Fiat Multipla 1958 - restoration

As we approach the end of a very long process with occasional interruptions, I think it's time to present the result, and if there is interest discuss the journey.
We bought the Multipla as a basket case in 2005 with the intent of restoring it and using it as a "fun classic". Of course, other things got in the way (restoring the 330 comes to mind!) and the process dragged on much longer than we anticipated. Of course values have gone kind of nuts on these, so there is some upside to procrastination!

So here is more or less the final result -
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What timing. I just bought a 1957 fiat replica for the wife as her fun car. Same color.

Well done.

Basket case? Your a better man than me!

 

"Your a better man than me!"
Ha! I think my wife might suggest otherwise.

 

Whoa, turned out very cool!
Can you get back away from it for some pix of the whole vehicle?

 

Outstanding job, Rick!

 

+1

Very nice!

 

So nice to see, you've done a great job!

Of course I still have mine, but it blew the head gasket last year and I haven't fixed it yet, after badly injuring my thumb (permanent).

I would love to get together sometime and trade stories. I'm near Tacoma, just off I-5.

My stepson and I did a 3-part video (about 20 minutes total) showing the details of my Multipla in a local parking lot. Not sure if I can send it on my antique computer.

Jeff <<<jebcab at juno dot com>>>
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Hi Jeff,

Sorry to hear about your thumb; I hope there's an interesting story attached!

Thanks for the invite -
I've been avoiding the States for the last couple of years as the C$ @ 1.34 is a big impediment, but I have a couple of friends in Seattle & Tacoma that are overdue for a visit and some parts from IPD (on back order since May!) for my Volvo DD that need to be collected, so a few days south of the 49th is in order.

cheers & all the best for 2019!

 

Rick, your email has been received, thank you.

 

not quite ready for prime time yet -

I'll see what I can do; the garage is narrow, so back against the wall gives me half of what already is half a car!

 

Take your time. No hurry.
Just want to see the 'big picture'!

 

To quote Paul Harvey "and now it's time for the rest of the story"

A friend and local car guy had a Multipla for his shop vehicle and he had picked up "my" car in Kelowna as a parts car.
Interestingly, these were sold here in Vancouver by the local British car dealer, although I have no idea if mine was sold locally.
Although it had been vandalized, it was pretty sound, with not too much rust, all the glass, suspension, wheels, and seats so I thought it would make a nice little project. I should know better of course.
Since it was purchased by my friend as a parts car, all of the difficult to find bits were already gone.
Still, finding parts was sometimes a challenge, but when found, the were generally pretty inexpensive.

The first order of business was to strip out the car, which was straightforward as it's as basic as you would expect a post war Italian "peoples car" to be!
Once stripped, it was off to the body shop to replace the floor & some metal in the rocker panels, and pop back the roof on which someone had practiced tap dancing.
So the following photos deal with this process.




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Rick: Did your Multipla go through "Wilkinsons Automobilia" in Vancouver? I have a couple of pictures of their blue/white car with advertising graphics, from an Italian car show at the Snoqualmie Winery, circa 1993?

I like the pictures, I have similar ones of my car, but mine needed far less welding/fabrication work. I was VERY lucky to find that one!

 

Hi Jeff,

Yes, this was the brothers' parts car.
Annoyingly, about six months after I bought it from them they sold their lovely little jewel!
I don't know who bought it but I did see it later at the Italian Car Day with a really bad respray; I have no idea what the new owner was thinking.

 

to rejoin the story; here are some more photos of the bodywork.
except for the rust the body was pretty straight.
I think it was "turned out to pasture" with fairly low image (see odo)
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All Multipla owners please check out PC's "Fiat Multipla Registry" site at <fiatmultiplaregistry.com>
Good stuff!

 

Hi Jeff, is this the "registry" set up by Steven Piantieri?
If so, I registered my car with him and tried on numerous occasions to ask for info/sources and never heard back from him.

 

I don't know all of the background details, but I believe the two are not connected in any way.

 

at the same time as the early bodywork was ongoing, I was on the lookout for a "big block" 903!
I'll post more on that later but will continue with more of the body for the sake of continuity.

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and attaching some of the bits...
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As I mentioned earlier, from the start I was on the lookout for a "big block" 903!
About 10 years ago I contacted a shop in Vanc. that had specialized in Fiats in the 60's & 70's. Of course with Fiat disappearing as a brand for 30-odd years they had moved on to other things, but they still had some interesting remnants of their previous endeavors.
It's here that I found our 903 mystery motor.
I picked it up as a crate motor, unused but a bit odd; no ser.#, no access machined for distrib. drive or dip stick, and a couple of other idiosyncratic things. It had a fairly voluminous finned oil pan with those fins implying a longitudinal application.
It took quite a bit of fiddling to get it to work (the 903 rotates the opposite direction to the 600) , but it's worth it to have a zero hour engine!

Only oddness in using the 903 is that in most cases distributor will contact the engine cover forcing you to run with cover slightly propped open a bit. Our solution above; nicely covered by the rear plate light(last photos).
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Engine, part two...
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Part three -
-including the solution to the 903 distributor being in a inconvenient spot...
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Gonna look brand new!

 

I'm not an expert, but apparently a 100GL motor is a 903cc ohv 65x68mm clockwise rotation engine used in the Autobianchi A112, Fiat Panda, and Fiat Uno "45" models (per the chart in "Fiat & Abarth Tricks").

The 903cc motor in the Fiat 850 was type 100GB (counter clockwise rotation).