz in their speedometers. If you look closely at the frame of the Smith's unit you will see holes in the legs of the frame where--if this were used in a speedometer--the odometer registers would be fitted. Take out the odometer gubbins and Presto! Instant tachometer! Clever, aye, mate?

 Well....yes and no. There is this thing called complexity. Murphy's law says that the more "stuff" in a unit, the more apt the unit is to screw up.  When I received the Smith's tach, the needle would go to maybe 15 [x100] rpm and stop. It looked like it had been Arabia with Sir Lawrence [who wasn't a "Sir" then] and needed TWO baths in the ultrasonic unit with clock cleaning fluid. Then a rinse, then careful oiling with clock oil. I didn't have high hopes for the sucker.

But I put it on the test bed and started the [anti-clockwise] rotation and th' blinkin' blighter started working! Chronometric tachs sort of step up, in about 500 rpm jerks. This one settled down at 6800 rpm, steady as a Spitfire in a dive after an ME-109. When the input rpm is slowed to a stop, the chrono tach backs down in about 2500 rpm steps.
Amazing what can happen when you get 65 years of dirt, dust and sand out of all of the monkey-motion bits in one of these critters.
But I look forward to peering into the bowels of a Smith's tach after they discovered magnetism....that happened in about 1990, if memory serves me correctly....

ANCIENT VOLKSWAGEN INSTRUMENTS

 Believe it or not, what you see above are instruments from a 1950 VW Beetle. I received these beat-up buggers from a customer with a plea to make 'em "like new."  On the left, two speedometers, on the right a wind-up clock. In the center, two "pods", as VW folks call them, that hold the speedo and clock and then bolt into appropriately sized holes in the instrument panel.

 This is the flip side of one speedo, the clock and the pods. Note that the speedo pod also mounts the ignition switch, and switches for lights and windshield wipers. As you can see, 65 years allows pleanty of time for crud to build up on all the bits.

 Both pods are cast in bakelite, as far as I can tell. Four idiot light mounts are also cast into the pod. There was quite a bit of brass--for wire connections, etc--to be polished up, and the switches had to be disassembled and cleaned, then reassembled--in the correct order and orientation. The bits only go [correctly] together one way.

 The clock--cleaned up and ticking--in its cleaned, primed and painted pod. The shaft at the bottom combines to wind and set the time of the ol' ticker.  The new rubber seal [black in the photo] around the pod cushions the unit in the panel.

Here are the pair, ready to go to the owner. Note the switch knobs--very much 1950's style--on the speedo pod. These are to go into a completely restored Beetle, and will probably be the highlight of the interior of the wee bug. They led me a merry chase, but I'm quite pleased with the final result. Good stuff...

SPECIAL DISTRIBUTORS FOR THE SAAB V4

 Every V4 Saab owner's dream: A hot dog V4 engine with the legendary cross-ram intake manifold and a pair of Weber DCOE carburetors---WOW! This is one of two such engines that I built for a pair of Peking to Paris Saab 96 rally cars some years back. Note the special distributor, necessary to clear the intake runner for the right carburetor. Most, if not all, of these special intake manifolds were made up in England for Saab in enough quantity for Saab to qualify for homologation according to international rally competition rules. The manifold set you see here is the "factory" set-up.

 There were several "wannabe" intake manifold builders so if you run into a cross-ram set-up it may or may not be what you see in the top photo.  Each wannabe also made up some sort of distributor extension. In this photo, the distributor on the left is the Bosch unit made specifically for Saab for the rally cars. The distributor in the middle has an extension that uses a standard distributor. The distributor on the right is a stock unit, though the drive gear at the bottom has not been installed.

 Here is a good look at the Bosch distributor made up for Saab. You can see that the distributor body and the extended shaft housing are all cast in one unit.

 This is a third distributor for a cross-ram manifold set. The housing extension is different [shorter] than the one shown above. I just rebuilt this distributor for a customer. The add-on housing looks OK in the photo but is actually really crude and looks like it was done by two guys under a pepper tree with a hammer, hack saw and bastard file after the second six-pack of Bud....

The reconditioning of the distributor was straightforward, and I made the extension work, but a much better extension should be machined from a bar of good quality aluminum. I have made up machine drawings for just such an extension.

Does the vacuum advance unit look different? It's a much modified Hitachi with a special adaptor mount. I get the exact advance curve I want with this unit, but it is NOT "Plug & Play", with MUCH testing on the SUN distributor machine to be sure I have the correct modifications to get the right advance curve.

It is important to understand that advance curves--both mechanical and vacuum--must be tailored to the way a given engine will be USED; the goal being to promote performance while preventing pre-ignition [detonation] that can destroy an engine. Fun stuff, but as they say in the ads, "Don't try this at home..."

SAAB WIPER MOTOR DE-GREASING

 This is the classic "Before and After".....the top photo is the before, as you might suspect. It is a square body Lucas windshield wiper motor out of a '68 Saab 96V4, just as it looked when I took the sucker apart---YUK! This one had more GREASE--old, nasty, hardened crap--in it than any wiper motor I've ever worked on before. The owner said it only worked on one speed, sometimes.  Given the amount of nasty gook inside it is a pure wonder that it worked, ANYTIME!  I suspect that some "wrench", at some time, figured that "if a little does a little good, a LOT has to do a lot of good", and applied grease by the handful....
The second photo shows the same unit--cleaned and ready for reassembly, adjustment and testing. There were NO bad parts, just greasy parts, in this one. Even the armature and contact brushes were quite good.

 This shows the wiper motor on my test bed. The different switches, and the relay that you can see duplicate the wiring for ANY Lucas wiper motor that I rebuild. This one passed all the tests with flying colors.

Isn't that one pretty! Ready to go to the customer, LOOKING, and WORKING like a new one. Good Stuff. 

FIAT TOPOLINO FIBERGLASS PARTS

 Time for more fiberglass fun on MR T, my 1937 FIAT Topolino Cabrio....In this photo I have the back fenders mounted [and each held in place by two bolts]  and the valence between the fenders at bumper level in place. Now it's time to build the spare tire cover. If you look closely you can see a fiberglass ring around the spare tire, right at the body surface. I laid up the ring first to get a nice "fit" to the body of the car, which is really a compound curve in that area.

 I attached a 0.375" center pin to a mounting structure that will hold the pin exactly centered and vertical. You can see the mounting structure attached to the ring. The shaped board [light color, top right] can spin around and  will cut the foam [see next photos] to get an even shape for the spare tire cover. 

 I used urethane foam [of the type used in constructing composite aircraft] to make the basic form of the cover. Here the foam--mounted to the ring--is ready for carving to the final shape of the cover. [You can see MR T behind the table].

 There is always some rough--but careful--cutting to be done before the spin cutter is used. That's what I'm doing in this photo, using a "Sureform" rough file for the job. The action here is to rough file a pit, then check it with the spin, which you can see mounted to the center pin in the photo above. The spin arm makes the final, fine cut of the foam.

 The foam shape is done. The check template shows a good "fit", all around what is essentially a male mould for the cover. Time to lay on fiberglass cloth now.

 AHA! It's laid up!  I laid on seven plies of aircraft bi-directional cloth, directly to the foam mould. Five plies are of 8-ounce cloth, the final two plies are 4-ounce cloth. The dark band is of 8-ounce bi-directional GRAPHITE cloth, to give extra strength on one side for the hinge, and opposite, the latch. You can see a band of graphite around the base, at the junction of the new cloth and the original 'glass ring. I give the lay-up a minimum of 24 hours to complete the cure of the aircraft epoxy that I used.  I used NO polyester resin on ANY part I made up for this car. Epoxy resin makes a lay-up at least twice as strong compared to using polyester resin. Two further benefits: This particular epoxy has almost no odor, and the working time is easily 20 minutes. 

The new cover is cured, trimmed and setting in place on MR T. The fun stuff now is to mount the hinge [which will be centered on the LEFT] and build and install the latch mechanism [which will be centered on the RIGHT].  More on that in further adventures with MR T....