67 Fiat Dino Spider restoration

UFI oil filter from Superperformance. Today I ordered the air cleaner breathing hoses from Dinoparts. These go to the bottom of the air cleaner to the oil filler area. When the aftermarket air cleaner was used they didn't need these anymore and probably threw them away many years ago. To use the original air box, these need to be replaced. NOT CHEAP -- but at least still available. These 2 hoses are different and snake around under the air cleaner.

Every time I say I've got all the parts I need to finish the mechanical stuff, I make another order the day after.
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Polished parts came in today. Now the valve covers can go back on. They are raw aluminum and will pick up a patina over time. The covers were painted with some terrible crinkle finish that half flaked off and half stayed on. Earlier versions of the cam covers were Magnesium and would have needed anodizing. Kinda of a cool looking greenish gold but I'm staying natural.

The clutch was sorted out today. It was a hydraulic problem as the mechanic thought.

Now that the valve covers are back they can be installed and the new distributor and electronic ignition be installed. Then its just replacing the water lines and thermostat, hooking up some fuel to the pump, and trying to get the engine running. If that works then its figure out how to wire the radiator fan and see if the basic electrical system works as well as the brakes and steering. If that's OK we are off to the body shop and that's where the real worry starts....
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For now. The chrome will stay that way but the raw aluminum will oxidize. There's no coating on it.

 

The hoses that run from the air cleaner to the oil fillers came in from DinoParts. Not cheap but at least they had them! Only person I could find that had them for sale. They listed them for sale with the Fiat OEM part numbers from the Fiat parts book which really helped. I was pretty confident these would be correct. Hard to tell from photos alone.

So, thank you DinoParts!
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Had to get this. Give me some inspiration to finish. The 328 I've had for over a year. The Fiat Dino came from Japan today. Both 1/43 scale

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Valve covers going on today. Found out I'm missing a few parts for the aircleaner but MidWest Bayless had them. Some kind of studs that hold it to the carbs. Standard Weber (whew!) Found the part numbers in the Fiat Dino parts book.

I tried the clutch. That works fine now. The Fiat 124 Seat bolts arrived and they were perfect. (Another whew!). Lots of nickel and dime stuff that slows you up.

So its install valve covers, install the distributor and ignition system, replace the water lines / thermostat, fluids / oil change / trans oil / dif oil -- and get ready to ty to start it.
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The new electronic distributor is in.
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Work in progress.... wires everywhere but... the MSD box is going in! Getting close now. I heard the fuel tank may be back from repair early next week.
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I went by O'gara's shop today. The car actually starts but runs terrible. I received a defective distributor cap. No question this is a problem. Could be something else also but the cap for sure is garbage. Frustrating. Stupid things like this slow you down. Just ordered a new one that should arrive Tuesday, about the same time as the fuel tank arrives. Fuel starvation may also be a problem until we get the tank in.

But it does start up immediately. It just runs rough afterwards.

 

No.

 

Received this today. Its a reproduction but an excellent copy. If I ever get to drive it, now I'll know how!

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I'll get some documentation this week. It has bluetooth and you adjust it with an app. Not sure yet if its going to work! If it doesn't I'm throwing in the original.

Need a new distributor cap. Its from a Merc/ Porsche, and even a Volvo 6 cyl. It arrives on Wednesday. Hard actually to find in the US but I did locate one. Others parts places sold out. It cross references with Bosch.

Like I said I'm not interested in making a museum piece. I want it reliable and driveable and certainly looking sharp. If someone in the future wants it 100% original, at least I'll give them a pretty good start. I've seen pictures of many of these. Seems I'm not alone in that.

 

Got the plates today! Its legal to drive on the road for the first time in probably more than 30 years. Getting close...
The Nevada DMV was great. A Supervisor walked me through given the "Vin" is the chassis number. 0000621. She checked and it was OK!

There are new restriction in NV about getting classic plates. But in my case, everything fits.

The plates cost a grand total of $86 / year. Its 1967 again!

For this poor Dino Spider left in a basement in Georgia for 30 years, Home now Means Nevada.
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Yes I think that's it. I'll try to get info this week. They had to fabricate a special mount to fit with the old Marelli.

 

The shop reports the radiator fan and the brake and tail lamps now work. Haven't been by to see it. Probably tomorrow.

The replacement Distributor cap coming tomorrow. Unfortunately the fuel tank was delayed again until the end of the week, but I'm not convinced. So many missed deadlines... probably will slip again.

 

I had only a few minutes today but I needed to drop off something at O'Gara. The Distributor cap is due today. Some electrical work started but there are issues. Some wires that were disconnected are now connected.

The flashers don't work but the lights get power, one headlight is out (not sure why yet), the license plate light works (one burned out bulb), the brake lights STOPPED working today, the wiper is making noise but nothing happening. But the horn does work. I might need another steering column turn unit. Not sure yet. Maybe a good cleaning will help.

New water hoses and thermostat is in. The radiator fan works but there's no water in the system yet.

The big issue is really the fuel tank. Its starting to hold us up now. With the tank and the new cap we can see how it runs.

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NEWSFLASH! Looks like the fuel tank will be delivered TOMORROW!

 

TADA! A reconditioned fuel tank! Looks amazing inside-- like new.

When we first saw the tank while still in the car, we couldn't see any rust. Underneath it looked solid so we didn't figure it was going to be a big deal other than a good cleaning.

When we pulled it out its was pretty clear that water in the tank over the years had rusted the top surface from inside out. The bottom was protected by years of gas sludge that coated it. The bottom was unfortunately caked with residue over an inch thick. 30 years of evaporation and decomposition.

So the top of the tank was rusting from the inside out. A lot of welding up of the pin holes was needed. Then a new internal sealer.

The cost was about 1/3 of getting a new tank of aluminum but more I'm happy we saved the original parts that was clearly hand welded using 196o's tech. And as long as we didn't really need it we let the vendor take their time and fit it in with their bigger jobs. So, I'm happy!


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Went by today. The tank is still not in the car. Its missing a bit of hardware that we have to fabricate. Not a big deal but slows us up a little. The Fuel sending unit doesn't quite match (its the only style available) but with a little modification, it should work OK. So I think the tank and fuel system will be installed early next week.

But we finally hit a brick wall and its going to take some time to get it sorted. There's electrical problems. Shorted wires, some blow fuses. We want to replace the steering column switch unit as it might be part of the problem. Someone long ago had been messing with it so they may have tried to sort it out and gave up. There's some wires that are disconnected that we don't even know their purpose. Perhaps some kind of bad repair years ago. But for what purpose? That's the issue.

My Column switch is unique. Its not even in the Fiat parts book. It looks original but apparently was a open to have 3 stalks instead of only 2 so the wiper was on the column. Everything still available it 2 stalks and different connectors.

We're going to send the stalk out to a specialist who repairs it that they have worked with before on this "unobtainium" steering column parts. Not sure how long it will take. But we are going to send out the steering wheel for repair at the same time. Not sure yet who I will use. Might just do it domestically, might send to sources in Italy. So at least the time we are waiting for the electrical parts to return we can use to get the steering wheel fixed.

Wiper motor is frozen. Not sure why. The relay clicks but nothing moves.

The bad news is after we get the tank in and the car "running", we will start to look at the electrical issues in more detail. But until the column stalk is back there's not much we can do. The car may sit around for several weeks.

But hopefully we can get the engine working in the next week. The amount of electrical issues does scare me.